Stentorian
Extremely loud and powerful in voice, from Stentor, the Greek herald whose shout equalled fifty men.
The Meaning of Stentorian
Stentor was a herald in the Greek army during the Trojan War. Homer describes him in the Iliad as a man with a voice of bronze, as loud as fifty ordinary men shouting at once. When the Greek forces were in disarray, Hera borrowed Stentor's appearance and bellowed commands across the battlefield, rallying the troops. Some later writers said Stentor died after losing a shouting contest with Hermes — the messenger god's divine voice finally outmatched the mortal herald. Stentor appears only briefly in the Iliad, yet his extraordinary voice made such an impression that "stentorian" became a permanent English adjective. A stentorian voice is one that carries across great distances, commanding attention through sheer volume and authority — a drill sergeant's bark, a politician's oration, or a ship captain's orders cutting through a storm.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
Stentor has only a handful of lines in the Iliad, yet his name survived three thousand years to become the English word for a booming voice.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
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