Did ancient Egyptian voices echo through the streets of classical Athens?
In 458 BCE, the Athenian theatre brought the Nile to Greece. This lecture by Professor Sofia Torallas Tovar explores the linguistic traces left by Egyptian residents and the subtle influence of Egyptian words on Greek drama and speech.
The video features a lecture by Sofia Torallas Tovar, a Professor of Classics and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. She examines the contact between Greece and Egypt during the era before Alexander’s conquest.
By analyzing Aeschylus’s tragedy *The Suppliants*, presented in 458 BCE, Torallas Tovar demonstrates how the playwright integrated Egyptian vocabulary into Greek dialogue. This linguistic overlap reflects a reality where Egyptian-born residents worked in Athenian markets and harbors, and where the wonders of the Nile were already known to the Athenian public through figures like Herodotus.
Source: Sofia Torallas Tovar | Egyptians in Athens: Following the Trails of Words
