Koalemos
Mythological character
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In Greek mythology, Koalemos (Ancient Greek: Κοάλεμος) was the god of stupidity, mentioned once by Aristophanes,[1] and being found also in Parallel Lives by Plutarch.[2] Coalemus is the Latin spelling of the name.
Otherwise, the word κοάλεμος was used in the sense of "stupid person" or also "blockhead".[3]
An ancient false etymology derives κοάλεμος from κοέω (koeō) "perceive" and ἡλεός (ēleos) "distraught, crazed".[4] This etymology is not established, however.[5]
See also
Notes
- ^ Aristophanes, Knights 221: καὶ ποικίλως πως καὶ σοφῶς ᾐνιγμένος: ἀλλ᾽ ὁπόταν μάρψῃ βυρσαίετος ἀγκυλοχήλης γαμφηλῇσι δράκοντα κοάλεμον αἱματοπώτην.
- ^ Plutarch, Life of Cimon 4.3 (trans. Perrin) (Greek historian 1st to 2nd century AD):...καὶ τῷ πάππῳ Κίμωνι προσεοικὼς τὴν φύσιν, ὃν δι᾽ εὐήθειάν φασι Κοάλεμον προσαγορευθῆναι.
- ^ Plutarch, Life of Cimon 4.3; Aeschines Socraticus, fr. 16
- ^ Scholia on Aristophanes, Knights 198
- ^ Chantraine, Pierre. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque. Histoire des mots. Tome II. Paris, Éditions Klincksiek, 1970. - p. 550, sous κοάλεμος (French); Robert Beekes (2010), "Etymological Dictionary of Greek" (Brill, Boston), p 727: "The word is clearly Pre-Greek because of the variants".
Resources
- A Greek-English Lexicon compiled by H. G. Liddel and R. Scott. tenth edition with a revised supplement. – Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996. - p. 966, under κοάλεμος
- Aristophanes, Knights from The Complete Greek Drama, vol. 2. Eugene O'Neill, Jr. New York. Random House. 1938. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Aristophanes, Aristophanes Comoediae edited by F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart, vol. 1. F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1907. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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