Πρόωρος

Notes (1)

1. The headword is a two-ending adjective in the masculine/feminine nominative singular; see generally LSJ s.v.
   The entry is perhaps generated by one of the many instances of the neuter accusative singular pro/wron, first attested (C1 BCE - C1 CE) in Philo Judaeus, De specialibus legibus 3.91.1: e)/ti kai\ pe/nqos pro/wron a)nede/canto, yet they too experienced untimely grief. In lexicography note also Hesychius pi4109, s.v. pro/wron with gloss pro\ kairou=: prematurely. Epigrams are another possible source: see e.g. Greek Anthology 7.643.3-4 (web address 1), an epitaph for a slave girl attributed to Crinagoras; ti/ pro/wron e)fi/eis moi=ran th=| pa/ntws sei=o/ e)ssome/nh|;, 'why do you thrust an untimely fate at her who in any case will at some time be yours?'; Gow and Page, pp. 208-9.
   The first instance of the exact form (masculine/feminine nominative singular) of the headword is considerably later (C4 CE), in Oribasius, Collectiones medicae 39.9.1: ou)de\n ga\r ou(/tws e)gkoptiko\n ei)s e)pi/dosin yuxh=s kai\ sw/matos w(s h( pro/wros kai\ dayilh\s xrh=sis tw=n a)frodisi/wn, 'for nothing is so detrimental to the nurture of soul and body as the untimely and excessive enjoyment of sexual pleasures'.
1. 1Coincidentally, this glossing phrase occurs in Xenophon, Oeconomicus 20.16 (web address 2): kai\ a)/llos ge a)nh\r diafe/rei tw=| pro\ th=s w(/ras a)pie/nai, 'and another man does make a difference in disengaging before the appropriate time'. ↩