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[Facts] Oenone
Does anyone know what this name means and how to pr. it? It's derived from Greek mythology, I think.
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Pronunciation often depends on how historically accurate you want to be. In the Tennyson poem it's conventionally pronounced ee-NO-nee, but I imagine a real, live ancient Greek would give the first syllable the usual oy! The meaning? Something to do with wine; I'd do better if I had my dictionaries to hand!In the myths, she's a bit of a loser - you'll recall that Paris won Helen of Troy for "correctly" judging Aphrodite the winner of the celestial beauty contest (Ms Olympus?); well, he'd been having an affair with a nymph called Oenone before that, and promptly dumped her without a backward glance.
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Besides that, she was a bit weird. Angry with her husband (yes, they were married) and Helen, Oenone sent her son, Corythus, to try to seduce Helen. (And the Paris didn't recognize his son and killed him.)
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Thanks!nm
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Oinone? Omicron-iota? It's from oinos 'wine'. If so, the first syllable is as in 'coin' or 'boy' - oy-NO-ne.I don't know of omicron-eta or omicron-epsilon in any words close to Oenone - it was a rare pairing.Devon
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