Σοφιστής
sophist
Translated by Marisa Divenosa17 Nov 1999Vetting: high13 revisions
Translation
[Meaning a] deceiver. [Derived] from the [verb] sofi/zesqai , i.e. to deceive with speeches/words.1 However, a teacher, as one who instructs, is also called a sophist.2 And in the old days a sage was called a sophist.3
"[...] and to become a consummate practictioner in pains and diseases."4
And Aristophanes says 'you deal subtly' [sofi/zh| ] instead of 'you employ art' [texna/zh| ].5 For they used to call skills of speaking [sofi/as ] and quibbles [sofi/smata ] 'arts' [te/xnas .6
"[...] and to become a consummate practictioner in pains and diseases."4
And Aristophanes says 'you deal subtly' [
Greek original · Adler’s text
Σοφιστής· ἀπατεών. παρὰ τὸ σοφίζεσθαι, ὅ ἔστι λόγοις ἀπατᾶν. λέγεται δὲ σοφιστὴς καὶ ὁ διδάσκαλος, ὡς σοφίζων. τὸ δὲ παλαιὸν σοφιστὴς ὁ σοφὸς ἐκαλεῖτο. ὀδύναις τε καὶ νόσοις γενέσθαι σοφιστὴν ἄκρον. καὶ Ἀριστοφάνης λέγει σοφίζῃ, ἀντὶ τοῦ τεχνάζῃ. σοφίας γὰρ καὶ σοφίσματα τὰς τέχνας ἔλεγον.
Betacode
*sofisth/s: a)patew/n. para\ to\ sofi/zesqai, o(/ e)/sti lo/gois a)pata=n. le/getai de\ sofisth\s kai\ o( dida/skalos, w(s sofi/zwn. to\ de\ palaio\n sofisth\s o( sofo\s e)kalei=to. o)du/nais te kai\ no/sois gene/sqai sofisth\n a)/kron. kai\ *)aristofa/nhs le/gei sofi/zh|, a)nti\ tou= texna/zh|. sofi/as ga\r kai\ sofi/smata ta\s te/xnas e)/legon.
Notes (6)
- The first and principal paragraph here is also in other lexica; references at Photius sigma425 Theodoridis. See also sigma 813, sigma 814.
- 1See e.g. Plato, Gorgias 449Dff, Meno 95C, Phaedrus 267A, Symposium 198C, Protagoras 313A-314B; Aristotle, Rhetoric passim; Philostratus, Lives of the Sophists 1 (483); Aelius Aristides (DK 79, 1). See LSJ entries at web address 1 and web address 2. ↩
- 2Plato, Meno 95C, Protagoras 318D-E, 327E-328B. As Dover (below) 144 says: 'The practitioner of an art is normally also a teacher of apprentices'. See Philostratus, Lives of the Sophists passim, for the teaching activity of imperial-era sophists. On imperial sophists in particular, see G.W. Bowersock (1969), Greek Sophists in the Roman Empire, Oxford University Press; E.L. Bowie (1982), 'The importance of sophists', in J.J. Winkler and G. Williams (eds.), Later Greek Literature, Yale Classical Studies 27: 29-60. ↩
- 3So e.g. in (?)Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 62 and 944. ↩
- 4A garbling of part of Aelian fr. 108b Domingo-Forasté (105 Hercher); see in context at iota 73. ↩
- 5Scholia to Aristophanes, Knights 299. ↩
- 6Dover (below) xxxvi: 'Since Plato we have been accustomed to distinguish between the sophist and the philosopher, and therefore lack a word to cover both. The distinction was not made in language of Ar.'s time, nor was the word sophistes so narrowly confined so later'. See also Woodruff (below). Thus Plato presents Protagoras saying that sophistry is a techne (Prot. 317C). See also Philostratus, Lives of the Sophists 1. Praef. (480-484). ↩
References
Aristophanes, Clouds, edited with Introduction and Commentary by K.J. Dover, Oxford, OUP, 1968
A.W. Adkins, 'Arete, techne, democracy and sophists: Protagoras 316B-328D', in Journal of Hellenic Studies 93 (1973)
M. Canto-Sperber (ed.), Philosophie grecque, Paris, PUF, 1997
E. Dupreel, Les sophistes; Protagoras, Gorgias, Prodicus, Hippias, Neuchatel, Editions du Griffon, 1948
W.K.C. Guthrie, The History of Greek Philosophy, vol. III: The fifth-Century Enlightment, Cambridge, CUP, 1969
M.C. Stokes, Plato's Socratic Conversations, London, The Athlone Press, 1986
M. Untersteiner, I Sofisti, Turin, Einaudi, 1947; second edition translated: Les Sophistes, Paris, Vrin, 1993, 2 vols
P. Woodruff, 'Plato's Early Theory of Knowledge', in H. Benson (ed.), Essays on the Philosophy of Socrates, Oxford, OUP, 1992
A.W. Adkins, 'Arete, techne, democracy and sophists: Protagoras 316B-328D', in Journal of Hellenic Studies 93 (1973)
M. Canto-Sperber (ed.), Philosophie grecque, Paris, PUF, 1997
E. Dupreel, Les sophistes; Protagoras, Gorgias, Prodicus, Hippias, Neuchatel, Editions du Griffon, 1948
W.K.C. Guthrie, The History of Greek Philosophy, vol. III: The fifth-Century Enlightment, Cambridge, CUP, 1969
M.C. Stokes, Plato's Socratic Conversations, London, The Athlone Press, 1986
M. Untersteiner, I Sofisti, Turin, Einaudi, 1947; second edition translated: Les Sophistes, Paris, Vrin, 1993, 2 vols
P. Woodruff, 'Plato's Early Theory of Knowledge', in H. Benson (ed.), Essays on the Philosophy of Socrates, Oxford, OUP, 1992
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from6 entries
- π819ΠαυσανίαςPausaniasOf Caesarea. Sophist. Contemporary of Aristides. Philostratus refers to him as a second-rate rhetor in the Lives of the Sophists. He wrote On Construction (1 book); Problems (1 book); and other works.
- σ806Σοφίαwisdom["It was quickly given the name 'wisdom'], and the person who makes profession of it a 'wise man', the one who might be accurately versed in the excellence of the soul, while he who delighted in wisdom was a…
- σ810ΣοφίζωI educate, I make [someone] wise[Used] with an accusative.
- σ811Σοφιστείαsophistry[no gloss]
- σ813Σοφιστήςsophist[Meaning] any/every craftsman. Also he who practices speaking; and he who slanders purposely in his speeches.
- σ814Σοφιστήςsophist"You will make this man a skilful sophist." This is what they used to call everyone who had been educated. But the ancients used to speak of wisdom [sophia], and call sophists those involved with music. And Philostratus…
Neighbouring entries
Revision history13 revisions · last 20 Mar 2022
- coding — Catharine Roth
- Revised — David Whitehead
- updated reference in note 4 — Catharine Roth
- Revised — David Whitehead
- another note and keyword; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- coding — Catharine Roth
- tweaked note — Catharine Roth
- Enhanced notes; added keywords; added links to on-line LSJ. — Aikaterini Oikonomopoulou
- restorative cosmetics in bibliog — David Whitehead
- added betacode — Catharine Roth
- augmented notes and keywords; restorative and other cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Minor cosmetics; removed some non-essential transliterations; raised vetting status. — William Hutton
- Revised — Svetla Slaveva
- Translated — Marisa Divenosa