How Did The City-States Of Ancient Greece Get Their Names?

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SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Ancient Greek City States: en.wikipedia.o...
Athens: www.dkfindout....
Athens’ Etymology: greektraveltel...
Sparta: www.history.co...
Sparta’s Etymology: www.etymonline...
Corinth: www.greekbosto...
Corinth’s Etymology: www.greekbosto...
Corinth’s Etymology: www.etymonline...
Thebes: greekreporter....
Thebes’ Etymology: www.panmacmill...
Syracuse: classroom.rick...
Syracuse’s Etymology: www.etymonline...
Eretria: apollaweaver13...
Rhodes: www.rhodesguid...
Rhodes’ Etymology: www.etymonline...
Argos: www.worldhisto...
Troy: www.livescienc...

[@NameExplain]

What's your favourite Ancient Greek City-State?

[@fermintenava5911]

Abdera/Avdira. It was home town for several greek philosophers, but legend gave it the image of a town full with foolish, dumb people.

[@brianedwards7142]

I dunno about favourite, the Ancient Greeks seem like a bunch of narcissistic man-boys but I could be biased because of Homer. Sparta seems like the worst IMO.

[@diegoidepersia]

honestly probably Pherai, Rhodos, Tegea or Korinthos

[@ektran4205]

lacedaemon named the city city after his wife SPARTA

[@MyMy-tv7fd]

Lokria, how did they get the ultra-conservative civic habits of not changing their laws for centuries, and how come they were divided into three parts?

[@alexanderkelsey202]

Quick nitpick: the Acropolis is the hill, not the temple. There are many temples on the Acropolis, the largest and most famous one is the Parthenon

[@grimvallius8679]

True

[@JeremyBaconThe1st]

There are many acropolises

[@DJPJ.]

Another city-state outside present Greece is "Napoli", which litrally just means "New city-state".

[@ecurewitz]

It was originally named Parthenope after the mythical sirens that were supposed to have lived there

[@mikitz]

Neapolis?

[@kronus4915]

Don’t wanna be a dick but there’s a few problems in the video: 1: the acropolis is the hill in Athens not the temple, in fact, many cities had an acropolis. 2: Zeus didn’t give Athens to athens, it was the Athenians themselves who decided her gift was the more useful one. 3: Sparta was not called lacadeamon. It’s true that it’s likely the ancients referred to Spartans as lacademonians but lacadaemon is the whole region that includes areas outside of the city of Sparta. Similar to how Athens is in Attica, Sparta is in Lacadaemonia.

[@Dickens76]

You sir, are correct on all points.

[@GazilionPT]

Yes, "acropolis" just means something like "uptown" or "high city"

[@ΓεώργιοςΜπούντλας]

I live in Larissa which is also one of the most ancient city's in the world!! The name seams to come from the protogreek word for castle or fortified hill!!

[@syria0110]

I'm not sure if it was planned or not, but this is an interesting video to put out surrounding Greece considering the former King Constantine II's passing (on my birthday coincidentally enough) and his funeral being earlier this week

[@fixxundfertig]

Happy belated birthday!

[@syria0110]

​@@fixxundfertigThank you 😊

[@oscarls4063]

Nice video! However you made one mistake. The ancient greek city-state was not called "Eritrea" (like the country) but "Eretria" (Ερέτρια). Also the two are not etymologically related. The country's name comes from Italian "l'Eritrea" which is a shortening of the name "la Colonia eritrea". The Italian adjective "eritreo/-a" relates to the Red Sea and shares its origin with the English "Erythraean".

[@kyriacos73]

Actually Erithrea come from the greek adjective erithros (ερυθρός) which means red. But yes u r right, nothing to do with Eretria.

[@TeutonicEmperor1198]

@@kyriacos73 exactly, Erythrea derives from the word erythros which mean red because the country is located in the Red Sea! (το ξέρω ότι είσαι Έλληνας, προσέθεσα το σχόλιο μου για να το δει ο αρχικός σχολιαστής)

[@msytdc1577]

8:28 is a myth, they did not ever have a statue so large that a ship could sail underneath it.

[@Hypernefelos]

The statue was large, but it wasn't positioned that way. There would have been way too many structural problems in such a case. It was probably more like the Statue of Liberty (which was modeled after the Colossus).

[@sydhenderson6753]

It's generally thought to have stood beside the harbor. It may have doubled as a lighthouse.

[@elliothennessy8360]

Feeling special when Patrick mentions that Syracuse, NY might be more well-known lately (not too far from me) but then…remembering that I literally live in Troy

[@lachbullen8014]

I am obsessed with ancient history I would absolutely love it if you would continue with videos Like These..

[@gunjfur8633]

Athena the goddess was most likely named after Athens the city, there were many cities/goddesses like this, such as Mycenea/Mykene. Though that doesnt answer where the name comes from, it was likely Pre-Greek in origin.

[@Somebodyherefornow]

wait what? I always heard Athens was named after athena source?

[@greenman4044]

One of oldest offical source is 1985 Greek history by Walter something from Harvard. The goddess has -ene sound at end of her name, which you only see in location name, not in people name in Ancient Greek

[@andrewvanhorne4359]

Walter Burkert, a well known and respected linguist. This is an example of folk-etymology, which is very common across Classical and Mediaeval literature. Historical reconstructive and comparative linguistics demonstrates many etymologies which would have been lost to the ancient historians. Ethnonyms are the most prevalent example of this. Take, for instance, the Skythes. The ancient authors attribute the name of this people to a mythical ancestor, as they explained the names of most nations, but by comparison with other Indo-European languages, we may demonstrate that the name is more likely cognate with "skuda" - an Indo-Iranian word meaning "shooter" - derived from the characteristic Skythian practice of archery.

[@lp-xl9ld]

And let us not forget the other major contribution of Corinth: a variety of leather made famous by Ricardo Montalban

[@damhnaitcockburn2970]

Don’t know how many people are old enough to remember that reference, but as someone who is thank you! 😂

[@sohopedeco]

And also lending its name to one of the largest football teams on earth: Corinthians Paulista.

[@ZlejChleba]

Troy is also known as Wilusa (hence Illias), it was a part of the Hittite empire back in the days

[@Tokru86]

Troy was not even the Greek name for Troy. The Greeks called it Ilion.

[@darreljones8645]

That explains why Homer's account of the Trojan War is called the Iliad.

[@ZlejChleba]

@@Tokru86 yeah, not even Greeks called themselves Greeks in Greek.

[@zaco-km3su]

It wasn't Greek.

[@ecurewitz]

Troy was not Greek, but Luwian, which were a people from western Anatolia

[@HopeRock425]

I find it a bit weird that you didn't mention Olympia. Ot comes from Mount Olympus, who's name seems to mean "pure footed".

[@mkb6418]

Greek names ending in -issos, -inthos or -assos, are known to be mycenean suffixes. So Korinthos was a mycenean settlement.

[@snokelpops]

Lacedaemon was the region/state, named after King Lacedaemon who had conquered and settled the area. Sparta or Sparte, was a city within the Lacedaemon region, of which there where a few but it was the main city and was named so after his wife.

[@warrenvan1096]

Idk about all that but I know ancient/classical Greek 'c's were pronounced like 'k's and it sounds weird to give Lacedaemon a soft c.

[@snokelpops]

@@warrenvan1096 Well I’m sure it is as you say it is...as I’m sure it was as I say it was, even though there may be more to it than what we both know or what we’ve actually said.

[@Fetrovsky]

The more I learn about ancient Greece, the more respect I have for Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

[@hidingbehind7256]

the only game that lets us see Greece in its glory. I love that game

[@Fetrovsky]

@@hidingbehind7256 it's actually _really_ good!

[@_Phynx]

Cause I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Greece I just feel like listing a few more cities atop the ones you mentioned Athens Sparta Corinth Eritrea Troy Syracuse Phocea Mytilene Megara Naxos Iraklia Sikinos Milos Crete Kythnos Knossos Dion Pusan Angina Chips Colophon Lebedos And my favourite Miletus

[@Jean-FrancoisBilodeau]

Love the exploration of the classical age. Hope to see more of those video. Thanks!

[@Tokru86]

Eritrea is the nation in Africa. The ancient city is called Eretria, and not Eritrea!

[@Somebodyherefornow]

sound the same

[@Tokru86]

@@Somebodyherefornow not even close.

[@kevin_bodi]

If I remember correctly, Sevastopol, Simferopol, Mariupol and Melitopol, are all City names of greek origins. I think Melitipol had something to do with honey.

[@GazilionPT]

Yes, the names are Greek-inspired, but they were made up during Catherine the Great's reign as tsarina. She wanted to claim Ancient Greece's prestige (and, by extension, that of the Byzantine Empire) to the Russian Empire, so she promoted the foundation of expansion of cities in Southern Ukraine, an area known to have been colonised by Greeks in Antiquity. But apparently she or Potemkin (her favourite) sucked at Geography and/or History: the city of Kherson was names after the Greek toponym "Χερσόνησος" (Khersonesos) - but "Χερσόνησος" was the Greek name for Crimea, and Kherson is not in Crimea.

[@michaelweiske702]

... I don't think the Greeks knew what Oxygen was, or that olive trees could produce it

[@TeutonicEmperor1198]

and yet oxygen is Greek word

[@michaelweiske702]

@@TeutonicEmperor1198 as is antibiotics but I doubt they had that either

[@ariebrons7976]

Mr Foote here might have meant fragrance. As olive trees do smell nice.

[@ariebrons7976]

@@TeutonicEmperor1198 oxygen is a modern loan word derived from Οξος meaning Sour γεννος meaning related to It is a litteral translation of the German Saurstoffe (oxygen).

[@TeutonicEmperor1198]

@@michaelweiske702 that's right, they didn't! But maybe they would have understood the etymology of the word

[@samwill7259]

I now know what the city name "Metropolis" means, which really fits Superman!

[@_Phynx]

Btw Pusan is a typo and it’s supposed to be Pydna also just taking a guess here Aegina is named after the Aegean Sea Hydra is named after the Greek term for water Hydra Skiathos is named after the ancient country of Scythia

[@theodorevogiatzis874]

It should be noted though that Corinth was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC the same year Carthage was sacked. It wasn't until a century later that Corinth was refounded by Julius Caesar.

[@wankawanka3053]

Explain the names of byzantine themes just like you did for roman provinces

[@_Phynx]

I know I keep typing but another of my favourite cities is Pharsalos

[@erinrising2799]

One might say that Corinth was a pillar of society

[@etienneporras7252]

The Spartans did have a democracy superficially similar to that of Athens where all adult male citizens would be consulted on major issues of the time. The Spartan Kings were largely confined to ceremonial and military roles. But, Sparta is not considered a Greek Democracy because although it had a democratic base, it was regimented by a powerful aristocracy in a manner much more like the Roman Republic rather than the Athenean Democracy.

[@etienneporras7252]

And even though the Spartans SEEM to have much more progressive views on the roles of women, this wasn't a philosophical decision. When all your men are being sent into a meat grinder, comfortable women are going to be necessary to keep your population viable.

[@chrissauer1498]

Hello from Korkyra (Corfu)

[@_Phynx]

lol also chips is supposed to be chios also correct me if I’m wrong Greek prefixes for cities are ios in Chios, polis im not sure were this is demonstrated but I know it’s a prefix cause it’s Greek for city state or just city, a demonstrated in Hydra,ens demonstrated in Athens, ae demonstrated in Phocae, me again I don’t have a demonstration but know it’s a prefix, os demonstrated in Alonnisos, Knossos and Poros os, demonstrated in Poros and bus or us demonstrated in the city of Lesbos also I stand my ground that Greece is the coolest civillization out there having cool gods like Nemesis, Hypnos, Hestia and Zeus and having really cool city names like in the cities above such as Corinth, Psara, Athens, Sparta and Chalkidiki Chalkidiki residing in the state of Macedon or Macedonia the names are so cool that when I’m writing stories my names of cities and characters are pretty much always Greek and funnily enough always have a ph in it if anyone that reads this comment wants to know how I know this much well a prime source is Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan also did u guys know that places like Lebanon, Turkey, Italy and India have Greek colonisation in them before I found this out I looked on a world map and found it strange that two cities in India: Hyderabad and Mysore sound Greek then I learned about Alexander The great and the rest is history I also find it facinating that from one country it influenced dozens of others like Egypt and Nubia plus there are lots of sub countries or states like Byzantium, Macedonia and a part of Egypt again I love listing things so I’m just gonna list a few gods Zeus, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Aphrodite, Demeter, Dionysus, Hermes, Hephaestus, Hestia, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Nemesis, Iris, Nyx, Hypnos, Nike, Tyche, Hebe, Epiales, Hecate, Orpheus, Morpheus, Persephone, Deimos and Phobos again the reason I like Greek names is because they give so many interesting sound to experiment with against the usual ton, land and shire bringing sounds like ph ae os is aros non and polis other places with the interesting sound are places like Italy, Czechia and France with the Br, Ts, Yv, Des, Rus, cuse eos iOS thus and aria I know I’ve written a lot and probably no one will read this but if anyone does hope u guys enjoy my useless information and dum facts😅😅😅

[@aaroncoroner5915]

I was hoping to hear something about Marathon.

[@miatx6818]

Tbh i would’ve liked that all major cities in Greece are named after the greek gods Like Athens for capital, Poseidon or Any other god for the second one and so on

[@snipefora8466]

Hello from the ancient city - state of Lamia

[@phantomphoenix3246]

You forgot Megara

[@phantomphoenix3246]

It’s coming in my exam so I need to study it

[@phantomphoenix3246]

Btw very good video

[@_Phynx]

Also name explain my favourite city state is Corinth or Troy

[@GazilionPT]

7:56 The Ancient Greek city state was called "Eretria" (Ερέτρια), *not* "Eritrea". So, the African country does not have the exact same name - unless you misspell it.

[@RichardHannay]

I only know Lesbos aside from Athens. 😬

[@_Phynx]

Sorry guys also one more thing I think I might be wrong but was Serbia part of Greece at one time also another sound to add to my list is is and vis that might be a repeat but who cares

[@_Phynx]

And another civ too look at is Phoenicia

[@ecurewitz]

How about Mycaenae, Ithaca, Olympia and Delphi

[@JL-ti3us]

Isnt Troy technically a Phrygian city?

[@kopperbottom2803]

Hello friends

[@arthuruppiano3211]

I miss the Name Explain haiku.

[@Alexandros.Konstantinos]

You missed out on Macedon

[@andrewvanhorne4359]

Try Wiktionary.

[@Tinil0]

The colossus of rhodes did not straddle the harbor. You may want to not perpetrate myths like that if you want to be taken seriously as an education channel.

[@zaco-km3su]

Troy wasn't Greek.

[@scintillam_dei]

See my series "Greeks, Latins, Iberians and Jews were, and are, NOT BLOND!" I love Greek, and that Greek is similar to Spanish. Mediterranean master race!

[@colonelblastpack169]

No more haiku

[@HansVonMannschaft]

Really poor quality video, dude. This is not etymology. At best you're just talking myths, which aren't etymology, and at worst you're actually spreading misinformation. I enjoy your videos but this one is really poorly researched.

[@wewuzirlyriliansandshiiit6123]

Eretria and Eritrea