# Calliope
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 13, 2000, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020 "2000-09-13T13:05:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2000, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020/1 "2000-09-13T13:05:33Z")
This should be a quick one.
Calliope was a Greek goddess, I think. (Pardon me for not looking it up.) It’s also a musical instrument. I’ve always heard it pronounced “ca-LI-o-pee”. But there is a Calliope St. in New Orleans and the locals pronounce it “CALLY-ope”. Why is that?
(There’s also a street called Burgundy that they pronounce “bur-GUN-dee”. I assume the accent on the second syllable is from the French influence; but in that case, wouldn’t it be “bur-gun-DEE”?.)
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### Author:  [@CandyMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandyMan)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2000, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020/2 "2000-09-13T14:31:34Z")
Think about the way they pronounce thier own city name. I wouldn’t use them as an example of how to pronounce anything.
CandyMan
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### Author:  [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2000, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020/3 "2000-09-13T15:17:04Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \*
> \*\*
> (There’s also a street called Burgundy that they pronounce “bur-GUN-dee”. I assume the accent on the second syllable is from the French influence; but in that case, wouldn’t it be “bur-gun-DEE”?.)
> \*\*
Hardly, it’s “Bourgogne” in French.
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### Author:  [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2000, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020/4 "2000-09-13T15:57:24Z")
Calliope is the muse of music. There are other muses, but I reckon they are more like metahporical figures rather than goddesses per se.
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### Author:  [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2000, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020/5 "2000-09-13T16:50:08Z")
Actually, Calliope was the muse of epic poetry.
[http://www.eliki.com/portals/fantasy/circle/calliope.html](http://www.eliki.com/portals/fantasy/circle/calliope.html)
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2000, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020/6 "2000-09-13T17:18:20Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \*
> But there is a Calliope St. in New Orleans and the locals pronounce it “CALLY-ope”. Why is that?
That would be the french pronunciation of the word Calliope.
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2000, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020/7 "2000-09-13T17:23:52Z")
So if Calliope is the Muse of Epic Poetry, and Euterpe is the Muse of Music, how come the thing got called a Calliope instead of a Euterpe?
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2000, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020/8 "2000-09-13T18:18:43Z")
> [@](#):
>
> So if Calliope is the Muse of Epic Poetry, and Euterpe is the Muse of Music, how come the thing got called a Calliope instead of a Euterpe?
WAG:
1 - J. C. Stoddard’s incomplete classical education? (J. C. Stoddard invented the damn thing).
2 - “Calliope” was more euphonious. Look, at least he didn’t call it a “terpsichore”.
BTW, the calliope qualifies as the loudest non-electronically amplified instrument ever invented. There are reports of them being heard at a range of 12 miles.
Stoddard:
[http://www.foxtail.com/Calliope/harmony.html](http://www.foxtail.com/Calliope/harmony.html)
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2000, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020/9 "2000-09-13T18:38:30Z")
Correction - Stoddard invented the steam version we are all familiar with. He could have taken the term “calliope” from an earlier air version, I suppose.
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2000, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020/10 "2000-09-13T22:01:36Z")
Probably the namer of the instrument was influenced by the literal translation of the name of the Greek muse: “Calliope” means “beautiful voice.” That the the instrument does not in fact have a beautiful voice is immaterial.
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### Author:  [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2000, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020/11 "2000-09-13T23:53:26Z")
So how DO they pronounce New Orleans?
Or-leens (english) or or-leh-ahns (french)?
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### Author:  [@jcgmoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jcgmoi)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2000, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020/12 "2000-09-14T00:00:22Z")
**LaurAnge** said: So how DO they pronounce New Orleans?
That would be “Nawlins”.
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### Author:  [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2000, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020/13 "2000-09-14T00:16:02Z")
_shakes head_ Those wacky Americans…
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### Author:  [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2000, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calliope/33020/14 "2000-09-14T01:22:25Z")
The pronounciation depends on where it’s located. The location of the calliope determined the pronounciation. A land based one, or a river boat one, each had a different pronounciation. I have to research, because I can’t remember which was which, and I don’t want to WAG.