GLOSSARY OF ILIAD
A-B
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 ofone'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
anaxandron - 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
C-G
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)
eugenes - of noble birth
fatum - fate, see also moira
gera - gifts of honor
H-L
hamartia - "missing the mark"; error in judgment
helot - slave, has no rights
hemitheoi - demigods
heros - live in 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 seemto transcend fate
isemoira - 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
kleaandron - famous deeds of heroes
kleosesthlon - 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
kudos - triumphant power or success resulting in glory, prestige and high rank
leistos - spoils or booty, as of war
M-P
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 negativein 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, andAchilles 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 implyingexplicit 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)
podusokos OR poastachus - swiftfooted (Achilles)
poine - payment, as compensation for death
polis - a social community or city-state, as Troy
polumetis - resourceful (Odysseus)
psuche - soul, wind-breath, life-breath, what makes a person alive (and no
longer exists after death)
R-Z
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 one of the gods
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