Welcoming Devon in the UK today and particularly, Exeter. The town who’s underground passageways that used to bring fresh water into It, are still open to the public to visit through guided tours. If you’re not afraid of underground tight spaces that is. Thank you for listening Exeter!

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(Piano music) Hello, and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go!

Οίδημα (oedima) in Ancient Greek meant ‘swelling’ and πούς (pous) meant 'foot'. The spelling changed when moved to Latin and the Greek diphthong o+i turned into o+e but enough with grammar, let’s get to the fun part the myth which I absolutely recommend you read in full when you get a chance. In Greek mythology, when the king of Thebes Λάιος (Lios) got the prophesy that his firstborn will be the one that kills him, decided to pierce the baby’s feet and tight them together before handing him to a servant to abandon the infant on a mountain . A Shepard found the baby and took it home as he and his wife were childless and saw that as a blessing. They named him after his ailment, his swollen ankles, and when he grew up the young man wanted to find out his origins. He was told by an oracle that he’s bound to kill his father so, he left his home ,thinking that will keep his father safe. In his travels, he encountered a man that wouldn’t let him through a tight passage. They fought and the young man killed him. Continuing his journey, he reached Thebes but its gates were guarded by the Sphinx. A monster with a female head and a lion’s body that would devour anyone who didn’t solve its riddle: which creature has one voice but has four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at night? The young man answered ‘a Man’ . A man crawls in the beginning of his life, stands in the middle of it and in the end uses a cane, so three legs. The Sphinx, defeated, threw herself from a cliff and the city of Thebes was liberated from the monster. The young man was crowned King of Thebes- since the king was missing- and married It’s Queen. The tragedy of his story became not one but two famous plays. The man who killed his father in a tight passage and married his mother is a terrible story of how fate plays an integral part in Ancient Greek storytelling. The young man’s name was ΟΙΔΗΠΟΔΑΣ/OEDIPUS

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