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Headword: *)/abrwnos bi/os
Adler number: alpha,98
Translated headword: Abron's life
Vetting Status: high
Translation:
[sc. A proverbial phrase] In reference to those who live extravagantly; for Abron became rich among the Argives. Or also from the [adjective] habros ["delicate"].[1]
Also [sc. attested is the adjective] Abroneios ["Abronian"].[2]
Greek Original:
*)/abrwnos bi/os: e)pi\ tw=n polutelw=n: *)/abrwn ga\r par' *)argei/ois e)ge/neto plou/sios. h)\ kai\ a)po\ tou= a(brou=. kai\ *)abrw/neios.
Notes:
[1] cf. Zenobius 1.4.
[2] Attested here only.
Keywords: aetiology; biography; daily life; dialects, grammar, and etymology; economics; ethics; geography; proverbs
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 26 August 1998@19:47:19.
Vetted by:
William Hutton (Cosmetics, added keyword, set status) on 1 February 2001@22:55:06.
David Whitehead (added notes and keywords; cosmetics) on 24 April 2002@03:46:57.
David Whitehead (more keywords; tweaks) on 21 December 2011@06:44:57.

Headword: *)abudhno\n e)pifo/rhma
Adler number: alpha,100
Translated headword: Abydene dessert, Abudene dessert
Vetting Status: high
Translation:
Whenever something unpleasant happens as a result of someone having shown up at the wrong time, we are accustomed to call it an "Abydene dessert." This is because the people of Abydos,[1] whenever they entertain a fellow-citizen or a foreigner, bring their children around to be admired after the ointments and the crowns. Those in attendance are disturbed by both the nurses clamoring and the children screaming. Hence it has become customary to say the foregoing.[2]
Greek Original:
*)abudhno\n e)pifo/rhma: o(/tan a)kai/rws tino\s e)pifane/ntos a)hdi/a tis h)=|, ei)w/qamen le/gein *)abudhno\n e)pifo/rhma. dia\ to\ tou\s *)abudhnou\s, o(/tan tina\ tw=n politw=n h)\ ce/nwn e(stiw=si, meta\ to\ mu/ron kai\ tou\s stefa/nous ta\ paidi/a perife/rein filhqhso/mena. tw=n te tiqhnw=n qorubousw=n tw=n te paidi/wn kekrago/twn e)noxlei=sqai tou\s paro/ntas. a)f' ou(= ei)/qistai le/gein to\ prokei/menon.
Notes:
[1] A city on the Asiatic shore of the Hellespont: see alpha 101.
[2] See also Zenobius 1.4 and other paroemiographers. For a different explanation (involving taxes and harbor dues) see Athenaeus, Deipnosophists 14.641A [14.47 Kaibel], citing Aristeides, On Proverbs.
Keywords: aetiology; children; dialects, grammar, and etymology; economics; ethics; food; geography; imagery; proverbs; women
Translated by: Anne Mahoney on 25 August 1998@19:00:52.
Vetted by:
Eric Nelson on 31 December 1999@22:59:16.
David Whitehead (modified translation; added note) on 11 January 2001@07:21:18.
David Whitehead (added another note) on 11 January 2001@07:58:10.
David Whitehead (another keyword) on 16 November 2005@07:49:41.
Jennifer Benedict (title tags, cosmeticule) on 25 March 2008@23:59:40.
David Whitehead (more keywords; tweaks) on 21 December 2011@06:54:39.
David Whitehead on 16 August 2013@07:30:33.
David Whitehead (tweaked a ref) on 14 January 2015@03:15:50.

Headword: *)/abudos
Adler number: alpha,101
Translated headword: Abudos, Abydos, Abydus
Vetting Status: high
Translation:
A city.[1]
The word is applied to an informant [sukofa/nths] because of the common belief that the people of Abudos were informers.[2]
Also [sc. attested is] an adverb, *)abudo/qi, [meaning] in Abudos.[3]
Also [sc. attested is the phrase] *a)/budon fluari/an ["Abudos nonsense"], [meaning] great [nonsense].[4]
And [sc. attested is] *)abudhno\s, [meaning] he [who comes] from Abudos.[5]
Greek Original:
*)/abudos: po/lis. e)pi\ sukofa/ntou ta/ttetai h( le/cis, dia\ to\ dokei=n sukofa/ntas ei)=nai tou\s *)abudhnou/s. kai\ e)pi/rrhma, *)abudo/qi, e)n *)abu/dw|. kai\ *)/abudon fluari/an, th\n pollh/n. kai\ *)abudhno\s, o( a)po\ *)abu/dou.
Notes:
[1] = Lexicon Ambrosianum 82, according to Adler. In fact two cities of this name are known: one on the Asiatic shore of the Hellespont (Barrington Atlas map 51 grid G4; present-day Maltepe) and Abydos/Ebot in Upper Egypt (Barrington Atlas map 77 grid F4); without much doubt, the former is meant here. (In Hesychius alpha23 the gloss is fuller -- 'a Trojan city of the Hellespont'. Latte regards the entry as prompted by Homer, Iliad 2.836, accusative case, although similar wording appears in a late scholion to Iliad 17.584, where the adverbial derivative a)budo/qi appears -- see n. 3 below). See also alpha 100, sigma 465, and generally OCD(4) s.v.
[2] = the first sentence of Pausanias the Atticist alpha3 and Photius alpha63 Theodoridis; cf. also Zenobius 1.1, s.v. *)abudhno\n e)pifo/rhma (alpha 100), and Kassel-Austin, PCG III.2 p.376 on Aristophanes fr. 755. See generally sigma 1330, sigma 1331, sigma 1332.
[3] Probably from commentary to Homer, Iliad 17.584, the only literary attestation of this adverb prior to Musaeus Grammaticus (5/6 CE); cf. Apollonius Dyscolus On Adverbs 2.1.1.164.
[4] = Synagoge Codex B alpha44, but in the better mss of Photius (Lexicon alpha64 Theodoridis) the adjective (in a nominative-case entry) is a)/buqos ('bottomless'), surely correctly; cf. alpha 104. The ultimate source may be Plato, Parmenides 130D, though there too the text is uncertain: perhaps ei)/s tin' a)/buqon fluari/an (web address 1), though the alternatives include ei)/s tina bu=qon fluari/as. On the adjective a)/buqos, a synonym for a)/bussos, see the LSJ entry at web address 2.
[5] There are many literary attestations of this form of the ethnic adjective (nominative singular masculine), beginning with Herodotus 4.138. For an instance in the Suda see pi 71.
Associated internet addresses:
Web address 1,
Web address 2
Keywords: comedy; daily life; definition; dialects, grammar, and etymology; epic; ethics; geography; law; philosophy; proverbs
Translated by: Elizabeth Vandiver on 21 November 1998@13:59:06.
Vetted by:
Eric Nelson on 31 December 1999@21:07:09.
Ross Scaife ✝ (fixed keywords) on 2 March 2000@17:48:48.
David Whitehead (added note and keyword; replaced existing note; cosmetics) on 11 January 2001@08:05:35.
Jennifer Benedict (added links, betacode fix, cosmetics) on 26 March 2008@00:03:03.
Catharine Roth (cosmetics) on 18 April 2011@14:40:09.
David Whitehead (more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics) on 25 April 2011@04:09:51.
David Whitehead (augmented notes; another keyword; tweaks and cosmetics) on 21 December 2011@09:19:59.
David Whitehead (expanded n.1) on 1 February 2012@05:52:37.
David Whitehead (expansions to notes) on 16 August 2013@07:33:01.
William Hutton (augmented notes) on 4 July 2014@08:19:58.
David Whitehead (updated a ref) on 29 July 2014@12:21:46.
Catharine Roth (coding) on 3 September 2014@23:35:15.
David Whitehead (expanded n.2) on 22 December 2014@09:26:49.

Headword: *)/abusson
Adler number: alpha,104
Translated headword: abyss
Vetting Status: high
Translation:
[Meaning] that which not even a deep [buqo/s] can contain; but Ionians pronounce buqo/s as busso/s.[1]
From which also bussodomeu/ein ["to build in the deep"] appears to be said,[2] from the verb du/nw ["I sink"] [meaning] I enter upon secretly, with a change [of initial consonant] [giving] bu/w, bu/sw, be/busmai, be/busai, [and the nouns] buso/s and a)bu/ssos [meaning] where no-one enters because of its depth.[3]
Aristophanes in Frogs [writes]: "for immediately you will come to a huge lake, an absolute abyss."[4] And he also uses the word in the neuter: "they shall not make peace while the measureless [a)/busson] silver is with the goddess on the Acropolis." For 1,000 talents were stored on the Acropolis.[5]
"Abyss" is what the Holy Scripture calls the watery substance. So since the land is surrounded on all sides by waters [and] by great and small seas, David naturally called this [i.e., abyss] the earth's surrounding garment.[6] Also, "abyss calls to abyss", the same prophet says,[7] meaning figuratively military divisions and the excessive size of the multitude.[8]
"I was under water as [if] in a kind of abyss."[9]
So an abyss [is] a great amount of water.
Greek Original:
*)/abusson: h(\n ou)de\ buqo\s xwrh=sai du/natai: *)/iwnes de\ to\n buqo\n busso/n fasin. o(/qen dokei= le/gesqai kai\ bussodomeu/ein, para\ to\ du/nw, to\ u(peise/rxomai, kata\ troph\n bu/w, bu/sw, be/busmai, be/busai, buso\s kai\ a)bu/ssos, ou(= ou)dei\s ei)se/rxetai dia\ to\ ba/qos. *)aristofa/nhs *batra/xois: eu)qu\s ga\r e)pi\ li/mnhn mega/lhn h(/ceis pa/nu a)/busson. kai\ ou)dete/rws fhsi\n o( au)to/s: e(/ws a)\n h)=| to\ a)rgu/rion to\ a)/busson para\ th=| qew=|, ou)k ei)rhneu/sousin. e)n ga\r th=| a)kropo/lei xi/lia ta/lanta a)pe/keito. *)/abusson kalei= th\n u(gra\n ou)si/an h( qei/a grafh/. e)pei\ ou)=n h( gh= pantaxo/qen u(/dasi perie/xetai mega/lois kai\ mikroi=s pela/gesin, ei)ko/tws peribo/laion au)th=s ei)/rhken o( *dabi/d. kai\, a)/bussos a)/busson e)pikalei=tai, o( au)to\s profh/ths fhsi/n: ta\ stratiwtika\ le/gwn ta/gmata kai\ th\n tou= plh/qous u(perbolh\n tropikw=s. w(s e)n a)bu/ssw| tini\ u(pobru/xios e)geno/mhn. *)/abussos ou)=n u(da/twn plh=qos polu/.
Notes:
See also alpha 105.
[1] This comment on Ionian pronunciation comes from the scholiast on Aristophanes, Frogs 138, quoted later in the entry.
[2] In Homer, Odyssey, where bussodomeu/w occurs most frequently, it has the sense "brood over."
[3] cf. Etymologicum Magnum 4.44. These are principal parts of the verb bu/w, which means "to stuff," followed by buso/s, which does not exist according to LSJ. Probably this is a mistake for busso/s, "depth of the sea" (cf. beta 598, busso/n). The Suda generally has little concern for the distinction between single and double consonants. The author thus seems to propose a very dubious etymology: that a)-bussos literally means "unstuffable" -- i.e., unable to be entered. [Ms M (= Marcianus 448) omits this sentence.]
[4] Aristophanes, Frogs 137-8 (web address 1).
[5] "Silver" [a)rgu/rion] is a neuter noun in Greek, while lake [li/mnh] in the previous sentence is feminine; the point is that the same form a)/busson is used with both. The sentence quoted here is actually part of a scholion to Aristophanes, Lysistrata 173 (web address 2); Aristophanes uses the phrase to\ a)rgu/rion to\ a)/busson in that line itself.
[6] Psalm 103:6 LXX. See again under pi 1083.
[7] Psalm 41:8 LXX.
[8] Referring to the continuation of Psalm 41:8 LXX, "all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me" (KJV).
[9] From Theodoret's commentary (PG 80.1173) on Psalm 41:8 LXX.
Associated internet addresses:
Web address 1,
Web address 2
Keywords: Christianity; comedy; definition; dialects, grammar, and etymology; economics; epic; geography; history; imagery; military affairs; proverbs; religion
Translated by: Elizabeth Vandiver on 21 November 1998@17:02:02.
Vetted by:
William Hutton (Cosmetics, augmented note, added keywords, set status) on 5 February 2001@11:48:31.
David Whitehead (added note; cosmetics) on 9 February 2001@08:11:37.
David Whitehead (added x-ref; cosmetics) on 4 July 2003@08:14:49.
Elizabeth Vandiver (Added links; cosmetics) on 14 December 2003@15:22:17.
David Whitehead (modified translation and notes 6-9) on 28 April 2004@11:16:41.
Jennifer Benedict (betacoding) on 26 March 2008@00:15:00.
Catharine Roth (cosmetics) on 19 April 2011@18:23:25.
David Whitehead (more keywords) on 25 April 2011@04:11:52.
Catharine Roth (tweaked translation and note, after consulting with the translator) on 26 April 2011@17:14:37.
David Whitehead (augmented notes and keywords; tweaks and cosmetics) on 22 December 2011@03:45:27.
Catharine Roth (coding) on 21 November 2014@10:58:29.
David Whitehead (cosmetics) on 21 November 2014@11:44:30.
David Whitehead (coding) on 15 August 2015@07:36:21.

Headword: *)agaqa/
Adler number: alpha,108
Translated headword: goods, goodies
Vetting Status: high
Translation:
Xenophon used the word of foodstuffs and drinks which bring enjoyment and good cheer.[1]
Also [sc. attested is the phrase] "Good Things Kilikon" - with "has" omitted. Kilikon [is] a proper name. He was wealthy.[2]
Greek Original:
*)agaqa/: e)pi\ tw=n pro\s a)po/lausin kai\ eu)wxi/an siti/wn kai\ potw=n e)xrh/sato *cenofw=n th=| le/cei. kai\ *)agaqa\ *kili/kwn, lei/pei to\ e)/xei. *kili/kwn de\ o)/noma ku/rion. eu)/poros de\ h)=n.
Notes:
[1] Xenophon, Anabasis 4.4.9 (web address 1 below).
[2] This is only one possible explanation of the proverbial phrase. For another, probably better one - with another version of the name (Killikon: apparently authentic, as it derives from Aristophanes, Peace 363 [web address 2 below]) - see kappa 1610; but note also kappa 223 and pi 2040 on "Kallikon".
Associated internet addresses:
Web address 1,
Web address 2
Keywords: aetiology; biography; daily life; definition; economics; ethics; food; historiography; proverbs
Translated by: David Whitehead on 10 February 2001@09:14:18.
Vetted by:
William Hutton (Cosmetics, added links, set status) on 8 June 2001@01:15:16.
David Whitehead (added keywords) on 17 September 2002@05:00:27.
Jennifer Benedict (cosmetics) on 26 March 2008@00:19:27.
David Whitehead (another keyword; cosmetics) on 27 March 2008@07:18:17.
David Whitehead (more keywords) on 22 December 2011@03:59:55.
Catharine Roth (upgraded links) on 23 December 2011@18:41:14.

Headword: *)agaqw=n a)gaqi/des
Adler number: alpha,123
Translated headword: skeins of good things
Vetting Status: high
Translation:
The proverb is used in the comic poets in reference to a lot of good things.[1]
Also [sc. attested is] 'sea of good things', in reference to an abundance of good things.[2]
Also [sc. attested is] 'anthills of good things', in reference to an abundance of good fortune.[3]
Also [sc. attested is] 'heap of good things', in reference to an abundance of good things and a lot of good fortune.[4]
Greek Original:
*)agaqw=n a)gaqi/des: ta/ttetai h( paroimi/a para\ toi=s kwmikoi=s e)pi\ tw=n pollw=n a)gaqw=n. kai\ *)agaqw=n qa/lassa, e)pi\ plh/qous a)gaqw=n. kai\ *)agaqw=n murmhki/ai, e)pi\ plh/qous eu)daimoni/as. kai\ *)agaqw=n swro\s, e)pi\ plh/qous a)gaqw=n kai\ pollh=s eu)daimoni/as.
Notes:
The wordplay of the headword phrase a)gaqw=n a)gaqi/des is hard to render in English. 'Bundles of bounties' might do.
[1] (Same material in Photius.) Again at alpha 2601; and see also nu 77 and tau 147.
[2] Again at pi 2049.
[3] Comica adespota fr. 827 Kock, now 796 K.-A.
[4] cf. Apostolius 1.5, etc.
Keywords: comedy; daily life; ethics; imagery; proverbs; zoology
Translated by: William Hutton on 1 April 2001@00:28:16.
Vetted by:
David Whitehead (added notes; minor cosmetics) on 2 April 2001@03:44:41.
David Whitehead (augmented notes; tweaks and cosmetics) on 22 December 2006@08:09:36.
David Whitehead (more keywords; tweaks) on 22 December 2011@07:28:42.
David Whitehead (corrected a ref) on 16 March 2012@07:56:43.
David Whitehead (updated a ref) on 29 December 2014@04:31:45.
David Whitehead (coding) on 12 July 2015@03:58:05.

Headword: *)agaqw/nios
Adler number: alpha,125
Translated headword: Agathonios, Agathonius
Vetting Status: high
Translation:
A proper name.[1]
[The man] who was king of Tartessos.[2]
Also [sc. attested is the phrase] "Agathon's pipe-playing": the soft and relaxed [kind]; alternatively that which is neither loose nor harsh, but temperate and very sweet.[3]
Greek Original:
*)agaqw/nios: o)/noma ku/rion. o(\s e)basi/leuse th=s *tarthssou=. kai\ *)agaqw/nios au)/lhsis: h( malakh\ kai\ e)klelume/nh: h)\ h( mh/te xalara\, mh/te pikra\, a)ll' eu)/kratos kai\ h(di/sth.
Notes:
[1] Herodotus 1.163 gives it as Arganthonios (text at web address 1). See also tau 137.
[2] In southern Spain; probably the Biblical Tarshish. See generally tau 137 and OCD(4) s.v. (p.1433).
[3] Zenobius 1.2. On Agathon (an Athenian poet of the late C5 BC) and his reputation for softness see alpha 124; and on his aulos music, M.L. West, Ancient Greek Music (Oxford 1992) 354-5.
Associated internet address:
Web address 1
Keywords: biography; daily life; definition; ethics; geography; historiography; history; imagery; meter and music; proverbs; tragedy
Translated by: David Whitehead on 10 February 2001@09:33:27.
Vetted by:
Catharine Roth (added link) on 25 April 2002@11:17:50.
David Whitehead (augmented notes and keywords) on 17 September 2002@05:14:00.
Catharine Roth (cross-reference, italics, keyword) on 18 September 2006@18:09:26.
David Whitehead (tweaks) on 22 December 2011@07:42:50.
David Whitehead on 22 December 2011@07:43:09.
David Whitehead (updated a ref) on 29 July 2014@12:34:58.

Headword: *)agaqoi\ d' a)rida/krues a)/ndres
Adler number: alpha,126
Translated headword: tearful men are good
Vetting Status: high
Translation:
In reference to those who are strongly inclined toward pity.
Greek Original:
*)agaqoi\ d' a)rida/krues a)/ndres: e)pi\ tw=n sfo/dra pro\s e)/leon r(epo/ntwn.
Note:
Same entry in Photius, and the same or very similar ones in the paroemiographers. This version of the proverb is the second half of a line of hexameter verse (complete with the particle d'); there are slight variants in (e.g.) the scholia to Homer, Iliad 1.349.
Keywords: daily life; epic; ethics; poetry; proverbs
Translated by: William Hutton on 1 April 2001@00:57:53.
Vetted by:
David Whitehead (added note and keywords) on 2 April 2001@04:49:39.
David Whitehead (another keyword) on 12 October 2005@08:02:14.
David Whitehead (augmented note; another keyword) on 22 December 2011@07:50:50.

Headword: *)agkw/n
Adler number: alpha,249

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