Συγγνώμονα
forgiving, indulgent
Translated by Joseph Carter17 Jun 2014Vetting: high2 revisions
Translation
[Meaning] sympathetic, merciful. "It is not right to be harsh and untouched by prayers and very little forgiving,1 when one is a human being and able to fall into the same [circumstances] out of which [one] harshly hinders another. For it is rightly said that 'it is a god's part to miss the mark in nothing and to set all things right.'2 But a human would not say about anyone that s/he will not suffer any particular thing; for countless fates have been set against us, not only death, but also other evils."3
Greek original · Adler’s text
Συγγνώμονα· συμπαθῆ, οἰκτίρμονα. οὐ χρὴ πικρὸν εἶναι καὶ ἀπαραίτητον καὶ συγγνώμονά τε ἥκιστα ἄνθρωπον ὄντα καὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς περιπεσεῖν δυνάμενον, ἐξ ὧν κωλύει πικρῶς ἄλλον. ὀρθῶς γὰρ εἴρηται, τὸ μὲν μηδὲν ἁμαρτεῖν θεοῦ ἐστι καὶ πάντα κατορθοῦν. ἄνθρωπος δὲ οὐκ ἂν εἴποι ἐπ' οὐδενί, ὅτι μὴ πείσεται τόδε τι· μυρίαι γὰρ κῆρες ἡμῖν ἐφεστᾶσιν, οὐ μόνον θανάτου, ἀλλὰ καὶ κακῶν ἄλλων.
Betacode
*suggnw/mona: sumpaqh=, oi)kti/rmona. ou) xrh\ pikro\n ei)=nai kai\ a)parai/thton kai\ suggnw/mona/ te h(/kista a)/nqrwpon o)/nta kai\ toi=s au)toi=s peripesei=n duna/menon, e)c w(=n kwlu/ei pikrw=s a)/llon. o)rqw=s ga\r ei)/rhtai, to\ me\n mhde\n a(martei=n qeou= e)sti kai\ pa/nta katorqou=n. a)/nqrwpos de\ ou)k a)\n ei)/poi e)p' ou)deni/, o(/ti mh\ pei/setai to/de ti: muri/ai ga\r kh=res h(mi=n e)festa=sin, ou) mo/non qana/tou, a)lla\ kai\ kakw=n a)/llwn.
Notes (3)
- The headword, presumably extracted from the unidentifiable passage quoted, is accusative singular of the adjective
suggnw/mwn .
cf. generally sigma 1280. (Adler reports that in mss VM the present entry is part of that preceding one; also that V has only the headword itself.) - 1Bernhardy wanted to emend
suggnw/mona/ to its opposite,a)suggnw/mona/ . Ifsuggnw/mona is retained,h(/kista needs to be taken with it, as translated here. With Bernhardy's change, the translation would be "... unforgiving and being very little like a human". ↩ - 2The Suda's source here quotes part of an epigram quoted in Demosthenes, On the Crown (Demosth. 18.289), there with plural
qew=n rather than the quotedqeou= . ↩ - 3The allusion here is to Homer, Iliad 12.326-7, where Sarpedon warns Glaukos of the countless fates of death (
kh=res e)festa=sin qana/toio | muri/ai ). ↩
Neighbouring entries
Revision history2 revisions · last 18 Jun 2014
- augmented notes and keywords; tweaks and cosmetics; raised status — David Whitehead
- tweaked translation, added a note and keywords, set status — Catharine Roth
- Translated — Joseph Carter