[B-Greek] THIASARCH once only
Daniel Goepfrich
pastor at oaktree.cc
Thu Dec 27 14:53:16 EST 2007
OK, that's what I was wondering. Thank you both.
Daniel
On 12/27/07, George F Somsel <gfsomsel at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> I think here we have analogy to rely on. In MPol the official was
> called ὁ εἰρήναρχος Ἡρώδης [hO EIRHARXOS hHRWDHS] which etymologically is
> "the peace-leader Herod" which is translated by Holmes as "police
> magistrate." I would say that such a designation is appropriate. The word
> θιασἀρχης is a similar compound. In this case it derives from θιάσος
> [QIASOS] and ἄρχων [ARXWN]. The θιάσος [QIASOS] was a Bacchic revel of
> which the ἄρχων [ARXWN] was in charge as the εἰρήναρχος [EIRHNARXOS] was
> in charge of keeping the peace. Sometimes there is nothing to do but to
> rely on etymology and analogy. In this case I think analogy plays a large
> part.
>
> george
> gfsomsel
>
> Therefore, O faithful Christian, search for truth, hear truth,
> learn truth, love truth, speak the truth, hold the truth,
> defend the truth till death.
>
> - Jan Hus
> _________
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Daniel Goepfrich <pastor at oaktree.cc>
> To: Carl W. Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com>
> Cc: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 10:57:33 AM
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] THIASARCH once only
>
> I have a question that springs from something Dr. Conrad said below:
>
> But it doesn't matter; the meaning of QIASARCHS is perfectly
> clear from its elements. In this instance there's little to guess at in
> the meaning of the elements QIASOS and ARCH of which the word
> is compounded.
>
> Frequently on the list we read that the etymology of compound words does
> not
> necessarily give the true meaning of the compound. Yet here, it's
> "perfectly
> clear from its elements".
>
> Other than by just knowing the meanings of compounds, is there a way to
> tell
> which parts make up the whole and which don't?
>
> Thanks
>
> Daniel Goepfrich
>
>
> On 12/27/07, Carl W. Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thursday, December 27, 2007, at 08:12AM, "Anita Clerke" <
> > clerke at humanperformance.cc> wrote:
> > >Thank you Elizabeth for doing that search. It is much appreciated.
> > >
> > >Thank you too George for clarifying that the search I performed on
> > >CCE Library yielded a result that, although to me at first sight
> > >seemed to have been another early christian writers comment on the
> > >death of Polycarp, was in fact just a chapter from a book written
> > >just over a hundred years ago:
> > >History of the Origins of Christianity. Book VI. The Reigns of
> > >Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. (A.D. 117-161)Author: Renan, Joseph
> > >Ernest (1823-1892).
> > >
> > >I did realise at the time it wasn't the original MPol, that is: The
> > >letter of the Smyrnaeans or the Martyrdom of Polycarp
> > >Translated by J.B. Lightfoot. Adapt. and mod. (c) 1990. ATHENA DATA
> > >PRODUCTS http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/martyrdompolycarp-
> > >lightfoot.html 23/12/2007; but I certainly had thought the chapter
> > >titled "The Martyrdom of Polycarpus" was from an early Christian
> > >source. Thanks again.
> > >
> > >I am amazed that THIASARCH appears only once in all of Greek
> > >literature, Christian and non-Christian.
> > >Could it be that Lucian made a portmanteau in this particular
> > >instance? Given his extraordinary imagination I presume this is
> > >possible. At odds with this is the thought that if he had made a new
> > >word at this point, he may have been unlikely to have been so modest
> > >about it.
> >
> > It's hardly reasonable to suppose that Lucian is the only author who
> > ever used this word -- and George said that clearly enough. It's hardly
> > the case that all the Greek literature of any period whatsoever has
> > survived. But it doesn't matter; the meaning of QIASARCHS is perfectly
> > clear from its elements. In this instance there's little to guess at in
> > the meaning of the elements QIASOS and ARCH of which the word
> > is compounded. A rather similar word is ARCHGOS in the GNT --
> > my memory may not be correct (I'm away from my home library at
> > the moment -- my recollection is that it appears only once in the GNT
> > -- in Hebrews 11 -- and that it's not seen elsewhere.
> >
> > >Are there any other words used by Lucian that do not appear in any
> > >other extant literature?
> > >
> > >Did any of the Greek writers within a few hundred years of Lucian
> > >produce new words, and made a point of indicating that they had in
> > >fact done so?
> >
> > You really do have to take into account that the evidence from which
> > we must make judgments about this sort of thing is really far too
> > scanty, proportionately speaking.
> >
> >
> > Carl W. Conrad
> > Department of Classics, Washington University (ret)
> > ---
> > B-Greek home page: http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek
> > B-Greek mailing list
> > B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org
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--
Daniel Goepfrich
Oak Tree Community Church
574.232.1618
http://www.OakTree.CC
http://2timothy22.blogspot.com
http://www.danielgoepfrich.com
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