ὄλεθρος
See also: όλεθρος
Ancient Greek
Etymology
Pronunciation
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /ó.le.tʰros/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈo.le.tʰros/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈo.le.θros/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈo.le.θros/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ˈo.le.θros/
Noun
ὄλεθρος • (ólethros) m (genitive ὀλέθρου); second declension
- ruin, destruction, death, bane
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 1.1–12:
- ἔνθ’ ἄλλοι μὲν πάντες, ὅσοι φύγον αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον,
οἴκοι ἔσαν, πόλεμόν τε πεφευγότες ἠδὲ θάλασσαν·- énth’ álloi mèn pántes, hósoi phúgon aipùn ólethron,
oíkoi ésan, pólemón te pepheugótes ēdè thálassan; - then all the others, who had fled headlong destruction,
were at home, having escaped war and the sea
- énth’ álloi mèn pántes, hósoi phúgon aipùn ólethron,
- ἔνθ’ ἄλλοι μὲν πάντες, ὅσοι φύγον αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον,
- causing destruction: pest, plague
- 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Theogony 326–327:
- ἣ δ’ ἄρα Φῖκ’ ὀλοὴν τέκε Καδμείοισιν ὄλεθρον
Ὅρθῳ ὑποδμηθεῖσα Νεμειαῖόν τε λέοντα- hḕ d’ ára Phîk’ oloḕn téke Kadmeíoisin ólethron
Hórthōi hupodmētheîsa Nemeiaîón te léonta - But then she, subdued by Orthus, gave birth to the ruinous Sphinx, a plague to the Cadmeans, and the Nemean lion
- hḕ d’ ára Phîk’ oloḕn téke Kadmeíoisin ólethron
- ἣ δ’ ἄρα Φῖκ’ ὀλοὴν τέκε Καδμείοισιν ὄλεθρον
- As a contemptuous name applied to a person.
- 425 BCE, Aristophanes, Lysistrata 325:
- πέτου πέτου Νικοδίκη,
πρὶν ἐμπεπρῆσθαι Καλύκην
τε καὶ Κρίτυλλαν περιφυσήτω
ὑπό τε νόμων ἀργαλέων
ὑπό τε γερόντων ὀλέθρων.- pétou pétou Nikodíkē,
prìn empeprêsthai Kalúkēn
te kaì Krítullan periphusḗtō
hupó te nómōn argaléōn
hupó te geróntōn oléthrōn.
- 1912 translation by The Athenian Society
- Fly, fly, Nicodicé, ere Calycé and Crityllé perish in the fire, or are stifled in the smoke raised by these accursed old men and their pitiless laws.
- pétou pétou Nikodíkē,
- πέτου πέτου Νικοδίκη,
Usage notes
In the Iliad and Odyssey, this word is very often found in the phrase αἰπὺς ὄλεθρος (aipùs ólethros, “headlong destruction”), as in the first example above.
Declension
Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | ὁ ὄλεθρος ho ólethros |
τὼ ὀλέθρω tṑ oléthrō |
οἱ ὄλεθροι hoi ólethroi | ||||||||||
Genitive | τοῦ ὀλέθρου toû oléthrou |
τοῖν ὀλέθροιν toîn oléthroin |
τῶν ὀλέθρων tôn oléthrōn | ||||||||||
Dative | τῷ ὀλέθρῳ tôi oléthrōi |
τοῖν ὀλέθροιν toîn oléthroin |
τοῖς ὀλέθροις toîs oléthrois | ||||||||||
Accusative | τὸν ὄλεθρον tòn ólethron |
τὼ ὀλέθρω tṑ oléthrō |
τοὺς ὀλέθρους toùs oléthrous | ||||||||||
Vocative | ὄλεθρε ólethre |
ὀλέθρω oléthrō |
ὄλεθροι ólethroi | ||||||||||
Notes: |
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Descendants
- Greek: όλεθρος (ólethros)
References
- ὄλεθρος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
- “ὄλεθρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ὄλεθρος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette