ἔπος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ϝέπος (wépos) — Aeolic

Etymology

From earlier ϝέπος (wépos), from Proto-Hellenic *wékʷos, from Proto-Indo-European *wékʷos, from *wekʷ- (“to speak”). Cognates include Sanskrit वचस् (vácas) and Avestan 𐬬𐬀𐬗𐬀𐬵- (vacah-).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /é.pos/ → /ˈe.pos/ → /ˈe.pos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /é.pos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈe.pos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈe.pos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈe.pos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈe.pos/

Noun

ἔπος • (épos) n (genitive ἔπεος or ἔπους); third declension

1. something spoken: speech, story, song
   1. one's word, promise
   2. word as opposed to deed
   3. subject
   4. a line of poetry
   5. (when discussing etymology or usage) an individual word
2. (in the plural) epic poetry
3. (the phrase ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, qualifying a hyperbolic statement) so to speak, roughly speaking, almost
4. (the phrase κατ’ ἔπος) word by word

Declension

Third declension of τὸ ἔπος; τοῦ ἔπους (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ἔπος tò épos	τὼ ἔπει tṑ épei	τᾰ̀ ἔπη tà épē
Genitive	τοῦ ἔπους toû épous	τοῖν ἐποῖν toîn epoîn	τῶν ἐπῶν tôn epôn
Dative	τῷ ἔπει tôi épei	τοῖν ἐποῖν toîn epoîn	τοῖς ἔπεσῐ / ἔπεσῐν toîs épesi(n)
Accusative	τὸ ἔπος tò épos	τὼ ἔπει tṑ épei	τᾰ̀ ἔπη tà épē
Vocative	ἔπος épos	ἔπει épei	ἔπη épē
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ἔπος; ἔπεος (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἔπος épos	ἔπει / ἔπεε épei / épee	ἔπεᾰ épea
Genitive	ἔπεος / ἔπευς épeos / épeus	ἐπέοιν epéoin	ἐπέων epéōn
Dative	ἔπει / ἔπεῐ̈ épei / épeï	ἐπέοιν epéoin	ἔπεσῐ / ἔπεσῐν / ἔπεσσῐ / ἔπεσσῐν / ἐπέεσσῐ / ἐπέεσσῐν épesi(n) / épessi(n) / epéessi(n)
Accusative	ἔπος épos	ἔπει / ἔπεε épei / épee	ἔπεᾰ épea
Vocative	ἔπος épos	ἔπει / ἔπεε épei / épee	ἔπεᾰ épea
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Third declension of τὸ ἔπος; τοῦ ἔπεος (Ionic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ἔπος tò épos	τὼ ἔπει / ἔπεε tṑ épei / épee	τᾰ̀ ἔπεᾰ tà épea
Genitive	τοῦ ἔπεος / ἔπευς toû épeos / épeus	τοῖν ἐπέοιν toîn epéoin	τῶν ἐπέων tôn epéōn
Dative	τῷ ἔπει / ἔπεῐ̈ tôi épei / épeï	τοῖν ἐπέοιν toîn epéoin	τοῖσῐ / τοῖσῐν ἔπεσῐ / ἔπεσῐν toîsi(n) épesi(n)
Accusative	τὸ ἔπος tò épos	τὼ ἔπει / ἔπεε tṑ épei / épee	τᾰ̀ ἔπεᾰ tà épea
Vocative	ἔπος épos	ἔπει / ἔπεε épei / épee	ἔπεᾰ épea
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Synonyms

• (something spoken): λόγος (lógos), λέξις (léxis), μῦθος (mûthos) ῥῆμα (rhêma), φράσις (phrásis) φῆμα (phêma), φθέγμα (phthégma)

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “word”): ἔργον (érgon, “deed”)
• (antonym(s) of “epic poetry”): μέλη (mélē), ἰαμβεῖα (iambeîa), διθύραμβοι (dithúramboi)

Derived terms

• ἐπικός (epikós)
• ἐποποιία (epopoiía)
• ἐπῠ́λλῐον (epúllion)

 

Descendants

• English: epos
• Russian: э́пос (épos)
• Old Armenian: վէպ (vēp) (possibly)

Further reading

• “ἔπος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἔπος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἔπος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἔπος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἔπος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ἔπος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G2031 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • ballad idem, page 60.
  • line idem, page 492.
  • prediction idem, page 634.
  • prophecy idem, page 653.
  • verse idem, page 948.
  • word idem, page 987.