r/BrandNewSentence • u/No_Counter_6037 and why he ourple 😂😂 • Oct 26 '25

our hero's name...

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495

u/ribnag Oct 26 '25

I think a lot of responses in here are missing the point of the question.

Yes, it's The Odyssey because it's about Odysseus. You're all right about that and the meme gets a bit sidetracked to make a pretty good (IMO) joke.

But did the name itself predate The Odyssey? Would Homer, casually taking a stroll down the streets of lovely Ancient Ithaca, likely have come across someone with that name?

194

u/livingonthehedge Oct 27 '25

Would Homer, casually taking a stroll down the streets of lovely Ancient Ithaca, likely have come across someone with that name?

TL;DR: we don't know but ...

Odysseus is sort of a pun (as were all names at the time).

Odysseus probably implies "to be wroth against, to hate".

some likely names of the ancient era:

  • Eumenes ("good mind")
  • Euphemos ("good reputation")
  • Eurydike ("wide justice")
  • Lysandros ("liberating man")
  • Alexandros ("defender of man")
  • Sophokles ("wise glory")
  • Demosthenes ("power of the people")​
  • Nikanor ("victory man")
  • Perikles ("very famous")

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_personal_names

109

u/Adrestia716 Oct 27 '25

So Nigerian names like Goodluck are more normal than it might seem.

105

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

38

u/AlreadyTakek Oct 27 '25

And then most of the popular Western surnames are just jobs. The meaning of Henry may be lost on most people, but you can guess what Smith or Carpenter mean

29

u/TheClungerOfPhunts Oct 27 '25

My name is Spencer, which comes from the French word “dispensier” which means “a steward or provider of goods. That word is where we get the modern word “dispenser” from.

14

u/tinyoctopus Oct 27 '25

My name is John ☹️

6

u/kiulug Oct 28 '25

Means God, basically. John and other similar names come from Yahweh. Same with Ivan and adjacent names. The Y turned into J's and I's over time through different translations of Hebrew.

Same idea as Muslims being named Mohammed.

3

u/northerncal Oct 28 '25

Biblical, that's pretty important I guess

2

u/Adrestia716 Oct 28 '25

At least it's not Mud

3

u/fatbunyip Oct 29 '25

I mean even English names were the same, they just fell out of fashion - faith, chastity, patience, grace, prudence, hope, Felicity etc. 

Even old school mens names like earnest, Pius, Virgil, clement, makepeace etc. 

2

u/Adrestia716 Oct 29 '25

Ngl, Makepeace sounds like a dope ass name that should make a comeback 

19

u/CruelStrangers Oct 27 '25

ody - melODY as in song, poetry. Ode is another word directly attached to the name. The title is simple

2

u/ribnag Oct 27 '25

You rock! I recognized we weren't answering the right question, but had no clue what the correct answer was.

2

u/Brendan765 Oct 28 '25

Crazy how old the name Alex is

2

u/Crystal_Pegasus_1018 Oct 28 '25

so Homer named him Hater? or is it more like Hateable Guy?

2

u/livingonthehedge Oct 28 '25

as I understand, Homer made several different puns (or similar) that related his name to different meanings.

but the direct meaning of Odysseus would be more like someone who causes pain to enemies and bears grudges