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#190977 05/10/10 08:30 AM
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Sir Thomas More may have had two derivations from the Greek. The first syllable, "U", could represent the Greek "ou", meaning "not", or the Greek "eu", meaning "good". In English, the compound word derived either way will sound the same. He may thus have been suggesting that an ideal place is impossible in practice. The "eu" derivation is consistent with the generally accepted word "dystopia", meaning "bad place".

RonDavis #190980 05/10/10 12:34 PM
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Outopia and Eutopia are only homonyms in English. In both Classical and Modern Greek they have distinct pronunciations. A friend of More's, Erasmus, also had a punning title in his Moriae encomium "In Praise of Folly", with The Latinized Greek Moria standing in for Sir Thomas' surname. It was published a few years before More's Utopia.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
zmjezhd #191013 05/11/10 10:11 AM
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Pretty off-topic, but the thing that amazes me about AWAD's utopia is the portrait of Thomas More: http://wordsmith.org/words/images/utopia_large.jpg

This was painted in 1527 (MDXXVII under More's elbow) by a guy I never even heard of (Hans Holbein the Younger), but the photo-realistic quality is incredible. Just 50 years earlier, the standard of portrait/face painting was so much poorer.

RayButler #191023 05/11/10 12:23 PM
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a guy I never even heard of (Hans Holbein the Younger)

That painting of More is in the Frick Museum in Central Park, Manhattan, NY.Yes, HH the Younger was quite the artist.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
RayButler #191024 05/11/10 12:39 PM
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Here's a treat of more Holbein The Younger:
Images
He wasn't Henry XIII's Royal portrettist for nothing.

Today's painting by Breugel the Old, here named The Land of Cockaigne is called Luilekkerland (Lazy-Yummy land) in these parts and seen as a critisism on the sins of gluttony and sloth.

BranShea #191025 05/11/10 12:59 PM
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Henry XIII

Henry VIII. There was a Henry IX, who was one of the Stuart pretenders and a Roman catholic cardinal. He left the kingdoms of England, Ireland, and France to the House of Savoy.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
zmjezhd #191032 05/11/10 03:50 PM
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So who was Henry XIII?


----please, draw me a sheep----
LukeJavan8 #191040 05/11/10 06:46 PM
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England's Bluebeard King 1491-1547 Look him up for some nice costume movies. Charles Laughton
Link

Last edited by BranShea; 05/12/10 07:27 PM.
zmjezhd #191080 05/13/10 03:49 AM
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Outopia and Eutopia are only homonyms in English. They are?? Gosh, I would say the first one as oo-topia and the second as yew-topia. Oops.

Jackie #191081 05/13/10 03:52 AM
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Originally Posted By: Jackie
Outopia and Eutopia are only homonyms in English. They are?? Gosh, I would say the first one as oo-topia and the second as yew-topia. Oops.


the man said "English", J, not Kentuck.

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