Hegelochus ( grc, Ἡγέλοχος, fl. 408 BC) was an Ancient Greek actor active in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

in the

5th century BC The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. This century saw the establishment of Pataliputra as a capital of the Magadha Empire. This city would later become the ruling capital of different Indian king ...

, best remembered for a slight pronunciation mistake that derailed his career.

''Orestes''

Hegelochus acted in the play by

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars a ...

when it was performed in the

City Dionysia The Dionysia (, , ; Greek: Διονύσια) was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies. It was the s ...

dramatic festival in 408 BC. He was playing the title role of

Orestes In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; grc-gre, Ὀρέστης ) was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, and the brother of Electra. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness an ...

. In line 279 of the play, instead of "after the storm I see again a calm sea" (, ), Hegelochus recited "after the storm I see again a weasel" (, ). ''Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', Vol. 3, 1867, p. 706
/ref>Scholion to Euripides, l. 279
Hegelochus' mistake was to use a rising-falling tone instead of a rising tone. In the nominative, the adjective forms that give "calm sea" are (), and "weasel" is either or (). The accusative plural of is (), which, after apocope, results in ; the

accusative The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘th ...

of is ()." This can be explained by his running out of breath and failing to make the elision. Moreover, the weasel was an unlucky animal, contrasting with the optimistic intent of the line. This error was widely mocked, Hegelochus was ruined, and he never acted again. It may also have contributed to Euripides leaving Athens.

Mentions

The error was mocked by

Sannyrion Sannyrion ( grc, Σαννυρίων) was an Athenian comic poet of the late 5th century BC, and a contemporary of Diocles and Philyllius, according to the Suda. He belonged to the later years of Old Comedy and the start of Middle Comedy. Works ...

in his ''Danae'', in

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his for ...

' ''

The Frogs ''The Frogs'' ( grc-gre, Βάτραχοι, Bátrakhoi, Frogs; la, Ranae, often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus in ...

'', by the comic poet

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

, and by

Strattis Strattis ( grc, Στράττις) was an Athenian comic poet of the Old Comedy. According to the Suda, he flourished later than Callias Schoenion. Therefore, it is likely that his poetry was performed at the 92nd Olympiad, that is, 412 BC. Stratt ...

in his ''The Human Orestes'' (), (), and ().

References

{{reflist Ancient Greek actors