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ἄτη , ἡ, Dor. ἄτα , Aeol. αὐάτα ( ἀ ϝ-), v. infr.:—
A.bewilderment, infatuation, caused by blindness or delusion sent by the gods, mostly as the punishment of guilty rashness, “τὸν δ᾽ ἄτη φρένας εἷλε” Il.16.805; “Ζεῦ πάτερ, ἦ ῥά τιν᾽ ἤδη . . βασιλήων τῇδ᾽ ἄτῃ ἄασας” 8.237; “Ζεὺς καὶ Μοῖρα καὶ . . Ἐρινὺς . . φρεσὶν ἔμβαλον ἄγριον ἄτην” 19.88 (so ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεὶ ἀασάμην καί μευ φρένας ἐξέλετο Ζεύς ib.137); ἄτην δὲ μετέστενον ἣν Ἀφροδίτη δῶχ᾽ ὅτε μ᾽ ἤγαγε κεῖσε, says Helen, Od.4.261.
2. Ἄτη personified, the goddess of mischief, author of rash actions, “πρέσβα Διὸς θυγάτηρ, Ἄτη, ἣ πάντας ἀᾶται” Il.19.91, cf. 9.504, Hes. Th.230, Pl.Smp.195d; “Ἄτης ἂν λειμῶνα” Emp.121.4; coupled with Ἐρινύς, A.Ag.1433.
II. of the consequences of such visitations, either,
1. Act., reckless guilt or sin, “Ἀλεξάνδρου ἕνεκ᾽ ἄτης” Il.6.356: in pl., deceptions, 10.391: or,
2. Pass., bane, ruin, 24.480, Hdt.1.32; ἐγγύα, πάρα δ᾽ ἄτα prov. in Thales ap.Stob.3.1.172: τὸ πῆμα τῆς ἄτης the anguish of the doom, S.Aj.363 (lyr.); “ὕβρις γὰρ ἐξανθοῦσ᾽ ἐκάρπωσε σταχὺν ἄτης” A.Pers.822; “Πειθὼ προβουλόπαις . . ἄτης” Id.Ag.386 (lyr.): pl., Id.Pers.653 (lyr.), 1037 (lyr.), S.Aj.848, etc.; strokes of fate, “ἀνδρείη τὰς ἄτας μικρὰς ἔρδει” Democr.213.
3. Trag., of persons, bane, pest, “δίκην ἄτης λαθραίου” A.Ag.1230; “δύ᾽ ἄτα” S.Ant.533.
b. ill-fated person, A.Ag.1268 codd.—Not in Comedy (unless read for αὐτῆς, Ar.Pax605) nor in Att. Prose (exc. as pr.n.and in quotations of “ἐγγύα, πάρα δ᾽ ἄτα” Cratin. Jun.12, Pl.Chrm.165a), but found in Arist.VV1251b20; “κῆρας καὶ ἄτας” D.H.8.61; τοιαύτας κακὰς ἄτας such abominations, of certain Epicurean expressions, Cleom.2.1.
III. fine, penalty, or sum lost in a lawsuit, Leg.Gort.11.34, al. (From ἀάω, q. v.: orig. ἀϝάτη, Aeol. “αὐάτα” Alc. Supp.23.12, Pi.P.2.28, 3.24, Lyr.Adesp.123.) [α^α^τη, α_τη; α^τη is dub. in Archil.73.]
Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.

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hide References (26 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (26):
    • Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 1230
    • Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 1268
    • Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 1433
    • Aeschylus, Persians, 1037
    • Aeschylus, Persians, 653
    • Aeschylus, Persians, 822
    • Aristophanes, Peace, 605
    • Aristotle, Virtues and Vices, 1251b.20
    • Herodotus, Histories, 1.32
    • Hesiod, Theogony, 230
    • Homer, Iliad, 10.391
    • Homer, Iliad, 16.805
    • Homer, Iliad, 19.88
    • Homer, Iliad, 19.91
    • Homer, Iliad, 24.480
    • Homer, Iliad, 8.237
    • Homer, Iliad, 9.504
    • Homer, Iliad, 6.356
    • Homer, Odyssey, 4.261
    • Plato, Symposium, 195d
    • Plato, Charmides, 165a
    • Sophocles, Ajax, 848
    • Sophocles, Ajax, 363
    • Sophocles, Antigone, 533
    • Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 386
    • Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae, 8.61
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