why's it so hard 😭
this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
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I think Joey would be much closer to the right pronunciation in this case.
I’m pretty sure ancient Greek didn’t have any concept of a “Silent Pi”. That leading “p” sound is supposed to be said.
It might be really hard for a native English speaker to say those two consonants together, but that doesn’t mean Joey is wrong for trying.
… although, I guess any pronunciation will be wrong because the actual name was “Πτολεμαίος”, so if you wanted a correct transliteration you would have to use “Ptolemaious”
Regardless, Joey is still closer to the correct pronunciation.
You can put it in google translate to hear a modern greek version of it. The P sound is there but nearly silent.
https://translate.google.com/?sl=el&tl=en&text=%CE%A0%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%B5%CE%BC%CE%B1%CE%AF%CE%BF%CF%82&op=translate