Γνώμην ἐμήν
my opinion
Translated by William Hutton26 Jun 2003Vetting: high5 revisions
Translation
Meaning according to my opinion and way of thinking.1
Opinion:2 in Sophocles 'opinion'3 [is used] in Ajax Whipbearer:4 "placing opinions of incurable joy in his eyes." [Athena] is speaking of his joy at thinking that he has killed the Greeks. Thus, preventing him from this joy, [she is] placing unbearable opinions in his eyes. I did not hide, [she] is saying, his sight so as not to see, but I cast into it an unbearable opinion so that he thought he was seeing things that did not exist. This was not a mistake of his eyes, but much rather one of his mind.
Opinion:2 in Sophocles 'opinion'3 [is used] in Ajax Whipbearer:4 "placing opinions of incurable joy in his eyes." [Athena] is speaking of his joy at thinking that he has killed the Greeks. Thus, preventing him from this joy, [she is] placing unbearable opinions in his eyes. I did not hide, [she] is saying, his sight so as not to see, but I cast into it an unbearable opinion so that he thought he was seeing things that did not exist. This was not a mistake of his eyes, but much rather one of his mind.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Γνώμην ἐμήν· ἀντὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἐμὴν γνώμην καὶ οἴησιν. Γνώμη· παρὰ Σοφοκλεῖ γνώμη ἐν Αἴαντι Μαστιγοφόρῳ· γνώμας βαλοῦσα τῆς ἀνηκέστου χαρᾶς ἐπ' ὄμμασι. χαράν φησι τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ δοκεῖν τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἀνῃρῆσθαι. ταύτης οὖν τῆς χαρᾶς ἀπεῖρξα δυσφόρους γνώμας ἐμβαλοῦσα τοῖς ὄμμασιν. οὐκ ἔκλεψά φησι τὴν ὄψιν ὥστε μὴ ὁρᾶν· ἀλλ' ἐπ' αὐτῇ δύσφορον γνώμην ἐπέβαλον ὡς οἴεσθαι ἰδεῖν τὰ μὴ ὄντα. τοῦτο δὲ οὐ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἁμάρτημα, ἀλλὰ πολὺ πρότερον τῆς διανοίας.
Betacode
*gnw/mhn e)mh/n: a)nti\ tou= kata\ th\n e)mh\n gnw/mhn kai\ oi)/hsin. *gnw/mh: para\ *sofoklei= gnw/mh e)n *ai)/anti *mastigofo/rw|: gnw/mas balou=sa th=s a)nhke/stou xara=s e)p' o)/mmasi. xara/n fhsi th\n e)pi\ tw=| dokei=n tou\s *(/ellhnas a)nh|rh=sqai. tau/ths ou)=n th=s xara=s a)pei=rca dusfo/rous gnw/mas e)mbalou=sa toi=s o)/mmasin. ou)k e)/kleya/ fhsi th\n o)/yin w(/ste mh\ o(ra=n: a)ll' e)p' au)th=| du/sforon gnw/mhn e)pe/balon w(s oi)/esqai i)dei=n ta\ mh\ o)/nta. tou=to de\ ou) tw=n o)fqalmw=n a(ma/rthma, a)lla\ polu\ pro/teron th=s dianoi/as.
Notes (4)
- cf. generally gamma 342.
- 1The headword phrase is in the accusative case, as it occurs (with the addition of the particle
ge ) in Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae 349 (web address 1). The gloss, from the scholia there, is explaining why 'my opinion' occurs without some preposition meaning 'according to' (as thekata/ of the gloss does). Phrynichus s.v. explains the phenomenon this way: "the Attic authors [say this] by paraleipsis instead of 'according to my opinion.'" ↩ - 2Here the word (without 'my') is in the nominative case. ↩
- 3Accusative singular. ↩
- 4Better known nowadays as, simply, Ajax. (The epithet -- here only in the Suda, but cf. the ancient summaries of the play -- reflects the demented protagonist's attack on livestock as if they were his enemies.) The passage is lines 51-52, slightly jumbled here (see web address 2); the accompanying comments come from the scholia there. ↩
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from3 entries
- γ337Γνώμηjudgement[Meaning] awareness/shared knowledge.
- γ338Γνώμηjudgement, opinion[Meaning a] view. A certain sort of disposition. Also [sc. attested is] gnw/mwn ["expert"], [meaning] one who is knowledgeable. Also described as a gnw/mwn is a certain engineers' measuring-rod, and of course also a…
- γ342Γνώμην ἐμοίin my judgment, in my opinion[Meaning] as it seems to me.
Neighbouring entries
Revision history5 revisions · last 28 Sep 2015
- tweaking — David Whitehead
- upgraded links — Catharine Roth
- x-ref; tweaking — David Whitehead
- corrected my own error — William Hutton
- augmented note 4; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — William Hutton