θέμις

Forms

θέμῐς (thémis) f (genitive θέμῐστος or θέμῐδος or θέμῐτος or θέμῐος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[2][1] The usual view derives it from the root of τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, place”), Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-, as “what is laid down”, and compares Avestan dāmi- (“creation, creator”).^[3][1][4] The difficulty is the inflection: Homer has only the genitive θέμιστος (thémistos), while Pindar has θέμιτος (thémitos) and Aeschylus θέμιδος (thémidos).^[5][6] Schulze and Fraenkel explained the stem in -ιστ- (-ist-) as a compound with the root of ἵστημι (hístēmi), but Frisk saw insurmountable difficulties in this.^[3][2]

Beekes, following a suggestion of Ruijgh, takes the interchange of the two kinds of stem as a sign that it is Pre-Greek, and both suffixes are Pre-Greek in his catalogue.^[2][6] Wiktionary notes that other scholars dismiss this view.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer the word means what is established as right by custom: “it is θέμις” is said of what is proper, especially towards guests and the gods.^[5][7] The plural θέμιστες means the ordinances and judgements that kings hold from Zeus, and once tribute paid to a king.^[5][7] As a name, Themis is the goddess who calls and dismisses assemblies.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Themis denotes customary law, not statute law.^[5][8] In Hesiod crooked θέμιστες are the unjust judgements of kings, and in the Odyssey the θέμιστες of Zeus are oracles.^[5] In tragedy and Plato it comes to mean justice or right in general, and Aeschylus uses it of a penalty and of the sanctity of oaths.^[5][7] The goddess Themis appears in Homer, Hesiod and the tragedians.^[5]

Modern Greek θέμις (thémis) survives as a learned word for justice.^[8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the plural for the ordinances of Zeus that kings hold.^[5][9]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod speaks of crooked judgements.^[5][10]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of a penalty and of the sanctity of oaths.^[5][10]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for justice.^[5][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. What is right by custom or proper, as in θέμις ἐστί, “it is right”.^[5][7]
2. Justice, right; a penalty.^[5]
3. Normal or customary behaviour.^[7]
4. In the plural, the ordinances and judgements of kings; decrees of the gods, oracles.^[5][7]
5. In the plural, tribute due to a king.^[5][7]
6. Themis, the goddess of right.^[5][2]

Related words

• θεσμός (thesmós)
• τίθημι (títhēmi)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
4. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
9. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge