Φθόνος

envy, jealousy, spite

Translated by Marcelo Boeri23 Jul 2008Vetting: high6 revisions

7 notes · 136 words
[Meaning a] human sickness of the soul and [one] eating whatever soul it seizes, just as rust [eats] iron. And erotic desire is the same thing. For them[?], envy calls the divine a most hateful thing, turning the congenital ailment towards those who engendered it.1
And iambic verses [sc. are attested as follows]: "having scraped away the second letter of 'envy' [phthonos], you could find written in it 'homicide' [phonos]."2
And Sophocles [writes]: "envy creeps towards the one who is well-placed."3 And elsewhere]:4 "listeners place credence in what is said against the great, because of envy."5 And Pindar [writes]: "speeches [are] a relish for the envious."6
And elsewhere [it is written]: "despite being a great celebrity among the Athenians, he too was eclipsed by all-comsuming envy; for [...] he was condemned to a sentence of death."7

Greek original · Adler’s text

Φθόνος, νόσημα ψυχῆς ἀνθρωπικὸν καὶ ἐσθίον ψυχήν, ἣν ἂν καταλάβῃ, ὥσπερ ἰὸς τὸν σίδηρον. καὶ ὁ ἔρως ταὐτόν ἐστιν. οἷς ἐκεῖνος ἔχθιστον καλῶς τὸ θεῖον, περιτρέπων τὸ συμφυὲς ἀρρώστημα εἰς αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἐκφύσαντας αὐτά. καὶ ἴαμβοι· τὸ δευτερεῦον τοῦ φθόνου γράμμα ξέσας εὕροις ἐν αὐτῷ τὸν φόνον γεγραμμένον. καὶ Σοφοκλῆς· ὁ φθόνος ἕρπει πρὸς τὸν εὖ ἔχοντα. καὶ αὖθις· πιστὰ τοῖς ἀκούουσι τὰ κατὰ τῶν μεγάλων διὰ τὸν φθόνον. καὶ Πίνδαρος· ὄψον δὲ λόγοι φθονεροῖς. καὶ αὖθις· σφόδρα δὲ λαμπρὸς ὢν παρὰ τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις ὅμως ἐσκοτίσθη καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπὸ τοῦ τὰ πάντα διεσθίοντος φθόνου· δίκην γὰρ θανάτου ὦφλε.

Betacode
*fqo/nos, no/shma yuxh=s a)nqrwpiko\n kai\ e)sqi/on yuxh/n, h(\n a)\n katala/bh|, w(/sper i)o\s to\n si/dhron. kai\ o( e)/rws tau)to/n e)stin. oi(=s  e)kei=nos e)/xqiston kalw=s to\ qei=on, peritre/pwn to\ sumfue\s a)rrw/sthma ei)s au)tou\s tou\s e)kfu/santas au)ta/. kai\ i)/amboi: to\ deutereu=on tou= fqo/nou gra/mma ce/sas eu(/rois e)n au)tw=| to\n fo/non gegramme/non. kai\ *sofoklh=s: o( fqo/nos e(/rpei pro\s to\n eu)= e)/xonta. kai\ au)=qis: pista\ toi=s a)kou/ousi ta\ kata\ tw=n mega/lwn dia\ to\n fqo/non. kai\ *pi/ndaros: o)/yon de\ lo/goi fqoneroi=s. kai\ au)=qis: sfo/dra de\ lampro\s w)\n para\ toi=s *)aqhnai/ois o(/mws e)skoti/sqh kai\ au)to\s u(po\ tou= ta\ pa/nta diesqi/ontos fqo/nou: di/khn ga\r qana/tou w)=fle.

Notes (7)

  1. See already phi 508, phi 509; and cf. phi 511.
  2. 1Aelian fr. 335 Domingo-Forasté (338 Hercher), here mangled ('locus desperatus': Adler). Read kalei= (ms G) for kalw=s, and Hercher's au)to/ for the final au)ta/. ↩
  3. 2cf. Greek Anthology (Appendix). Problemata et aenigmata, Epigram. 47.42, esp .6-7. ↩
  4. 3Sophocles, Ajax 157 (web address 1). ↩
  5. 4Bernhardy wished to excise 'And elsewhere' here; cf. next note. ↩
  6. 5Quotation (if such it is: see the scholia to Sophocles, Ajax 154) unidentifiable. ↩
  7. 6Pindar, Nemean Odes 8.21 (35): web address 2. ↩
  8. 7An abridgement of Diogenes Laertius 5.76, on Demetrius of Phaleron. ↩

External resources

Linked from6 entries

Neighbouring entries

φ508Φθόνοςenvy, jealousy, spiteφ509Φθόνοςenvyφ510Φθόνοςenvy, jealousy, spiteφ511Φθονῶ σοιI envy youφ512Στίχοι Δημητρίου εἰς φθονερούςlines of Demetrios against the envious
Revision history6 revisions · last 9 Nov 2016
  1. tweaked link — Catharine Roth
  2. Revised — David Whitehead
  3. expanded note, upgraded links — Catharine Roth
  4. tweaks, links — Catharine Roth
  5. further changes and corrections to translation; augmented and modified notes; more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
  6. modified translation — Catharine Roth
  7. Translated — Marcelo Boeri

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