Παρέργως

accidentally, incidentally

Translated by Ronald Allen6 Feb 2008Vetting: high7 revisions

3 notes · 39 words
[Meaning] lightly.
"[It is] not right to keep quiet even about something accidental, just as [the work of] a good craftsman."1 [This is] Polybius speaking about Scipio.2
And elsewhere: "the Spartans learned to make the messesnger not an accessory."3

Greek original · Adler’s text

Παρέργως· ὀλιγώρως. οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ τὸ πάρεργον ἄξιον σιωπῆσαι, καθάπερ ἀγαθοῦ τεχνίτου. περὶ τοῦ Σκιπίωνος λέγων ὁ Πολύβιος. καὶ αὖθις· ἔγνωσαν δὲ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι μὴ πάρεργον ποιήσασθαι τὸν ἀπόστολον.

Betacode
*pare/rgws: o)ligw/rws. ou) mh\n ou)de\ to\ pa/rergon a)/cion siwph=sai, kaqa/per a)gaqou= texni/tou. peri\ tou= *skipi/wnos le/gwn o( *polu/bios. kai\ au)=qis: e)/gnwsan de\ oi( *lakedaimo/nioi mh\ pa/rergon poih/sasqai to\n a)po/stolon.

Notes (3)

  1. The headword adverb (cf. under epsilon 3329), evidently quoted from somewhere, has the same glossing in the Synagoge, Lexica Segueriana 332.20, and under Photius, Lexicon pi388 Theodoridis; and cf. already Hesychius pi849. The remainder of the entry then illustrates the cognate substantive.
  2. 1Polybius fr. 67 Büttner-Wobst. ↩
  3. 2As Büttner-Wobst (p. 523 note) observes, Schweighäuser thought that this fragment referred to Cornelius Scipio Africanus (the elder), Publius (b. 236 BCE; OCD(4) s.v.). However, the passage might better apply (Walbank, p. 748) to the context of Polybius 36.8.6 (web address 1) and refer to Polybius' friend Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus (Numantinus), Publius (b. 185/4; OCD(4) s.v.). ↩
  4. 3Quotation (transmitted, in Adler's view, via the Excerpta Constantini Porphyrogeniti) unidentifiable. ↩

References


T. Büttner-Wobst, ed., Polybii Historiae, vol. IV, Teubner: Leipzig, 1904
F.W. Walbank, A Historical Commentary on Polybius, vol. III, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979

External resources

Neighbouring entries

π562Παρεπίδημοςsojourner, visitorπ563Παρέπτηflew alongsideπ564Παρέργωςaccidentally, incidentallyπ565Παρερπύσασαhaving crept up secretlyπ566Παρέρχεταιpasses by
Revision history7 revisions · last 9 Jun 2021
  1. tweaked translation and link — Catharine Roth
  2. codings — David Whitehead
  3. Revised — David Whitehead
  4. tweaked a note — David Whitehead
  5. Revised — David Whitehead
  6. tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
  7. modified primary note; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
  8. Translated — Ronald Allen

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