Τάδε ἐκ τοῦ τρίποδος
these things [come] out of the tripod
Translated by Ronald Allen2 Jun 2013Vetting: high5 revisions
Translation
[sc. This proverbial phrase] is asserted in reference to absolutely true things: that the Delphic [sc. god]1 had sexual intercourse with Aristoklea when she became the Pythia,2 and from her prophecies, to signify that the things she prophesied were altogether divine, and to signify that they were true, as [if] out of the tripod.3
Concerning Apollonius of Tyana: "neither did he spin out his discourses, nor did anyone hear him being ironic, addressing his audience with Peripatetic arguments,4 but, when he conversed, he would say, as from a tripod, 'I know' and 'It is my opinion'."5
Concerning Apollonius of Tyana: "neither did he spin out his discourses, nor did anyone hear him being ironic, addressing his audience with Peripatetic arguments,4 but, when he conversed, he would say, as from a tripod, 'I know' and 'It is my opinion'."5
Greek original · Adler’s text
Τάδε ἐκ τοῦ τρίποδος· τίθεται ἐπὶ τῶν πάνυ ἀληθῶν· Ἀριστοκλείᾳ γὰρ τῇ Πυθίᾳ γενομένῃ μιχθῆναι τὸν Δελφόν, καὶ τῶν ὑπ' αὐτῆς μαντευμάτων παρασημειοῦσθαι, ὅσα ἔχρα ἔνθεος γενομένη· καὶ ταῦτα ὡς ἀληθῆ παρασημειοῦσθαι, ὡς ἐκ τοῦ τρίποδος. περὶ Ἀπολλωνίου τοῦ Τυανέως· οὐδὲ διῆγε τοὺς λόγους οὐδὲ εἰρωνευομένου τις ἤκουσε, περιπατοῦντος ἐς τοὺς ἀκροωμένους, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἐκ τρίποδος, ὅτε διαλέγοιτο, οἶδα, ἔλεγε, καί, δοκεῖ μοι.
Betacode
*ta/de e)k tou= tri/podos: ti/qetai e)pi\ tw=n pa/nu a)lhqw=n: *)aristoklei/a| ga\r th=| *puqi/a| genome/nh| mixqh=nai to\n *delfo/n, kai\ tw=n u(p' au)th=s manteuma/twn parashmeiou=sqai, o(/sa e)/xra e)/nqeos genome/nh: kai\ tau=ta w(s a)lhqh= parashmeiou=sqai, w(s e)k tou= tri/podos. peri\ *)apollwni/ou tou= *tuane/ws: ou)de\ dih=ge tou\s lo/gous ou)de\ ei)rwneuome/nou tis h)/kouse, peripatou=ntos e)s tou\s a)krowme/nous, a)ll' w(/sper e)k tri/podos, o(/te diale/goito, oi)=da, e)/lege, kai/, dokei= moi.
Notes (5)
- On the Delphic tripod (the lemma contains the genitive case of
tri/pous ; see generally LSJ s.v.), cf. also tau 1001:tri/poda in the accusative. - 1In the Suda's rendering (see n. 3 below) of the passage, Apollo; cf. pi 3130. [Adler reports that mss VM transmit
ginome/nh , nominative case: she having engaged.] ↩ - 2Aristoklea/Aristoclea (= Themistoklea/Themistoclea), priestess of Apollo at Delphi (cf. delta 210), and legendary source of Pythagoras' ethical doctrines. Adler cites (Aristoxenus in) Diogenes Laertius 8.8 (web address 1). ↩
- 3The first paragraph of the gloss is almost identical in Photius, Lexicon tau6 Theodoridis, though the latter (as Adler observes in her critical apparatus) has
*puqago/ran to\n *delfo\n (Delphic Pythagoras). The original source, again referring to Pythagoras, is taken to be Pausanias the Atticist (tau1); see also pi 3120 with the cross-references there, and OCD(4) pp.1245-6.
[Adler's critical apparatus on this part of the entry is intricate. The present reading is given by ms A and an alternative reading in ms M. Also, she reports, ms F readsmanteuome/nwn , to interpret her prophesizing as divine. Also: ms A transmitso(/son (neuter singular, as much as) ande)/xrae qs (g-d prophesied); and, still trying to clarify this part of the passage, ms F readse)/xra o( qeo\s , and mss GVM transmite)/xraen o( qeo\s . The last parenthetical remark, repeating the lemma, is lacking in ms F.] ↩ - 4The present active participle, masculine genitive singular, is from the contract verb
peripate/w , I walk about, up and down, gesturing here perhaps at methods of argumentation employed at the Peripatos, the site of Aristotle's school of philosophy, as well as invoking a sense of deliberately vague and evasive debate. [Adler reports that mss AV readei)rwneuo/menos , the nominative, although the genitive is required of the person from whom something is heard. Consistently, ms A transmitsperipatou=n , again the nominative; and ms V omitse)s and insertsde\ (and addressing).] ↩ - 5Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 1.17; cf. kappa 912. ↩
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from2 entries
- τ20Τὰ ἐκ τρίποδοςthings from the tripodApollo uses a tripod when prophesying because of the three time-periods of actions. Homer [writes]: "he knew the things that are and the things that would be and the things that were before." They say that Apollo…
- τ22Τὰ ἐπὶ κοσκίνουthings on a sieve[sc. A proverbial phrase] in reference to things prophesied through a sieve and tripod or laurel.
Neighbouring entries
Revision history5 revisions · last 27 May 2016
- coding — David Whitehead
- updated a ref — David Whitehead
- tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- tweaked translation, reordered notes, upgraded link, added keyword — Catharine Roth
- supplied n.5; tweaking — David Whitehead
- Translated — Ronald Allen