much of a mouthful—like a prelude on the flute in honour of Athene. The
word zemiodes is difficult; great changes, as I was saying, have been
made in words, and even a small change will alter their meaning very
much. The word deon is one of these disguised words. You know that
according to the old pronunciation, which is especially affected by the
women, who are great conservatives, iota and delta were used where we
should now use eta and zeta: for example, what we now call emera was
formerly called imera; and this shows the meaning of the word to have
been “the desired one coming after night,” and not, as is often
supposed, “that which makes things gentle” (emera). So again, zugon is
duogon, quasi desis duein eis agogen—(the binding of two together for
the purpose of drawing.) Deon, as ordinarily written, has an evil
sense, signifying the chain (desmos) or hindrance of motion; but in its
ancient form dion is expressive of good, quasi diion, that which
penetrates or goes through all. Zemiodes is really demiodes, and means
that which binds motion (dounti to ion): edone is e pros ten onrsin
teinousa praxis—the delta is an insertion: lupe is derived apo tes
dialuseos tou somatos: ania is from alpha and ienai, to go: algedon is
a foreign word, and is so called apo tou algeinou: odune is apo tes
enduseos tes lupes: achthedon is in its very sound a burden: chapa
expresses the flow of soul: terpsis is apo tou terpnou, and terpnon is
properly erpnon, because the sensation of pleasure is likened to a
breath (pnoe) which creeps (erpei) through the soul: euphrosune is
named from pheresthai, because the soul moves in harmony with nature:
epithumia is e epi ton thumon iousa dunamis: thumos is apo tes thuseos
tes psuches: imeros—oti eimenos pei e psuche: pothos, the desire which
is in another place, allothi pou: eros was anciently esros, and so
called because it flows into (esrei) the soul from without: doxa is e
dioxis tou eidenai, or expresses the shooting from a bow (toxon). The
latter etymology is confirmed by the words boulesthai, boule, aboulia,
which all have to do with shooting (bole): and similarly oiesis is
nothing but the movement (oisis) of the soul towards essence. Ekousion
is to eikon—the yielding—anagke is e an agke iousa, the passage through
ravines which impede motion: aletheia is theia ale, divine motion.
Pseudos is the opposite of this, implying the principle of constraint
and forced repose, which is expressed under the figure of sleep, to
eudon; the psi is an addition. Onoma, a name, affirms the real
existence of that which is sought after—on ou masma estin. On and ousia
are only ion with an iota broken off; and ouk on is ouk ion. “And what
are ion, reon, doun?” One way of explaining them has been already
suggested—they may be of foreign origin; and possibly this is the true
answer. But mere antiquity may often prevent our recognizing words,
after all the complications which they have undergone; and we must