Ἀλύειν
to be beside oneself, to be overwhelmed
Translated by Jennifer Benedict9 Jun 2000Vetting: high6 revisions
Translation
The [verb that means] to be vexed in distraction. It sometimes also means to rejoice, from warmth [alea] and frenzy. Homer [writes]: "are you beside yourself because you have beaten that vagabond Irus?"1 Hence it also is aspirated. Sophocles [writes]: "let me be beside myself this way."2 But in reference to being troubled it is also unaspirated.
Agathias says: "but being overwhelmed and assessing everything separately, he decided that it was necessary to put the garrison to the test somehow or other."3
But Didymus [says that] both [are] unaspirated.4 For the one, he says, [comes] from the [verb]a)leiai/nesqai , but the other from the [noun] a)/lh . But [it is] more Attic for both to be aspirated. For the Attic [writers] also aspirate the [verb] a(leai/nesqai and all those sorts of things.
Agathias says: "but being overwhelmed and assessing everything separately, he decided that it was necessary to put the garrison to the test somehow or other."3
But Didymus [says that] both [are] unaspirated.4 For the one, he says, [comes] from the [verb]
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ἀλύειν· τὸ ἐν ἄλῃ δυσφορεῖν. σημαίνει δὲ ἐνίοτε καὶ τὸ γεγηθέναι, ἀπὸ τῆς ἀλέας καὶ διαχύσεως. Ὅμηρος· ἢ ἀλύεις, ὅτι Ἶρον ἐνίκησας τὸν ἀλήτην; ὅθεν καὶ δασύνεται. Σοφοκλῆς· ἐᾶτέ μ' ὧδ' ἀλύειν. ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ δυσφορεῖν καὶ ψιλοῦται. Ἀγαθίας φησίν· ἀλύοντι δέ οἱ καὶ γνωματεύοντι ἕκαστα, ἔδοξε χρῆναι ἀποπειρᾶσθαι ἀμηγέπη τοῦ φρουρίου. Δίδυμος δὲ ἀμφότερα ψιλῶς. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀλεαίνεσθαί φησιν, τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἄλης. Ἀττικώτερον δὲ τὸ ἀμφότερα δασύνειν. καὶ γὰρ τὸ ἁλεαίνεσθαι δασύνουσιν οἱ Ἀττικοὶ καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα.
Betacode
*)alu/ein: to\ e)n a)/lh| dusforei=n. shmai/nei de\ e)ni/ote kai\ to\ geghqe/nai, a)po\ th=s a)le/as kai\ diaxu/sews. *(/omhros: h)\ a)lu/eis, o(/ti *)=iron e)ni/khsas to\n a)lh/thn; o(/qen kai\ dasu/netai. *sofoklh=s: e)a=te/ m' w(=d' a)lu/ein. e)pi\ de\ tou= dusforei=n kai\ yilou=tai. *)agaqi/as fhsi/n: a)lu/onti de/ oi( kai\ gnwmateu/onti e(/kasta, e)/doce xrh=nai a)popeira=sqai a)mhge/ph tou= frouri/ou. *di/dumos de\ a)mfo/tera yilw=s. to\ me\n ga\r a)po\ tou= a)leai/nesqai/ fhsin, to\ de\ a)po\ th=s a)/lhs. *)attikw/teron de\ to\ a)mfo/tera dasu/nein. kai\ ga\r to\ a(leai/nesqai dasu/nousin oi( *)attikoi\ kai\ pa/nta ta\ toiau=ta.
Notes (4)
- See also alpha 1427.
- 1Homer, Odyssey 18.332. ↩
- 2Sophocles, Electra 135. ↩
- 3Agathias, Histories 1.10 (p.33 Niebuhr); again (slightly differently) at alpha 1575. His initial assault (553 CE, during the Gothic War of 535-554) on the Goth garrison at Cumae (modern-day Cuma, Italy, some 20 km west of Naples) having been repulsed (cf. alpha 1215 note), the Byzantine general Narses (see generally nu 42) devises a plan to undermine and collapse the fortification's walls; cf. Frendo (17-18). ↩
- 4Didymus p.185 Schmidt. ↩
References
J.D. Frendo, trans., Agathias: The Histories, (Berlin 1975)
Linked from2 entries
- α1427Ἀλύειis perplexed, is beside oneself[Meaning he/she/it] is sorely troubled, is overwhelmed, is disheartened, is at a loss. "Stop being perplexed and vexed." And sometimes a)lu/w [means] I rejoice.
- α1575Ἀμηγέπηany which way, somehow or other[Meaning] in whatever way, after whatever fashion. Also said are a)mwsge/pws and a)mo/qen and a)mouge/pou and a)mhg/epoi and a)mwsge/poi. Aristophanes [writes]: "you always get paid positions somehow or other." Meaning…
Neighbouring entries
Revision history6 revisions · last 19 Sep 2023
- expanded n.3, added bibliography, added cross-references, added keyword — Ronald Allen
- Revised — David Whitehead
- typo, coding — Catharine Roth
- x-ref; more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- restorative cosmetics — David Whitehead
- modified translation; added notes and keywords; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Jennifer Benedict