How common were nicknames or pet names in Ancient Macedonia? In your novels, Hephaistion used some with Alexandros. Were terms of endearment (love, sweetheart, darling, etc) a thing back there?
Nicknames, Diminutives, and Endearments in Ancient Greece
This is really two different questions. The first involves the use of nicknames, the other of endearments. I want to divide them to clarify the difference. Why?
Most cultures employ endearments, and usually diminutives. Not all cultures employ nicknames, or not formulated as we think of them.
In the modern Western world (including modern Greece), “nicknames” are often a shortening of longer names for familiar use. In some cultures (such as the informal US), the impetus to shorten is so strong that those who insist on using a full name-form may be labeled “haughty.” E.g., “Charles” is perceived differently from “Charlie” or “Chuck.”
Then we have diminutives. Sometimes the diminutive is also the nickname (Charlie), but not always: “Bobby/Robby” is a diminutive of “Bob/Rob” which is the nickname of “Robert.” Even very short one-syllable names can have a diminutive: “Annie” for “Ann/e.”
Again, a diminutive is not the same as a nickname. Diminutives are typically given to children, but also to anyone perceived as junior or childlike. So diminutives for an adult often imply an insult. (Something Trump uses quite well.)
Modern Greeks also shorten names and use diminutives (a lot). For men, diminutive forms are “-akes,” “-akos,” and “-oules,” but “-itsa” and “-oula” for women. My name, Jeanne = Ioanna in Greek. The common nickname for that is Yanna, but the diminutive is Ioannoula. Yes, diminutives are often longer than the original. I’m not going to go further, as I’m no expert on modern Greek names. That’s just basic stuff. Better to ask a Greek. 😉
How modern Greeks shorten names isn’t necessarily how ancient Greeks did. When writing Dancing with the Lion, I had to wrestle with whether to use nicknames, and decided to do so, mostly due to the LENGTH of Greek names, which are unfamiliar to most English-speakers. Furthermore, there may be some evidence for shortened name forms: Kraton for Krateros.
But not all nicknames were a shortening. Remember, the ancient Greeks didn’t find their names “long.” Sometimes they used an “extra” name. Among the better known are Antigonos ho Monophthalmos: the One-Eyed, and Kleitos ho Melas: the Black, to differentiate him from another high officer, Kleitos ho Leukos (the White). We also use nicknames like that, but we then drop the given name. The very different nickname becomes the name. Most people called “Shorty” aren’t “Clinton the Shorty.” But that is how the ancient Greeks used them (or so it seems from texts). Such substitutional nicknames can completely eclipse a person’s “real” name. Anybody able to tell me Sting’s or Madonna’s without looking it up? That could also happen in ancient Greece, but less often. By all accounts “Platon” was a nickname, not Plato’s birth name.
Back to shortening given names. We aren’t sure how often it happened, and whether the ancient shortening would have resembled modern. But if Kraton for Krateros is any example, it probably did. Therefore, I felt comfortable choosing Alekos for Alexandros, or Sakis (as Ptolemaios calls him), although Sakis is usually more common for Anastasios. (Btw: Alekos is if you’re talking about him, Aleko if you’re talking to him.)
It can be tough for non-native speakers, or even native speakers, to guess what might be the shortened version of names no longer in use, such as Hephaistion. I polled quite a few Greek friends, who suggested Phaiton, Phaiston, or Phaistas. Obviously, I choose that last.
(Incidentally, I’ve seen “Phai” used quite a bit by fans. When I mentioned that to a Greek colleague, she practically burst out laughing and said not only was that a woman’s name, it sounded like something a hetaira would pick as a sort of “stage” name. Greeks tend to be blunt. 🤣 So…probably best to drop its use.)
Now, as for endearments, the ancient ones weren’t too different from modern.
Philos is the most obvious, and most generic. Our equivalent of “dear,” or “beloved.” O phile is the vocative (what you say TO someone). It’s really o phile (male) and o phila (female). Remember Greek is a gendered language, so a male love is ho philos and a female one is he phila (the nominative case). If you’re referring to them, in English, we’d use that nominative.
O philtate, is the superlative. If o phile is dear one or friend, o philtate is dearest one or best friend. You could also translate it as “dearest love.” Again, the nominative form would be ho philtatos/he philtatē.
There’s also erasmios/erasmia, which implies something sexual, but not always.
Finally ho agapetós/he agapeta (o agapete/a) is also “dear,” but implies more familiarity. One can make it personal by using the possessive: o agapete mou. There’s also a diminutive form o agapoula (female) or o agapoules (male), but that would be used for women or (either gender) children. It might be used for an eromenos (younger beloved), but not an adult male (unless you intend to insult him).
While you can call someone o phile, it’s kinda generic. O philtate isn’t. Likewise, o agapete isn’t, either. Agapetos neither assumes nor denies a sexual relationship. But they’re both versions of “dear” and “love.” Philtatos is a little archaic.
O khara is “My joy,” related to kharis (grace), the root of charisma. If you want to make it specifically possessive: o khara mou (masculine). This (to me) has a feel of something a man says to a woman or younger boyfriend, although spouses might use it for each other.
O meli & o melema would be “sweetheart” or “my sweet friend.” Meli is honey (literally honey, like you put in your tea). O meli is an archaic form that stuck around in vocative only, like as an address as in a letter to a friend: “Dear …”
Related to the above is o glukutaton, which means “sweet [little] thing.” It’s in the neuter. There’s a playfulness to it, but could also be demeaning, depending on the target. A man might say this to a boy or woman he finds attractive. Saying it to an adult man would be an insult.
He kallistē/ho kallistē, related to kalos (beautiful), can be used as “Pretty one.” On pottery (et al.) we find reference to “Kalos ___” (enter a name). O kallistē would be what someone might call that “beautiful one.” As above, this is more often said by the erastes to an eromenos or eromena.
Last, there’s one I think I used once, somewhere in the books (Dancing with the Lion) or later short bits: o khrusion or o khrusion mou, which means “Golden One,” or “My Golden One.” It’s Hephaistion’s pet name for Alexandros, although he doesn’t use it a lot, and he usually means it either as a bit of a joke, or sometimes when he’s really overwhelmed/in awe of what he feels for Alexandros.
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