The corners of London’s streets that are for ever Greece

Βy Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent for the Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea ([email protected])

UPDATED

London is 1,486 miles away from Athens. Although separated by continental Europe, different climates and much more, there is a surprising street-level connection between the two cities.

The link is not a result of the fact the UK is now inhabited by almost 120,000 Greeks (according to unofficial estimates by the Greek government), many of whom emigrated during the recent debt crisis, nor because Greek souvlaki restaurants, bakeries and cafés are mushrooming in the British capital.

Instead, it arises from dozens of London streets paying homage to Greece, drawing their names from Ancient Greece and its mythology.

From streets that hark back to the Trojan War (Agamemnon, Ajax, Achilles and Ulysses) and those that glorify the Twelve Olympians (Apollo, Artemis, Athena and Hermes), to roads inspired by the heroes of ancient Greek tragedies (Orestes) and other stars of Greek mythology (Hercules and Theseus), London has put Greek culture on prominent display.

More than seventy streets in London pay homage to Ancient Greece (scroll down for the full list).

West Hampstead, an area in the Borough of Camden in north-west London, has more streets with a Greek connection than any other part of the city; five within the boundaries of its Fortune Green ward and another three in its West Hampstead ward.

These roads were paved in the late 19th century, when William Gladstone, a famous philhellene who has a street named after him in Athens, was prime minister.

“What a brilliant idea - to try to track and trace the origins of London streets (and roads, passages, closes, courts, yards, ways ...) with Hellenic names! A native Londoner myself, I was of course very disappointed to learn that there is not a single example in SW15, but comforted by the veritable cluster that sprang up in West Hampstead in or about 1886,” Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture emeritus, University of Cambridge, told Greek daily Ta Nea.

“The British School at Athens was founded in that very year, but probably more to the point is that famous classicist W.E. Gladstone was then (once again) Prime Minister. There is still room for improvement, though: where oh where is Epameinondas Street/Road/Passage/Close/Court/Yard, or even Way?” Professor Cartledge, who is also President of The Hellenic Society, added.

“It is interesting to see so many names from Homer reflected in the roads of Camden’s Fortune Green neighbourhood. Although the Trojan War myth gives the cause as the abduction of Helen, the Achaean kings no doubt also sailed in expectation of making fortunes from the fall of Troy - so Fortune Green is a good place for their names to be noted,” said Andrew Dismore, London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden and former Labour MP.

Except for Lithos Road, all West Hampstead’s ‘Greek streets’ are inspired by mythology (Achilles Road, Agamemnon Road, Ajax Road, Ulysses Road, Narcissus Road, Orestes Mews and Pandora Road).

It is not clear why these names were chosen. According to Gillian Bebbington’s book Street Names of London (B .T. Batsford, London, 1972), during Hampstead’s urbanisation in the mid-19th century “the (land companies’) only aim in naming streets was to give an impression of genteel, vaguely rural, desirable residences.”

Flick Rea, Councillor for the Fortune Green ward, thinks this explanation makes sense.

“It was a time where streets were named usually by the developer who was quite often the builder as well. At first, I thought that perhaps these streets were named after battleships of the Royal Navy built in the 1880s. But I’m told that some of them were not particularly successful, so that wouldn’t seem very likely,” says Rea, who was first elected to represent Fortune Green in 1986 and has been a Councillor ever since.

According to Cllr Rea, “the Camden History Society said they were called these names to make the streets sound elegant. I came to the conclusion that they were right; they called them these grand names just to make them sound a bit posh. Now, it may be that the builder himself was a classicist or had some interest in the Classics or maybe they just dug them out of a dictionary.”

Christopher Wade’s book The Streets of West Hampstead (Camden History Society; 1972) supports this theory. “Agamemnon, Ajax, Achilles and Ulysses Roads were built around 1886 as lower middle class terraced housing. Presumably to offset their inferior location, they were given the names of four top people from the Trojan War. […] Pandora and Narcissus Roads were probably designed to blind the original housebuyers with Greek mythology, but Pandora was also the name of a three-master [ship] which made two daring attempts to find the North West Passage in 1875/6, just before the road was built,” says Wade.

It is thought that an application to the Hampstead Vestry (the local authority at the time) to name four streets in Fortune Green Agamemnon, Achilles, Ulysses and Ajax Roads was made in 1866. Warship listings on Wikipedia reveal that HMS Ajax was launched in 1880, HMS Agamemnon was launched in 1879 and HMS Ulysses wasn't launched until 1913 – long after the application to name these streets was made. Only HMS Achilles had been launched at an earlier time.

Cllr Rea, the longest continuous serving councillor in Camden, has lived in West Hampstead for 51 years. She currently lives in one of the area’s ‘Greek streets’, Agamemnon Road. “I like this road for its history. It’s just wonderful to live in a road named after a hero of the Trojan War. I feel there’s a sort of certain cachet about living in our ‘Greek streets’. I think it’s one of the best places in London to live.”

In the Greek tragedy Oresteia by Aeschylus, Agamemnon is stabbed to death in his bathtub. It seems that not everyone finds this myth scary.

“There was a man across the road who recreated Agamemnon’s bath in his back bedroom. This great prow would stick out of the back of his garden,” says Rea who admits to having “great fun correcting taxi drivers who call the road Armageddon instead of Agamemnon. Of course, it’s much more difficult pronouncing Ulysses and Achilles.”

Greek poets in London.

Three of Greece’s most famous poets have also left their mark in London; Constantine P. Cavafy, Andreas Kalvos and Giorgos Seferis.    

“As part of the Greece in Britain programme, which I curated between 1998 and 2015, two Blue Plaques were installed by English Heritage to honour our poets; the first one was installed in June 1998, at 182 Sutherland Avenue, Maida Vale, where Andreas Kalvos lived between 1857 and 1864; the second one was installed in December 2000, at 51 Upper Brook Street, Mayfair, where Giorgos Seferis lived as an Ambassador of Greece to the UK, between 1957 and 1962”, said Dr Victoria Solomonidis, UK representative of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, who was cultural attaché at the Greek Embassy in London for 30 years. 

“Official plaques are still to come for Cavafy and the poet Dimitrios Kapetanakis, whose grave in south London will soon be restored”, Solomonidis added.     

The London Hellenic Society has installed an “unofficial” plaque at Cavafy's house in west London. A second, unofficial plaque has been placed at a building in south-west London where Seferis lived during his first term in the UK.

London’s Greek streets; the full (?) list

Achilles Close. This street in Bermondsey, south-east London, is named after the central character of Homer's Iliad.

Achilles Road. Developed in 1886, it is one of the ‘Greek roads’ of Fortune Green ward in West Hampstead, the affluent area of north-west London. This one is named after Achilles, a hero of the Trojan War.

Achilles Street. Another street inspired by the greatest of all the Greek warriors, located in New Cross, south-east London.

Achilles Way. Formed in 1962 as part of Park Lane’s dual-carriageway system, the street was named after the statue of Achilles which is located near the Queen Elizabeth Gate at Hyde Park Corner.

Adelphi Terrace. From the Greek word adelphoi, meaning “brothers”, this street, located in the City of Westminster, was named in honour of the Adam brothers, who built a residential development in the 1760s.

Agamemnon Road. This street of Fortune Green, developed in 1886, bears the name of the king of Mycenae. According to Stanford’s Library Map of London (1891 edn.), “the northern part of Agamemnon Road was named Penelope Road in 1891.” However, there is no concrete evidence available that the road was officially so called.

Ajax Road. The king of Salamis gets his own road in West Hampstead’s Fortune Green.

Ajax Avenue. Telamonian Ajax has secured a second road in Colindale, north-west London.

Alpha Close. This street in Marylebone, central London, was named after the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Not coincidentally: it is the first street that was developed on the Eyre Estate, in 1799. There are seven other streets called Alpha in London.

Apollo Place. This narrow street in Chelsea, south-west London, was developed in 1829 and is named after the Greek god of light and music. There is another street named Apollo Place in Leytonstone, east London.

Apollo Way. A charming, though not of Apollonian beauty, street in Thamesmead, south-east London.

Aristotle Road. Clapham, south London, pays homage to one of the greatest philosophers of all time.

Artemis Place. Perhaps not what Zeus’ daughter and goddess of the hunt deserved to get: this is a quite short street in Southfields, south-west London.

Athena Close. The goddess of wisdom has secured a road in Harrow on the Hill, north-west London.

Atlantis Avenue and Atlantis Close. Plato's lost Atlantis seems to have been found in duplicate: in East Ham and Barking, both in east London.

Atlas Road. Exhausted from the Battle of the Titans, Atlas rests on his street in East Acton, west London. There are also streets named after him in New Southgate and Islington, both in north London, Lewisham and Charlton, both in south-east London, and Dalston and Plaistow, both in east London.

Calypso Crescent. The mythological nymph gets her own street in Peckham, south-east London. But don't bet on it. Several sources (e.g. here and here) indicate that the street is named after Calypso, “a type of folk song primarily from Trinidad though sung elsewhere in the southern and eastern Caribbean islands” (Britannica). Even so, the street still maintains some of its Greekness. According to the CaribbeansBest.com website, “Calypso (music) may originate from the Greek word Kalypso, which translates to “she that conceals,” and came from kalypto meaning ” to cover, to conceal.” According to Greek mythology, this was the name of the nymph who fell in love with Odysseus”.

Galen Place. Located in Bloomsbury, central London, the street owes its name to the Greek physician Claudius Galenos or Galen (129 – c. 216) of whom it was said that no one had ever exercised a greater influence on medical practice. According to David Hayes, Publications Editor at the Camden History Society, the street was named in 1888 on the opening there of the examination halls of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Greek Street. Located in Soho, one of London’s most vibrant areas, the street owes its name to the Orthodox Church built in 1677 by Greek refugees who emigrated to escape the Ottoman yoke.

Helios Way. This street in Barnet, north London is named after the god and personification of the Sun.

Hera Avenue. Zeus' wife and goddess of marriage lives (alone) in Barnet.

Hercules Road, Hercules Street, Hercules Place and Hercules Yard. The most famous hero of ancient times gets four streets in London. Hercules Road in Lambeth, south London, is best known for a former resident, the poet William Blake (1757-1827).

Hermes Close, Hermes Walk and Hermes Street. The herald of the gods stakes his name to two streets in Maida Vale and Northolt, both in west London. The third one, in Pentonville, north London, is named after another Hermes; Hermes Trismegistus, the purported author of the Hermetic Corpus.

Hesperus Crescent. The personification of the evening star gets his own street in Millwall, east London.

Homer Drive, Homer Road, Homer Row and Homer Street. The presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey has (presumably) earned one street in Millwall, one in Homerton and two in Marylebone.

Lithos Road. According to Hayes, this street in West Hampstead, north-west London, is built on a site that in the 19th century was the Stone Yard of Hampstead Vestry, where stone for paving the streets was stored (lithos means stone in Greek). A recent housing development off Lithos Road has been named Petros Gardens. The word petra also means stone in Greek.

Marathon Way. What is this street in Thamesmead inspired by? Marathon, the Greek town and site of the battle of Marathon? Or the long-distance race?

Medusa Road. This street in Catford is named after one of the most famous monsters of Greek mythology. There have been no reports, though, of residents on this street in south-east London turning to stone.

Minotaur Drive. The Minotaur can feel safe on this street in Barnet, far away from Theseus (see below).

Mycenae Road. Agamemnon’s kingdom turns out to be a street in Blackheath, south-east London.

Narcissus Road. Handsome Narcissus, son of the river god Cephissus, has owned his own road in West Hampstead since 1877. Narcissus Road the debut album by English Indie rock band The Hours, was named after that road.

Olympus Grove. The home of the Greek gods has been found on this street in Wood Green, north London.

Orestes Mews. The son of Agamemnon (see above) gets his own street in West Hampstead that was developed in the 1980s.

Orpheus Street. Greek mythology’s gifted musician found a home in Camberwell, south London – unfortunately, he still hasn’t been reunited with Eurydice.

Pandora Road. The first mortal woman has managed to achieve immortality through this West Hampstead road, developed in 1881. Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (1865-1922), owner of the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror, lived for a time at 31 Pandora Road.

Patmos Road. Apocalypse now: a little slice of the Dodecanese can be found in Oval, south-west London.

Plato Road. Aristotle's teacher (see above) can be found in Brixton, south London, a stone's throw from his student’s street.

Smyrna Road. This street in Kilburn, north-west London, is named after the formerly Greek city in Anatolia.

Solon Road and Solon New Road. Brixton also houses (twice) one of the Seven Wise Men.

Sparta Street. The prominent city-state of ancient Greece has established a branch office in Greenwich, south-east London.

Sphinx Way. The mythical creature that devoured the Thebans, now dwells in Barnet.

Thalia Close. This street, also in Greenwich, is probably named after one of the nine Muses (or one of the three Graces, or one of the fifty Nereids).

Thermopylae Gate. Leonidas makes his last stand in Millwall, where the only “hot gates” are the ones at the local team’s football ground, The Den.

Theseus Walk. Located in Angel, central London, this street is quite short, therefore Ariadne's ball of thread is probably of no use.

Thessaly Road. An area of central Greece known since antiquity also has a namesake in Nine Elms, south-west London.

Triton Square and Triton Street. Under a 1960s scheme, there was to be a square surrounded by blocks of flats named after British admirals, says Hayes. Continuing the maritime theme, the square in Euston was given the name of the Greek sea-god, son of Poseidon and Amphitrite. The housing scheme was abandoned, but Triton Square remains as the postal address of part of Regent's Place, the major commercial development on the site. One of the newly created streets has taken its name from the square.

Ulysses Road. One of West Hampstead’s ‘Greek roads’, named after the king of Ithaca.

Is any ‘Greek street’ missing? Please let us know in the comments below.

This news report was published in the Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea (www.tanea.gr) on 22 August 2020.

? 2020 Yannis Andritsopoulos and Ta Nea All Rights Reserved

Click here for the Greek version