Ἀσέλγεια
licentiousness
Translated by Jennifer Benedict12 Dec 2001Vetting: high9 revisions
Translation
Meaning extravagance. Thus Aeschines [sc. uses this word].1 Or a)se/lgeia , [meaning] prostitution, impurity.
Defilement.
It is derived, so they say, from this reason. Selgê is a city of Pisidia, where the people used to live wickedly and have [sc. illicit] sex with one another. So by extension [we get the verb]a)selgai/nein .2 And the ancients used to apply [the term] a)selge/s ["wanton"] not only to something intemperate, but also, on occasion, to something large. For they also call a wind a)selgh/s ; and a "prodigiously horned goat" [a)selgo/kerws tra/gos ], [meaning] a large one.3 Or a)selgo/kerws ["wanton-horned"], [meaning] butting with the horns.
"They are prodigiously fat": Aristophanes says [this] in Wealth.4 Meaning heavy.
"Being agitated and croaking with licentiousness, just as crows caw."5 Meaning they are being awfully noisy.
Also [sc. attested is]a)selgh/s , in reference to a wind [and meaning one] blowing violently.
"There is born many a wanton [wind]" -- says Aelian in his [work] concerning various narrations; "the origin of this [is] deep glens and crevices, through which [the wind] is pushed and extends at its most boisterous."6
Defilement.
It is derived, so they say, from this reason. Selgê is a city of Pisidia, where the people used to live wickedly and have [sc. illicit] sex with one another. So by extension [we get the verb]
"They are prodigiously fat": Aristophanes says [this] in Wealth.4 Meaning heavy.
"Being agitated and croaking with licentiousness, just as crows caw."5 Meaning they are being awfully noisy.
Also [sc. attested is]
"There is born many a wanton [wind]" -- says Aelian in his [work] concerning various narrations; "the origin of this [is] deep glens and crevices, through which [the wind] is pushed and extends at its most boisterous."6
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ἀσέλγεια· ἀντὶ τοῦ πολυτέλεια. οὕτως Αἰσχίνης. ἢ Ἀσέλγεια, πορνεία, ἀκαθαρσία. μιαρία. παρῆκται δὲ, ὥς φασιν, ἐξ αἰτίας τοιαύτης. Σέλγη πόλις ἐστὶ τῆς Πισιδίας, ὅπου κακῶς ἔζων οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ ἀλλήλοις ἐκοινώνουν. κατ' ἐπίτασιν οὖν τὸ ἀσελγαίνειν. καὶ Ἀσελγὲς οὐ μόνον ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀκολάστου ἔταττον οἱ παλαιοὶ, ἀλλ' ἔστιν ὅτε καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μεγάλου. καὶ γὰρ ἄνεμον ἀσελγῆ λέγουσι· καὶ Ἀσελγόκερως τράγος, ὁ μέγας. ἢ Ἀσελγόκερως, ὁ κυρίττων. πίονές εἰσιν ἀσελγῶς· Ἀριστοφάνης φησὶν ἐν Πλούτῳ. ἀντὶ τοῦ κατωφερεῖς. θορυβούμενοι καὶ κεκραγότες μετὰ ἀσελγείας, οἷον οἱ κόρακες λαρυγγίζουσιν. ἀντὶ τοῦ μεγάλως φωνοῦσι. καὶ Ἀσελγής, ἐπὶ ἀνέμου ὁ σφοδρῶς πνέων. πολὺς δὲ καὶ ἀσελγὴς τίκτεται ἐκεῖθι [φησὶν Αἰλιανὸς ἐν τῷ περὶ ποικίλης ἀφηγήσεως]· γένεσις δὲ αὐτῷ αὐλῶνες βαθεῖς καὶ φάραγγες, δι' ὧν ὠθούμενος ἐκτείνει λαβρότατος.
Betacode
*)ase/lgeia: a)nti\ tou= polute/leia. ou(/tws *ai)sxi/nhs. h)\ *)ase/lgeia, pornei/a, a)kaqarsi/a. miari/a. parh=ktai de\, w(/s fasin, e)c ai)ti/as toiau/ths. *se/lgh po/lis e)sti\ th=s *pisidi/as, o(/pou kakw=s e)/zwn oi( a)/nqrwpoi kai\ a)llh/lois e)koinw/noun. kat' e)pi/tasin ou)=n to\ a)selgai/nein. kai\ *)aselge\s ou) mo/non e)pi\ tou= a)kola/stou e)/tatton oi( palaioi\, a)ll' e)/stin o(/te kai\ e)pi\ tou= mega/lou. kai\ ga\r a)/nemon a)selgh= le/gousi: kai\ *)aselgo/kerws tra/gos, o( me/gas. h)\ *)aselgo/kerws, o( kuri/ttwn. pi/one/s ei)sin a)selgw=s: *)aristofa/nhs fhsi\n e)n *plou/tw|. a)nti\ tou= katwferei=s. qorubou/menoi kai\ kekrago/tes meta\ a)selgei/as, oi(=on oi( ko/rakes laruggi/zousin. a)nti\ tou= mega/lws fwnou=si. kai\ *)aselgh/s, e)pi\ a)ne/mou o( sfodrw=s pne/wn. polu\s de\ kai\ a)selgh\s ti/ktetai e)kei=qi [fhsi\n *ai)liano\s e)n tw=| peri\ poiki/lhs a)fhgh/sews]: ge/nesis de\ au)tw=| au)lw=nes baqei=s kai\ fa/ragges, di' w(=n w)qou/menos e)ktei/nei labro/tatos.
Notes (6)
- Same material, variously, in other lexica.
- 1Aeschines 1.95. ↩
- 2Again at sigma 197. ↩
- 3cf. kappa 2436. ↩
- 4Aristophanes, Wealth [Plutus] 560 (web address 1 below), with a gloss from the scholia there. ↩
- 5Iamblichus, Babyloniaca fr. 20 Habrich; cf. lambda 130. ↩
- 6Aelian fr. 5 Domingo-Forasté (also 5 Hercher), not from his Poikile Historia as transmitted. Domingo-Forasté reads
lampro/tatos "most vigorous" instead oflabro/tatos "most boisterous." ↩
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from3 entries
- κ2436Κριὸς ἀσελγόκερωςoutrageously-horned ramPlato the comic poet says 'outrageously-horned'. This is because the ancients used to apply the [term] outrageous not only to licentious things/people but also to large things/people.
- λ9Λαβρότατοςmost intemperate, very intemperate[Meaning] most/very excessive.
- λ130Λαρυγγίζεινto croak[Meaning] broadening the voice and not speaking naturally, but seeking to use the larynx rather laboriously. Demosthenes in the [speech] For Ktesiphon [sc. uses the word]. Also [sc. attested is] "they croak," [meaning]…
Neighbouring entries
Revision history9 revisions · last 15 Dec 2016
- tweaked translation — Catharine Roth
- tweaked link — Catharine Roth
- Revised — David Whitehead
- Revised — David Whitehead
- cosmetics — David Whitehead
- tweaked note 6 — Catharine Roth
- expanded note 6, upgraded link, cosmetics, more keywords — Catharine Roth
- modified note 5 — David Whitehead
- augmented notes and keywords; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Jennifer Benedict