θεός + εἰπεῖν

Validation

No

Last modification

Mon, 10/28/2024 - 14:20

Word-form

θεσπέσιον

Transliteration (Word)

thespesios

English translation (word)

divine, wonderful

Transliteration (Etymon)

theos + eipein

English translation (etymon)

god + to speak

Author

Apion

Century

1 AD

Reference

fr. 42

Edition

A. Ludwich, "Über die homerischen Glossen Apions," Philologus 74 (1917) 209-247; 75 (1919) 95-103

Source

Apollonius Soph.

Ref.

Lexicon homericum, p. 87

Ed.

I. Bekker, Apollonii Sophistae lexicon Homericum, Berlin, 1833

Quotation

θεσπέσιον· ὁ μὲν Ἀπίων συνθέτου τῆς λέξεως οὔσης ἀποδίδωσι θεσπέσιον τὸ ἐκ θεοῦ ἑπόμενον ἢ ἐκ θεοῦ λεγόμενον· δύναται δὲ καὶ παραγώγως θεῖον εἶναι.

Translation (En)

Thespesion "wonderful". Apion says thespesios is a compound, "spoken (hepomenon) by a god (ek theou)", that is, said by the god; but it can also mean "divine", as a derivative

Comment

Apion's etymology by "spoken by a god" is correct. This refers to the proper meaning of the compound

Parallels

Eustathius, Exegesis in canonem iambicum pentecostalem 1.172 (Ἡ δὲ ῥηθεῖσα θέσπις φωνή, θεία ἑρμηνευομένη, κατὰ τὸ φερέσβιον πλεονάζει τῷ ἡμιφώνῳ καθὰ καὶ τὸ θεσπέσιον καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα. τὸ γὰρ ἐντελὲς θέσπις ἐστί, διὰ τὸ ὑπὸ Θεοῦ ἔπεσθαι ἤγουν λέγεσθαι θεολογικώτερον· ὅμοιον δὲ καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος λόγος· πρᾶγμα μέντοι ἄλλως θεσπέσιον, ὡς ἀπὸ Θεοῦ πεσὸν εἰς ἡμᾶς); id., Comm. Il., vol. 1, p. 463 (Θεσπεσίαν δὲ ἀοιδὴν ἔφη οὐκ ἀργῶς, ἀλλὰ οἱονεὶ λέγων, ὅτι θεοῦ δῶρον οὖσαν θεὸς αὖθις ἀφείλετο ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀλαζόνος. ἔστι δὲ νῦν θεσπεσία οὐχὶ ἡ θεόθεν πεσοῦσα, ἀλλ’ ἣν θεὸς εἴποι ἄν, τουτέστιν ᾄσοι· ταὐτὸν γάρ ποτε τὸ ἐνέπειν καὶ τὸ ἀείδειν); ibid., vol. 1, p. 493 (Θεσπέσιος δὲ πλοῦτος ἢ ὁ πολύς, ὃν θεὸς ἂν εἴποι, ἢ μᾶλλον ὁ ἐκ θεοῦ πεσὼν ἤτοι χεθείς, ὅθεν καὶ οἱ διϊπετεῖς γίνονται ποταμοί)

Modern etymology

Compound of θεός "god" + verbal adjective *σπετός "uttered" (cf. ἄσπετος "unspeakable"), from *sekw- "to speak" (ἔννεπε, ἕσπετε, Lat. inquit) (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has θεσπέσιος "extraordinarily beautiful" as a learned word

Entry By

Le Feuvre