Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word on a Sunday summer edition.  I just returned from my Greek holidays and the place I’ve been has a great myth behind it so I’m here to tell you all about it! 

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Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Son of Tantalus and father of Atreus (among his numerous children), Pelops was a cunning man but had a tragic and triumphant history too. When he was a child his father cut him into pieces and served him as dinner to the gods to challenge their mental acuity. From all the gods only Demeter had a small piece from his shoulder as she was in deep grief from the loss of her daughter Persephone and didn’t realise what she was eating. The Gods ordered for the pieces of the child to be put in a cauldron and be reassembled by one of the fates . The missing piece from his shoulder was replaced by ivory and Pelops’s descendants would carry a white birthmark on their shoulders from then on. 

Pelops survived and ‘thrived’!

As a young man, he fell for Hippodamia , daughter of king Oenomaus. A prophesy that the king would be killed by his son in law had him put on chariot races between himself and his daughter’s suitors killing everyone who lost and put their heads on a spike outside his palace.  Pelops got into the race but not before sabotaging the king’s chariot , getting him killed, marrying his daughter and becoming king of  the peninsula South of Athens that included Sparta and its famous army. He held a war against the Athenians for 27 years and won. Abolishing Democracy and establishing Oligarchy . A period that changed ancient Greece forever.  If there’s one good thing Pelops did-even if it was out of fear and guilt  for the murder of his father in law- was creating the Olympic Games, in Olympia. Chariot races where the first game. 

But Pelops’s lineage was cursed,  sons killing each other, his wife committing suicide, one of his sons went and created an empire of tragedy and left us with great myths in Greek drama. From Helen of Troy to the Oresteia. His death is a mystery but his bones said to have been summoned by Agamemnon (his descendant) when he was in Troy , to help him win the war. The bones were lost at sea, recovered years later and laid to rest in the place he called home. Νήσος (nisos) in Ancient Greek meant 'island' and the peninsula he reigned is a combined word meaning  'Pelops’s island'. Πελοπόνησσος/Peloponnesus 

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Hello and welcome to the last episode for this season. Thank you for staying with me for another year, downloading and sharing the podcast! Our audience is getting bigger and this is all thanks to you! Stay tuned this summer as you might find a bonus episode or two coming your way during our break and if you haven’t yet leave a review on the platform of your choice. It does help other people find us and I always love reading what you have to say. If you're on this side of the globe have a fantastic summer and if you're on the other one, have a great autumn

Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Today’s episode is thanks to our listener Dale Choate , American  expat in London, creative director extraordinaire  and of course Gregophile . Thanks Dale. 

Πειρείν is the Ancient Greek infinitive of ‘I try/I attempt ‘ and Πειρατής (Peiratis) is the one attempting . it’s directly linked to an attack and in particular at sea. The practice goes a long way back and has been documented as an acceptable one in the Mediterranean sea, between countries. it was perfectly legal to attack and steal goods and ships from another nation. It was illegal to attack your own. Until the Romans made it illegal all around (and I suspect it was because they didn’t have great nautical skills) The stories of tactics, thief leaders and, trade offs in the ancient world are fascinating and in the Mediterranean in particular because of the proximity of countries, seafaring and, trade. Although the word originated in Greece  -not because that’s where it began but because the meaning was so accurate- it has been used in many  languages. Piraat in Dutch, Pirat in German, Pirata in Spanish, Italian and Latin and Pirat in French where it arrived from in English, in the 14th century. ΠΕΙΡΑΤΗΣ/PIRATE

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Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Στάδιο (stadio) in Ancient Greece was the most popular game in the Olympics and the very first one. From 776 to 724BC that 200 yard race, was the Olympics! But it remained as the most important one even when other games where added and the  winner’s name would be given to the entire event for the next 4 years .The runners would compete naked and they were supervisors both in the beginning and the end of the race to make sure everything was done properly. If there was  a tie the race would be repeated until a clear winner was declared. The name of the game became both a measurement for distance and the name of the place the race was happening. The measurement arrived in English with the first Bibles around 1300 and was translated as 'furlong' and in 1834 ‘a large open oval structure with tiers of seats for viewing sporting events’ was a ΣΤΑΔΙΟ/STADIUM 

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Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

When Homer described the colour of the sea as 'wine-dark' in both the Odyssey and the Iliad, I'm sure he didn't anticipate the avalanche of misconceptions that would follow what-probably- was a moment of lyrical inspiration for the Greek Bard. And if you're wondering how can such a description cause linguistic mayhem , I urge you to ask the world wide web the following question: Did ancient Greeks have a word for the colour blue? And further more: were the ancient Greeks able to see the colour blue? Because no misconception is complete unless it's followed by a conspiracy theory nowadays. To save you the trouble the answers are 'yes' and 'yes' .What they didn't have, was the same vocabulary or colour palette as us. What we call today a shade of a colour to the ancient Greeks was the colour itself. So, as a modern example, burgundy would not be a shade of red but a colour of its own. Blue was not in the picture because there was turquoise, like the stone and the word for the lighter shade , that arrived in English through Latin and French in 1879, was first used by innovator, photographer and printer Edward Steichen, to describe a colour in his print of the solar spectrum. The Greeks used it in several combined words to define the exact shade but the colour of the sky, on a great, Greek, sunny day was ΚΥΑΝΟ/CYAN

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Hello and happy July everyone! The results of the prize draw are in and our winner is...Melanie Bittner from Germany! Congratulations Melanie, you will be receiving your gift very soon! Thank you for submitting your favourite episode which is from 2022 (now that's a loyal listener!). Let's pretend for a moment we're an old fashion radio station-I'm gonna lower my voice-and this, is a request from Melanie. Here, is her favourite episode

Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

 Συριγξ (Syrinx) in Ancient Greek was the name of an Arcadian Nymph. When the god Pan was young, he fell in love with her and chased her to the shores of the river Λάδων (Ladon). She clearly wasn't interested because she hid among the canes by the shore. Pan never found her but he made his musical instrument, known as pan-pipe from those canes and he named it, in Greek, after her. Later on, anything with the shape of a hollow cylinder would be named after her. From long tunnels to injection instruments, her name would reach medieval Latin as Syrinx , before landing in England. Συριγξ/Syringe

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Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

This is a word that has changed very little and has a very interesting story. Στίζειν (stizin) is an ancient Greek infinitive meaning 'to mark'. The verb is Στιγματίζω (stigmatizo). Although in many countries being tattooed is considered an honourable action, the Ancient Greeks used it as a mark of disgrace. And they learned that from the Persians. In one of the battles between Greece and Persia, some Greeks joined the other side. When that battle was lost and Greeks surrendered, the Persians thought the traitors might double cross them in the future so, they marked their foreheads with the Persian royal emblem. We have several mentions from the historian Herodotus of Athenians, marking their enemies' foreheads with the Athenian symbol, the owl. Greeks also used a very painful method way to remove tattoos. It took 20 days and involved a cloth to tie around the head, a needle to pierce the tattoo, salt to dry it and either, gypsum and sodium carbonate or pepper dust and honey. Tattoos seemed to be almost exclusively on foreheads and marked criminals and slaves too. The word came to English in the late 1500s in the writings of courtier and author Sir John Harington and he used the Latinised spelling of the Ancient Greek noun ΣΤΙΓΜΑ/STIGMA

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Hello and welcome to our 300th episode! I know, right? I never thought I'd make it this far and it's all thanks to you! Have you entered the prize draw yet? Email me your favourite episode, your name and where you're listening from at [email protected] by July 1st , for a chance to win a personalised gift. I will announce the winner on the episode of July 6th! On with our Myth-Of course it's a myth!

Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

The Phaeacians were a mythical tribe in Homer's Odyssey who helped Odysseus get back to Ithaca. When Poseidon wrecked Odysseus's ship in the shores of Scheria, some say that's ancient Atlantis,  he didn't anticipate Athena's and Aphrodite's determination to help our hero get back home. By transforming into several women and appearing in the Phaeacians' Princess dreams, they managed to make her help him get to King Alcinoous and ask for a ship. The Phaeacians were experts in sailing and navigating but they had a secret. A rock, clear in colour that came from the depths of the Ocean. It was said it held the knowledge of all the countries in the world and if you stuck a piece of it under your ship , it would not only make it indestructible but it would navigate itself by reading your mind about your destination and take you there safely. The word came to English the usual way, through Latin and French  in the late 14th century. A rock that has been formed in cold waters or on the surface by extreme cold is a ΚΡΥΣΤΑΛΛΟ/CRYSTAL

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Hi everyone! We are one episode away from our 300th one and I'm going to celebrate by giving to one of you out there, a little gift with your favourite Greek word from this podcast, written on it. This is how it works, email me your favourite word at [email protected] with your name and the country you're listening from and I'll do a hat-draw and announce the winner on Sunday July 6th. If you already know what your favourite episode is, great! Send me an email right away. If you need more time to revisit the episodes and decide later, you have two whole weeks to do so! The deadline is the 1st of July, That's a Tuesday. For now, on with our episode!

Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

I honestly didn't expect to find so much interesting information about today's word. It's one of those that stayed intact since put together but the progress, inventiveness and global collaboration is outstanding! Τέλε (tele) in ancient Greek , meant 'something far away' . Γραφείν (grafin) is the ancient greek infinitive meaning  'to write'. The combined word means 'writing over distance' and it's a practice that started with smoke signals, fires on to wers, flags on ships and as we became more industrious we have: in 1791 the Chappe brothers of France inventing what was called a two-flag semaphore. A complex construction of small flags and poles to indicate letters and numbers that would be put on top of a tower and could be read from afar. Then in 1795, George Murray of England would invent a shutter system, where opening and closing six shutters in different ways, read as letters to the person watching from far away. That system took over America where there are still places called 'signal hill' where shutters used to be placed. And then, electricity got established and with it, an invention upgraded step by step by different people, in different places and if I may add, very quickly! In 1800 Alessandro Volta of Italy discovering the voltaic cell and how to power devices with electricity. Hans Christian Orsted of Denmark, in 1820 discovering the electric needle and how to carry electric current without depending on the weather being clear. William sturgeon of Britain, five years later, in 1825 discovering the multiturn electromagnet. In 1831 Michael Faraday of England with Joseph Henry from the states, refining and electromagnetic power to make it stable and possible to power devices. And lastly, Sir William Forthgill Cooke and Sir Charles Wheatstone obtaining the patent. So, you see, the word might have started as an idea in Greece and from Latin and French came to English but it took years of collaborations and building upon other people's ideas, carrying on inventing and perfecting until we had a working ΤΗΛΕΓΡΑΦΟΣ/TELEGRAPH

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Before we begin, a shout out to fellow Thespian Constanza Ruff who suggested the word to me. If you'd like to send me ideas, comments or questions about anything you hear in this podcast, you can reach me at [email protected]. On with our episode!

Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Τέλεσμα (telesma) in ancient Greek and Τελετή in modern means 'a ritual' . The word travelled to Arabic as Tilasm and meant 'enigma' or 'lucky charm'. Although, that would be our current interpretation of lucky charm. In the ancient world, it was more of a divine protection in the form of an inscription on clothes or a piece of paper one would always carry with them. Especially in battle. The word was picked up by the French through-possibly-Turkey in the mid 1600s according to French linguist Claudius Salmasius. And at the same time, appeared in English in the writings of English resident, German philologist, Franciscus Junius. It's worth saying here that, both men had French names but it was custom to adopt Latin names in order to publish work. Today, a symbol or a design that is used as protection from harm is a ΤΕΛΕΣΜΑ/TALISMAN

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Είδω (aedo) in Ancient Greek meant 'I know' but also 'I see', literally. Now, as if Greek spelling wasn't complicated enough, there are two ways to write this. Today we'll talk about the very first form that is still used today, but only in a handful of words. Ancient Greek philosophers used the noun 'είδωλον' (aedolon) to describe the formation of an image in one's head or an actual representation of that image; like a carving or a statue and more specifically, the image of one of the Gods.  So, a statue of Athena, would be an είδωλον (aedolon) of Athena. By the time the word passed into Latin, Christianity had started to rise and the word, in religious texts, was associated with Paganism and the 'false representation of God'. The spelling was simplified in Latin and the word arrived in English the 1300s with religious texts. One last addition was in 1590 where a person worshiped like a God was also called an ΕΙΔΩΛΟ/IDOL

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