WE may consider Greek names roughly in two classes.
First, those that are familiar, and have become anglicized in either the Latin form (e.g. Delphi, Olympus), or an English form (e.g. Athens, Corinth, Priam, Helen). It is felt by some to be pedantic to say Delphoi and Olympos or Olumpos, Priamus or Priamos, Helena or Helene. Athenai, Korinthos, seem even more. strange. In some very familiar names English practice has established inconsistencies which it would be folly to interfere with; there is no reconciling Socrates with Aristotle on any principle; nor will anyone recognize Platon.
Secondly, there are the less familiar and the entirely unfamiliar names, which we transliterate into English with the change of the Greek U into English Y, the Greek K into English C in certain positions, the Greek final -AI and -OI into Latin -AE and -I, while leaving the singular endings in -OS unchanged instead of substituting the Latin -US. To this class belong Mycenae, Delos, possibly Makistos; but not Euripus or Asopus; while Arachnaios or Arachnaeus will probably alternate according to the taste of the speaker.
For the forms I have used in this translation I claim neither consistency nor even final correctness, for in some instances there may be no ‘correct’ form; but I hope to have avoided evident incorrectness
Diphthongs
EU as in English deuce. Note that names ending in -eus rhyme with deuce. The pronunciation ee-us is incorrect (even though Shakespeare insists on it for Aegeus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream).
AU as in English fraud; but some names, e.g. Menelaus, have the a and u separate, with accent on the a, ay-us.
OE and AE to be pronounced ee, e.g. Phoebus.
OU to be pronounced oo, e.g. Ouranos.
Consonants
C should be hard, except before e and i.
CH should be hard as in loch.
G should be hard as in gate, except in words which have become thoroughly anglicized, e.g. Aegean.
S should be as in this, not as in these.
Final E is always pronounced.
The following list is intended to include all proper names used in this book about which there could be any reasonable doubt. The sign ´ indicates accent.
Achae´an. First a short.
A´cheron. Both a and e short.
Achi´lles. a short.
Aege´an. The g usually soft.
Aegeus. The g usually soft.
Ae´gipla´nctus.
Aegi´sthus.
A´ërope. e and o both short.
Agame´mnon. Both a’s short.
Althae´a.
Apo´llo. a short.
Aphrodi´te. i long as in die.
Arachnae´us.
Areo´pagus. All the vowels short.
Ares, a as in hate.
A´rtemis. e short.
Aso´pus. o long as in hope.
A´tre-id. a long as in hate.
A´treus. The a is strictly short as in hat, but is more usually pronounced long as in hate.
Ca´lchas.
Cho-e´phori. e long as in these, i usually pronounced like a long e, according to the alternative spelling Choephoroe.
Chry´se-is. y long as in dye; but y short as in mythical is a common pronunciation.
Cili´ssa.
Cithae´ron. i short.
Clytemne´stra. y long as in dye. (This name has been irrevocably and incorrectly anglicized.)
Cocy´tus. o long as in coke, y as in dye.
Cory´cian. o short, y short as in mythical.
Cro´nos. Both o’s short as in on.
De´lphi. i either as in die, or like English final -y.
Ephia´ltes. First e short.
Ere´chtheus. Both e’s short.
Erichtho´nius. All the vowels short. E’ris. e short.
Euboe´a.
Eume´nides. e short in second syllable.
Euri´pus. i as in die. Ge’ryon. e short as in very.
Gorgo´pis. o as in hope.
Hephae´stus. e long like EE.
He´ra. e as in here.
Hypsipyle. i short, body’s as in mythical.
I´da. i as in hide.
I´lion. i as in pile.
I´nachus. i as in fine, a short.
Iphigeni´a. e short; first i long as in ripe, but often pronounced short.
Itu´n. i short, u long, somewhere between tune and boon.
Ixi´on. First i short, second i as in lion.
Le´da. e like ee.
Lo´xias. o as in box.
Ly´cian. y as in mythical.
Mai´a. ai like i in messiah.
Maki´stos. a short.
Menela´us. Both e’s short, a as in lay.
Messa´pian. a as in say.
Mi´nos. i as in mine (always thus incorrectly anglicized).
Ody´sseus. y as in mythical.
Orestei´a. ei variously pronounced as e in panacea or i in messiah.
Ou´ranos. a short. Pe’leus. elong like EE.
Phi´neus. i long as in fine.
Pho´cis. o long; c usually soft, as in phocian, but sometimes pronounced hard.
Phoe´bus.
Plei´stos. ei like y in ply.
Posei´don. First o short, ei like i in side.
Pri´am. To rhyme with I am,
Prome´theus. o short, e like ee.
Py´lades. y as in dye, a short.
Py´thian. y short as in mythical.
Sa´lamis. Both a’s short.
Scama´nder. Both a’s short.
Scy´lla. y short as in mythical, c usually silent.
Si´mo-is or Simo’is. Both i’s short.
So´lon. First o long.
Stro´phius. o short.
Stry´mon. y long as in dye.
Ta´ntalus. Both a’s short.
The´mis. e short as in stem.
The´seus. e long as in these.
The´tis. e short as in set.
Thy-e´stes. y long as in dye, e short as in best.
Ti´tan. i long as in tight.
Trito´nian. i long as in trite.
Ty´ndareos. y short as in mythical, a short, e short, o short as in loss.