Σεμνοπροσωπεῖς
you are haughty-facing
Translated by William Hutton18 Oct 2013Vetting: high2 revisions
Translation
That is, you have a visage that is haughty. For there are people who are haughty in appearance, but who do not have habits that accord with their countenance.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Σεμνοπροσωπεῖς· τουτέστι σεμνὴν τὴν ὄψιν ἔχεις· εἰσὶ γὰρ ἄνθρωποι σεμνοὶ μὲν φανῆναι, οὐ κατὰ τὴν πρόσοψιν δὲ ἔχοντες καὶ τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα.
Betacode
*semnoproswpei=s: toute/sti semnh\n th\n o)/yin e)/xeis: ei)si\ ga\r a)/nqrwpoi semnoi\ me\n fanh=nai, ou) kata\ th\n pro/soyin de\ e)/xontes kai\ ta\ e)pithdeu/mata.
Notes
- From commentary to Aristophanes, Clouds 363, where the headword (present indicative active, second person singular, of the rare verb
semnoproswpe/w ) occurs as part of the chorus's description of Socrates (sigma 829).
Since the predicative element of the compound, derived from the adjectivesemno/s , has both positive ('serious', 'stately') and negative ('haughty') connotations (cf. sigma 227), the comments could be interpreted in one of two ways: that some people like Socrates appear haughty, but are actually not (in the commentator's view) haughty, or that some people like Socrates appear serious but are actually not (in the chorus's view) serious.
Neighbouring entries
Revision history2 revisions · last 23 Dec 2013
- Revised — David Whitehead
- x-refs; tweaking — David Whitehead
- Translated — William Hutton