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There is an ancient fruit that grows in Greece and it's the food that sustained thousands of Greeks, including my grandparents, during the second world war. It's called ΧΑΡΟΥΠΙ (charoupi). In ancient Greek it was called ΚΕΡΑΤΙΟΝ (cerateon) meaning 'little horn' because, it looks like one! The ancient Greeks discovered that the weight of each seed of the fruit never changes so they used it as a measure of weight against precious metals and stones. The Romans used to measure their gold with it as one seed was 1/24th of their gold siliqua coin. They, of course, used the Latin word for it that passed on to the French and came to English in the 15th century but the measure for gold purity remained 24 ΚΑΡΑΤΙ/CARAT

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In ancient Athens there were many philosophical schools of thought that one could join. The main philosopher of each school would gather everyone in the Agora (a place under the Acropolis where you can still visit today) and there, they would have their own spot within it, to hold their teachings and debates. One of the most misunderstood philosophical schools today, was formed by Zeno of Citium in 300BC. He'd gather everyone in his Στοά Ποικίλη (stoa pikili)- stoa means 'porch' and pikili in ancient Greek meant 'colourful' . So, a painted porch. In this case depicting the famous battle of Marathon. He would teach, not detachment from emotion as many might think but, moderation in owning material goods, deep thinking before acting, the celebration and caretaking of one's life as there's no afterlife, reason and, inner peace.
Because not everyone had a porch and Zeno's was colourful, the school was named after it. ΣΤΟΙΚΙΣΜΟΣ-STOICISM

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As we're moving into this new year, there's one thing I hope to be able to keep doing both as a human and an actor.
Μετά (meta) in both ancient and modern Greek means 'after'. Μορφή (morfi) means 'shape' . The combined word was first introduced in English in 1447 by Osbern Bokeman, an English poet and friar who travelled to Italy a lot. The word in Latin sounds exactly the same as the Greek but the spelling is Latinised and it means 'the process of becoming something new', 'constantly changing', 'transforming', 'reshaping' .
ΜΕΤΑΜΟΡΦΩΣΗ/METAMORPHOSIS

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Happy New Year, Everyone!
The oldest and the most elegant of the muses-according to Hesiod and Ovid- was Calliope. Her name meaning 'beautiful voice'. She was the mother of Orpheus and she presides over song, dance and epic poetry. Επος (epos) in Ancient Greek meant a tale, a story and a poem about heroic acts was called Επικο (epiko) . The word came to English in two parts. In 1580 it started being used as a 'long poem' regardless of content and in 1731 was used as the Greeks intended, the praising of heroic acts like The Odyssey or The Iliad.
May this year be full of new memories that will lead to amazing stories. ΕΠΙΚΟ/EPIC

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Hello everyone!
As the end of 2024 approaches, I'd like to take a minute to thank each and every one of you for the love and support you've shown for this podcast. I intend to keep your minute of knowledge ad free and try and find other ways to make this a profitable endeavour. In the meantime, there is a way you can help. Share this podcast. Far and wide. Post your favourite episode on social media, tell your friends, write a review, play an episode on speakers on the train. No, don't do that! Just share the joy of learning. You can also send me your comments, questions or thoughts about anything you've heard on this podcast to yourgreeksunday@gmail.com or, follow me on Instagram and Blue Sky @yourgreeksunday and leave a comment there.
Have a wonderful New Year's Eve and I'll be back on January 5th with a bright new word!

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Merry Christmas to those of you celebrating and, have a restful week ahead to those of you who don't. This is a spice that has travelled far and wide . Once a present fit for Kings or an offering to the Gods; It's referenced in most ancient religions as 'Precious'. In Greece it arrived form the Phoenicians and as far as we know the very first reference in Ancient Greek was in a poem by Sappho in 7th century BC. In Ancient Rome it was one of the most expensive spices, just 327 grams of it, cost a ten month salary! There were many myths in the ancient world about its origin. From the bottom of the Nile to plants guarded by dragons it arrived in England after the East India company took control of its trade in 1767 and the name came through the Latin and French but based in the Ancient Greek one ΚΙΝΝΑΜΩΜΟΝ/CINNAMON

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It's getting a little festive in some parts of the world so, I thought of giving you a word that describes one of my favourite festive traditions. Χάρτης (Chartis) in ancient Greek and Χαρτί (charti) in modern, means paper. The word came to English in the 15th century through Latin: Carta then French: Carte and in old English the name for a piece of paper you could play games with. The meaning of a stamped paper that you could write on and post to people, is from 1870 and a little earlier 1862 we find the same word to describe writing and sending wishes for special occasions on a ΧΑΡΤΙ/CARD.

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Τηλέ (tele) is an Ancient Greek adverb meaning ‘far away’. Φωνή (phone) in both ancient and modern Greek means voice . In 1835 a system of conveying words to a distant point by means of musical notes, was invented by the French composer Jean Francois Sudre. For obvious reasons it wasn’t very practical. The combination of Greek words that was used to describe it however, carried on into foghorns signalling from ship to ship. That didn’t stick either. Then on March 7th 1876 Alexander Graham Bell used the combination of the words for one last time when he submitted his invention of a ΤΗΛΕΦΩΝΟ /TELEPHONE

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