Τὸν Κολοφῶνα ἐπίθες
add the finishing touch
Translated by David Whitehead16 Dec 2002Vetting: high5 revisions
Translation
Twelve cities of Ionia came together into the so-called Panion,1 to deliberate on matters of common interest. And if ever the votes were equal, the Kolophonians deployed the special, winning [one]. This was because they embraced Smyrnaians who had come as fellow-settlers, and they cast the vote on their behalf. Hence the proverb is applied to a powerful, firm vote.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Τὸν Κολοφῶνα ἐπίθες· ιβʹ πόλεις τῆς Ἰωνίας συνῄεσαν εἰς τὸ Πάνιον λεγόμενον, περὶ τῶν κοινῶν βουλευσόμεναι. καὶ εἴ ποτε ἴσαι αἱ ψῆφοι ἐγένοντο, οἱ Κολοφώνιοι περιττὴν ἐτίθεντο τὴν νικῶσαν· Σμυρναίους γὰρ ἐλθόντας εἶχον συνοίκους· ὑπὲρ ὧν καὶ τὴν ψῆφον ἐτίθεντο. ὅθεν ἐπὶ τῆς κρατούσης καὶ βεβαίας ψήφου ἡ παροιμία εἴρηται.
Betacode
*to\n *kolofw=na e)pi/qes: ib# po/leis th=s *)iwni/as sunh/|esan ei)s to\ *pa/nion lego/menon, peri\ tw=n koinw=n bouleuso/menai. kai\ ei)/ pote i)/sai ai( yh=foi e)ge/nonto, oi( *kolofw/nioi peritth\n e)ti/qento th\n nikw=san: *smurnai/ous ga\r e)lqo/ntas ei)=xon sunoi/kous: u(pe\r w(=n kai\ th\n yh=fon e)ti/qento. o(/qen e)pi\ th=s kratou/shs kai\ bebai/as yh/fou h( paroimi/a ei)/rhtai.
Notes (1)
- The proverb (Gregorius 3.74, Apostolius 16.92, etc.; again under tau 766) plays on the link -- lost in translation -- between the noun
kolofw=n (kappa 1955) and the Ionian city of Kolophon (present-day Degirmendere; Barrington Atlas map 61 grid E1). - 1Panionion, rather. See generally Herodotus 1.141-2: web address 1. (The correction was made in the Suda editio princeps; Adler notes this but does not follow suit.) ↩
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from1 entry
Neighbouring entries
Revision history5 revisions · last 11 Sep 2022
- added a link — Catharine Roth
- expanded n.1 — David Whitehead
- cosmetics — David Whitehead
- augmented note; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- set status — Catharine Roth
- Translated — David Whitehead