Where the city of Tempe, Arizona got its name


I have a fascination with the names of things. Sometimes they don't mean anything at all, they just sound good, like the city that I live in, Glendale, Arizona. Some names are very cool, as they come from Greek Mythology, like the Phoenix Bird. And another name from Greek Mythology is where the name of Tempe, Arizona, comes from.

The Vale of Tempe, as shown in the picture above, was the valley next to Mt. Olympus, where the Greek gods lived. I lived in Tempe when I went to ASU, and doesn't sound like Greek to me, but it is. And the name, along with the name for Phoenix, Arizona, was given to it by an eccentric character in Arizona named Darell Duppa. I've read about him, and the more I learn, the less I know. But I know that he read the classics, and he knew about the Phoenix Bird, and the Vale of Tempe.

It all kind'a makes me wish that they had kept with this Greek Mythology theme - maybe I'd be living in Zeus, or something like that.
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