Probably a daft question, but...

[Sunshine]

I am totally new to this and have decided to go with the Greek Gods. I have ordered a book from Amazon so when it arrives I will know all about them, the thing is, I am not sure how to pronounce some of their names.

Do they get upset if you can't say their names properly?

[astrokaiju]

i wouldn't worry about it.

it seems to me that exactly what you call them doesn't make that big a difference. the Gods aren't really exactly who and what they are in the myths, and the names are just names that people use for them, because they are so great and mysterious that it's the only way we can relate to them.

it's like...say there was a guy who went to the same restaraunt every day, and none of the waiters knew his name, but they all came up with nicknames for him so that they could talk about whether he's here today, or speculate as to why he eats there every day. they're just names people use for him so they can refer to him, but they aren't his real names.

i hope that makes sense...

the point is that i don't think it matters what you call the Gods. it just matters that you make the effort to reach out to them and commune with them.

and by the way: Greek mythology is studied widely enough that it ought to be easy to find out the pronunciations somewhere. your book might even have a guide when it gets there. i can say that, as a general rule, you pronounce all the letters, even the "e" at the end which is usually silent in english. i could help you with some of them, and i'm sure other people here could too.

[Lavender]

I just picked up a book for my son. It's called "Gods, Demigods & Demons: An Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology" by Bernard Evslin.

It gives the name & the pronunciation as well as a little blurb on the history of the deity. It has a listing for over 540 names.

[Nina]

Good for you, I've always worked with the Greek Pantheon - the mythology is wonderful, and I've had marvelous results. I've worked with Hekate for a long time, and I spent ages pronouncing the H - only to read that that classical greek didn't use the H-sound, so her name should really be pronounced without it... but it didn't seem to upset her, and she became my Matron goddess anyway...

So good luck, go for it, and may Hekate bless you with the wisdom to and knowledge to work well with our Greek ancient ones!

[Mercuria]

If you're going with the greek pantheon exclusively, you may be interested in the traditional rituals that the greek people used.

Some people believe that when using a specific pantheon, you should honour those Gods in the same way as their people did.

Mercuria

[Xander67]

:o I think I you wish to contact a specific diety
you need not be too stressed about whether you
pronounce his/her name right

all that matters is what is in your heart

to me, worrying about details like that would only take away from the things you should be concentrating on, like intent and the reason for contacting ...

Im quite sure the diety you are trying to reach knows your heart
and would not get all bent out of shape if you Mis-pronounced his/her name


thats my opinion anyhow

[astrokaiju]

i think a lot of people who are new to this religion are afraid because the only god they ever knew about before had a big list of rules, and he was just waiting to smite you for breaking one.
but you don't have to be afraid. the gods aren't out to get you. if you put only love and good intentions toward them, you will get their blessings in return.

[Myst]

Believe me, the Gods don't care if you can't pronounce their names properly. It might interest you to learn the proper ways sometime but it's not necessary.

[Mnemosyne]

If you are going to learn more about the Greek pantheon, I think that you should learn how to pronounce the names of the gods. I don't have one around at the moment, but I have seen books on how to pronouce the names of the gods. If you can't find a book and have a question about how to pronounce the name of a god, I would be more than happy to help. The book which I use to learn more about Greek mythology is the Dictionary of Classical Mythology by Pierre Grimal. The book is informative; also, it has the names of the gods written in both the Greek and Roman alphabet.