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σοφία , Ion. -ιη, ἡ, prop.
A.cleverness or skill in handicraft and art, as in carpentry, τέκτονος, ὅς ῥά τε πάσης εὖ εἰδῇ ς. Il.15.412; of the Telchines, Pi.O.7.53; ἡ ἔντεχνος ς., of Hephaestus and Athena, Pl.Prt.32 1d; of Daedalus and Palamedes, X.Mem.4.2.33, cf. 1.4.2; in music and singing, τέχνῃ καὶ ς. h.Merc.483, cf. 511; in poetry, Sol.13.52, Pi.O.1.117, Ar.Ra.882, X.An.1.2.8, etc.; in driving, Pl. Thg.123c; in medicine or surgery, Pi.P.3.54; in divination, S.OT 502 (lyr.); “δυσθανατῶν ὑπὸ σοφίας εἰς γῆρας ἀφίκετο” Pl.R.406b; ς. δημηγορική, δικανική, ib.365d; ἡ περὶ Ὁμήρου ς. Id.Ion 542a; “οὐ σοφίᾳ ἀλλὰ φύσει ποιεῖν” Id.Ap.22b; “σημαίνοντες τὴν ς . . ., ὅτι ἀρετὴ τέχνης ἐστίν” Arist.EN1141a12: rare in pl., Pi.O.9.107, Ar.Ra.676 (lyr.), IG12.522 (vase, v B.C.).
2. skill in matters of common life. sound judgement, intelligence, practical wisdom, etc., such as was attributed to the seven sages, like φρόνησις, Thgn.790,876,1074, Hdt.1.30,60; ἡ τῶν δεινῶν ς., opp.ἀμαθία, Pl.Prt.360d; τὴν τότε καλουμένην ς., οὖσαν δὲ “δεινότητα πολιτικὴν καὶ δραστήριον σύνεσιν” Plu.Them.2; also, cunning, shrewdness, craft, Hdt.1.68, etc.; τὸ λοιδορῆς αι θεοὺς ἐχθρὰ ς. Pi.O. 9.38.
3. learning, wisdom, “μείζω τινὰ ἢ κατ᾽ ἄνθρωπον σοφίαν σοφοί” Pl.Ap.20e; opp. ἀμαθία, ib.22e; freq. in E., e.g. “μόρσιμα . . οὐ σοφίᾳ τις ἀπώσεται” Heracl.615 (lyr.); τὸ σοφὸν οὐ σοφία (v. “σοφός” 1.3) Ba.395 (lyr.), etc.; freq. in Arist., speculative wisdom, EN 1141a19, Metaph. 982a2, 995b12 (pl.), 1059a18; defined as θείων τε καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων ἐπιστήμη, Stoic.2.15; but also of natural philosophy and mathematics, “ς. τις καὶ ἡ φυσική” Arist.Metaph.1005b1, cf. 1061b33.
4. among the Jews, “ἀρχὴ σοφίας φόβος Κυρίου” LXX Pr.1.7, cf. Jb.28.28, al.; Σοφία, recognized first as an attribute of God, was later identified with the Spirit of God, cf. LXX Pr.8 with Si.24sq.
5. later as a title, ἡ ὑμετέρα, ἡ ὑμῶν ς., POxy.1165.6, PSI7.790.14 (both vi A.D.).
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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  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (25):
    • Aristophanes, Frogs, 676
    • Aristophanes, Frogs, 882
    • Euripides, Bacchae, 395
    • Euripides, Heraclidae, 615
    • Herodotus, Histories, 1.30
    • Herodotus, Histories, 1.68
    • Homer, Iliad, 15.412
    • Homeric Hymns, Hymn 4 to Hermes, 483
    • Homeric Hymns, Hymn 4 to Hermes, 511
    • Old Testament, Proverbs, 8
    • Plato, Republic, 365d
    • Plato, Republic, 406b
    • Plato, Apology, 22b
    • Plato, Apology, 20e
    • Plato, Apology, 22e
    • Plato, Theages, 123c
    • Plato, Protagoras, 360d
    • Plato, Ion, 542a
    • Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, 502
    • Xenophon, Anabasis, 1.2.8
    • Xenophon, Memorabilia, 1.4.2
    • Xenophon, Memorabilia, 4.2.33
    • Old Testament, Job, 28.28
    • Old Testament, Proverbs, 1.7
    • Plutarch, Themistocles, 2
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