βία

Validation

Yes

Last modification

Thu, 07/22/2021 - 19:39

Word-form

βίος

Transliteration (Word)

bios

English translation (word)

life, living

Transliteration (Etymon)

bia

English translation (etymon)

strength

Author

Menander

Century

4-3 BC

Source

Idem

Ref.

Sententiae e codicibus Byzantinis 106

Ed.

S. Jäkel, Menandri sententiae, Leipzig: Teubner, 1964

Quotation

Βίος κέκληται δ’ ὡς βίᾳ πορίζεται.

Translation (En)

Life (bios) gets its name from the fact it is earned through strength (biai)

Comment

Paronymic etymology allowing to derive one word from the other via a simple change of gender and inflection type. From the semantic point of view, the justification is that strength provides the necessary resources. A variant, much more usual, is that human life is full of violence and constraint, as opposed to the life of gods "living an easy life" (Homer). Plutarch's explanation stands apart from the semantic point of view.

Parallels

Plutarch, fr. 177 Sandbach (τοῦτο γὰρ ‘δέμας’ ὀνομάζουσιν, ὡς ‘δεδεμένης’ ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐνταῦθα παρὰ φύσιν· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐν ᾧ πέφυκεν εἶναι κατέχεται βίᾳ, καὶ τὸ δεδέσθαι τήν τε ‘βίαν’ ταύτην παραγαγόντες ὠνόμασαν ‘βίον’, ὥσπερ οἶμαι τὴν ‘ἑσπέραν’ Ὅμηρος ‘ἕσπερον "they call it "body", since the soul is bound there against its nature; because nothing in what it is by nature is constrained by force, and this being bound and this "force" (βίαν) they called "life" (βίον) by derivation); Orion, Etymologicum, beta, p. 31 (Βίος, εἴρηται παρὰ τὴν βίαν καὶ τὴν ἀνάγκην· οἷον τὸ μετὰ μόχθου ζῇν); Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. Darmstadino 2773), beta, p. 613 (βίος παρὰ τὸ μετὰ βίας βιοῦν. ὅθεν Ὅμηρος, θεοὶ ῥεῖα ζώοντες); Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. Vat. gr. 1456) 50 (Βίος: λέγεται διὰ τὴν βίαν. διὰ τοῦτο καὶ βέλος διὰ τὸ βίᾳ βάλλεσθαι [sic: confusion between βίος and βιός]); bT Schol. Il. 6.138b (θεοὶ ῥεῖα ζώοντες: ὁ γὰρ ἡμῶν βίος παρὰ τὴν βίαν); Etym. Genuinum, beta 119 (Βίος· ἡ ζωή, ἣ καὶ βιοτὴ προσαγορεύεται· παρὰ τὸ μετὰ βίας καὶ ἀνάγκης ζῆν, ὥς φησιν Ὅμηρος, οἷον (Ζ 138 ...)· ‘θεοὶ ῥεῖα ζώοντες’, οὐχ οὕτως ἄνθρωποι. ἢ παρὰ τὸ βέω, τὸ πορεύομαι· τί γάρ ἐστι βίος ἢ ὁδὸς καὶ πορεία; τὸ γὰρ βέω κυρίως τὸ πορεύομαι σημαίνει Ζ 113· ‘ὄφρ’ ἂν ἐγὼ βέω προτὶ Ἴλιον’); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, beta, p. 270 (Βίος· ὅτι βιαίως ἐξάγεται); ibid., p. 271 (Βίος καὶ βιοῦν· εἴρηται παρὰ τὴν <βίαν καὶ τὴν> ἀνάγκην, οἷον τὸ μετὰ μόχθου ζῆν. οὕτως εὗρον ἐν Ἐπιμερισμοῖς Ἰλιάδος, ὅπου φησίν <Ζ 138> „θεοὶ ῥεῖα ζώοντες“); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 1, 797 Van der Valk (Ὥσπερ δὲ ὠνή καὶ ὦνος, βία βίος καὶ βιός, ὥρα ὧρος, βιοτή βίοτος, δίνη δῖνος, φθογγή φθόγγος, στροφή στρόφος παρὰ τῷ Κωμικῷ, οὕτω καὶ χολή χόλος. ὅμοιον δὲ καὶ τὸ βολή βόλος); Eustathius, Comm. Od. 1, 72 (βία βίος, οὕτως ἑσπέρα ἕσπερος); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 198 (βίος ἡ ζωὴ ἢ βιοτὴ προσαγορεύεται· παρὰ τὸ μετὰ βίας καὶ ἀνάγκης ζῆν, ὥς φησιν Ὅμηρος, ‘Θεοὶ ῥεῖα ζώοντες’. Οὐχ οὕτως οἱ ἄνθρωποι. Ὣς γὰρ ἐπεκλώσαντο θεοὶ δειλοῖσι βροτοῖσι, ‘ζώειν ἀχνυμένους· αὐτοὶ δέ τ’ ἀκηδέες εἰσίν’. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ βέω, τὸ πορεύομαι. Τί γὰρ ἐστὶ βίος, ἢ ὁδὸς καὶ πορεία; Τὸ γὰρ βέω κυρίως τὸ πορεύομαι σημαίνει· ‘Ὄφρ’ ἂν ἐγὼ βείω προτὶ Ἴλιον’)

Modern etymology

Old action noun from *gweih3- "to live",. Within Greek, belongs with ἐβίων, ζῆν, ζωός, ὑγιής (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Yes, as a learned word. The usual word is ζωή "life"

Entry By

Le Feuvre