# Correct pronounciation of Odysseus? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228 "2002-10-21T14:11:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Church\_Key\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Church\_Key\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Church_Key_Kid)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/1 "2002-10-21T14:11:00Z")
What is the correct way to pronounce Odysseus? Is it Oh-diss-e-us, or Oh-diss-oose (as in Zeus)? If the first pronounciation is correct, then why is Zeus pronounced like Zoose, as opposed to Zee-us? ---
**Author:** ![einzelwesen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b77776/32.png) [@einzelwesen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/einzelwesen)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/2 "2002-10-21T14:24:33Z")
It’s pronounced ‘oh-dis-see-us’ (slur the words slightly and say it all quickly) said carefully and correctly, but it’s said as ‘oh-diss-e-us’. They’re both correct, but the way that most speech slurs ‘ess’ sounds if they’re together in a word disguises the fact that they’re seperate parts of the word. You would pronounce it as ‘oh-diss-soose’ if this was not true, as the ‘dys’ is seperate to the ‘seus’- they’re seperate ‘ss’ sounds and should be pronounced seperately, even if they’re together in the word. Zeus is pronounced ‘zoose’ because of the ‘zeu’, which is pronounced as ‘zoo’ in standard English. Break Odysseus down: O/dys/se/us …it’s got two ‘ss’ sounds together (the end of ‘oh-diss’ and the start of ‘see-us’). It doesn’t make sense to slur them together- they’re seperate parts of the word. Hope this was useful. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/3 "2002-10-21T15:05:02Z")
This reminds me of something I was wondering about a while back. Why did the Greek hero Herakles become the Roman Hercules? My idea is that the accents in the name shifted over time; at one point it would have been “hair/uh/klees,” then gradually became “her/uh/kuh/lees,” then “her/kuh/lees,” and finally “her/cue/lees.” I don’t have any basis for this. It’s just an idea I had once. Anybody have the actual explanation? ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/4 "2002-10-21T15:05:48Z")
From the introduction to the Penguin Classics edition of _The Odyssey_: “-_eus_ is a diphthong ( Zeus rhymes with _puce_ and Odysseus has three syllables only).” ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/5 "2002-10-21T15:14:31Z")
I do not speek Greek but from what I’ve gathered the -eu- diphtong is correctly prononuced -ev- (like in Europe _ev-ro-peh_, the mythical princess that Europe is named after). Thus Zeus is pronounced _zevs_ and Odysseus _o-dis-evs_. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/6 "2002-10-21T15:17:00Z")
It comes from a language each vowel is sounded. Although certain combinations (diphthongs) are treated as a single sound, you can see how the two sounds are blended/slurred to get there. The “eu” diphthong is a condensed form of EH and OOH. Say EH-OOH very fast and smoothly to get the original pronunciation. Key features in the names under question are where the stress lies and aglicized pronunciation. Stressed syllables tend to resist elision and transformation more than unstressed ones. In Odysseus, the “-eus” part is unstressed. In English pronunciaton, the “e” commonly becomes a half-long E and the “us” gets sounded as in “puss,” but briefer. An alternative pronunciation in my dictionary is o-DIS-yoos, but one seldom hears that. In Zeus, the “-eus” part is stressed. In English, it commonly becomes OOS as in “moose.” ---
**Author:** ![einzelwesen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b77776/32.png) [@einzelwesen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/einzelwesen)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/7 "2002-10-21T15:19:36Z")
Meh. From what my classical scholar friends have told me, that’s how it’s pronounced. The rest I chucked in myself. I’m not one to challenge the Penguin Classics definition… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/8 "2002-10-21T15:30:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gary T \* > \*\*… In English, it commonly becomes OOS as in “moose.” \*\* That ought to have read "in _American_ English, it commonly becomes OOS as in “moose”, Gary. Nobody pronounces it like that where I live. We say Z-you-s. ---
**Author:** ![einzelwesen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b77776/32.png) [@einzelwesen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/einzelwesen)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/9 "2002-10-21T15:42:03Z")
Ah, that’d explain it! I’m in Australia, so evidently we use the proper pronounciation as opposed to the Americanised one. Heh heh heh. Americans speak English in all sorts of funny ways, don’t they? But then again, who doesn’t? ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/10 "2002-10-21T16:59:07Z")
America: I will attest to the following common usage (regardless of correctness): Zeus = “zoose” Odysseus = “oh DISS ee us” I have also heard Odysseus pronounced “oh DOOSE ee us” by aged English teachers (that is, American-born teachers of English Literature). ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/11 "2002-10-21T18:02:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by everton \* > \*\* > That ought to have read "in _American_ English, it commonly becomes OOS as in “moose”, Gary. Nobody pronounces it like that where I live. We say Z-you-s. \*\* Actually, my dictionary listed zyoos as an alternative pronunciation. Having never heard it myself, I glossed over it. It didn’t occur to me that I was talking about American English, thanks for clarifying that. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/12 "2002-10-21T22:03:18Z")
In Modern Greek, of course, there are no diphthongs; besides _zeta_ is, according to every language book dealing with Greek I have ever seen, pronounced _zd_ or _dz._ And if the former diphthong _eu_ comes just before an _unvoiced_ final consonant, such as sigma, the upsilon is pronounced as English _f,_ not _v;_ thus: Zeus: _Dzeffs_ or _Zdeffs_ Odysseus: _o-DEES-effs_ Subject to correction by speakers of modern Greek, of course. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nonsmokingmirror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@nonsmokingmirror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonsmokingmirror)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/13 "2002-10-21T23:53:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by toadspittle \* > \*\* > I have also heard Odysseus pronounced “oh DOOSE ee us” by aged English teachers (that is, American-born teachers of English Literature). \*\* Those aged teachers had a point – that ‘y’ is a Greek letter upsilon (written Y (upper case), u (lower case)), and the accepted reconstruction of the classical (Attic, which was not the same as Homer’s dialect but is about as close as we can get) Greek pronunciation of that letter is like modern German ü or the u in French tu - almost like an ee but with rounded lips. Also, there was a grave accent on the -eus, and nobody exactly 100% knows how that would have been pronounced – some kind of pitch change (musically a little higher than the other syllables), which can easily be heard as a light stress… …so, the absolute final best guess at how Uncle Homer would have said it is something like odüs- **seus** …but it would be actively a bad idea to try and pronounce it like that while speaking English (due to danger of being lynched for gigantic pretentiousness, etc). Odissayoos - OdissYOOs - it’s all good… and remember, the Romans turned it into Ulysses, so whatever you say will be more accurate than they managed 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/14 "2002-10-22T01:12:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Floater \* > \*\*I do not speek Greek but from what I’ve gathered the -eu- diphtong is correctly prononuced -ev- (like in Europe _ev-ro-peh_, the mythical princess that Europe is named after). Thus Zeus is pronounced _zevs_ and Odysseus _o-dis-evs_. \*\* This is true in modern Greek, but we have no reason to suspect that it holds in classical Greek as well. Of course, I’m not aware of any good reason to suspect that it doesn’t, native speakers of classical Greek being so hard to come by these days. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/15 "2002-10-22T02:57:01Z")
Ulysses . . . . Yeah, yeah. That’s the Roman/Latin corruption. Let a guy have a joke, willya? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/16 "2002-10-23T00:57:22Z")
yes, it is ulysses. and, i think kirk douglas ought to know! btw, why are we assuming that zeus is pronounced with only one syllable? ---
**Author:** ![caffeine\_overdose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@caffeine\_overdose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caffeine_overdose)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/17 "2002-10-23T02:38:25Z")
How about Ozymandias? That is one that has always bothered me. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciation-of-odysseus/133228/18 "2002-10-23T15:39:43Z")
> [@](#): > > btw, why are we assuming that zeus is pronounced with only one syllable? B/c otherwise you end up on the Planet of the Apes. [simpsons] Doctor Zaius, Doctor Zaius Doctor Zaius, Doctor Zaius Doctor Zaius, Doctor Zaius Ohhhh, Doctor Zaius. [/simpsons]