Ἄγγαροι
messengers
Translated by Gregory Hays23 Jun 1999Vetting: high13 revisions
Translation
[Meaning] those who carry letters in relays.1 They are also [called] 'couriers' [a)sta/ndai ].2 The words [are] Persian. Aeschylus in Agamemnon [writes]: "beacon sent beacon hither with relaying fire."3 The word is also used for conveyors of freight and more generally of inanimate objects and slaves. Also [sc. attested is] the [verb] a)ggaroforei=n in reference to carrying burdens. And [the verb] a)ggareu/esqai means what we now speak of as being impressed to carry burdens and labor of that sort. Menander offers this example in the Sikyonios: "someone arriving by sea puts in? He is labelled an enemy. And if he has anything nice it's pressed into service [a)ggareu/etai ]."4
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ἄγγαροι· οἱ ἐκ διαδοχῆς γραμματοφόροι. οἱ δὲ αὐτοὶ καὶ ἀστάνδαι. τὰ δὲ ὀνόματα Περσικά. Αἰσχύλος Ἀγαμέμνονι· φρυκτὸς δὲ φρυκτὸν δεῦρο ἀπ' ἀγγάρου πυρὸς ἔπεμπε. τίθεται τὸ ὄνομα καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν φορτηγῶν καὶ ὅλως τῶν ἀναισθήτων καὶ ἀνδραποδωδῶν. καὶ τὸ Ἀγγαροφορεῖν ἐπὶ τοῦ φορτία φέρειν. καὶ Ἀγγαρεύεσθαι καλοῦσιν ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς νῦν τὸ εἰς φορτηγίαν καὶ τοιαύτην τινὰ ὑπηρεσίαν ἄγεσθαι. Μένανδρος καὶ τοῦτο ἐν τῷ Σικυωνίῳ παρίστησιν· ὁ πλέων κατήχθη; κρίνεθ' οὗτος πολέμιος. ἐὰν ἔχῃ τὶ μαλακὸν, ἀγγαρεύεται.
Betacode
*)/aggaroi: oi( e)k diadoxh=s grammatofo/roi. oi( de\ au)toi\ kai\ a)sta/ndai. ta\ de\ o)no/mata *persika/. *ai)sxu/los *)agame/mnoni: frukto\s de\ frukto\n deu=ro a)p' a)gga/rou puro\s e)/pempe. ti/qetai to\ o)/noma kai\ e)pi\ tw=n forthgw=n kai\ o(/lws tw=n a)naisqh/twn kai\ a)ndrapodwdw=n. kai\ to\ *)aggaroforei=n e)pi\ tou= forti/a fe/rein. kai\ *)aggareu/esqai kalou=sin w(/sper h(mei=s nu=n to\ ei)s forthgi/an kai\ toiau/thn tina\ u(phresi/an a)/gesqai. *me/nandros kai\ tou=to e)n tw=| *sikuwni/w| pari/sthsin: o( ple/wn kath/xqh; kri/neq' ou(=tos pole/mios. e)a\n e)/xh| ti\ malako\n, a)ggareu/etai.
Notes (4)
- Same entry in Photius, similar ones elsewhere.↩
LSJ entry at web address 1. See also alpha 162, alpha 163, alpha 164.- 1cf. Herodotus 3.126 (web address 2) and esp. 8.98 (web address 3). ↩
- 2cf. alpha 4420. The word appears also at Athenaeus, Deipnosophists 3.122A (3.94 Kaibel); Eustathius Commentaries on Homer's Odyssey vol. 2 p. 189.6; Hesychius alpha7814; Plutarch, Alexander 18 (bis); De Alex. fort. virt. 326E; 340C. ↩
- 3Aeschylus, Agamemnon 282f. (web address 4), where the mss have
a)gge/lou , an obvious gloss. ↩- 4Menander, Sikyonios fr.4 Sandbach [= fr 440 Kock].
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 3 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 4 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from4 entries
- α162Ἀγγαρείαcompulsory labour, corveeSurely "of pack mules". Also [sc. attested is] a)/ggaros: [meaning] labourer, servant, porter; whence we speak of a)ggarei/a [to describe] involuntary compulsion and service brought about by force.
- α163Ἄγγαροςa)/ggarosand a)ggarei/a, public and compulsory servitude. "For just as to him eating seemed to be a mere distraction, with nature as it were putting him into compulsory servitude [a)ggareuome/nhs] when it came to food."
- α164Ἄγγαροςangaros, courierThis is what the Persians used to call the royal messengers. "He sent one of his most trusty men as messenger [a)/ggaros] to the Babylonian" - because of the nobleman Parsondes.
- α4220Ἀστάνδαιcouriers[Meaning] those carrying letters in relays. The same people [were] also [called] angaroi ["mounted couriers"]. The words [are] Persian.
Neighbouring entries
Revision history13 revisions · last 11 Jun 2024
- tweaked link — Catharine Roth
- coding — Catharine Roth
- tweaked a ref — David Whitehead
- typo — Catharine Roth
- coding — Catharine Roth
- augmented notes; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- cosmetics — David Whitehead
- betacoding, reordered links, cosmetics — Jennifer Benedict
- added keywords; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- make the Greek beta-code — Anne Mahoney
- added keyword and link; cosmetic — Catharine Roth
- Fixed faulty linksz — William Hutton
- Cosmetics, modified translation, added cross-references, keywords, links, set status — William Hutton
- Translated — Gregory Hays