ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2184 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2184 ************************************ 5 Dec 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for the correct Greek spelling of the 11th century name , and you asked if we could tell you the meaning of . This letter is a brief answer to your question. In a previous report [1], we recommended and suggested that you add a family name; and that's just what you've done. The family name appears in Byzantine records from 1158 [2]. The notation represents an eta, rather than an epsilon which we represent ; and similarly represents omega while represents omicron. It was borne by several important Byzantine figures, including , caesar of the independent Thessaly and vassal to Emperor John V of Byzantium between 1373 and 1393 [3]; and the 12th century nobleman [4]. We aren't certain what meant. It may be related to the word "loving mankind, humane, kind, benevolent", which was used as an attribute of Christ in the Middle Ages and of gods, men, and animals in antiquity [5]. Athanasios Philanthro:penos was steward of the monastery of Christos Philanthro:pos in Constantinople [4]; so his family name might simply have meant "of Philanthro:pos". In Greek, your name would have been spelled beta-alpha-sigma-iota-lambda-epsilon-iota-omicron-sigma phi-iota-lambda-alpha-nu-theta-rho-omega-pi-epsilon-nu-omicron-sigma phi-iota-lambda-omicron-mu-alpha-theta-eta-sigma. In your period, we believe that your name would have been written with acute accent marks on the first iota in , on the omega in , and on the eta in . You can find a complete illustration of the Greek alphabet on the web: http://metalab.unc.edu/koine/greek/lessons/alphabet.html Note that the letter sigma has two forms; the second shown in this table is used when the sigma is the last letter in a word. Your name would have been pronounced \vah-SEE-lee-ohs fee-lahn-THROH-pay-nohs fee-loh-MAH-thees\. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja, AElfwyn aet Gyrwum, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, and Margaret Makafee. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 5 Dec 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Academy of Saint Gabriel report 1282 http://www.panix.com/~gabriel/public-bin/showfinal.cgi?1282 [2] Bardas Xiphias, "Personal Names of the Aristocracy in the Roman Empire During the Later Byzantine Era" (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/byzantine/introduction.html [3] "Greece, history of" Encyclopędia Britannica Online. [Accessed 31 October 2000]. http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?eu=109178&sctn=8 [4] Halsall, Paul, "Internet Medieval Sourcebook" (WWW: privately published, 1996-2000, accessed 31 Oct 2000). http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1c.html [5] Crane, Gregory, R., ed, _The Perseus Project_ (WWW: Tufts University), s.v. philanthro:pos. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/lexica.html