The epsilon-upsilon (eu) in words like basileus and Achilleus is a diphthong, not two seperate -ey-us syllables. So it is with Odysseus – all these words are three syllables. O-düs-SEUS, Akh-il-LEUS

Other fun facts: words derived from Greek ending in -ia are accented on the second-to-last syllable: pho-BI-ā. The I is short and the A is long, giving it an Arabic flavor: Asiyah, the province across the Bosphorous. Stigmata and the plurals of other -ma words as well as “amphora” are properly pronounced with a stressed first syllable, which is why I can never say the word Sephora correctly. By the Greek sound patterns the name is obviously intended to provoke, Se-PHOR-a is a mispronunciation. Likewise, Athenos exists only as the name of a brand of Greek yogurt. The city, in Classical times as now, is Athenae.

From the other languages, “carmina” is pronounced on the first syllable; CAR-mi-na Burana. Even classical music experts get that one wrong. A carmen is a poem or song (something to be recited or sung), and carmina are carmens. This is where the name Carmen comes from, popularized mostly because of the opera (though the operatic Carmen is of rather loose morals.)