Greek school motto

Alan M Dunsmuir

unread,

Mar 11, 1998, 3:00:00 AM3/11/98

to

A school for which I am currently carrying out some work has the motto
"TO D'EY DIKATW" (the 'D' and 'W' are delta and omega respectively).

I have no classical Greek. (Though I recognise 'DIKATW' as something to
do with victory, probably in the 1st person singular <g>.)

What does it mean, please?
--
Alan M Dunsmuir

Alan M Dunsmuir

unread,

Mar 11, 1998, 3:00:00 AM3/11/98

to

In article <tzuPDAAS...@moonrake.demon.co.uk>, Alan M Dunsmuir
<al...@moonrake.demon.co.uk> writes

>A school for which I am currently carrying out some work has the motto
>"TO D'EY DIKATW" (the 'D' and 'W' are delta and omega respectively).

Sorry, everybody. Sleepy fingers at 5am. That of course should have been
'NIKATW'.
--
Alan M Dunsmuir

David Petrain

unread,

Mar 11, 1998, 3:00:00 AM3/11/98

to

Alan M Dunsmuir (al...@moonrake.demon.co.uk) wrote:
: In article <tzuPDAAS...@moonrake.demon.co.uk>, Alan M Dunsmuir

The phrase occurs three times in the parodos (first choral song) of Aeschylus'
_Agamemnon_ as a sort of refrain. Someone else will no doubt provide the exact
line numbers--at any rate it shouldn't be too hard to find.

The full refrain runs "ailine, ailine eipe, to d'eu nikatO", and translates to
something like "Sing the song of woe, but let the good triumph!" _NikatO_ is
the 3rd-person singular present imperative active of _nikan_, "to triumph, win".
The article and adverb pair _to d'eu_ functions as a unit and means "the good."
"May the good be victorious!" would be a fun translation of the phrase.

david

Edwin D Floyd

unread,

Mar 11, 1998, 3:00:00 AM3/11/98

to Alan M Dunsmuir

Hello, The phrase TO D' EU NIKATW appears as a refrain in Aeschylus,
Agamemnon, 121, 139, and 159. Each time, it follows AILINON AILINON EIPE.
The whole combination AILINON AILINON EIPE,TO D' EU NIKATW is translated
by Eduard Fraenkel as "Say 'woe, woe!" but may the good prevail!" TO D'
EU NIKATW by itself is "and/but may the good prevail!" NIKATW is a
somewhat rare form, third singular imperative.
Edwin D. Floyd

Nick D.Tsoukas

unread,

Mar 11, 1998, 3:00:00 AM3/11/98

to

Alan M Dunsmuir <al...@moonrake.demon.co.uk> wrote in article

> >A school for which I am currently carrying out some work has the motto
> >"TO D'EY DIKATW" (the 'D' and 'W' are delta and omega respectively).
>
> Sorry, everybody. Sleepy fingers at 5am. That of course should have been
> 'NIKATW'.

> --
> Alan M Dunsmuir

And I thought I've forgotten my Greek :-) I understand it as "May the best
win"

Nikos Tsoukas

Moiner

unread,

Mar 11, 1998, 3:00:00 AM3/11/98

to

In article <tzuPDAAS...@moonrake.demon.co.uk>, Alan M Dunsmuir
<al...@moonrake.demon.co.uk> wrote:

> A school for which I am currently carrying out some work has the motto
> "TO D'EY DIKATW" (the 'D' and 'W' are delta and omega respectively).
>

> I have no classical Greek. (Though I recognise 'DIKATW' as something to
> do with victory, probably in the 1st person singular <g>.)
>
> What does it mean, please?

are you quite sure the motto isn't
to d'eu nikatw?

That would be "let the good win", from Aeschylus'
Agamemnon.

--
If you must send spam,
here are the email addresses of the current board of
the Federal Communications Commission:

Chairman Reed Hundt: rhu...@fcc.gov
Commissioner James Quello: jqu...@fcc.gov
Commissioner Susan Ness: sn...@fcc.gov
Commissioner Rachelle Chong: rch...@fcc.gov

Alan M Dunsmuir

unread,

Mar 12, 1998, 3:00:00 AM3/12/98

to

Many thanks to everybody who pointed me (here and by e-mail) towards
Aeschylus' Agamemnon, and "May the good win".
--
Alan M Dunsmuir