ὀδύσσομαι

Forms

*ὀδῠ́σσομαι (*odússomai) ^[1] The present is not attested: only the aorist middle ὀδύσ(σ)ασθαι (ὠδύσατο, ὀδυσσάμενος) and once the perfect passive ὀδώδυσται (Odyssey 5.423); Hesychius has an aorist passive ὀδυσθῆναι.^[2][3][4][5] Hesychius' οὐδύεται “quarrels” may show a present *ὀδύομαι with a metrically lengthened vowel.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- (“to hate”).^[1] Frisk and Chantraine take it as a verb in -ύω (*ὀδύομαι (*odúomai), the σ of the perfect and passive being analogical), formed from a lost noun on the root of Latin ōdī (“I hate”) and Latin odium (“hatred”).^[5][4] Old Armenian ատեմ (atem, “I hate”) belongs here as well, and Old English atol (“dire, terrible”) and Old Norse atall (“fierce”) are compared too.^[5][4][1] Chantraine rejects the view that this root is the same as the root meaning “to smell”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is used in the aorist, of a god or a man who is angry with someone, usually with the dative of the person: “why are you so angry with him, Zeus?” (Odyssey 1.62).^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

It is an epic verb: Hesiod uses it of Ouranos' anger with Briareus, and Sophocles borrowed it once in a passage on Odysseus.^[2][4] Later poets use it with the accusative, “to hate” someone or something.^[2]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use the aorist for divine and human wrath.^[3][2][6]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony uses it of a father's anger.^[2][7]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it once, playing on the name of Odysseus.^[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be angry, wroth with someone (dative), to bear a grudge.^[3][2][8]
2. (later, with accusative) To hate.^[2][1]

Related words

• Ὀδυσσεύς (Odusseús)
• Latin ōdī
• Latin odium

Usage notes

In the Odyssey (19.407–9) Autolycus names his grandson Ὀδυσσεύς (Odusseús) because he himself comes “having been angry with many”, and Zeus and Poseidon are said to be angry (ὠδύσατο) with Odysseus.^[2][3] Beekes regards this link of the name with the verb as a folk etymology of the epic poets.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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
5. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
8. ^ Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ 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