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Headword: Ekkubeuein
Adler number: epsilon,695
Translated headword: to gamble (everything) on dice
Vetting Status: high
Translation:
[Meaning] to throw oneself into danger. "Thinking it, as the poet says, a ruse, he decided in no way to gamble (everything) on dice or to take a risk with his forces; he stayed quietly in camp."[1]
And elsewhere: "the Carthaginians decided to gamble (everything) on dice and to take a risk."[2]
There is also a proverb: "let the die be cast."
Greek Original:
Ekkubeuein: rhiptein heauton eis kindunon. oisamenos kata ton poiêtên dolon einai oudamôs ekrinen ekkubeuein oude paraballesthai tois holois: êge tên hêsuchian epi tôi charaki. kai authis: edoxe tois Karchêdoniois ekkubeuein kai paraballesthai. esti de kai paroimia: Erriphthô kubos.
Notes:
For the simple verb see kappa 2591. The prefix ek- here implies that the gamble is total, e.g. life or death in battle. For this concept, common in Greek, of gambling all on battle, see the proverbs "Let the die be cast (or, rather, tossed)" (alpha 2310, epsilon 3013, kappa 2591, kappa 2602) and "Triple six or just three dice" (eta 635, tau 934, tau 1005), and the metaphor of "tossing danger (i.e. as if a die)" (kappa 1633).
See generally Tosi (cited under alpha 378) no.728.
[1] An approximation of Polybius 3.94.4, on the Punic Wars, where Q. Fabius Maximus Cunctator, the Roman general, ("he" in the first citation) falls for the ruse of the Carthaginian general Hannibal and allows the Carthaginian army to escape. Clearly Polybius comments on the need for gambles in warfare (cf. kappa 2601, kappa 2602). "The poet" is, as usual, Homer, and the reference is to Odyssey 10.232.
[2] Quotation unidentifiable -- but probably (as Bernhardy proposed) modelled on the Polybius passage: see preceding note.
Keywords: biography; daily life; definition; historiography; history; imagery; military affairs; proverbs
Translated by: Robert Dyer on 8 November 2000@10:20:35.
Vetted by:
David Whitehead (augmented notes and keywords; cosmetics) on 11 September 2002@07:37:45.
David Whitehead (another keyword) on 28 November 2005@10:29:00.
David Whitehead (more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics) on 10 August 2012@04:33:50.
David Whitehead (added Tosi) on 15 August 2012@08:37:20.

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