Ὀκνῶ
I hesitate
Translated by Catharine Roth16 Nov 2009Vetting: high5 revisions
Translation
[Meaning] I am afraid.1
And frequently Sophocles uses this [word] in reference to fearing. "For I would not have stood up to him with hesitation [if he were] in his right mind."2
And the orators used the noun not in reference to cowardice and laziness but in reference to fear and being afraid. Antiphon [writes]: "a bad man if he has a bold tongue for absent and future dangers and in wanting to press on, but when the deed is present, to shrink back."3 And Demosthenes in the first of the Philippic [speeches writes]: "I say that you must help the situation in two ways, by saving the cities for the Olynthians and sending out the soldiers to do this, and by harming his [sc. Philip's] territory with triremes and other soldiers. But if you take little care of either of these, I hesitate [= fear] that the expedition may be undertaken in vain by you."4 And in Homero)/knos is applied in reference to fear; for Agamemnon says about his brother: "not yielding to hesitation or to foolishness of mind."5
And frequently Sophocles uses this [word] in reference to fearing. "For I would not have stood up to him with hesitation [if he were] in his right mind."2
And the orators used the noun not in reference to cowardice and laziness but in reference to fear and being afraid. Antiphon [writes]: "a bad man if he has a bold tongue for absent and future dangers and in wanting to press on, but when the deed is present, to shrink back."3 And Demosthenes in the first of the Philippic [speeches writes]: "I say that you must help the situation in two ways, by saving the cities for the Olynthians and sending out the soldiers to do this, and by harming his [sc. Philip's] territory with triremes and other soldiers. But if you take little care of either of these, I hesitate [= fear] that the expedition may be undertaken in vain by you."4 And in Homer
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ὀκνῶ· φοβοῦμαι. καὶ πυκνῶς τούτῳ κέχρηται Σοφοκλῆς ἐπὶ τοῦ φοβεῖσθαι. φρονοῦντα γάρ νιν οὐκ ἂν ἐξέστην ὄκνῳ. καὶ οἱ ῥήτορες οὐκ ἐπὶ δειλίας καὶ ῥᾳθυμίας ἐχρήσαντο τῷ ὀνόματι, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τοῦ φόβου καὶ τοῦ φοβεῖσθαι. Ἀντιφῶν· κακὸς δ' ἂν εἰ ἀποῦσι μὲν καὶ μέλλουσι τοῖς κινδύνοις τῇ γλώττῃ θρασύνεται καὶ τῷ θέλειν ἐπείγειν, τὸ δὲ ἔργον ἂν παρῇ, ὀκνεῖν. καὶ Δημοσθένης ἐν Φιλιππι- κῶν αʹ· φημὶ διχῆ βοηθητέον εἶναι τοῖς πράγμασιν ὑμῖν, τῷ τε τὰς πόλεις τοῖς Ὀλυνθίοις σῴζειν καὶ τοὺς τοῦτο ποιήσοντας στρατιώτας ἐκπέμπειν, καὶ τῷ τὴν ἐκείνου χώραν κακῶς ποιεῖν καὶ τριήρεσι καὶ στρατιώταις ἑτέροις. εἰ δὲ θατέρου τούτων ὀλιγωρήσετε, ὀκνῶ, μὴ μάταιος ὑμῖν ἡ στρατεία γένηται. καὶ Ὁμήρῳ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ φόβου ὁ ὄκνος τέτακται· φησὶ γὰρ Ἀγαμέμνων περὶ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὑτοῦ· οὔτ' ὄκνῳ εἴκων οὔτ' ἀφραδίῃσι νόοιο.
Betacode
*)oknw=: fobou=mai. kai\ puknw=s tou/tw| ke/xrhtai *sofoklh=s e)pi\ tou= fobei=sqai. fronou=nta ga/r nin ou)k a)\n e)ce/sthn o)/knw|. kai\ oi( r(h/tores ou)k e)pi\ deili/as kai\ r(a|qumi/as e)xrh/santo tw=| o)no/mati, a)ll' e)pi\ tou= fo/bou kai\ tou= fobei=sqai. *)antifw=n: kako\s d' a)\n ei) a)pou=si me\n kai\ me/llousi toi=s kindu/nois th=| glw/tth| qrasu/netai kai\ tw=| qe/lein e)pei/gein, to\ de\ e)/rgon a)\n parh=|, o)knei=n. kai\ *dhmosqe/nhs e)n *filippi- kw=n a#: fhmi\ dixh= bohqhte/on ei)=nai toi=s pra/gmasin u(mi=n, tw=| te ta\s po/leis toi=s *)olunqi/ois sw/|zein kai\ tou\s tou=to poih/sontas stratiw/tas e)kpe/mpein, kai\ tw=| th\n e)kei/nou xw/ran kakw=s poiei=n kai\ trih/resi kai\ stratiw/tais e(te/rois. ei) de\ qate/rou tou/twn o)ligwrh/sete, o)knw=, mh\ ma/taios u(mi=n h( stratei/a ge/nhtai. kai\ *(omh/rw| de\ e)pi\ tou= fo/bou o( o)/knos te/taktai: fhsi\ ga\r *)agame/mnwn peri\ tou= a)delfou= au(tou=: ou)/t' o)/knw| ei)/kwn ou)/t' a)fradi/h|si no/oio.
Notes (5)
- 1Broadly similar entry in Hesychius (omicron478 s.v.
o)knei= ) and, according to Adler, the Ambrosian Lexicon. For this verb, cf. omicron 112, omicron 113, omicron 114, omicron 117, omega 51. ↩ - 2Sophocles, Ajax 82, with scholion on 81: Odysseus speaking about Ajax (web address 1). ↩
- 3Antiphon fr. 139 Gernet (138 Baiter-Sauppe). For
kako\s 'bad', the editio princeps of Demetrios Chalcocondyles (1499) readkakw=s 'badly'; Hermann conjectured the genitive pluralkakw=n . Fora)\n ei) Gaisford conjectureda)ei/ 'always'; Sauppe wanteda)\n ei)/h "would be", and Hermannou)=n e)n 'so in'. To confront the lack of parallelism, Hermann would changeqrasu/netai to an infinitive; Küster would change the infinitiveo)knei=n to a finite verb. ↩ - 4Demosthenes 1.17 (web address 2); the first Olynthiac, by modern conventions. According to Adler, the quotations from Antiphon and Demosthenes were attributed by Wentzel to a rhetorical source; she would assign the comment on Homer to the same source. ↩
- 5Homer, Iliad 10.122 (web address 3), on Menelaus. ↩
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 3 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from6 entries
- μ915ΜηκύβερναMekyberna, MecybernaMekyberna is a city in Thrace, 20 stades [sc. east] from Olynthos.
- ο112Ὀκνεῖhesitates[Meaning he/she/it] behaves cautiously. Xenophon [writes]: "[they] hesitating, lest when the Greeks had crossed the bridge they might stay [...]". Meaning [they] practicing caution, fearing.
- ο113Ὀκνεῖνto hesitate"[...] that no scout from the enemy was hesitating, but even before the deed was thinking that they knew with what force and how equipped he was coming."
- ο114ὈκνείωI shrink from[Meaning] I hesitate, I reject.
- ο117Ὀκνῶνhesitating[Meaning someone who is] shrinking back. Sophocles [writes]: "for every man who is doing great [deeds] is inclined to hesitate."
- ω51ὬκνουνI was hesitating[Meaning] I was being cautious. Also [sc. attested is] 'they were hesitating', [meaning] they were being cautious, they were neglecting. "When Greeks understood that the expedition was against the King, they were…
Neighbouring entries
Revision history5 revisions · last 28 Dec 2020
- coding — Catharine Roth
- my typo, coding — Catharine Roth
- tweaked a note — David Whitehead
- upgraded links — Catharine Roth
- more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Catharine Roth