Over at Kosmos Society my friend Sarah wrote a great blogpost on “metis”. Great article as usual. My question is; what does ἀγκυλομήτης” mean? Usual translation is “crooked of counsel”. But what does that mean? And is it a good thing? You mentioned the Titans Cronus and Prometheus had the trait.
Sly Cronus was a cannibal who consumed his own children and castrated his father. One commentator says, “
“Kronos was the youngest of the Titans and his name is often preceded by a variety of non-complementary adjectives ... wily, crafty, devious, devising ... “. (https://mythagora.com/)
Prometheus betrayed his own brothers and lied to Zeus at Mecone, screwing up things for us.
Theogony 545] “So said Zeus whose wisdom is everlasting, rebuking him. But wily Prometheus answered him, smiling softly and not forgetting his cunning trick: “
If these are examples of crooked counsel and the people who practice it, I got to agree with Achilles “Hateful is that man to me, as hateful as the gates of Hādēs, the man who hides one thing in his thinking and says another thing”. (Iliad 9. 312–313 ). By the way, this was during the Embassy Scene and when he said it Achilles was looking at cunning, crafty Odysseus
But, Cronus, Prometheus and weren’t the only dudes tagged as crooked. Homer repeatedly refers to Zeus as “the son of crooked-counselling Cronos”. Based on the above and on the notion that the name of a son is an epithet of his father, this epithet is no great compliment to Zeus. I also read once that every time Homer use the phrase, the next thing out of Zeus mouth is suspect.
So is ἀγκυλομήτης a good thing?
My Zeus, talking to other Olympians about Prometheus:
ReplyDelete"Let me remind you that the world hasn't seen a greater traitor than the son of Iapetus. Fist, he betrayed the Titans, including his father and brothers, and came to us. Then at Mecone, he betrayed both the Olympians and his proteges, the humans. He was so eager to show his cunning that he did not care how dearly the humans would pay for his trick. After that, he betrayed all immortals by teaching humans how to become mightier than gods and by giving them fire. He betrayed his son, telling him to ask from me new humans instead of immortality. Later on, he betrayed the Oceanids by instigating them to resist me. And finally, he betrayed his friend the Nereid to bail out himself. If you are ready to lend a trusting ear to this treacherous creature, you must be out of your minds!"
(It was a habit of my former boss to express contempt to his subordinates by pretending not to remember their names, therefore my Zeus does not name Prometheus and Thetis. Hesiod's Zeus never addresses Prometheus by name.)
Maya,
ReplyDeleteYou might be on to something there. Prometheus is often called the Titan. Hmm, as is Helios.
Bill
We are now having an "ankylometis" student. Our university has a regular exam session in June, a second one in early September and then a "last chance" exam session that is actually extended and repeated for weeks, sometimes until Christmas. The good students pass and leave us and we remain with the others, who come to do the biology exam again and again, usually with the same result (non-passing).
ReplyDeleteThe student in question, after earning two well-deserved non-passing grades, decided to send a substitute to the "last chance" session. He even found a young man that had some facial resemblance to him. But the substitute was considerably taller. The teacher who knew the student best found that she had to look at him from below, which she never had to do before. Our students are young and some of the boys are still growing, but not so fast! It turned out that our student had given his student record and ID card to the other fellow so that the latter could pass the exam for him. Like Achilles giving his armor to Patroclus. Such substitutions rarely end well.
To cap it all, the student was arrogant. Instead of acting repentant, he said that someone had stolen his ID and student record, and why were we blaming him for something that wasn't his fault at all?
To study medicine, you need noos, not metis.
Maya,
ReplyDeleteSo bottom-line, he still hasn’t passed. What will happen now? He gets 5o keep failing or is barred ? Either way seems like he needs a new career choice
Bill
Bill,
ReplyDeleteThat treasure of a student still keeps coming and failing (the last occasion was yesterday). He again argued with the examiner, claiming to know enough to pass. The Dean is apparently too busy to consider his case and take any measures, and I suppose the offense will be quietly forgotten. But the student will not pass biology easily!
Also today, a teacher from another department complained that they had a male student who sent a female substitute to the exam, hoping that with his non-Western name nobody would notice the difference.
The truth is, the university wants tuition fees of international students and therefore enrols people who should never see a university from inside. It is said, let's give the students a chance and make the selection later. However, the young people who do not belong there disrupt the study and work of everybody.
Maya,
ReplyDeleteThat it is a shame that the university sets people up to fail. On the other hand, Everyone always believes they are the exception to the rule. It like HeroesX, people sign up for a college level course at Harvard and are shocked at the amount of reading and writing.
Bill