εὐεργέτις

Ancient Greek

Etymology

εὐεργέτης (euergétēs) +‎ -ῐς (-is)

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /eu̯.er.ɡé.tis/ → /e.βerˈʝe.tis/ → /e.verˈʝe.tis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /eu̯.er.ɡé.tis/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /e.werˈɡe.tis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /e.βerˈʝe.tis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /e.verˈʝe.tis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /e.verˈʝe.tis/

Noun

εὐεργέτῐς • (euergétis) f (genitive εὐεργέτῐδος); third declension

1. a female εὐεργέτης, a benefactress
   • 438 BCE, Euripides, Alcestis 1056–1062:^[1]

     ἢ τῆς θανούσης θάλαμον ἐσβήσας τρέφω; / καὶ πῶς ἐπεσφρῶ τήνδε τῷ κείνης λέχει; / διπλῆν φοβοῦμαι μέμψιν, ἔκ τε δημοτῶν, / μή τίς μ’ ἐλέγξῃ τὴν ἐμὴν εὐεργέτιν / προδόντ’ ἐν ἄλλης δεμνίοις πίτνειν νέας, / καὶ τῆς θανούσης (ἀξία δέ μοι σέβειν) / πολλὴν πρόνοιαν δεῖ μ’ ἔχειν.

     ḕ tês thanoúsēs thálamon esbḗsas tréphō? / kaì pôs epesphrô tḗnde tôi keínēs lékhei? / diplên phoboûmai mémpsin, ék te dēmotôn, / mḗ tís m’ elénxēi tḕn emḕn euergétin / prodónt’ en állēs demníois pítnein néas, / kaì tês thanoúsēs (axía dé moi sébein) / pollḕn prónoian deî m’ ékhein.

     • 1994 translation by David Kovacs^[2]

       Or shall I keep her in my dead wife’s room? How shall I put this woman in her bed? I fear a double reproach: from my people, lest someone should cast in my teeth that betraying the memory of her who saved me I fall into the bed of another woman; and I must show all care for my dead wife (she deserves my honor).

2. (as a feminine adjective) beneficient
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 896e:^[3]

     δυοῖν μέν γέ που ἔλαττον μηδὲν τιθῶμεν, τῆς τε εὐεργέτιδος [ψυχῆς] καὶ τῆς τἀναντία δυναμένης ἐξεργάζεσθαι.

     duoîn mén gé pou élatton mēdèn tithômen, tês te euergétidos [psukhês] kaì tês tanantía dunaménēs exergázesthai.

     • 1926 translation by Robert Gregg Bury^[4]

       Anyhow, let us assume not less than two — the beneficent soul and that which is capable of effecting results of the opposite kind.

   • ante 1202, Eugenius Panormitanus, « Τοῦ αὐτοῦ περὶ μαρθενίας. », reproduced as poem iv in: Leo Sternbach, „Eugenios von Palermo.“, in Karl Krumbacher (editor), Byzantinische Zeitschrift, volume 11, issue 2, Leipzig: Druck und Verlag von B. G. Teubner, published 1902, doi: 10.1515/byzs.1902.11.2.406, page 421, lines 36–44:

     Δεῖ δὴ φυλάττειν ἀσφαλῶς τὸ παρθένων· / τίς γάρ ποτ’ ἄλλως σωφρονῶν ἐρεῖν ἔχοι; / Πλὴν ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὴ καταισχύνητέ μοι / καὶ μὴ τοσαύτην ἀρετὴν εὐεργέτιν / τιθεῖτε τινῶν σφαλμάτων παραιτίαν, / τὴν καθαρὰν στολὴν δὲ τῆσδε μηδόλως / σχοίη μολῦναι φιλοδοξίας ῥύπος· / ἐῶ γὰρ εἰπεῖν, ἀγερωχίας τύφος, / ὁ τοῖς κατορθώμασιν ἐγκύπτων σκόλοψ.

     Deî dḕ phuláttein asphalôs tò parthénōn; / tís gár pot’ állōs sōphronôn ereîn ékhoi? / Plḕn allà toûto mḕ kataiskhúnēté moi / kaì mḕ tosaútēn aretḕn euergétin / titheîte tinôn sphalmátōn paraitían, / tḕn katharàn stolḕn dè têsde mēdólōs / skhoíē molûnai philodoxías rhúpos; / eô gàr eipeîn, agerōkhías túphos, / ho toîs katorthṓmasin enkúptōn skólops.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Third declension of ἡ εὐεργέτῐς; τῆς εὐεργέτῐδος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ εὐεργέτῐς hē euergétis	τὼ εὐεργέτῐδε tṑ euergétide	αἱ εὐεργέτῐδες hai euergétides
Genitive	τῆς εὐεργέτῐδος tês euergétidos	τοῖν εὐεργετῐ́δοιν toîn euergetídoin	τῶν εὐεργετῐ́δων tôn euergetídōn
Dative	τῇ εὐεργέτῐδῐ têi euergétidi	τοῖν εὐεργετῐ́δοιν toîn euergetídoin	ταῖς εὐεργέτῐσῐ / εὐεργέτῐσῐν taîs euergétisi(n)
Accusative	τὴν εὐεργέτῐν tḕn euergétin	τὼ εὐεργέτῐδε tṑ euergétide	τᾱ̀ς εὐεργέτῐδᾰς tā̀s euergétidas
Vocative	εὐεργέτῐς euergétis	εὐεργέτῐδε euergétide	εὐεργέτῐδες euergétides
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ds.

Synonyms

• εὐεργέτισσα (euergétissa)

Further reading

• “εὐέργετις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[5], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • benefactress idem, page 73.
  • well-doer idem, page 974.