Meaning of Greek names

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alejandro
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Meaning of Greek names

Post by alejandro »

Dear allI know that Alexander (Alexandros) means "protector of men" and that Philip (Philippos) means "horse loving" (please excuse my English, but I thought the alternative "horse lover" would sound even worse).
What are the meaning of other relevant names? Eg, Kassandros (andros=man, kass=?), Parmenion, Antipatros(patros=father?), Lysimachos, Leonnatos, Erygios, Hephaistion(any relationship to Hephaistios the god?), Aristotle, etc.
Also, I read lately a paper by someone (Bosworth?) were he writes the Greek word for Chiliarch (Chiliarchos). So far, I always thought that both "ch"s sounded as in "church". However, in Greek, the corresponding letter is chi, and I found it usually sounds like a "k" (like in Nearchos). Should then "Chiliarch" be pronounced "Kiliark"? or the chi sounds as a "ch" at the beginning/end of words but as a "k" otherwise?
Thanks in advance
Kind regardsMiguel
jorgios
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Some answers...

Post by jorgios »

Hello there fellow Companion... Here are some brief answers for you...ANTIPATER m Ancient Greek (Anglicized)
Pronounced: an-TI-pa-tur
From the Greek name Antipatros, which meant "like the father" from Greek anti "like" and pater "father". This was the name of an officer of Alexander the Great, who became the regent of Macedon during Alexander's absence. KASSANDROS root can be found also in KASSANDRA:
CASSANDRA f English, Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Pronounced: ka-SAN-dra
Possibly means "shining upon man", derived from Greek kekasmai "to shine" and aner "man" (genitive andros). In Greek myth Cassandra was a Trojan princess, the daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo, but when she spurned his advances he cursed her so nobody would believe her prophecies. LYSIMACHUS m Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Means "a loosening of battle" from Greek lysis "a release, loosening" and mache "battle". This was the name of one of Alexander the Great's generals. After Alexander's death Lysimachus took control of Thrace. ARISTOTLE m Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Pronounced: AR-is-taw-tul
From the Greek name Aristoteles which meant "the best purpose", derived from aristos "best" and telos "purpose, aim". This was the name of an important Greek philosopher who made contributions to logic, metaphysics, ethics and biology among many other fields.
I Believe i have read that LEONATUS, is the same as Leonidas, that is THE LION.Those are all that i know, i do however that the name HEPHAEISTON is of Athenian origin, which makes it likely that Hephaeiston had had Athenian origins. Please let me know if you find a meaning behind that name! Thanks!
MOnket

Re: Meaning of Greek names

Post by MOnket »

i dont no wat u mean alexander means the emphasis on the conjunction that is imperative for the life of thworld to come(squared) luv youxxx
Thalestris

Re: Meaning of Greek names

Post by Thalestris »

Hephaistion (pronounced in Greek eph-ais-TEE-ohn) means "volcano". Like Hephaistion's temperament, precisely. Alexander is pronounced (a-LEX-andros). The "chi" you mention in Modern Greek is, indeed, like the English "x", and if you wanted to transliterate, for example, Lysimachus, into the Greek, you would spell it Lysimachos, not with a "k" as Lysimakkos. However, Perdiccas, is transliterated to "Perdikkas".Great inquiry, Miguel Alejandro! And thank you Jorgios for sharpening some obscure concerns I had as well.Me agapi kai filia,Amazon Queen
yiannis
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Re: Some answers...

Post by yiannis »

Regading LYSIMACHUS I think (a close friend of mine is called as such and he told me) that the meaning of "Lysis" is "solution" instead of "a release, loosening" or even "end" is some sense.It's pronounced as "LySImachos" in Greek (with an "o" instead of "u" ending).
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amyntoros
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Re: Meaning of Greek names

Post by amyntoros »

Hello Amazon Queen:Regarding the pronunciation of Hephaistion, I always thought it was as you explained (eph-ais-TEE-ohn) this being the pronunciation used in almost all BBC/Discovery Channel/History channel productions. However, Dr. Jeanne Reames-Zimmerman gives an example of pronunciation based on transliterated Greek (he-FAIS-ti-an)on her website at http://home.earthlink.net/~mathetria/history.html. She also mentions the pronuciation based on the Latinized spelling - Hephaestion - and gives it as (he-FEES-ti-an) Then she says the correct pronunciation that HE would have used is (he-pais-TI-on) with the "p" sound like the "p" in pot! Now I just started to try and teach myself ancient greek from a book which says the "i" should be sounded like the "i" in machine, so I'm somewhat confused. However, I have faith in Dr. Reames-Zimmerman's interpretation, given her authority on the subject. I did purchase her dissertation on Hephaistion some time ago from the online source, and I'm hoping she is still working on turning it into a book.
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susa

Re: Meaning of Greek names

Post by susa »

Uh, Hephaistion has to do with the Greek Volcano god, but i think the name does not mean 'volcano'. It would mean 'temple to [consecrated to] Hephaistos', or , if i am not mistaken, a special feast to this god... not sure tho. But i am sure that in Athens there's a temple known as "Hephaistion" until today.susa
Thalestris

Re: Greek Pronounciation

Post by Thalestris »

The pronounciatio of Hephaistion is correct in my earlier message. This is how it is pronounced in Greek by Greeks, and it means volcano.
susa

Re: Greek Pronounciation

Post by susa »

SorryI did *not* say the pron. was wrong. I said that in my Old Greek dictionary Hephaistion means a temple to the pertinent god. But i rechecked and found out that in contemporary Greek 'hephaisteio' means volcano.Of course you know more than i do.i
Perseus

Re: Meaning of Greek names

Post by Perseus »

Dear AlejandroAbout Greek pronounciation:
There is a "problem" in the writing of certain Greek alphabet characters in Latin. In your example chiliarchos (means archon=leader, commander + chilia = thousand - leader/commander of a thousand). If I follow the exact greek pronounciation, in latin it should be written "hiliarhos". An index for the transliteration of Greek characters in Latin can be found in
http://www.translatum.gr/converter/gree ... tion.htmAs for the name HEPHAESTION: It is almost certain that the root can be traced to the god Hephaestus. The Greek pronunciation is "HephaestIon" (accent on I)and it means "Small Hephaestus". The writing of the name can be quite confusing since it is quite similar to "HephAEstion"(accent on AE)which means volcano.I hope I could be of help
Regards
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alejandro
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Re: Some answers...

Post by alejandro »

Jorge and YiannisThank you very much for your help.
I was just wondering, by combining the different roots, which other name could be found, and the one that I got is Telemachos (Odisseos' son). Combining "telos" (aim) and "mache" (battle), it could well mean something like "born/destined to be a warrior". If "mache" means instead "end" or "solution", I see no straightforward interpretation. Do you?
Kind regards.Alejandro
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alejandro
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Re: Meaning of Greek names

Post by alejandro »

Dear PanyiotisThank you for your message. I am getting very interested in reading a bit of Greek, because several academic articles present short texts in Greek that are (usually) not translated into English (I think authors assume that only other academics will read them, and that they also know Greek, not like me! :) though they also seem to assume that everyone reading their articles also knows Latin and German and French!).
Regarding the pronunciacion of Chiliarchos, you mention that it should be translated as "hiliarhos". I assume that both h's sound as in "hand", isn't it? If that is the case, it will make perfect sense that Xerxes is translated as "Jerjes" in Spanish (ie, "Her-hes" in English)!
Finally, re Hephaestion, I don't understand very well your point: Hephaestion the name is pronounced HephastIon and hephaestion the noun HephAEstion? Or you just mispelled one of the two? Thank you very much for your help!
Best wishesAlejandro
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alejandro
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Re: Meaning of Greek names

Post by alejandro »

Dear PanyiotisThank you for your message. I am getting very interested in reading a bit of Greek, because several academic articles present short texts in Greek that are (usually) not translated into English (I think authors assume that only other academics will read them, and that they also know Greek, not like me! :) though they also seem to assume that everyone reading their articles also knows Latin and German and French!).
Regarding the pronunciacion of Chiliarchos, you mention that it should be translated as "hiliarhos". I assume that both h's sound as in "hand", isn't it? If that is the case, it will make perfect sense that Xerxes is translated as "Jerjes" in Spanish (ie, "Her-hes" in English)!
Finally, re Hephaestion, I don't understand very well your point: Hephaestion the name is pronounced HephastIon and hephaestion the noun HephAEstion? Or you just mispelled one of the two? Thank you very much for your help!
Best wishesAlejandro
Perseus

Re: Meaning of Greek names

Post by Perseus »

Dear AlejandroI ll try to make myself clear:
- Regarding the pronunciacion of Chiliarchos ch is pronounced like "h" in "hand" and the corresponding character of the Greek alphabet is "X".
- Xerxes in Greek is pronounced as "Kserksis". The letter X of the Latin Alphabet corresponds to the +Ä of the Greek and the pronunciation is "KS".
- Finally for the name Hephaestion I did a mis spelling. The name is pronounced HephestIon. (I put in capital letter the accentuated part of the word - like AlejAndro). The noun is HephEstion (volcano). In both words the first "He" is pronounced as "I".I hope I could be of help
agesilaos
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Re: Meaning of Greek names

Post by agesilaos »

Oh dear; confusion! First Susan has confused chi with xi: chi is an aspirated kappa , Kh, xi is xsi. Also modern Greek is not pronounced the same way as Attic, doric or any other ancient dialect, Lysimachos can be interpretted mors strongly as the 'breaker of the battle' as in 'Lysistrata', the 'breaker of the conflict' Hephaistion means that his father dedicated his son to Hephaistos in the same way that many Mexicans are called Jesus!BUT what does IOALAS come from?
When you think about, it free-choice is the only possible option.
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