Grek translating: If 'Good Place/No place' is Utopia, Would 'Other Place' be Eteratopia?

June 29, 2010 4:19 AM

Futzing with Ancient Greek: If 'Good Place/No place' is Utopia, Would 'Other Place' be Eteratopia?

I don't know from ancient greek, so that's just a total stab in the dark. What's the best word or short phrase to denote Other Place in Ancient Greek?

'Other place' here ideally meaning or having connotations of Other in terms of Self vs Other, Us vs Them, or Barbarians at the Gates. Alien Place etc.

Any thoughts?

posted by Cantdosleepy to Writing & Language (3 answers total)

Best answer: I'd suggest 'xenotopia' from the Greek xenos meaning "foreign, strange".
posted by cnanderson at 5:00 AM on June 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Greek colleague next to me suggests "allotopia" rather than etera ("next to").
posted by creeky at 5:26 AM on June 29, 2010

Best answer: This doesn't directly answer your question, but a number of modern geographers do use "heterotopia" to connote "other spaces."
posted by googly at 5:42 AM on June 29, 2010