δημαγωγός Ancient Greek · revision 3158

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=5th century BC, Thucydides|origins=grc δῆμος, grc ἀγωγός}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /dɛː.ma.ɡɔː.ɡós/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ði.ma.ɣoˈɣos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ði.ma.ɣoˈɣos/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''δημᾰγωγός''' (dēmagōgós) ''m'' (genitive δημᾰγωγοῦ); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound of [[δῆμος|tr=dêmos|t=people]] and [[ἀγωγός|tr=agōgós|t=leading, leader]], from [[ἄγω|tr=ágō|t=to lead]]: “leader of the people”.^(Wiktionary)^(CGL 2021) Hesychius explains it from “leading and managing the people”.^(Hesychius)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Thucydides uses it for a leader of the popular party, as Cleon, and Isocrates for Pericles.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ At first it was not necessarily a term of abuse: Lysias speaks of good popular leaders, and Hyperides of the just ''dēmagōgos''.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE) More often it had a bad sense, a leader of the mob: Andocides contrasts “the words of a popular leader and the deeds of a tyrant”, and Xenophon speaks of oppressive demagogues.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE) Aristotle calls the demagogue the flatterer of the people, says that demagogues arise where the laws are not sovereign, and notes how Peisistratus, a demagogue and general, became tyrant.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE) Polybius pairs it with ''ὀχλοκόπος'', “mob-courter”.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ Medieval Greek used it for the leader of an army.^(Kriaras) French ''démagogue'' was borrowed from it.^(Wiktionary) Modern Greek [[m|el|δημαγωγός|tr=dimagogós]] is a politician who misleads the people with false promises and flattery.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 5th century BC – Thucydides calls Cleon a popular leader.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Lysias speaks of good popular leaders.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 4th century BC – Aristotle defines the demagogue as the flatterer of the people.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for a rabble-rouser.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 16th–17th century – Vernacular Greek uses it for the leader of an army.^(Kriaras)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A leader of the people, a popular leader.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(pejorative)'' A leader of the mob, a [[m|en|demagogue]], one who courts popular favour.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[δημαγωγία|tr=dēmagōgíā]]

+ * [[δημαγωγικός|tr=dēmagōgikós]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[δῆμος|tr=dêmos]]

+ * [[ἀγωγός|tr=agōgós]]

+ * [[ἄγω|tr=ágō]]

+ * [[en|demagogue]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}