Questions tagged [ancient-greek]
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Uppercase vs lower case: Name is Lambdadelta. What is this in symbols? λδ? ΛΔ? Λδ? λΔ?
Lambdadelta is a character from the 2 Japanese anime/manga/VN series Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (When The Cicadas Cry) and Umineko No Naku Koro Ni (When The Seagulls Cry).
There's this Umineko arc ...
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How would the Ancient Greek noun λόρδων decline, and is the LSJ's definition of it correct?
I'm very familiar with Latin declensions, and have the resources necessary for that, but I have found nothing for Ancient Greek that I am able to make use of, especially considering my lack of ...
Qaos
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Why is Cnaeus rendered as Νάϊος in RGDA?
Chapter 18 of RGDA opens with the following (Cooley’s CUP edition of 2009, macrons added by me):
[Ab illō annō q]uō Cn(aeus) et P(ūblius) Lentulī c[ōns]ulēs fuērunt, cum dēficerent [ve]ct[ī]g[ālia, ...
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In what way is Odysseus διογενής?
In the Odyssey, Odysseus is sometimes addressed as διογενής "Zeus-born". For example, 11.60:
διογενὲς Λαερτιάδη, πολυμήχαν' Ὀδυσσεῦ
O Zeus-born son of Laërtes, Odysseus of many tricks…
...
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Aristotle Metaphysics - questions on syntax
Metaphysics, 994b7-9:
ἅμα δὲ καὶ ἀδύνατον τὸ πρῶτον ἀΐδιον ὂν φθαρῆναι: ἐπεὶ γὰρ οὐκ ἄπειρος ἡ γένεσις ἐπὶ τὸ ἄνω, ἀνάγκη ἐξ οὗ φθαρέντος πρώτου τι ἐγένετο μὴ ἀΐδιον εἶναι.
Latin translation:
Simul ...
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Ancient Greek - Adverb functions as Noun
Aristotle's Metaphysics, 994a,26-7:
ἀεὶ γάρ ἐστι μεταξύ, ὥσπερ τοῦ εἶναι καὶ μὴ εἶναι γένεσις, οὕτω καὶ τὸ γιγνόμενον τοῦ ὄντος καὶ μὴ ὄντος
Reeve's translation:
for there is always an intermediate,...
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Did Greek ever have long initial consonants?
In this other answer, TKR suggests that the Homeric dative οἱ might have once been something like *ϝϝοι, with initial long [wː]. This makes sense to me, etymologically, since it may have come from a ...
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Why does οἱ make position?
Iliad XXII.307:
τό οἱ ὑπὸ λαπάρην τέτατο μέγα τε στιβαρόν τε
Since it's at the beginning of a hexameter, τό needs to scan heavy. And since omicron is always short by nature, it must be heavy by ...
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According to Greek Experts, what is the proper Koine pronunciation of “Logos”
I was recently applying my new Koine Greek studies on pronouncing the first 5 verses in John’s Gospel. I am reading “Learn to Read New Testament Greek” by David Alan Black. I also have another Greek ...
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Greek equivelent to Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata
I have been working my way though Ørberg's Lingua Latina per se Illustrata, and I have been wondering whether there is an equivalent text for learning Ancient Greek by the "natural method."
...
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κλειτος in Greek Epithets
The verbal adjective κλειτός is used in a wide range of Greek epithets/proper names. It appears in compounds such as Πολύκλειτος (much-famed), δουρίκλειτος (spear-famed), τηλέκλειτος (far-famed) and ...
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Who assigned numbers to the declensions and conjugations, and why?
Why are the declensions in the order they are? If someone was learning Latin 2000 years ago, would they have used the same numbers? Would they have believed that some god assigned the numbers to the ...
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What did Theophilus mean in book I, chapter 14 of Theophilus to Autolycus when speaking to "unbelievers and despisers"?
I am comparing translations from Rick Rogers and Rev. Marcus Dods. In the second to the last sentence of chapter 14 Rogers translates a Greek word as "homosexual acts." Dobs, on the other ...
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Ancient Greek Translation: A response to Sappho's 146
Thank you for reading.
Context: I'm designing an engagement ring for my partner, who has expressed her love of both Sappho's fragment #146 ( "Μήτ’ ἔμοι μέλι μήτε μέλισσα"/"For me ...
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How does one pronounce a circumflex accent on a short (correpted) vowel?
From Iliad 18.333:
νῦν δ' ἐπεὶ οὖν, Πάτροκλε, σεῦ ὕστερος εἶμ' ὑπὸ γαῖαν
As best I can tell from the scansion, the σεῦ here is shortened by correption, letting it be the final syllable of a dactyl.
...
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Rough breathing on ἕρξῃς
Book 2 of the Iliad, line 364, reads:
εἰ δέ κεν ὣς ἕρξῃς καί τοι πείθωνται Ἀχαιοί,
Here ἕρξῃς is the second-person aorist subjunctive of ἔρδω. Some editions spell it with rough breathing (Rouse, ...
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Compensatory lengthening in Koine Greek
Newbie to Greek here, I have a question about compensatory vowel lengthening:
"5. The Severer (and earlier) Doric contracts εε to η, and οε, οο to ω. Thus, φιλήτω from φιλεέτω, δηλῶτε from ...
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Ancient Greek principal parts (web-site)
I was looking for the web-site where I could find six principal parts of Ancient Greek verbs, similar to Latin https://latin.cactus2000.de/index.en.php - But I couldn't find any. I will be grateful if ...
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How is 'holon'(ὅλον)(philosophy word) different from 'whole' in Greek?
Philosophy word 'Holon'(in English) is translated to 'ὅλον' in Greek as the wikipedia page says.
On the other side, 'Whole'(in English) is also tanslated to ὅλον at Aristotle's Metaphysics.
Philosophy ...
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Why does the greek word δεσπότης (despótes) in the vocative become δέσποτα (déspota) instead of the normal δεσπότα (despóta)?
In the greek word δεσπότης (despótes), the accent in the vocative case ascends from the penultimate syllabe to the antepenultimate,
i.e. δέσποτα (déspota), this being the only exception in words of ...
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Were ῾ (δασεία) and ᾿ (ψιλή) formed from ├, ┤ (H) respectively?
Στο λατινικό αλφάβητο, όπως και στην αττική διάλεκτο, αποδόθηκε γραπτά με το γράμμα Η, από το οποίο άλλωστε προέρχεται και η δασεία. Συγκεκριμένα, το σύμβολο της δασείας αποτελεί απλοποίηση του ├ (το ...
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What is the semantic difference between the present and aorist forms of the Greek imperative?
I think I have a good working knowledge of what generally differentiates the ancient Greek aorist and present stems semantically. However, when it comes to imperatives, I am sometimes at a loss, ...
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Can δῖος legitimately be translated as "boundless?"
Homer uses the set phrases ἅλα δῖαν and ἠῶ δῖαν to describe the sea and the dawn. Some 19th century commentators and translators (Buckley) think δῖαν should be read here as "boundless." The ...
user3597
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Pronunciation of aspiration in ἔδεισεν δ᾽ ὁ γέρων
This example occurs in Iliad 1.33. In running speech, when there are no pauses between words, I'm able to articulate this as "edeisend ho." However, I would imagine (possibly just because I'...
user3597
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Are Κηφάς (a Greek proper name), κεϕαλή (head), and πέτρος (rock) etymologically related?
Saint Peter was named Cephas by Jesus, which is recorded in the gospels as the Greek translation Πέτρος. Are Κηφάς (a Greek proper name < Aramaic כיפא, kēp̄ā, "rock"), κεϕαλή (head), and ...
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Iliad 1.6 "when they first stood apart in strife" -- can this be read as when the muse should start singing?
The first seven lines of the Iliad are:
Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεά, Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί᾽ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε᾽ ἔθηκε,
πολλὰς δ᾽ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν
ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν
...
user3597
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Is there a consensus about the actual rhythm of dactyls?
I recently read two analyses of Classical Greek meter: "The phonology of Classical Greek meter" and "The phonology of Greek lyric meter," both by Chris Golston and Tomas Riad. I ...
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Scansion of lines in Homer involving εἰνὶ θρόνῳ
Scanning Homeric verse is something I'm not very experienced at yet, and I have a question about these two lines involving the phrase εἰνὶ θρόνῳ:
σείσατο δ’ εἰνὶ θρόνῳ, ἐλέλιξε δὲ μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον, (...
user3597
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Is ἐν changing to ἐμ or ἐγ only a thing in Attic?
I've seen in various places (example) the statement that prepositions like ἐν, συν, and ἐκ change forms before certain consonants, so we would have ἐμ before βμπφψ, and ἐγ before γκξχ. But looking ...
user3597
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compass and straightedge in ancient Greek?
I am a mathematician and I'm wondering how the ancient Greek called a compass and a straightedge and how would you pronounce this in English?
I know that today they are called κανόνα (kanóna) and ...
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How would the Ancient Greeks have said "Egyptian black marble"
I have been researching Zeus' throne, and have found several sources that say the throne was made of black marble. One source, Robert Graves, was even more specific, saying it was Egyptian black ...
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What is the vocabulary in the Homeric dialect for the parts of the body?
What is the vocabulary in the Homeric dialect for the parts of the body? Collecting these is a somewhat time-consuming process, because often the Greek concepts don't map one-to-one onto the English ...
user3597
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On the etymology of Lacedaemon
King Lacedaemon was the son of Zeus and of nymph Taygete. He married Sparta, daughter of King Eurotas of Laconia.
I would like to know more about the etymology of Lacedaemon. The daemon part is easy. ...
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Saying whose body part it is in Greek
I've been trying to piece together the grammar for how we talk about parts of the body in ancient Greek. (Homer is the dialect I care about.) I've found this discussed in passing in various places (...
user3597
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Frequency of conventions regarding whether to pronounce ω more open than ο, more closed, or the same
<boring background> I've been doing some recordings of language drill in Homeric Greek (1, 2, 3), in which my pronunciation has been chosen based on a certain set of criteria: (1) They're meant ...
user3597
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Initial digamma / long diphthong in plupf. ᾔδη?
In Homer, the form ᾔδη "he knew" (3sg. pluperfect of οἶδα) scans as if it began with digamma. This is most evident in Iliad 1.70, where the first syllable scans heavy:
ὃς ᾔδη τά τ᾽ ἐόντα τά ...
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When does the diphthong υι occur in Greek, and when it is pronounced as [yː]?
I'm a bit confused by the information I've seen online about ancient Greek υι: it seems an original diphthongal pronunciation was replaced at some point in Attic Greek by a monophthongal pronunciation ...
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Are these reasonable guesses for unattested verb forms? ἤρισσαν, θεωπρόπεεν
I'm making recordings of grammar drill exercises for the Homeric dialect (example). For verbs, there is a hassle because most verbs are not actually attested in very many forms. Typically I can look ...
user3597
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Homeric verbs that never take the augment
I've been making some recordings of grammar drills for Homeric Greek (1, 2), and have been wrestling with the question of how to deal with cases where the user is supposed to produce some Greek, but ...
user3597
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Aristotle's Metaphysics - dative as predicate
Aristotle's Metaphysics 981a19-20:
οὐ γὰρ ἄνθρωπον ὑγιάζει ὁ ἰατρεύων ἀλλ᾽ ἢ κατὰ συμβεβηκός, ἀλλὰ Καλλίαν ἢ Σωκράτην ... ᾧ συμβέβηκεν ἀνθρώπῳ εἶναι.
My translation:
For the doctor doesn’t cure a ...
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When is Latin "qu" transcribed as "κο", "κοι" or "κυ" in Greek?
The most common transcription of Latin qu into the Greek alphabet seems to have been κου in general, but there are some others: κο as in κοις for quis, κοι as in κοιιδ for quid, and κυ as in κινκυε ...
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How does Homer conjugate φημί in the present?
This would seem like an extremely basic question that one would just look up the answer to. However, there are literally dozens of forms of φημί in the present active indicative, and grammars don't ...
user3597
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Are the amynodontidae being slandered?
Wikipedia says that the name of this extinct family of rhino-like animals means "threatening tooth," referencing this page, but that page actually says "Greek: to ward off/threaten (...
user3597
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Arnold and Conway, earlier change of pronunciation of aspirates?
Describing the pronunciation of Greek in schools in the UK, Allen says that a pamphlet by Arnold and Conway, "The Restored Pronunciation of Greek and Latin," pretty much set the standard ...
user3597
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Formation of ἔλδωρ, a wish
Beekes says that ἔλδωρ/ἐέλδωρ comes from ἐϝέλδομαι, without commenting on the suffix. Is this a case where the agent-noun suffix -τωρ (a.k.a. -τήρ) was applied, but then ἔλδτωρ got automatically ...
user3597
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Suffixes -τρον, -θρον, and -εθρον
Dickinson College's digitization of the grammar text by Goodell seems to suggest that -τρον and -θρον are synonyms. We also have πτολίεθρον, where it looks to me like the suffix is -εθρον (unless this ...
user3597
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A matching opposite of the word "axiom"
A rough search told me that the word axiom traces back to axíōma (ἀξίωμα), which roughly means "that which commends itself as evident". I am looking for a word which expresses the dual ...
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Are ἄρσην, ἄρσις and θήλυ, θέσις etymologically related?
In Mt. 19:14, "άρσεν και θήλυ" means "male and female".
In music terminology ἄρσις means a stressed/emphasized sound, and θέσις the corresponding unstressed one.
Is ἄρσις ...
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Subjunctive αἰδέσεται rather than αἰδέσηται?
Homer several times uses the subjunctive αἰδέσεται. I would have expected this to be αἰδέσηται, and wiktionary agrees with me. I guess the lack of an augmented initial vowel is a hint that this is a ...
user3597
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What is the general ablaut rule that explains examples like φρήν, πρόφρων, πρόφρονα?
Φρήν (midriff, will) gives rise to the adjective πρόφρων (eager, literally motivated by will). It looks to me like the -ων comes from ablaut applied to -ην. (It doesn't look like a suffix -ων, since ν ...
user3597