Nations and Nationalities in ancient Greek
“Where are you from?” (πόθεν εἶ;) is always a good conversation starter.
To facilitate speaking about this topic I’ve created a list of countries and nationalities in ancient Greek that you can download here as a PDF (four pages in total):
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Watch this Episode here
Transcript of the Video
χαίρετε· ἤδη διελέχθημεν περὶ τοῦ ποῦ οἰκεῖς· ἴσως δὲ ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἰκεῖτε ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τόπῳ ὅπου ἐγεννήθητε· πῶς οὖν λέγομεν τοῦτο; σκεψώμεθα.
Hi! We already talked about (the topic) „Where do you live?”. But maybe you don’t live in the same place where you were born. So how do we say this? Let’s see!
χαῖρε, ὦ ξένε· πόθεν εἶ;
χαῖρε· ἐγώ εἰμι Σεληνίτης.
τί λέγεις;
Σεληνίτης εἰμί· ἐγεννήθην γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς σελήνης. σὺ δέ, πόθεν εἶ;
ἐγὼ Γερμανίς εἰμι.
Γερμανίς; τί σημαίνει τοῦτο;
ὅτι ἐγεννήθην ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐν χώρᾳ τινὶ ἣ καλεῖται Γερμανία· Γερμανὶς οὖν εἰμι καὶ λαλῶ Γερμανιστὶ καὶ γιγνώσκω τοὺς τρόπους τῶν Γερμναῶν.
μανθάνω, μανθάνω.
Hello, stranger! Where are you from?
Hello! I am a Moonite.
What do you say?
I am a Moonite for I was born on the moon. And you? Where are you from?
I am German.
German? What does that mean?
That I was born on (planet) earth, in a country that is called “Germany”. Therfore I am German and I speak German and I know the culture of the Germans.
I understand, I understand.
τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον ἐρωτῶμεν· πόθεν εἶ; τοῦτο δὲ σημαίνει· ποῦ ἐγεννήθης; ἤ· τίς εἶ τὸ γένος; ἀποκρινόμεθα δέ· ἐγώ εἰμι Εὐρωπαῖος ἢ Εὐρωπαία, Ἀμερικανὸς ἢ Ἀμερικανίς, Ἀσιανὸς ἢ Ἀσιᾶτις, Αὐστραλὸς ἢ Αὐστραλή, Λίβυς ἢ Λίβυσσα.
So at first we ask: “Where are you from?” This means: “Where were you born?” Or: “Who are you by origin?” We answer: I am from Europe (lit. „European”), from America („American”), from Asia („Asian”), from Australia („Australian”), from Africa („African”).
ἆρα γιγνώσκεις τὸν Νεῖλ Ἄρμστρογγ;
γιγνώσκω, ἐξένισα γὰρ αὐτόν ποτε· καλὸς κἀγαθὸς ὁ ἀνήρ. πόθεν δὲ οὗτος;
ὁ Νεῖλ Ἄρμστρογγ ἦλθεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῆς Ἀμερικῆς, ἦν οὖν Ἀμερικανός.
Ἀμερικανός; οὐ γιγνώσκω τοῦτον τὸν ἀστέρα.
Do you know Neil Armstrong?
Yes, I know him because I received him once as a guest. A really decent guy. Where did he come from?
Neil Armstrong came to you from America. He was, therefore, American.
American? I don’t know this star.
προσέχετε δὲ τὸν νοῦν τῇδε τῇ διαφορᾷ· τὸ πόθεν εἶ; λέγομεν μᾶλλον ἐν τῇ κοινῇ διαλέκτῳ· εἰ οὖν βούλεσθε ἀττικίζειν δεῖ ὑμᾶς λέγειν· ποδαπὸς εἶ; ἤ· ποδαπὴ εἶ; οἷον· ποδαπός ἐστιν ὁ Σωκράτης; ὁ Σωκράτης Ἀθηναῖός ἐστιν. ποδαπή ἐστιν ἡ Ξανθίππη; ἡ Ξανθίππη Ἀθηναία ἐστίν. τὸ δὲ ποδαπὸς ἐν δὲ τῇ κοινῇ διαλέκτῳ σημαίνει ποῖος ὥστε οὐ μικρὰ γίγνεται ταραχή ὅταν οἱ Ἀττικίζοντες διαλέγωνται τοῖς τῇ κοινῇ διαλέκτῳ χρωμένοις·
Pay attention, however, to the following difference: We say “Where are you from?” (pothen ei) rather in the Koine dialect. So if you want to speak Attic you have to say: “Where are you from?” (podapos (masculine) ei or podape (feminine) ei). For example: Where is Socrates from? Socrates is from Athens (lit. “Socrates is a (male) Athenian”). Where is Xanthippe from? Xanthippe is from Athens (lit. “Xanthippe is a (female) Athenian”). Ιn Koine Greek, however, podapos means “of what sort?”, which creates no small confusion when speakers of Attic Greek talk with people who use Koine Greek.
ἠρώτησε γάρ τις Αἴσωπον τὸν λογοποιόν· “ποδαπὸς εἶ;” ὁ δὲ Αἴσωπος ἀπεκρίνατο· “σάρκινος.” ὁ δὲ ἄλλος· “οὐ λέγω τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ ποῦ ἐγεννήθης;” ὁ δὲ Αἴσωπος· “ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ τῆς μητρός μου.”
Somebody asked Aesopus the fabulist: “Where are you from?” (= “What are you made of?” in Koine Greek) Aesopus: “Flesh.” The other: “That’s not what I mean but where were you born?” (literally: “Where were you begotten?”) Aesopus: “In my mother’s womb.”
ὦ Ἄργε, ποδαπὸς εἶ σύ; ἤ· πόθεν εἶ; ἆρα ὑμεῖς ἴστε πόθεν ἐστὶ ὁ Ἄργος; γράψατε τὴν ἀπόκρισιν ἐν τοῖς κάτω ὑπομνήμασι ἢ λέγετε ὑμῖν πόθεν ὑμεῖς ἔστε· κατάλογον δὲ τῶν χορῶν καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν εὑρήσετε ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ σελίδι triodos-trivium.com/pothen. καὶ… ἔρρωσθε.
[to the dog, Attic:] Argos, where are you from? [to the dog, Koine:] Or: where are you from? [to the audience] Do you know where Argos is from? Write the answer in the comments below or tell us where you are from. An overview of countries and nationalities can be found on our homepage triodos-trivium.com/pothen. And… bye!
