THEOSOPHY
Theosophical Society,
H
P Blavatsky
Glossaries
of Interest to Theosophists
Glossary of
Homeric Greek
aasamen - being deluded (as Agamemnon admitting his
self-delusion when taking Briseis from Achilles
achos - remorse
agathoi, agathos - people of
superior social status or noble station
aidos, aidomai, aidestheis - shame leading one to treat others with respect
due to their status in the social world; fear of condemnation and disapproval of one's social group
ainarete - the dreaded expression of arete
or heroic excellence, leading to negative consequences which fail to serve the
community
aisa - doom (as in regard to Achilles doomed to a
short life)
akedees - uncaring; also means not giving due burial
akos - the remedy for a situation
anax andron - lord of men
(said of Agamemnon)
androphonoio - manslaughtering
anthos - to flower and bloom (applied to young men)
apotino- paying the penalty, as for a breach of a
treaty, or paying a compensation, as for a murder, so that one can regain
acceptance to one's
community
arete - excellence, virtue (within one's social
context); being the best you can be; also used to indicate courage and military
prowess, derived
from Ares
aristeia - excellence, prowess as a warrior
aristos - to be the best; a man of excellence
atasthaliai - recklessness, as in too extreme an obsession
with personal glory
atimus, atimazo - without
honor, treating someone dishonorably
atuzomoi - terrified, as in taking flight (men at war, Astyanax)
basileus - king
bie - violence; forceful power
charis - gratitude, kindness
charme - delight, especially delight in battle
cholos - anger, wrath
damazo - to subjugate or dominate (a woman, a city or
people)
dike - justice
dios - brilliant (Odysseus in cleverness, Achilles in
battle)
eleaire, eleeson, eleairo, eleos - pity (not our
current usage of the word pity in English, but also related to the source of
the word, piety); a combination of compassionate feeling and feeling related to
virtue or moral obligation (also related
to oiktos or oiktiro)
enees - amiable (Patroclus)
epios - gentle (said of Patroclus,
and at times, Priam); in Homeric times, one generally
seeks to be gentle when warranted with one's people, but harsh with the enemy
eris - strife, often referred to as soul-destroying
esthlos - brave, noble
eubolia - excellent counsel (Odysseus, Nestor, Phoinix)
fatum - fate, see also moira
hamartia - "missing the mark"; error in
judgment
helot - slave, has no rights
hemitheoi - demigods
heros - live and die in pursuit of honor and glory
hippodamoi - tamers of horses (Hector, the Trojans)
hire - sacred
hubris -
excess pride or arrogance, usually leading to ruin (a serious flaw in Greek heroes); excess of pride which shows
disrespect for gods and man hupermoiran - seemingly
beyond one's portion, acting in a way as if to seem to transcend fate
ise moira - an equal
portion of moira or fate
kakos - coward, base
kalon - noble; following the aristocratic agasthos standard of virtuous behavior
karteros - mighty
kedistui - bonds of close association (but not as close
as philoi)
kemai - lie dead
ker - one's destined path
klea andron - famous deeds
of heros
kleos esthlon - noble glory
kleos - glory, often implying fame and immortality (in
the memory of others), achieved as a result of one's time (acts of excellence
meriting
honor)
kolpos - riverbed; also a woman's nurturing bosom
kratos - possessing higher social status
kredemna - battlements, also a woman's veil, emblem of
her chastity
NOTE: The
term kredemnon luesthai
means both to sack a city and
to breach female chastity.
kudos - triumphant power or success resulting in
glory, prestige and high
rank
leistos - spoils or booty, as of war
makares - blessed
mechos - a device, mechanism or means
menie, menis - overpowering
vengeful wrath, often
more than human
menos - energy, strength
metis - cunning (Odysseus)
minunthadios - short-lived (said of Achilles)
moira - fate, or one's allotment in terms of fate
(often portrayed as negative in the
Iliad, and associated with doom or death; dissimilar to western conceptions of destiny); derived from Moira,
the impersonal goddess of destiny, as of Hesiod,
considered to be the Moirae, the three Fates (Clotho, Atropo and Lachesis);
neikos - shame-based public rebuke
nemesis - the indignation of the gods, often resulting
from humans asserting themselves beyond their station (after Nemesis, the
avenging goddess, who expressed righteous anger toward the proud and insolent)
nemesetos, nemesseton - eager to
anger; expressing indignation
nepios - acting like
fool
oikos - household
oiktiro, oiktos - pity; see eleeson
okumoros - fated to have a short life
oloos - accursedly desteructive,
usually applied to destructive forces of nature, but applied here to Agamemnon when he steals Briseis from
Achilles, and Achilles after Patroclus' death
phaidimos - shining (Hector, Achilles)
phertoros - one who is more powerful
philos, philotes -
friendship, used particularly to indicate family and friendship ties with those
of the same group, involving affection and usually
implying explicit or implicit expectations of reciprocity
philophrosune - friendly cooperation
pothe - desire or longing (the Greeks desiring that
Achilles will return to action)
ptoliporthos - sacker of cities (Achilles, Odysseus)
podus okos OR poas tachus - swiftfooted
(Achilles)
poine - payment, as compensation for death
polis - a social community or city-state, as
polumetis - resourceful (Odysseus)
psuche - soul, wind-breath, life-breath, what makes a
person alive (and no longer exists after death)
rechthentos - harm, leading to negative consequences
rheia - living easily (the gods in contrast to men)
sebas - shame; also revulsion, as against the enemy,
for mutiliating corpses
tarchuo - to treat as a god
tarchusousi - to solemnly bury, originally meaning to make a
hero of someone, to treat him as a god
thanatoio - one's portion of death
thumos - one's heart
time - honor;
also meaning value, attributed to a person (as Achilles' time); public acknowledgement of one's value/glory
through awarding prizes; acclaim for achieving excellence (arete)
in battle, sport or council; is often competitive; as
in the Iliad, personal time can conflict with the time of one's community
xenie, xeinios, xeinia - hospitality, related to the tie between guest and hosts,
and involving obligation and giving of gifts
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