Ἔνη καὶ νέα
old and new
Translated by Antonella Ippolito7 Feb 2005Vetting: high8 revisions
Translation
Amongst Athenians this was the name for what we call the thirtieth [day of the month], the new moon,1 because in these days it happens that the moon has both its end and its rising. It was then that they used to demand back interest or loans from debtors who were not quick in repaying, since they had become insolvent.2 Hence [Strepsiades] is saying3 that noticing that the first day of the month is so close causes him pain. The 26th [day] is the fifth of the last decade. For the Athenians4 used to divide the 30 days of the moon into 3 decades, enumerating the first one just as we do, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. The second [decade they numbered] as follows:5 the 11th [was] 'first [day] after ten', the 12th 'second after ten', [the 13th]6 'third after ten', [and so on] up to the 19th; for eikas is what they call the twentieth. The 21st [they call] final decade [day], and the one after that [i.e. the 22nd] 'ninth of the waning [decade]', until the 'second of the waning [decade]'. For the thirtieth day is called e)/nh kai\ ne/a .
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ἔνη καὶ νέα· οὕτω παρ' Ἀθηναίοις ἡ παρ' ἡμῖν τριακάς, ἡ νεομηνία, ἐπειδὴ συμβαίνει ἐν αὐταῖς καὶ λήγειν τὴν σελήνην καὶ γεννᾶσθαι. τότε δὲ μὴ ταχέως ἀποδιδόντας τοὺς τόκους ἢ τὰ δάνεια ἀπῄτουν, ὡς ὑπερόρους γενομένους. διὸ λυπεῖσθαί φησιν ὁρῶν ἐνισταμένην ἔνην τε καὶ νέαν. ἡ δὲ πέμπτη ἐστὶ κʹ2ʹ φθίνοντος. τὰς γὰρ λʹ ἡμέρας τῆς σελήνης εἰς γʹ δεκάδας διῄρουν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ τὴν μὲν πρώτην ὡς ἡμεῖς, αʹ βʹ γʹ δʹ εʹ ʹ2ʹ ζʹ ηʹ θʹ ιʹ ἀπαριθμοῦντες, τὴν δὲ δευτέραν οὕτως· πρώτη ἐπὶ δέκα, ιαʹ· δευτέρα ἐπὶ δέκα, ιβʹ· τρίτη ἐπὶ δέκα ἄχρι τῆς ιθʹ· τὴν γὰρ εἰκάδα οὕτω καλοῦσι. τὴν δὲ καʹ ὑστέραν δεκάδα καὶ τὴν μετ' αὐτὴν ἐνάτην φθίνοντος ἕως δευτέρας φθίνοντος. τὴν γὰρ τριακάδα ἔνην καὶ νέαν φασίν.
Betacode
*)/enh kai\ ne/a: ou(/tw par' *)aqhnai/ois h( par' h(mi=n triaka/s, h( neomhni/a, e)peidh\ sumbai/nei e)n au)tai=s kai\ lh/gein th\n selh/nhn kai\ genna=sqai. to/te de\ mh\ taxe/ws a)podido/ntas tou\s to/kous h)\ ta\ da/neia a)ph/|toun, w(s u(pero/rous genome/nous. dio\ lupei=sqai/ fhsin o(rw=n e)nistame/nhn e)/nhn te kai\ ne/an. h( de\ pe/mpth e)sti\ k#2# fqi/nontos. ta\s ga\r l# h(me/ras th=s selh/nhs ei)s g# deka/das dih/|roun oi( *)aqhnai=oi kai\ th\n me\n prw/thn w(s h(mei=s, a# b# g# d# e# #2# z# h# q# i# a)pariqmou=ntes, th\n de\ deute/ran ou(/tws: prw/th e)pi\ de/ka, ia#: deute/ra e)pi\ de/ka, ib#: tri/th e)pi\ de/ka a)/xri th=s iq#: th\n ga\r ei)ka/da ou(/tw kalou=si. th\n de\ ka# u(ste/ran deka/da kai\ th\n met' au)th\n e)na/thn fqi/nontos e(/ws deute/ras fqi/nontos. th\n ga\r triaka/da e)/nhn kai\ ne/an fasi/n.
Notes (6)
- From the scholia to Aristophanes, Clouds 1134, where the headword phrase occurs (see web address 1). See also delta 1205, epsilon 1292, epsilon 1296, epsilon 1294, epsilon 1295, epsilon 1298; LSJ entry at web address 2.↩
- 1
*neomhni/a , also frequent asnoumhni/a : "the new moon”, that is, the first day of the lunar month. ↩- 2The context seems to require
u(perhme/rous , as conjectured by Ernesti (see Adler’s apparatus), sinceu(pero/rous (betteru(perw/rous ) is explained by lexicographers as 'over-ripe'; see Apollonius Dyscolus 1.64, Pollux 6.54. If the text is genuine, it can witness the use of the word as a synonym ofu(perhme/rous in Byzantine Greek. ↩- 3See the scholia vetera on Aristophanes, Clouds 1131 and 1134, both of which the Suda is combining. Strepsiades appears to be very concerned about the approach of the day when his creditors will sue him for being insolvent, for this day was appointed for the lodging of deposits by litigants undertaking a lawsuit:
pe/mpth, tetra\s, tri/th: meta\ tau/thn deute/ra: /ei)=q' h(\n e)gw\ ma/lista pasw=n h(merw=n /de/doika kai\ pe/frika kai\ bdelu/ttomai, /eu)qu\s meta\ tau/thn e)sq' e)/nh te kai\ ne/a . 'The fifth, the fourth, the third, and after that the second; then, the day I fear the most of all the days, the day that makes me sick, that makes me shudder! Immediately afterwards is the new moon'. ↩- 4A lunar calendar such as the one described by the scholia is attested for Athens and elsewhere, e.g. Tenos and Thessaly (Samuel). Not all Greek calendars made use of this kind of schema; there was also a calendar counting forwards throughout the whole month and containing the date called
triaka\s , used in Aetolia and elsewhere. The adoption of the backwards calendar is numbered among Solon’s reforms by Plutarch, Solon 25. ↩- 5The sense of this complex explanation rests on two particular features of the Athenian calendar, which was based on a backwards count at least for the last decade of each month and was actually a lunar calendar including ordinary 30 days months and hollow ones. In these last, a day was left out (called
e)caire/simos ) and the twenty-ninth was calledtriaka\s ore)/nh kai\ ne/a . It is subject of discussion whether the omitted date was thedeute/ra fqi/nontos (the day which ended the backwards count) or thedeka/th fqi/nontos (the date which began it). ↩- 6The insertion of '13th'
ig' by the mss. TF is essential. Numerals very easily get lost in manuscripts, especially in a context that could create confusion both on the visual level and for the general sense of the passage. - 1
References
Aristophanes, Clouds, edited with translation and notes by Alan H. Sommerstein, Warminster (Wiltshire), Aris and Phillips, 1982
Walsh, J.A., "The Omitted Date in the Athenian Hollow Month", ZPE 41, 1981, 107-124
Michalson, J.D., The Sacred and Civil Calendar of the Athenian Year, Princeton, 1975
Samuel, A.E., Greek and Roman Chronology, "Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft", 1-7, 1972
Meritt B.D., The Athenian Year, Berkeley-Los Angeles, 1961
Walsh, J.A., "The Omitted Date in the Athenian Hollow Month", ZPE 41, 1981, 107-124
Michalson, J.D., The Sacred and Civil Calendar of the Athenian Year, Princeton, 1975
Samuel, A.E., Greek and Roman Chronology, "Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft", 1-7, 1972
Meritt B.D., The Athenian Year, Berkeley-Los Angeles, 1961
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from5 entries
- δ1205ΔιοσημείαZeus-omen, Zeus-signA [sign of] divine anger. "The thousand Scythians were present, more rapid than any Zeus-omen, whether a flash of light or a hurricane or a thunderbolt or a storm or a meteorite". Aternatively a dioshmi/a is an…
- ε1292Ἔνη καὶ νέαold and newThe so-called thirtieth [sc. day of the month]; e)/non [is] what is ancient, and ne/on what is new. In/on which such bloodshed would have occurred. In the present instance he says ["bloodshed"] as [sc. Homer says]…
- ε1295Ἔνηthe day after tomorrow, the second day afterThe third day of the [sc. new] moon. Aristophanes [writes]: "take courage, you will be on time even if you come the day after tomorrow." Meaning up to the third [day]. "For I know these people, voting quickly, but then,…
- ε1296Ἔνην καὶ νέανold-and-new[This] is what Athenians call the day we call the thirtieth, from its being the end of the preceding month and the beginning of the next. But Polemon maintains that once he called it Demetrias in honor of Demetrius the…
- ε1298Ἐνήday after tomorrowWith acute accent on the last syllable [it means] new.
Neighbouring entries
Revision history8 revisions · last 17 Mar 2017
- reordered links — Catharine Roth
- tweaked betacode — Catharine Roth
- betacode typos — Catharine Roth
- more keywords; tweaking — David Whitehead
- cosmeticule — Catharine Roth
- another keyword — David Whitehead
- adjusted links — Catharine Roth
- tweaked translation; extensive cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Antonella Ippolito