Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
In the case of Darius, we know how he (or at least, how the Greeks) pronounced his name, because we have it written in contemporary Greek records, and Greek is a phonetic language. In Greek his name is written "Δαρεῖος", where the diphthong "εῖ" is pronounced like "ay" in "hay".
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And you can be sure the Greeks would have made sure to promounce it right as they would have wanted to make sure they were cursing out the right person when they were voicing their complaints about him to the gods of Greece. If he hadn't been stopped by Athens and Sparta the word democracy might be unknown today. His family held a grudge from another conflict almost 80 yrs before as I understand it which is why he tried to invade Greece in the 1st place. Darius is not a common name I'd think but then neither (I think) is Hermione despite some famous people having been named thus.