On Appreciating a Tree Without Seeing the Roots

July 10, 2016June 2, 2017 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ Leave a comment

Varro, On the Latin Language VII 1.3

“Therefore, when a man has said many things well about the origins of words, it is better to regard him well rather than to find fault with someone who has not been able to contribute anything. This is especially true since the art of etymology claims that it is not possible to find the origin of all words—just as it is not possible to say why a useful medicine is good for healing. Just so, if I do not know about the roots of a tree, I am able still to say that a pear is from a branch and a branch is from a tree whose roots I do no see.”

Igitur de originibus verborum qui multa dixerit commode, potius boni consulendum, quam qui aliquid nequierit reprehendendum, praesertim quom dicat etymologice non omnium verborum posse dici causam, ut qui ac qua re res utilis sit ad medendum medicina; neque si non norim radices arboris, non posse me dicere pirum esse ex ramo, ramum ex arbore, eam ex radicibus quas non video.

talking trees

Varro!

Faith Restored: Greek Verbs for Flatulence

July 2, 2016July 2, 2016 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ Leave a comment

The Greek verb for farting, perdesthai, is cognate with Latin podex (“anus”) and the English verb fart. Greek has several synonyms on a sliding scale of politeness. This restores my faith in the expressive range of Ancient Greek so shaken by the absence of words for “sleep-walking” or “sleep-talking”.

Bdennusthai: This means to evacuate one’s stomach, not to fart. This is also used locally in our time, for we say “he farts” (bdei)

Βδέννυσθαι: ἐκκενοῦσθαι τὴν κοιλίαν σημαίνει, οὐ τὸ πέρδεσθαι. ὃ καὶ ἐπιχωριάζει μέχρι τοῦ νῦν: βδέει γὰρ λέγομεν.

“Skordinâsthai: This means to stretch ones limbs beyond the limits of nature nwhile yawning from weariness. Aristophanes says in the Acharnians: “I groan, I yawn, I stretch, I fart.” Some people use this verb for people waking from sleep, when they yawn and stretch their limbs. This is also used of people who twist their timbs and test them in every direction”

Σκορδινᾶσθαι: τὸ παρὰ φύσιν ἀποτείνειν τὰ μέλη μετὰ τοῦ χασμᾶσθαι διακλώμενον. Ἀριστοφάνης Ἀχαρνεῦσι: στένω, κέχηνα, σκορδινῶμαι, πέρδομαι. τινὲς δὲ περὶ τοὺς ἐγειρομένους ἐξ ὕπνου, ὅταν χασμώδεις ὄντες ἐκτείνουσι τὰ μέλη: ὅπερ συμβαίνει καὶ περὶ τοὺς ἄλλως πως βασανιζομένους καὶ διαστρεφομένους τὰ μέλη.

“Apopnein and diapnein: “breathing out” and “releasing air”. These words mean to fart, but they are more polite than apopsophein (“breaking wind”).

Ἀποπνέω: γενικῇ. Ἀποπνεῖν καὶ διαπνεῖν τὸ πέρδεσθαι, εὐσχημονέστερον τοῦ ἀποψοφεῖν.

Apopsophiein: This means “to fart”, but it is more respectable. Even more polite are the words diapnein and apopnein.

᾿Αποψοφιεῖν: τὸ πέρδεσθαι, εὐσχήμως λέγων. εὐσχημονέστερον δὲ διαπνεῖν καὶ ἀποπνεῖν.

What the World Needs Now: Two Ears, One Mouth

July 1, 2016 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ Leave a comment

On using twitter and the internet to trace the history of a cherished proverb; or, on the birth of a t-shirt.

Last fall, I noticed the Paul Holdengraber‘s 7-word autobiography from brainpickings.org.: “Mother always said: Two Ears, One mouth.” The phrase bounced around in my head a bit–it has that aphoristic perfection of brevity and familiarity. So, I reached out to Paul over twitter and told him it sounded like something from a Greek philosopher like Heraclitus.

Proverbs have a special place in language and society cross-culturally–they strike a promise of insight that demands contemplation or explanation. They also have an air of authority and antiquity, even when they actually possess neither. And, unlike longer, less anonymized forms of language, they are repeated, borrowed, and stolen without end.

My late father was a great aphorist–perhaps missing him is part of why Paul’s tweet stuck with me. Most of my father’s words, however, were far more Archie Bunker than Aristotle. Those I can repeat were likely taken from his own father, a Master Sargent in WW2 who died a decade before I was born. The tendency to inherit and pass down proverbs is something I only really noticed when I had children and found myself ‘quoting’ (or becoming?) my father (“if you take care of your equipment it will take care of you”) or my grandmother (cribbing Oscar Wilde: “Only boring people get bored”).

So, when Paul thought it would be a gas if we actually translated his mother’s words into ancient Greek (and eventually Latin), I was ready. I got help from some great Classicists too. We came up with a few versions.

First, I went with classical rhetoric, a close antithesis: μήτηρ ἀεὶ ἔφη ὦτα μὲν δύο, ἕν δὲ στόμα. But our friend the Fantastic Festus argued that Heraclitus or Hesiod would not use use μὲν and δὲ so, so he suggested losing them for something like this:

μήτηρ ἀεὶ ἔφη ὦτα δύο, ἕν στόμα [“mother always used to say two ears, one mouth”]

This gave us Paul’s mother’s advice in seven Greek words and his mother’s advice. But this didn’t get us out of trouble. The critic, author and Classicist Daniel Mendelsohn suggested hexameters and from across the Atlantic the extraordinary Armand D’Angour obliged with a composition of his own:

ῥᾴδιόν ἐστι Λόγον τε νοεῖν ξυνετόν τε ποιῆσαι·
τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι βροτῶν, ἓν στόμα τ᾽, ὦτα δύο.

[Literally, this is “it is easy to know the Logos and make it understood: Mortals have this [character]: one mouth and two ears” Go to the full post for all the compositional glory and an appearance from Salman Rushdie].

At this point, I felt like I had entertained myself on a Saturday morning, involved my internet friends in a silly, though somewhat academic caper, and done a favor for a new friend to please the spirits of parents no longer with us. But the world wide web had a a plot twist I should have thought of.

Ancient Greek and Roman authors and scholars loved proverbs. Writers like Zenobius and Photius made collections and interpretations of them. The Byzantine Encyclopedia, the Suda, uses the word for proverb (in Greek paroimia) over 600 times and presents nearly as many distinct proverbs. (Many of which are wonderful.) And in the modern world, we have an entire academic field dedicated to the study of proverbial sayings: paroemiology. Let me tell you, we could have used en expert last fall.

While we were playing around with translations, one of our ‘players’, the grand Gerrit Kloss, let us know we were, to use a proverbial saying, reinventing the wheel. Zeno, the Cynic philosopher, was credited with this saying over two thousand years ago:

@sentantiq @ArmandDAngour @holdengraber
διὰ τοῦτο … δύο ὦτα ἔχομεν, στόμα δὲ ἕν, ἵνα πλείω μὲν ἀκούωμεν, ἥττονα δὲ λέγωμεν
(2/2)

— Gerrit Kloss (@GerritKloss) September 29, 2015

Continue reading “What the World Needs Now: Two Ears, One Mouth” →

An Incomplete History of the Proverb “Glaukos’ Skill”

June 22, 2016June 22, 2016 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ Leave a comment

Earlier I posted a fragment from Marcellus of Ancyra. In it he discusses a proverb that gets him a bit riled up.

“The proverb is ‘THE SKILL OF GLAUCUS.’ Wise non-Christians, when they mention this proverb, explain it differently. One says that a certain Glaucus, had become very knowledgeable about a certain art, which was the most wonderful of many, and which perished simultaneously with him on the sea, since no one learned of it. Another, bearing witness to the highest ability in music attained by Glaucus, say that he fabricated four discs and that tapping them in harmony made a perfect symphony of sound—this is what he says the proverb is about. Still another person thinks that laying among the offerings to Alyattes was a krater and a stand for the krater, a production of Glaucus of Chios. Yet another says that Glaucus dedicated a bronze tripod to Delphi, and after he finished this work and he struck it soundly, the feet and the part laid above them—along the crown at the top of the cauldron and the rods which were fastened along the middle—all sounded out with the noise of a lyre. And yet another interpreter holds that the proverb is spoken about a certain Glaucus who earned the reputation of having done too much.”

ἔστιν δὲ ΓΛΑΥΚΟΥ ΤΕΧΝΗ. ταύτης οἱ ἔξωθεν σοφοὶ τῆς παροιμίας μνημονεύσαντες διαφόρως αὐτὴν ἐξηγήσαντο. ὁ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν τις ἔφη, Γλαῦκόν τινα ἐπιστήμονα τέχνης τινὸς γεγονότα † πολλῶν οὖσαν θαυμασιωτάτην, ἀπολέσθαι ἅμα ἐκείνῳ κατὰ θάλατταν, μηδενός πω διακηκοότος αὐτῆς. ἕτερος δέ, τὴν ἐπ’ ἄκρον μουσικῆς ἐμπειρίαν μαρτυρήσας τῷ Γλαύκῳ, τοὺς κατασκευασθέντας ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ δίσκους χαλκοῦς φησιν τέσσαρας, πρὸς τὸ ἐμμελῆ τινα τῆς κρούσεως τὴν συμφωνίαν τῶν φθόγγων ἀποτελεῖν· ἔνθεν τε εἰρῆσθαι τὴν παροιμίαν. ἄλλος δέ τις ᾿Αλυαττικῶν ἀναθημάτων φησὶν ἀνακεῖσθαι κρατῆρα καὶ ὑποκρατήριον θαυμά-σιον, Γλαύκου Χίου ποίημα. ἕτερος δέ, Γλαῦκον αὐτὸν ἀναθεῖναι εἰς Δελφοὺς τρίποδα χαλκοῦν, οὕτω δημιουργήσαντα τοῖς † παχέως τε κρουομένου, τούς τε πόδας, ἐφ’ ὧν βέβηκεν, καὶ τὸ ἄνω περικείμενον καὶ τὴν στεφάνην τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ λέβητος καὶ τὰς ῥάβδους διὰ μέσου τεταγμένας φθέγγεσθαι λύρας φωνῇ. καὶ αὖθις ἕτερος, ἀπὸ Γλαύκου τινὸς δόξαντός τι πλέον πεποιηκέναι εἰρῆσθαι τὴν παροιμίαν.

Marcellus’ strange and somewhat begrudging explanation of the proverb “Glaukos’ Skill” likely responds to traditions that attribute the proverbs origins differently and also interpret it in different ways with one group saying it indicates things done with ease and another saying the opposite.

Continue reading “An Incomplete History of the Proverb “Glaukos’ Skill”” →

You are What (and How) you Eat: Greek -phage Compounds

June 18, 2016June 17, 2016 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ Leave a comment

Telegony, fr. 1

“He consumed the unspeakable meat and sweet wine greedily”

ἤσθιεν ἁρπαλέως κρέα τ’ ἄσπετα καὶ μέθυ ἡδύ.

fish vase

Some phage compounds and their explanations.

Adêphagia: “Endless-eating”: This means insatiable. We also find the adjective adêphagos (“eating constantly”), polyphagos (“eating everything”) and gastrimargos (gourmand).
᾿Αδηφαγία: ἡ ἀπληστία. καὶ ᾿Αδηφάγος, ἀθρόως ἐσθίων, πολυφάγος, γαστρίμαργος. ᾿

Αἰγοφάγος· aigophagos, “goat-eater”. An epithet of Hera in Sparta

αὐτοφάγος: autophagos, “self-feeder” (not someone who eats himself)

βουφάγος: bouphagos, “cow-eater”

κοπροφάγος: koprophagos, “dung-eater”
Σκατοφάγος: skatophagos, “dung-eater”. For this, Hesychius comments “but skatophagos is especially mean” (᾿Αλλὰ σκατοφάγος ἐστι καὶ λίαν πικρός). Why? Skatos is the genitive of skôr (σκῶρ), which has a closer resonance with human excrement.

ὀψοφάγος: opsophagos, “delicacy eater”, i.e. foodie

λαθροφάγος: lathrophagos “secret-eater” (eating in secret)

θυμβροφάγος: thumbrofagos, “eating the herb savory”, a metaphor for having a bitter expression. Compare to δριμυφάγος “bitter-eating”, cf. the expression, “leaves a bad taste in the mouth”

ἰχθυοφάγος, ikhthuophagos, “fish-eater”. This is an insult, the Suda explains that Theôros was maligned as a “seducer, fish-eater, and rogue” (ὡς μοιχὸς καὶ ἰχθυοφάγος καὶ πονηρός). Fish-eating seems to be an indication of a dedication to luxury and excess.

Καπροφάγος: kaprophagos, “boar-eater”, an epithet of Artemis in Samos

καταφαγᾶς: kataphagas, “one who eats bent over”, i.e. birds and gourmands

κραδοφάγος: kradophagos, “twig-eater”, a derogatory epithet for a country-dweller
συκοφάγος: sukophagos, “fig eater,” a derogatory epithet for a country-dweller
ἰσχαδοφάγος: iskhadophagos, “fig-eater”, a derogatory epithet for a country-dweller

κριοφάγος: kriophagos, “fat-eater”, an epithet for a god receiving a sacrifice

Λωτοφάγος: lôtophagos, “lotus-eater”

μικροφάγος: mikrophagos, “small-eater”, someone who doesn’t eat much

παμφάγος: pamphagos, “all-eater”, someone who eats everything

ταυροφάγος: tauorophagos, “bull-eater”, an epithet of Dionysus

Minding the Minyans

June 16, 2016June 16, 2016 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 1 Comment

There are two basic strands left to us in the record of the Orkhomenian hero Erginos—one has him conquer Thebes only to be defeated in turn by Herakles (see Apd. 2.68-71; Paus. 9.37; D.S. 4.10; cf. Ades. Pap. 973.14-15) whereas another places him among the Argonauts (A.R. 1.186–189; Orphic Arg. 152-4), achieving a surprising victory during games on Lemnos (Pind. O4; Call. Fr. 699; cf. Mich. Apol. Prov. 7.95 for his proverbial status). According Ap. Rhodes and a fragment of the Historian Herodorus (43), this Erginos was from Miletus. This creates a bit of a quandary: where there two Erginoi? If not—which seems more likely—how did the hero become associated with both places?

The answer in part comes from the shadowy history of the people called the Minyans. Erginos does not seem to be a direct descendent of Minyas, but he was a king of Orkhomenos, a city called “Minyan” in Homer and elsewhere, in part to distinguish it from the Orchomenos in Arcadia. Fowler calls the Minyans the “magni nominis umbra of Greek Myth…[who] left enough traces to suggest that they were at one timea major presence both in mythologyand history. By the classicalperiod, however, they werea minor tribe, evicted from Orchomenos after the battle of Leuktra by their ancient enmies the Thebans (Paus. 4.27.10)” (2013, 191).

Their ethnonym is associated with the Argonauts (Schol. ad Pind. I1 79c) through settlement in Iolcus (Strabo 9.2.40; Schol ad. Ap. Rhodes 763-764), genealogical association with Athamas (a founder, according to Paus. 9.34.7) and Aiolos and shared geographical association with Thessaly and Thrace (Schol. in Pind. O14 5a3 and Schol ad Pind. P4 122). The civic-hero Erginos is listed as member of the Argonauts (Ap. Rhodes 1.113). In addition, they also show relationships with Ionian city-states which are likely influenced by colonization in the early archaic period: Pausanias records that one of the Ionian city-states (Phokaia) was settled by Phocians (7.3.10). As Pausanias also records, the ethnonym Phocaean extended in an early period all the way to Orhomenos (2.29.3.6). Although he writes that the Minyans settled Teôs (north of Miletus but south of Phokaia) Pausanias writes that the Minyans joined the Athenian expedition because they were related to Codrus; Codrus’ son Neileus took his contingent to Miletus. In conjunction with the colonization narratives, rulers of Orchomenos had associations with Argonautic myths: The eponymous Orchomenos died without a male heir and Klumenos, son of Presbon, son of Phrixus became king.

Panhellenic narratives like those of the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women integrate and subsume the Minyans by having the daughters of Minyas marry descendents of Aiolos (strengthening ties with Boeotia as well, Fowler 2013,192; cf. Paus. 9.36-37 and Schol.in Ap. Rhodes 1.230-3b). Here is the family tree of Erginos and Orkhomenos according to Pausanias:

Aiolos – Enarete [Aiolos – Ino (Thebes)]

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Athamas – (Nephele) Almos

Phrixus – Chrysogeneia – Poseidon

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Presbon Chryses

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Klymenos Minyas

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Erginos Orkhomenos

So, as far as I can see, the likely reason that there are traditions for a Milesian and a Orkhomenian Erginos, both of whom could fairly be called Minyan, is that local narratives were carried by Minyans in their settlements to Ionia and connected as part of several layers of collective, Panhellenizing narratives into larger Greek traditions including the Argonauts, the Herakles cycle, and the Trojan War narratives. As the Minyans were subsumed into other regions and the importance of Orkhomenos declined, their heroic narratives were similarly subsumed and fragmented. One version of Erginos became associated with the Argonaut myth as part of a conceptual Minyan Diaspora; he was dissociated from the Boeotian Erginos as the Theban-centered Herakles tales rose into prominence.

Here are some of the more obscure sources.

Schol. in Pind. O14 5a3

“Of the Ancient-born Minyans”: the ancient race of the Minyans was from Minyas the Thessalian, a son of Poseidon, and the race(s) of the Argonauts came from him.”

BCDEQ παλαιγόνων Μινυᾶν: τὸ τῶν Μινυῶν γένος ἀρχαῖον ἀπὸ Μινυοῦ τοῦ Θεσσαλοῦ, Ποσειδῶνος υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ γένους τῶν ᾿Αργοναυτῶν.

Schol. in Pind. O14 5d4

“From Minyas”: Minyas was the son of Kalliroê and Poseidon….And Minyas was the first to rule Orkhomenos.

EFQ ἀπὸ Μινύου. Μινύας δὲ ἐκ Καλλιρρόης τῆς ᾿Ωκεανοῦ καὶ Ποσειδῶνος.

BCEQ ὁ δὲ Μινύας πρῶτος ἦρξεν ᾿Ορχομενοῦ.

Schol ad Pind. P4 122

“After the Minyans sailed:” He speaks here of the Argonauts, since many of them trace their ancestry back to Minyas the son of Poseidon and Tritogeneia the daughter of Aiolos. So too Apollonios says : “Since most and the best of them claim to be from the blood of the daughters of Minyas.”

BDEGQ πλευσάντων Μινυᾶν: τῶν Μινυῶν· φησὶ δὲ τῶν ᾿Αργοναυτῶν, ὅτι οἱ πλείους αὐτῶν εἰς Μινύαν τὸν Ποσειδῶνος καὶ Τριτογενείας τῆς Αἰόλου τὸ γένος ἀνῆγον. καὶ ᾿Απολλώνιός φησιν (I 230)·

ἐπεὶ Μινύαο θυγατρῶν

οἱ πλεῖστοι καὶ ἄριστοι ἀφ’ αἵματος εὐχετόωντο.

Schol. ad Pind. I1 79c

“The Minyan retreat, he means Orkhomenos.” For he also calls Orkhomenos Minyan, since Minyas founded that city. They trace the lineage of that Minyas to Orkhomenos, as Pherecydes does, but some say that Orkhomenos is the son of Minyas and some say that both are the children of Eteokles, while Dionysios says Minyas is a child of Ares, Aristodemos makes him a son of Aleos and then he writes that the Argonauts are called Minyans for this reason.”

Μινύα δὲ μυχὸν τὸν ᾿Ορχομενὸν εἶπεν· οὗτος γὰρ λέγεται καὶ ᾿Ορχομενὸς Μινύειος· ταύτην γὰρ ἐνῴκησεν ὁ Μινύας. τοῦτον δὲ τὸν Μινύαν οἱ μὲν ᾿Ορχομενοῦ γενεαλογοῦσιν, ὡς Φερεκύδης (FHG I 92 M., I 102 J.), ἔνιοι δὲ ἔμπαλιν τὸν ᾿Ορχομενὸν Μινύου, ἔνιοι δὲ ἀμφοτέρους ᾿Ετεοκλέους γενεαλογοῦσι, Διονύσιος δὲ τὸν Μινύαν ῎Αρεος ἀναγράφει, ᾿Αριστόδημος δὲ ᾿Αλεοῦ τὸν Μινύαν, καὶ τοὺς ᾿Αργοναύτας δὲ Μινύας ἐντεῦθεν γράφει προσηγορεῦσθαι.

Schol.in Ap. Rhodes 1.230-3b

“Minyas had many daughters. For Jason, the son of Alkimedê, was the daughter of Klumenê, Minyas’ daughter. Stesichorus makes her Eteoklumenê whereas Pherecydes says Alkimedê, the daughter of Phulakos. Orkhomenos was the child of Isonoê the child of Danae and Zeus, which is where the city gets its name. Minyas was born from Orkhomenos and Hermippê, the daughter of Boiôtis, at least by name, he was actually the son of Poseidon. Minyas settled in Orkhomenos which is where the people get the name Minyans.

From Minyas and Klutodôrê came Presbôn and Periklumenê and Eteo and Athamas.klumenê, from Phanosura the daughter of Paion Minyas fathered Orkhomenos, Diokhthôndês

b ἐπεὶ Μινύαο θυγα<τρῶν>: ὁ γὰρ Μινύας πολλὰς εἶχεν θυγατέρας. καὶ γὰρ ὁ ᾿Ιάσων ᾿Αλκιμέδης ἐστὶ τῆς Κλυμένης τῆς Μινύου θυγατρός. Στησίχορος (fg 54 B. III 225) δὲ ᾿Ετεοκλυμένης φησίν, Φερεκύδης (3 fg 104 b J.) δὲ ᾿Αλκιμέδης τῆς Φυλάκου. ᾿Ισονόης δὲ τῆς Δαναοῦ καὶ Διὸς γίνεται ᾿Ορχομενός, ἀφ’ οὗ καὶ ἡ πόλις ᾿Ορχομενὸς καλεῖται· ᾿Ορχομενοῦ δὲ καὶ ῾Ερμίππης τῆς Βοιωτοῦ γίνεται Μινύας—ἐπίκλησιν, φύσει δὲ Ποσειδῶνος—, ὃς ᾤκει ἐν ᾿Ορχομενῷ, ἀφ’ οὗ ὁ λαὸς Μινύαι ἐκλήθησαν· ἐκ δὲ Μινύου καὶ Κλυτοδώρας γίνεται Πρέσβων καὶ Περικλυμένη καὶ ᾿Ετεοκλυμένη, ἐκ δὲ Φανοσύρας τῆς Παιῶνος καὶ Μινύου ᾿Ορχομενὸς καὶ Διοχθώνδης καὶ ᾿Αθάμας

Schol ad. Ap.Rhodes 763-764

“For the Minyans settled Iolkos, as Simonides says in his Summikta. This name takes precedents over Orchomenians. For many say that Athamas settled In Orchomenos.

᾿Ιώλκιος· τὴν γὰρ ᾿Ιωλκὸν Μινύαι ᾤκουν, ὥς φησι Σιμωνίδης ἐν Συμμίκτοις (8 fg 3 J.). δύναται δὲ καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ ᾿Ορχομένιος· πολλοὶ γάρ φασιν ἐν ᾿Ορχομενῷ οἰκῆσαι τὸν ᾿Αθάμαντα.

Philologos, Lover of Words

June 15, 2016June 15, 2016 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 2 Comments

To combat the hate, more words about things we love

φιλαλεξάνδρος: philaleksandros, “Alexander-lover”

φιλαλήθης: philalêthês, “lover of truth”

φιλαναγνώστης: philanagnôstês, “love of reading”

φιλαμαρτήμων: philamartêmôn, “lover of sin”

φιλανθής: philanthês, “flower-lover”

φιλαπεχθημοσύνη: philapekhthêmosunê, “fond of making enemies”

φίλαυτος: philautos, “self-lover”

φιλέρημος: philerêmos, “lover of solitude”

φίλερις: phileris, “lover of conflict”

φιληδονία: philêdonia, “lover of pleasure”

φιλόβιβλιος: philobiblios, “book-lover”

φιλοβόρβορος: philoborboros, “lover of dirt”

φιλόγλυκυς: philoglukus, “sweet-lover”

φιλογύνης: philogunês, “woman-lover”

φιλοδένρος: philodendros, “tree-lover”

φιλόδροσος: philodrosos, “lover of dew”

φιλοζωία: philozôia, “lover of life”

φιλόθακος: philothakos, “lover of sitting”

φιλοιφής: philoiphês, “lover of sexual intercourse”

φιλόκενος: philokenos, “lover of emptiness”

φιλόκηπος: philokêpos, “lover of gardens”

φιλόκροτος: philokrotos, “lover of noise”

φιλοκύων: philokuôn, “lover of dogs”

φιλόλογος: philologos, “lover of words”

plants-in-rain-forest — A place for tree-lovers and dew-lovers.

Too Early, Too Late: Some Bed Compounds in Ancient Greek

June 12, 2016June 12, 2016 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ Leave a comment

Inspired by Paul Holdengraber’s tweet:

https://twitter.com/holdengraber/status/741972797380034560

κλινήρης:klinêrês “bed-ridden”

κλινοβατία: klinobatia: “confinement to bed”, lit. “bed-wandering/walking”

κλινοκαθέδριον: klinokathedrion: “easy-chair”, lit. “bed-chair”

κλινοπάλη: klinopalê: “bed-wrestling”

κλινοπηγία: klinopêgia: “bed-making”

κλινοποιός: klinopoios: “bed-maker”

Meanings of the Word ‘Parable’, Mark Turner and the Suda

June 2, 2016 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ Leave a comment

From Mark Turner, The Literary Mind (1996, 7)

“Parable…has seemed to literary critics to belong not merely to expression and not exclusively to literature, but rather…to mind in general. If we want to study the everyday mind, we can begin by turning to the literary mind exactly because the everyday mind is essentially literary.

Parable is today understood as a certain kind of exotic and inventive literary story, a subcategory within the special words of fiction. The original Greek word—παραβολή (parabole) from the verb παραβάλλειν (paraballein)—had a much wider, schematic reading: the tossing or projecting of one thing alongside another…

I will use parable more narrowly than its Greek root but much more widely than the common English term: Parable is the projection of story.”

From the Suda:

“Parabolê: A story similar to a riddle, obscure; meant to bring benefit.

Παραβολή: λόγος αἰνιγματώδης καὶ κεκρυμμένος, πρὸς ὠφέλειαν φέρων.

“Parabolê: A narrative. ‘I will open my mouth in parables’. This is used of ancient stories instead of the word narrative. It can also refer to a simile or speech. Or, a specific example [as in the Psalms] “You set us as an example for the Gentiles.”

Παραβολή: διήγημα. ἀνοίξω ἐν παραβολαῖς τὸ στόμα μου. ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐν διηγήσει ἀρχαίων λόγων. καὶ ἡ ὁμοίωσις. καὶ τὸ λάλημα, καὶ ὑπόδειγμα. ἔθου ἡμᾶς εἰς παραβολὴν ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι.

“Parabolê: A comparison of things.”*

Παραβολή: πραγμάτων ὁμοίωσις.

*The same definition is offered by Hesychius and Photius

What Does the Frog Say? …Koaks, Koaks

May 26, 2016May 26, 2016 ~ sententiaeantiquae ~ Leave a comment

Aristophanes, Frogs 209-219

“Brekekekeks koaks koaks
Brekekekeks koaks koaks.
Let us, the water’s marshy children
Raise the common cry of hymns,
My sweet song, koaks, koaks
Which we let echo at the Marshes
For Zeus’ son Dionysus
When the drunken-party
The mob of the host came
To the Festival of the Jars
In my precinct.”

Βρεκεκεκεξ κοαξ κοαξ,
βρεκεκεκεξ κοαξ κοαξ.
Λιμναῖα κρηνῶν τέκνα,
ξύναυλον ὕμνων βοὰν
φθεγξώμεθ’, εὔγηρυν ἐμὰν
ἀοιδάν, κοαξ κοαξ,
ἣν ἀμφὶ Νυσήιον
Διὸς Διώνυσον ἐν
Λίμναισιν ἰαχήσαμεν,
ἡνίχ’ ὁ κραιπαλόκωμος
τοῖς ἱεροῖσι Χύτροισι
χωρεῖ κατ’ ἐμὸν τέμενος λαῶν ὄχλος.

Aristophanes, Frogs 250-251

Dionysus: “Brekekeks koaks koaks”
I learned this from you.”

ΔΙ. Βρεκεκεκεξ κοαξ κοαξ.
Τουτὶ παρ’ ὑμῶν λαμβάνω.

From the Suda:

“Brekekeks koaks koaks: a repeated line in Aristophanes’ Frogs, an imitation of frog voices.

Βρεκεκὲξ κοὰξ κοάξ: ἐφύμνιον παρὰ ᾿Αριστοφάνει ἐν Βατράχοις. μίμημα φωνῆς βατράχων.

In the Homeric Batrakhomuomakhia, Athena complains that Athenian Frogs annoy her with their sound and keep her from sleeping. Similarly, in Aristophanes’ Frogs, the eponymous chorus is depicted as “croaking” both during the chorus and the stichomythic exchange. Dionysus complains “I wish this “croak” would go to hell! There’s nothing left but croaking!” (᾿Αλλ’ ἐξόλοισθ’ αὐτῷ κοαξ / οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστ’ ἀλλ’ ἢ κοαξ, 226–227). Is it likely that frog-noise was a common complaint in Classical Athens?

There may be a hint to the etymology of the frog cry in the Batrakhomuomakhia’s later name-epithet Βρεκαίκιγα ἐσθλὸν (“noble Water-leaper”) The novel compound here may be an echo of Aristophanes’ frog call (brekekkex koax koax; Βρεκεκεκεξ κοαξ κοαξ from the Frogs) or it may be a compound of the root βρέχω (“to moisten, or to be wet”) and ἀίσσω (“to leap”) giving a meaning something like “Water-Darter”. For the call brekekkex koax koax, see Dover 1993: 219 who draws on Campbell 1984 in proposing that the frog species in question in the Marsh Frog, Rana ridibunda.

This is their sound:

Here is a delightful scene from an episode of the original Star Trek called “Plato’s Stepchildren” (sent to me by twitter correspondent @ScienceGaGa today):