You're listening to Part-Time Genius, a production of Kaleidoscope and I-Heart Radio.

Guess what, Mango?

Was that well? All right, so I was reading up on ancient Greek

theater this week, which you know I like to do every October. Very personal

reasons. I don't want to get into it and I came across this story about an Athenian actor name he Gellagos and he once

Mispronounced a word so badly that it tanked his entire career that sounds so harsh like just one word, Tanked his career?

What was the word?

Well, so here's the story.

This happened back in the spring of 408 BC, and it was during the premiere performance of Orestes. This was this tragedy written by

Eurybodies. He was playing the lead role and in a scene where his character recovers from

a bout of madness. He's supposed to say, quote, after the storm, I see once

more a calm. But because he was rushing to get the line out, there's this word in it,

Galen, and he says it with the wrong inflection

which changed the meaning from calm to weasel like that's a different word

entirely I always think that's an improvement. Well it was actually worse

than it sounds because in ancient Greece seeing a weasel was considered a

really bad omen. So the mispronunciation not only made the line sound

sillier it also conveyed the exact opposite mood. Instead of being this

optimistic line about feeling better, it became this ominous line about him having bad luck.

And it was actually that big of a mistake, just mispronouncing this one word.

I'm telling you, it ruined his whole career.

So comic playwrights of the era teased him mercilessly and even referenced

...