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My first job, shortly after I arrived in England, was a stage adaptation of 'Middlemarch', an epic story by George Eliot. The pen name of Mary Ann Evans. As time went by ,I realised that the name I was known for in Greece and had been working for years was too difficult for anyone in this industry to remember so, I decided to keep my first name but officially shorten my surname. In fact if you go to my IMDb you'll see three different versions of my name all of which are versions of my real name. Ψευδές (psevdes) means 'False' and όνομα (onoma) means 'name' . The combined word came to England from France in 1828 and was spelled in Latin characters. It is used only for when a person changes their name for a specific purpose , a pen name or a stage one. ΨΕΥΔΟΝΥΜΟ/PSEUDONYM

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The history of this word goes back to those considered to be the first European civilisation. There is truth and there is myth connected to the Minoans.  A name we know was given to them by the Greeks but have no evidence that, that's what they called themselves. Archaeological discoveries place them in Crete and their first ruler, according to the Greeks, was King Minos (his story and myth are for another episode).  The symbol mostly found in the unearthing of this ancient civilisation is a double axe known as Λάβρυς (Lavris/Labris). Ancient Greek historians would write about the main palace in ancient Κνωσσός (Knossos) The capital city of ancient Crete, as 'The House of Λάβρυς' and surprisingly it's not shaped as a double axe but a ΛΑΒΥΡΙΝΘΟΣ/LABYRINTH 

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In 3rd century BC there was a biographer of philosophers and author of the history of philosophy, Διογένης Λαέρτιος( Diogenes Laertios) . In his 7th book (out of 10) he begins with a reference to Pythagoras's beliefs on how one should lead their life, one of them being , and I quote: Drunkenness, he considers to be a damage and he disapproves any kind of exaggeration, he says we should have συμμετρία and not overdo it with drinking and eating. 
Συν (syn), among other things, means 'with'. Μέτρο (metro) means 'measure' . Whether it's used to describe moderation, proportions or compare measurements, the word has made it through centuries and keeps on going! ΣΥΜΜΕΤΡΙΑ/SYMMETRY

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Τάσσω (tasso) in an Ancient Greek verb and it means 'I put things in order' . Something that was studied in Ancient Greece was the technique of how to put things in order, how to strategize and make smart decisions to achieve your goal (I know I'm summarising here but this is a bite-size podcast after all) . That technique was called Τακτική τέχνη (taktiki techne) and the word came to English in the 17th century , quite late if you think about how many successful strategists England had before that. ΤΑΚΤΙΚΗ/TACTIC

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This sweet word is a combination of Ancient Greek and late Latin. It came into English in the 14th century from the French (of course) who took both languages, applied the term to baking and quite possibly perfected the flavour. Χρίσμα (chrisma) in Greek means  'unguent' The Latin called it 'cramum' and the French 'crème'. ΧΡΙΣΜΑ/CREAM

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Today's word has a small journey as it's very straight forward. It has also been reduced to a single meaning in Greek. Αυτό (auto) is short for Εαυτό and it means 'self' . Κράτος (kratos) means 'state' . In Ancient Greece and Rome, the combined word meant , any system of government that was absolute and it included Monarchy, dictatorship and a whole empire. The word came to English through the usual route, Latin and old French and what I find interesting is which political system has been attached to most, today. In modern English it's used to describe a single ruler an 'autocrat' while in modern Greek it means 'an Empire'. ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΙΑ/AUTOCRACY

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There are two versions of this myth and I chose the one places ancient Turkey and Ancient Greece geologically closer than they are today. The Greek God Ασωπός (Asopos), son of Poseidon, gave his name to a river that ran through central Greece and sprang from another river in Asia Minor. The river Μαίανδρος (Meandros). That river had so many twists and turns that its name is used to describe a very winding flow or way of travel. In modern Greek, the word is used described that little winding pattern you see in ancient greek merchandise. The word originally came into English from Latin around 1590 and was kept as a description of river flows until 1630 when it started being used metaphorically. The original river, now located in Turkey, is called Menderes and drains into the Aegean. ΜΑΙΑΝΔΡΟΣ/MEANDER

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This word came to us from medicine and the metaphorical meaning is what we use today. Χεκτικός (Hektikos), in ancient Greek meant 'continuous'. It was linked to fevers and was a monitoring sign for certain diseases. In English it was used specifically for fever that not only wouldn't stop but go up and down during the course of a day, exhausting the patient. The word came from late Latin 'Hecticus' and nowadays describes a continuously , fast-paced life. ΧΕΚΤΙΚΟΣ/HECTIC

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Oenanthe Crocata, is a flower with a very sweet taste that grows near lakes in Sardinia. It's also known as 'Sardonion'. Eating it, will cause a state of drunkenness accompanied by laughter, paralyse your jaw, make your face muscles contract as if you're smiling and eventually, kill you. In Greek, it's called 'wine flower' because of its sweetness. Homer used its effects metaphorically to describe Odysseus's laughter and that's how it came  to us today. A laughter or a smile that is not kind at all. ΣΑΡΔΟΝΙΟ/SARDONIC

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Today's word is so much older than the Valentine celebration and I have to admit I thought it would make a good joke.  Δάκτυλος (Daktilos) in ancient Greek and Δάχτυλο (Dahtilo) in modern means, 'finger'. There's a plant that started, probably, in Mesopotamia in 4000BC that both its leaves and fruit resemble a human finger and that's how it got its name. 'Dactylus' in Latin, 'Datil' in old French and from the 1300 onwards in England ΔΑΧΤΥΛΟ/DATE

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