Νηφάλιος θυσία
sober sacrifice
Translated by Catharine Roth4 Oct 2009Vetting: high4 revisions
Translation
[A sober sacrifice] was offered among [the] Athenians to Mnemosyne, Dawn, Sun, Moon, Nymphs, Aphrodite Ourania, as Polemon says.1 And xu/la nhfa/lia ["sober timbers"] [is what they call timbers] which are not from grapevines or fig trees,2 but those which are from thyme.3 And this is the first [kind of] wood for sacrifices with fire, from which also thyme takes its name, as the sound [of the word] is made from qumi/asis ["fumigation"] and qu/h ["sacrifice"]. But there are some sacrifices altogether without libations, which became customary by chance.
Sophocles [writes]: "for I would never have met first with you4 in my travels, sober as I am with you abstainers from wine." [He is] addressing the Eumenides,5 who are calleda)/oinoi ["wineless"] because they are always sober and do not allow drunkenness.6 But this is because of the sleeplessness of divine justice.7
Sophocles [writes]: "for I would never have met first with you4 in my travels, sober as I am with you abstainers from wine." [He is] addressing the Eumenides,5 who are called
Greek original · Adler’s text
Νηφάλιος θυσία παρὰ Ἀθηναίοις ἐτελεῖτο Μνημοσύνῃ, Ἠοῖ, Ἡλίῳ, Σελήνῃ, Νύμφαις, Ἀφροδίτῃ Οὐρανίᾳ· ὥς φησι Πολέμων. καὶ ξύλα δὲ νηφάλια, τὰ μὴ ἀμπέλινα μήτε σύκινα, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν θύμων. καὶ πρώτη ἐστιν αὕτη ὕλη πρὸς τὰς ἐμπύρους θυσίας, παρ' ὃ καὶ τοὔνομα λαβεῖν τὸν θύμον, ὡς παρὰ τὴν θυμίασιν καὶ τὴν θυὴν πεποιημένης τῆς φωνῆς. εἰσὶ δέ τινες τοπαράπαν ἄσπονδοι θυσίαι, κατὰ τύχην εἰς ἔθος παρελθοῦσαι. Σοφοκλῆς· οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε πρώταισιν ὑμῶν ἀντέκυρσ' ὁδοιπορῶν, νήφων ἀοίνοις. πρὸς τὰς Εὐμενίδας λέγων. αἳ ἄοινοι λέγονται, ὡς ἀεὶ νήφουσαι καὶ μὴ μέθην παρέχουσαι. τοῦτο δὲ διὰ τὸ τῆς θείας δίκης ἄϋπνον.
Betacode
*nhfa/lios qusi/a para\ *)aqhnai/ois e)telei=to *mnhmosu/nh|, *)hoi=, *(hli/w|, *selh/nh|, *nu/mfais, *)afrodi/th| *ou)rani/a|: w(/s fhsi *pole/mwn. kai\ cu/la de\ nhfa/lia, ta\ mh\ a)mpe/lina mh/te su/kina, a)lla\ ta\ a)po\ tw=n qu/mwn. kai\ prw/th e)stin au(/th u(/lh pro\s ta\s e)mpu/rous qusi/as, par' o(\ kai\ tou)/noma labei=n to\n qu/mon, w(s para\ th\n qumi/asin kai\ th\n quh\n pepoihme/nhs th=s fwnh=s. ei)si\ de/ tines topara/pan a)/spondoi qusi/ai, kata\ tu/xhn ei)s e)/qos parelqou=sai. *sofoklh=s: ou) ga\r a)/n pote prw/taisin u(mw=n a)nte/kurs' o(doiporw=n, nh/fwn a)oi/nois. pro\s ta\s *eu)meni/das le/gwn. ai(\ a)/oinoi le/gontai, w(s a)ei\ nh/fousai kai\ mh\ me/qhn pare/xousai. tou=to de\ dia\ to\ th=s qei/as di/khs a)/u+pnon.
Notes (7)
- See also nu 357 (and cf. nu 356).
- 1Polemon fr. 42 FHG. ↩
- 2cf. nu 355. ↩
- 3Mss MA have a note added:
qu/mos, bota/nh "thyme, a plant"; cf. theta 572. ↩ - 4Mss GM agree with Sophocles' text [below] in reading the dative
u(mi=n rather than the genitive here. ↩ - 5Thus far, the entry comes from Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 98-100 (web address 1), with scholion. ↩
- 6The construction is difficult here. Aemilius Portus in his edition of 1630 read
me/qhs mete/xousai "[not] having a share in drunkenness"; Gaisford conjecturedme/qh| prose/xousai "[not] attending to drunkenness". ↩ - 7This comment on the Eumenides is lacking in mss AV; in the margin of ms M. ↩
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from5 entries
- μ1159Μνημοσύνηmemory, Mnemosyne[*mnhmosu/nh means the same as] mnh/mh. Also [sc. attested is] mnhmo/sunon ["memorial, memorandum"].
- ν354Νηφαλέοςsober[Meaning] one who is self-controlled. And the feminine [is] nhfale/a. People nowadays [spell it] nhfa/lios with iota.
- ν355Νηφάλια ξύλαwine-less timbers, wine-less woods[Meaning] those not from vines or fig-trees or myrtles; for those are called "offered with wine" [oi)no/sponda]. As being burned when not water but wine is poured.
- ν357Νηφάλιοι θυσίαιsober sacrifices[Meaning those] in which wine is not poured as a libation, but water mixed with honey.
- ν358Νηφαλισμόςsobriety[Meaning] attentiveness.
Neighbouring entries
Revision history4 revisions · last 12 Nov 2020
- tweaked translation — Catharine Roth
- tweaked link — Catharine Roth
- tweaking — David Whitehead
- tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Catharine Roth