Ἀσυνθετώτατον

most agreement-less, very agreement-less

Translated by David Whitehead · 10 Oct 2000 · Vetting: high · 5 revisions

Translation

Demosthenes in the [speech] On the Malconducted Embassy assigns the word to a mob, with the meaning of most/very untrustworthy and most/very unstable and making no guarantees because of instability.¹ Alternatively [meaning] pact-less and discordant; for agreements are pacts. Alternatively meaning most/very understanding-less. Homer [uses it] to mean something of which one cannot grasp the import. For he says: "and you, take heed and listen to me".²

Greek original

Ἀσυνθετώτατον· Δημοσθένης ἐν τῷ Παραπρεσβείας ἐπὶ ὄχλου τάττει τὸ ὄνομα, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀπιστότατον καὶ ἀβεβαιότατον καὶ πίστεις διὰ τὸ ἀβέβαιον οὐ τιθέμενον. ἢ ἀνομόλογον καὶ ἀσύμφωνον· ὁμολογίαι γὰρ αἱ συνθῆκαι. ἢ ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀσυνετώτατον. Ὅμηρος δὲ ἀντὶ τοῦ ὃ μὴ δύναταί τις συνιέναι, τί ποτε φρονεῖ. φησὶ γάρ· σὺ δὲ σύνθεο καί μευ ἄκουσον.

Betacode

*)asunqetw/taton: *dhmosqe/nhs e)n tw=| *parapresbei/as e)pi\ o)/xlou ta/ttei to\ o)/noma, a)nti\ tou= a)pisto/taton kai\ a)bebaio/taton kai\ pi/steis dia\ to\ a)be/baion ou) tiqe/menon. h)\ a)nomo/logon kai\ a)su/mfwnon: o(mologi/ai ga\r ai( sunqh=kai. h)\ a)nti\ tou= a)sunetw/taton. *(/omhros de\ a)nti\ tou= o(\ mh\ du/natai/ tis sunie/nai, ti/ pote fronei=. fhsi\ ga/r: su\ de\ su/nqeo kai/ meu a)/kouson.

Notes (2)

From Harpokration s.v.
1Demosthenes 19.136. ↩
2Homer, Iliad 6.334, Odyssey 15.138, 16.259, 18.129, 24.265. The last sentences draw a heavy conclusion from the simple formulaic line (repeated 5 times in Homer) where a speaker asks the hearer to "put together" what he is saying. They probably derive from a commentary on Homer, who obviously never uses the present headword or any related concept.

↩

Neighbours in Adler order

α4282Ἀσυνήθηςunaccustomed α4283Ἀσυνθεσίαbreach-of-covenant α4284Ἀσύνθετοςuncompounded, anti-agreement α4285Ἀσυνθετώτατονmost agreement-less, very agreement-less α4286Ἀσύντακτονdisorganized α4287Ἀσυντελήςnon-contributing α4288ἈσσυρίηθενAssuriêthen

Revisions (5)

30 Jun 2011David Whiteheadaugmented notes and keywords; tweaks and cosmetics
26 Aug 2002David Whiteheadadded note; cosmetics
3 May 2002Robert DyerAdded comment on Homer, raised status, minor cosmetics
10 Oct 2000David Whiteheadtranslated

Translation

Greek original

Betacode

*)asunqetw/taton: *dhmosqe/nhs e)n tw=| *parapresbei/as e)pi\ o)/xlou ta/ttei to\ o)/noma, a)nti\ tou= a)pisto/taton kai\ a)bebaio/taton kai\ pi/steis dia\ to\ a)be/baion ou) tiqe/menon. h)\ a)nomo/logon kai\ a)su/mfwnon: o(mologi/ai ga\r ai( sunqh=kai. h)\ a)nti\ tou= a)sunetw/taton. *(/omhros de\ a)nti\ tou= o(\ mh\ du/natai/ tis sunie/nai, ti/ pote fronei=. fhsi\ ga/r: su\ de\ su/nqeo kai/ meu a)/kouson.

Notes (2)

From Harpokration s.v.

1Demosthenes 19.136. ↩

2Homer, Iliad 6.334, Odyssey 15.138, 16.259, 18.129, 24.265. The last sentences draw a heavy conclusion from the simple formulaic line (repeated 5 times in Homer) where a speaker asks the hearer to "put together" what he is saying. They probably derive from a commentary on Homer, who obviously never uses the present headword or any related concept.