ARCHEE the source and the origin

The Source and the Power ΆΡΧΗ

In Latin the Gospel of John begins with the famous statement

In principio verbum erat

But this is a Latin translation from Greek.

Here's Verse 1 of St John's Gospel in Greek

1. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.

Ἀρχῇ is the dative form of ἡ Ἀρχὴ the beginning or source.

The word first appears in Greek in Homer's Odyssey and then Pindar's Odes.

This word has another meaning of being a source of origin of a flow of power and so we see it used as a suffix or prefix as – archos – arch(ee) and – arch(y) in English.

A good example especially given the Diamond Jubilee this week would be Monarch and Monarchy, two words with Greek origins that have become thoroughly established in English.

Rather like the Force in Star Wars or the Tao in Chinese?

You will see it used with a sense very similar to this if you read some Neoplatonists and Christian orthodox mystics and theologians writing in Greek.

IN French it becomes – arce, Italian arce and arci, Spanish arce, and German erz and I have seen it borrowed inot other languages with a spelling of - arky.

Don't forget there is a verb - ἄρχω

In the Beginning ARCHE

In John's Gospel in the beginning was the word.

This simple passage may be Post Classical but still is a classic in several ways.

And a useful teaching example and aid?

In Latin the Gospel of John begins with

In principio verbum erat

Here's Verses 1 – 5 which include a good variety of simple verb and noun forms.

1. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.

2. οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν.

3. πάντα δι᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν. ὃ γέγονεν.

4. ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων.

5. καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.

Here's a list of some of the words used and some questions to use for further study and revision.

ἐν Note how this is used with the dative ἀρχῇ.

ἦν equals erat and both mean ...

ὁ λόγος the word is a Second Declension noun along with which other words?

καὶ the most common conjunction and the others are …?

πρὸς is used with the object τὸν θεόν why accusative? how does this change the meaning?

ἐγένετο and γέγονεν are both forms of which verb?

ὁ and ὃ that one different accent changes the meaning ho and hò mean ?

ἡ ζωὴ is a First Declension Feminine Noun. Name the other two nouns of this type used.

My next post will about about ARKHEE arche

A Hellenic timeline

A Hellenic Timeline with some terminology explained

Palaeolithic means Ancient Stone an era when the population of Greece was sparse.

Mesolithic is the following Middle Stone Age

The Neolithic era in Greece when farming begun runs from 6700 -3200 with the first farming settlements appearing in Thessaly and later in the South.

Early Neolithic 6700 – 5800

Middle Neolithic 5800 – 5300

Late Neolithic 5300 – 4500

Final Neolithic 4500 – 3200

The Preclassical Minoan cultures of Crete are described as

Prepalatial Protopalatial Neopalatial Final Palatial and Post Palatial followed by the SubMinoan era.

There are also further subcategories.

The Bronze Age of Greece and the Aegean is split into three areas

HELLADIC (Mainland Greece) MINOAN (Crete) CYCLADIC (the Aegean islands)

with Helladic being split into

Early 3200 -2200 Middle 2100 – 1800 and Late or Mycenaean 1800 -1200

followed by the Sub Mycenaean / Minoan era and then the IRON AGE

Protogeometric 1050 -900

Early Geometric 900 – 850

Middle Geometric 850 – 760

Late Geometric 760 – 700

then there is the ARCHAIC 700 – 480

The Persian Invasion is the starting point of the Classical era 480 – 323

The Hellenistic 323 – 146 is the age of Alexander's successors up to the time the Romans took control of Greece. Some scholars treat the Hellenistic as overlapping with Republican and Imperial Rome.

Now you have a basic timeline to copy share and discuss or modify by adding more data.

Queens ladies and Mistresses

Queens Mistresses and Ladies.

There are three words in Greek that can be translated as Queen Lady or Mistress.

Ἄνασσα was a archaicism and ποτνια and the related forms δέσποινα and δέσποτις can be appplied to a woman whether she was human or mortal.

The most common word in classical times was βασίλεια which with a shift of accent βασιλεία also meant realm. The Greeks changed this by adding other feminine suffixes to the βασιλε radical.

Linear B texts give us an earlier form of *gwasir or mayb even*wasil?

I rather prefer *gwasir since we now of other words in Classical Greek with an initial B that derived from a change of IE *GW to B.

Other words are βασιληίς βασιλίς βασίλιννα and βασίλισσα.

Do I hear anyone thinking kyria? That only translates as lady and never to my knowledge as Queen?

Hellas Throne of the Gods

HELLAS THRONE OF THE GODS

Hellas and Hellene have a common origin probably in a very ancient word archaic even in the Classical era and the word probably meant “Throne” used to a way similar to the English and particularly the British usage of CROWN to imply legal authority.

Looking up Hellen and Hellenist in the BIG full size Liddell and Scott I came across several interesting references.

The η in Hellen Ἕλλην has a α in Dorian leading to a usage of Ἑλλάννιος where most Greek dialects use Ἕλληνικός the adjective derived from the name of Hellen son of Deucalion ancestor of the Hellen tribe who lived in Thessaly first mentioned by Homer in the Iliad in the area around Dodona then called Hellas Ἑλλάς.

Hesiod Herodotus Aeschylus and Euripides all referred to Greeks as Hellenes.

Liddell and Scott also mentions a rare word in the Laconian dialect of Dorian Greek ἡ ἑλλά which was a kind of chair and also mention a fragment of a Hellenistic historian Idomeneus who said that the word was also used in Dodona to refer to the seat of the god Zeus.

So Hellen founder of a city realm and tribe was perhaps the heir to the ?divine?  THRONE, what we might call a crown prince, and Hellenes may have originally been the “Crown” tribe, the princely ones, just as Wang means royal in Chinese but so many people have that family name now that it no longer implies royal descent though clearly marks you as a HAN?

This certainly makes as much or more sense than derived it as Sun Helios?

LERNA and LEGENDS reposted

Due to its popularity I'm bumping this ( a 3rd time a couple of years later) so more readers can see it.
#LERNA site of the #HYDRA legends is also a fascinating archaeological site.
I've collected a set  of the most interesting and useful  images I could find for you to use.

The Hydra was said to have been a many headed water snake however the lake at Lerna which has now dwindled to a mere pool seems to have had a very thin barrier between it and the sea.

Perhaps the Hydra was a giant squid or octopod swept into the lake by a storm who attacked swimmers?

Yet The Lake was supposedly always unsafe to swim in even after the Hydra was killed.

The legend speaks of Heracles burning the stumps of the Hydra however other legends also tell of him creating large scale water diversion schemes. Was the Hydra a parasite or disease in a coastal wetland? Was the charcoal from burnt trees used to purify water. Another part of the legend tells of a forest being cut down. Did Heracles divert water into a channel beginning the process of draining the lake and coastal wetlands ? Did he block a dangerous sinkhole perhaps?

Map of Lerna Was the lake north or south of modern Lerna village?

Here's a diagram showing the archaeological site. One of the oddest things about Lerna is that the famous House of Tiles one of the largest #Helladic structures in ancient Greece seems to have been delibarately pulled down carefully and then buried under a tumulus. What were later occupants trying to do? Cherish the ancients or protect themselves from ghosts?

You'll see this aerial shot several times if you google image search Lerna. It seems to date back to the 50s?

I suggest you use Google Earth as their image set show the site area and photos of the springs !

And do read Pausanias if you can!

First Feminine Nouns Long EE Final

More First Declension Feminine Nouns

A few posts back I mentioned that a final long a sound changed to a long e - η in Attic and Ionic.

This is why we have first declension nouns ending in both η and α.

Here's 20 η final nouns that follow the First Declension Pattern.

Άστραπή a flash of lightning

Βροντή A roar of and Thunder

Γραμματική a female teacher of basic literacy from Γράμματα letters

Δίκη Law Order Right Hence Justice

Ζώνη a belt or sash or girdle the origin of Zone.

εὐνή a sleeping place animal's lair, bird's nest or bed for humans

yet in plural εὐναί the anchor stones thrown off the prow of a ship into the sea.

Κεφαλή the head Now you know why an octopus can also be called a cephalopod.

Κολωνή a hill or mound

Μαχή War Battle This was borrowed into English via Latin and became – machia and -machy.

Μηχανή The origin of – MECH and also again via Latin of Machine.

Νίκη Victory

ὄγχνη the pear tree and its fruit

Πύλη a Gate Don't Confuse this with Φυλή Phyle a tribe group or clan.

Ῥώμη Power Strength Force Might Yes Rome or Roma the goddess and city.

Σκήνη A cover or shelter shade cloth or tent

Σωφροσύνη Moderation Discretion Prudence Chastity Commonsense Virtue

ὕλη Hule Forest Wood Hylo-

Τύχη Fortune

Ψυχή The soul