Ἀκμή
moment, point, still
Translated by Jennifer Benedict7 Nov 2000Vetting: high9 revisions
Translation
[Meaning] sharpness, the exact decisive moment of the intensity of the matter, and power, and youth. But "akme of opportunity" [means] good fortune. Thus Isocrates [writes]: "[it is best] to grasp the akme of the opportunities."1 It is also taken to mean e)/ti ["yet, still"]. Thus Hyperides [sc. uses the word].2
And Sophocles [writes]: "for it is not the moment for long speeches for us, lest he learn I have come and I blurt out the whole plan." Meaning eti.3
And in the Epigrams: "a quince, unwrinkled, downy as newborn lambs, growing with leafy branches."4 And elsewhere: "however much the gall of the heroes once was, part of which is preserved even still in the lifeless branches."5
Meaninge)/ti .
And Sophocles [writes]: "for it is not the moment for long speeches for us, lest he learn I have come and I blurt out the whole plan." Meaning eti.3
And in the Epigrams: "a quince, unwrinkled, downy as newborn lambs, growing with leafy branches."4 And elsewhere: "however much the gall of the heroes once was, part of which is preserved even still in the lifeless branches."5
Meaning
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ἀκμή· ὀξύτης, αὐτὴ ἡ ῥοπὴ τῆς τοῦ πράγματος ἐπιτάσεως, καὶ ἡ δύναμις, καὶ ἡ νεότης. Ἀκμὴ δὲ καιροῦ, ἡ εὐτυχία. οὕτως Ἰσο- κράτης· τὸ μὲν τῆς ἀκμῆς τῶν καιρῶν τυγχάνειν. λαμβάνεται δὲ καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ ἔτι. οὕτως Ὑπερίδης. καὶ Σοφοκλῆς· ἀκμὴ γὰρ οὐ μακρῶν ἡμῖν λόγων, μὴ καὶ μάθῃ μ' ἥκοντα, κἀκχέω τὸ πᾶν σόφισμα. ἀντὶ τοῦ ἔτι. καὶ ἐν Ἐπιγράμμασι· στρούθιον· ἀρρυτίδωτον, ἰσόχνοον ἀρτιγόνοισιν, ἀκμὴν εὐπετάλοις συμφυὲς ἀκρέμοσι. καὶ αὖθις· ὅσσος ἐν ἡρώεσσι πότ' ἦν χόλος, οὗ μέρος ἀκμὴν ἐχθρὸν ἐν ἀψύχοις σῴζεται ἀκρέμοσιν. ἀντὶ τοῦ ἔτι.
Betacode
*)akmh/: o)cu/ths, au)th\ h( r(oph\ th=s tou= pra/gmatos e)pita/sews, kai\ h( du/namis, kai\ h( neo/ths. *)akmh\ de\ kairou=, h( eu)tuxi/a. ou(/tws *)iso- kra/ths: to\ me\n th=s a)kmh=s tw=n kairw=n tugxa/nein. lamba/netai de\ kai\ a)nti\ tou= e)/ti. ou(/tws *(uperi/dhs. kai\ *sofoklh=s: a)kmh\ ga\r ou) makrw=n h(mi=n lo/gwn, mh\ kai\ ma/qh| m' h(/konta, ka)kxe/w to\ pa=n so/fisma. a)nti\ tou= e)/ti. kai\ e)n *)epigra/mmasi: strou/qion: a)rruti/dwton, i)so/xnoon a)rtigo/noisin, a)kmh\n eu)peta/lois sumfue\s a)kre/mosi. kai\ au)=qis: o(/ssos e)n h(rw/essi po/t' h)=n xo/los, ou(= me/ros a)kmh\n e)xqro\n e)n a)yu/xois sw/|zetai a)kre/mosin. a)nti\ tou= e)/ti.
Notes (5)
- The first part of this entry is also in Photius and elsewhere.
- 1Isocrates 2.33. ↩
- 2Hyperides fr. 116 Jensen. ↩
- 3Sophocles, Philoctetes 12-14 (web address 1 below), with scholion. ↩
- 4Greek Anthology 6.252.1, 3-4 (Antiphilus), on the gift of a quince, preserved in winter, to a noblewoman of high rank; cf. Gow and Page (vol. I, 92-93); (vol. II, 117); and further excerpts from this epigram at alpha 976, alpha 4212, kappa 2502, mu 934, nu 439, pi 3074, and sigma 903. Here Gow and Page follow (vol. I, 92) the Anthologia Planudea by reading
strou/qeion instead of the Suda lexicographer'sstrou/qion , which is transmitted by the Anthologia Palatina. ↩ - 5Greek Anthology 7.141.7-8 (Antiphilus), on the elms around the tomb of Protesilaus (Protesilaos, cf. pi 2961); cf. Gow and Page (vol. I, 106-107), (vol. II, 131-132), and a further extract from this epigram at delta 1661. ↩
References
A.S.F. Gow and D.L. Page, eds., The Greek Anthology: The Garland of Philip and Some Contemporary Epigrams, vol. I, (Cambridge, 1968)
A.S.F. Gow and D.L. Page, eds., The Greek Anthology: The Garland of Philip and Some Contemporary Epigrams, vol. II, (Cambridge, 1968)
A.S.F. Gow and D.L. Page, eds., The Greek Anthology: The Garland of Philip and Some Contemporary Epigrams, vol. II, (Cambridge, 1968)
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from7 entries
- α906Ἀκμήνmoment[Meaning] still/yet. "[He] extinguishing the cities with fear at the moment when they were stirred up to hatred of the Romans." Procopius [writes]: "he had just let slip the moment of opportunity then, which he had not…
- α976Ἀκρεμόνεςbranches[Meaning] boughs, shoots. "Equally-downy [...] growing on the end of leafy branches." Has an oxytone accent, a)kremw/n, like h(gemw/n.
- α4212Ἄσπιλοςunblemished[Meaning] one who/which does not have any blemish. In the Epigrams: "I [am] a quince ... unblemished, unwrinkled." Also [sc. attested is the superlative] aspilotatos ["most/very unblemished"].
- δ1661Δυσμίσητοςdetestable, detested[Meaning] one who/that which is altogether hated. "The trees [are] detestable, and if ever they see the wall of Troy, shed their dry foliage."
- κ2502Κρυμόςfrost[Meaning] coldness. "For such a one as you, queen, even the snowy frost bears fruit."
- μ934Μῆλονsheep; apple, quinceThe herd-animal. Also the fruit. In the Epigrams: "I [am] a ripe quince still kept in its new skin from early summer, spotless, unwrinkled, downy [as newborn ones], growing on the end of leafy branches."
- ν439Νιφετόςsnowstorm[Meaning] quite thin descending snow. "There are four congealments of watery moisture in the air. Up above the earth, the lesser kind is snow, and the greater kind is hail. Down below on the earth, the lesser is…
Neighbouring entries
Revision history9 revisions · last 9 Apr 2019
- typo in cross-reference — Ronald Allen
- expanded n.5, added cross-references, added keywords — Ronald Allen
- expanded n.4, added bibliography, added cross-references, added keyword — Ronald Allen
- Revised — David Whitehead
- tweaked link — Catharine Roth
- cosmetics — Catharine Roth
- added primary note; tweaks — David Whitehead
- supplemented translation, upgraded link — Catharine Roth
- augmented notes and keywords; restorative and other cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Jennifer Benedict