Μιαρὰ κεφαλή

foul head

Translated by Ioannis Doukas16 Jul 2009Vetting: high3 revisions

7 notes · 118 words
[sc. A phrase] just like "beloved head".1 From the leading part of the body, it means the [sc. whole] man, as in Homer: "Teucer, beloved head".2 Also, "for such a head".3 And in Demosthenes: "and these, o foul head".4 And elsewhere: "o wretch and parricide and house-breaker!" And he answers: "say the same things of me again, and more. Do you know that I take pleasure in being much abused?".5
Aelian [writes]6: "it is not right for a good man or a god to receive gifts from someone defiled. Therefore all the great labor that impious men spend upon the gods is in vain, but that of the pious is most profitable to them all". Plato says [this].7

Greek original · Adler’s text

Μιαρὰ κεφαλή· ὥσπερ φίλη κεφαλή. ἐκ τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ μέρους τοῦ σώματος δηλοῖ τὸν ἄνδρα, παραπλησίως Ὁμήρῳ· Τεῦκρε, φίλη κεφαλή. καί, τοίην γὰρ κεφαλήν. καὶ παρὰ Δημοσθένει· καὶ ταῦτ', ὦ μιαρὰ κεφαλή. καὶ αὖθις· ὦ μιαρὲ καὶ πατραλοία καὶ τοιχωρύχε. ὁ δέ φησιν· αὖθις μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ πλείω λέγε. ἆρ' οἶσθ' ὅτι χαίρω πόλλ' ἀκούων κακά; Αἰλιανός· παρὰ δὲ μιαροῦ δῶρα οὔτε ἄνδρα ἀγαθὸν οὔτε θεὸν ἔστι ποτὲ τό γε ὀρθὸν δέχεσθαι. μάτην οὖν περὶ θεῶν ὁ πολύς ἐστι πόνος τοῖς ἀνοσίοις, τοῖς δὲ ὁσίοις εὐκαιρότατος. Πλάτων φησί.

Betacode
*miara\ kefalh/: w(/sper fi/lh kefalh/. e)k tou= h(gemonikou= me/rous tou= sw/matos dhloi= to\n a)/ndra, paraplhsi/ws *(omh/rw|: *teu=kre, fi/lh kefalh/. kai/, toi/hn ga\r kefalh/n. kai\ para\ *dhmosqe/nei: kai\ tau=t', w)= miara\ kefalh/. kai\ au)=qis: w)= miare\ kai\ patraloi/a kai\ toixwru/xe. o( de/ fhsin: au)=qis meta\ tau=ta kai\ plei/w le/ge. a)=r' oi)=sq' o(/ti xai/rw po/ll' a)kou/wn kaka/; *ai)liano/s: para\ de\ miarou= dw=ra ou)/te a)/ndra a)gaqo\n ou)/te qeo\n e)/sti pote\ to/ ge o)rqo\n de/xesqai. ma/thn ou)=n peri\ qew=n o( polu/s e)sti po/nos toi=s a)nosi/ois, toi=s de\ o(si/ois eu)kairo/tatos. *pla/twn fhsi/.

Notes (7)

  1. Apart from the quotations in the entry, the headword phrase is also attested in Aristophanes, Acharnians 285 (web address 1); the entry derives from the corresponding scholia.
  2. 1phi 324. ↩
  3. 2Homer, Iliad 8.281 (web address 2). ↩
  4. 3Homer, Odyssey 1.343 and 11.549 (web addresses 3 and 4). ↩
  5. 4Demosthenes 21.117, cf. 135 and 195 (web addresses 5 and 6); also 18.153. ↩
  6. 5Aristophanes, Clouds 1327-1329 (web address 7); cf. lambda 59. ↩
  7. 6No: the quotation that follows is from Plato (see next note). Gaisford suggested that the mention of Aelian is displaced from mu 1027. ↩
  8. 7Plato, Laws 4.716E-717A (web address 8). ↩

External resources

Neighbouring entries

μ1023Μία λόχμηone copseμ1024Μία μάστιξ πάντας ἐλαύνειone whip drives everyoneμ1025Μιαρὰ κεφαλήfoul headμ1026Μιαρίαdefilementμ1027Μιαροίdefiled
Revision history3 revisions · last 22 May 2013
  1. Revised — David Whitehead
  2. another x-ref — David Whitehead
  3. augmented notes and keywords; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
  4. Translated — Ioannis Doukas

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