I need help translating the word ΟΔΙΓΗ

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juancasilva
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I need help translating the word ΟΔΙΓΗ

Post by juancasilva »

Hi.

There's a book written by jesuit priest Manuel Briceño Jáuregui called "El genio literario griego" (The literary greek genius) in three volumes. Each of them has a dedication in greek that reads as follows:

ΤΗΙ ΑΓΙΩΤΑΤΗΙ ΘΕΟΤΟΚΩΙ ΑΕΙΠΑΡΘΕΝΟΙ ΜΑΡΙΑΙ ΔΟΣΙΣ Δ ΟΔΙΓΗ ΤΕ ΦΙΛΗ ΤΕ

Searching on the internet I could translate most of the words. The books are dedicated to the most holy ever virgin mother of God, Mary, as a present of love. But I can't find what ΟΔΙΓΗ means. I don't know if its misspelled; I searched a lot of dictionaries and lexicons and none of them had it.

Can someone help me translating the word ΟΔΙΓΗ or giving me a hint of what word could be given the context?

Thanks for your help :)

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bedwere
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Re: I need help translating the word ΟΔΙΓΗ

Post by bedwere »

Could you provide an image of the page? You can post it here and provide a link or thumbnail.
https://postimage.io/

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Re: I need help translating the word ΟΔΙΓΗ

Post by juancasilva »

Thanks for your reply, the link of the image is:

https://postimg.org/image/e8znzrpgx/

Image

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bedwere
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Re: I need help translating the word ΟΔΙΓΗ

Post by bedwere »

Since η and ι are pronounced the same in modern Greek, it might be a misspelling for the feminine of ὁδηγός, which means guide.

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Re: I need help translating the word ΟΔΙΓΗ

Post by juancasilva »

Can you help me with the meaning of the phrase? I can't figure out the use of the word "guide" in the phrase meaning. Are ὁδηγη and φίλη the accusative declensions of ὁδηγός and φῖλος? If δόσις is the noun, the phrase could mean "A gift for you, my love and my guide" or "A gift for you, with my love and with my guide"? Other thing that confuses me is the -οι suffixes of Θεοτόκος and αείπαρθένος and the -ηι suffix of Μαρία, aren't they used for the plural form of the nouns? Thanks for your patience :)

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Re: I need help translating the word ΟΔΙΓΗ

Post by bedwere »

I got it. Forget about the guide. It's from the Odyssey and there is a typo:

δόσις δ' ὀλίγη τε, φίλη τε. (Odyssey, Book 6, 208)

a gift, though small, is welcome.

Those suffixes are to represent the dative: To the most holy Mother of God and Ever Virgin Mary a gift, though small, is welcome. Also δόσις and the adjectives are in the nominative.

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Re: I need help translating the word ΟΔΙΓΗ

Post by Hylander »

As the linked image shows, this is a quote from Odyssey Book 6 (ζ) 208:

δόσις δ᾽ ὀλίγη τε φίλη τε, "a small and dear gift," or maybe in the Odyssean context, "a gift [to strangers and beggars] is small but welcome."

In upper-case letters this should be ΔΟΣΙΣ Δ ΟΛΙΓΗ ΤΕ ΦΙΛΗ ΤΕ, but Δ has been substituted for Λ by mistake.

Similarly, in ΑΕΙΠΑΡΘΕΝΟΙ, Ο has been erroneously substituted for Ω.

[cross-posted with Bedwere]
Bill Walderman

juancasilva
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Re: I need help translating the word ΟΔΙΓΗ

Post by juancasilva »

I thought that the quote belonged to Iliad 6: "and he sent me to Troy and straitly charged me ever to be bravest and pre-eminent above all". That confused me and I didn't read Odissey's verse. Thanks a lot.

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Re: I need help translating the word ΟΔΙΓΗ

Post by Hylander »

The books of the Iliad are traditionally designated by upper-case letters; those of the Odyssey, by lower-case letters.
Bill Walderman

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Paul Derouda
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Re: I need help translating the word ΟΔΙΓΗ

Post by Paul Derouda »

"A gift is small but welcome" is quite possible and probably likely. But there's also a slight possibility that φίλη is used here (in the Odyssey passage) in the "active" sense, i.e. dear/nice to the person who gives – "giving is a small thing do and a nice thing to do".

Perhaps this is how the Jesuit priest understood the verse when he wrote the dedication?

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Re: I need help translating the word ΟΔΙΓΗ

Post by Victor »

Hylander wrote: Similarly, in ΑΕΙΠΑΡΘΕΝΟΙ, Ο has been erroneously substituted for Ω.
I don't see that; I see Ω. Maybe we're looking at two different versions.

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Re: I need help translating the word ΟΔΙΓΗ

Post by Hylander »

I think the OP substituted O for Ω.
Bill Walderman

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