Θ θ theeta (θῆτα) divine pronounce: “th”
The letter Θ means divine.
L.H. Jeffery’s Table of archaic Greek Letters shows the letter Θ appearing as a circle bisected into four quarters.
Table of Letters. (L.H. Jeffery, The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece: A Study of the Origin of the Greek Alphabet and Its Development from the Eighth to the Fifth Centuries B.C.[E.]. (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1961.)
The depiction, below, of Persephone reigning over the afterlife, circa 330 BCE, features a crossed circle suspended within an Ionic-columned palace and Persephone holding a crossed Eleusinian torch.
Persephone in a scene depicting Orpheus' journey to the Underworld. The Goddess stands in the underworld palace holding a crossed Eleusinian torch. Museum Collection: Antikensammlungen, Munich, Germany Catalogue Number: Munich 3297, Apulian Red Figure Volute krater Painter: Name vase Underworld Painter, circa 330 - 310 BCE.
http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/K14.1B.html
Galaxies, and the Milky Way galaxy in particular, resemble the letter Θ.
Milky Way Galaxy, with Sun indicated.
http://icanhasdiary.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/milky_way_galaxy_sun05.jpg
Milky Way Galaxy.
http://www.gemini.edu/node/11303
Empedocles describes a vortex from which the roots/elements emerged:
“Empedocles tells us of a mysterious vortex . . . like the nebula in Orion or the original of our solar system, that seems to be the first stage of the world process after the motionless harmony of the sphere. Out of this came the elements one by one: first air . . . then fire . . . [then] came the earth . . . and the moist spurted forth [from earth].”
(William Ellery Leonard. The Fragments of Empedocles (Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Company, 1908) 6-7.)
http://www.archive.org/stream/thefragmentsofem00empeuoft#page/6/mode/2up/search/physics
Tartaros (Τάρτᾰρος) is Tartarus, the subterranean entity that balances against the vault of the sky, creating a perfect tension. The letter Θ may be a visual depiction of this totality.
Hesiod’s Theogony describes the heavens and Tartaros as equidistant from the surface of the earth.
“For a brazen anvil falling down from heaven nine nights and days would reach the earth upon the tenth: and again, a brazen anvil falling from earth nine nights and days would reach Tartarus upon the tenth.”
(Hesiod (circa 750 BCE), Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica, “Theogony 715 ff,” translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1914. Reprinted in English by Dodo Press dodopress.co.uk, 2011.) 45.)
GODS AND GODDESSES
Theo- (θεο-) is a prefix meaning Gods and Goddesses, literally “divine essence entity.”
Theos (θεός) means God or Goddess; divine.
Theeelasia (θεηλᾰσία) is a visitation by, or something that is sent or caused, by the Gods and Goddesses; eelasia (ηλᾰσία) means driven, so theeelasia (θεηλᾰσία) translates as “divinely-driven.”
Theiodomos (θειοδομος) means built by Gods and Goddesses; domos (δομος) means house, temple, abode, domicile.
Theothen (θεόθεν) means from the Gods and Goddesses; the suffix -then (-θεν) denotes motion from a place.
Theologeo (θεολογέω) is a discourse (λογέω) on the Gods and Goddesses and cosmology.
Theologia (θεολογία) means to talk about the Gods and Goddesses; the science of things divine; an oration in praise of or an invocation of a God or Goddess; the basis for the word theology. Theology is defined by Webster’s as the “study of divine things or religious truth; divinity.”
Theologikos (θεολογικός) means theological.
Theophileia (θεοφίλεια) means to be dear (φίλεια) to the Gods and Goddesses.
Theophobos (θεόφοβος) means fear (φοβος) of the Gods and Goddesses.
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP
Threeskeia (θρησκεία) means religious worship.
Threeskeuo (θρησκεύω) means to perform religious observances, worship.
Threeskos (θρησκός) means religious, literally “divine flow center synchronized.”
DIVINE INSPIRATION
Theiaze (θειάζε) means to be inspired, to prophesy, literally “divine essence divine-power arising.”
Theiasmos (θειασμός) means divine possession; an inspired utterance; divine (θ) giving-up-to (ειασ).
Theoleepsia (θεοληψία) and theomaneo (θεομᾰνέω) mean divine inspiration; leepsia (ληψία) means seized; maneo (μᾰνέω) means mania.
Theomanteia (θεομαντεία) is a spirit of prophecy; manteia (μαντεία) means prophetic power.
Theoreo (θεωρέω) means to look at, behold, gaze at, observe, perceive.
Theoris (θεωρίς) is the sacred ship or road which conveys state ambassadors, theoroi/thearis (θεωροι/θεᾶρίς), to their destination. The theoroi/thearis (θεωροι, θεᾶρίς) are representatives to an “oracle,” the games, the theater, or to meetings regarding governance, war, and peace.
Theoros (θεωρός) means an envoy sent to consult an “oracle.”
Thriazo (θρῑάζω) means to be rapt, possessed by a God or Goddess; divine (θ) stream (ρῑάζω).
Thuas (θυάς, θυιάς) and thusai (θῡσαι) mean an inspired, possessed woman, especially a Bacchante; a nymph associated with Dionysos' revels, literally “divine pure arising.”
Thuio (θυίω) means to be inspired.
ASTONISHMENT
Thamb- (θαμβ-) is a prefix for words meaning astonished, astounded, terrified, alarmed, amazed; an object of wonder; divinely (θ) upside-down (αμβ).
Thauma (θαῡμα) means wonder or marvel. Thaumas (Θαύμας), the immortal God of wonders, is the father of whirlwinds and rainbows, literally “divine arising pure meta/medium.”
(Hesiod, Theogony 265 ff (http://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodTheogony.html ); Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3. 20 http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=539&chapter=82130&layout=html&Itemid=27 ).
Thaumasios (θαυμάσιος) means wonderful, marvelous, admirable.
Thaeetos (θᾶητός) means wondrous, admirable; aeetos (ᾶητός) means carried on the wind.
Theepeo (θηπέω) means to be astonished; divine (θ) center (η) unified (π).
THEATRE
The word thea (θέᾱ) in addition to meaning “Goddess,” also means “to see,” literally “divine essence arising.”
Theama (θέᾱμα) means that which is spectacular.
The ancient Greek theatre, theatro (θέᾱτρο), was a place for sensory manifestations of the divine. Musicians and singers set the mood with Muse-inspired songs written by Muse-inspired poets and composers. Muse-inspired dancers, actors, scenery, and special effects conveyed visual spectacle. Incense filled the air. Libations, first-fruit offerings, and animal sacrifice were offered to the Gods and Goddesses and shared in communal meals.
Thespis (θέσπις) means to be filled with divine words or inspired by a God or Goddess, the basis for the word thespian.
Thespesios (θεσπέσιος) means sounds or words that are divinely marvelous.
Thespizo (θεσπίζω) and thesphatizo (θεσφᾰτίζο) mean to prophesy or foretell.
Thespians portraying Gods and Goddesses made their appearance in the theologeion (θεολογεῖον) above the stage. The loge in a theater is the front section of the balcony.
Theeegoros (θεηγόρος) is theatrical discourse of divinities; divine essence (θε) sit in debate/speak (γόρος).
SACRIFICIAL OFFERINGS
Central to religious rites are the sacrifices offered to the Gods and Goddesses as a show of respect, reverence, loyalty, devotion, communion, and propitiation.
Thalusia (θᾱλύσια) are first-fruit offerings, literally “divine arising loosened pure.”
First fruit offerings are traditionally made to Demeter, the immortal Goddess of agriculture and grains, and, at a later time in history, to both Demeter and Dionysos, the immortal God of wine.
Thalusis (θαλύσις) is bread made from the first fruits of the harvest.
A thalusias (θαλῡσιάς) is a priestess of Demeter.
Thenar (θένᾰρ) is the hollow in the top of the altar on which the offerings are laid; also, the palm of the hand; divine (θ) in (έν) arising outflow (ᾰρ).
Thiagon (θιαγών) are sacrificial cakes; ago (αγώ) means take with one, carry.
Thuo (θύω) means sacrificial offerings; in addition to meaning offer sacrifice, thuo (θύω) also means rage; seethe; desire eagerly, literally “divine pure brings-forth.”
Thu[ee]sis (θύ[η]σις) and thusia (θῠσία) mean sacrifice.
Thuma (θῦμα) means the sacrifice of animals or sacrificial cakes in the form of animals, literally “divine pure meta/medium.”
When an offering is made, participants cry out the word for “sacrificial,” thustas! (θυστάς).
INCENSE
Incense plays a central role in religious ceremonies.
Thueeta (θυητά) means purification, literally “divine pure center.”
Thueeeis (θῠήεις) and thuodees (θῠώδης) mean a space fragrant or smoking with incense.
Thuia (θυία) is an odorous cedar, Juniperus foetidissima; Thuia (Θυῖα) is also the festival of Dionysos at Elis.
Thueia (θῠεία) is the mortar (the receptacle in which materials are pounded to a powder and mixed); thuestees (θῠέστης) is the pestle, the tool for pounding incense into powder.
Thuiskee (θῠΐσκη) is the censer in which incense is burned.
Thuleomai (θῦλέομαι) and thuos (θύος) are cakes of incense offered in sacrifice.
Thumelee (θῠμέλη) means the place of burning, the sacrificial hearth or altar, especially the altar of Dionysus that stood in the orchestra of the theatre. Thumelee came to mean the stage, the performance of music and dancing in the orchestra, and the actors.
Thumiazo (θῦμιάςω) is the fragrant smoke of incense, used in fumigation and purification, literally “divine pure meta.”
Thuoo (θῠόω) means to fill with sweet smells, “divine pure entity.”
Thupsis (θῦψις) means burning, “divine pure incorporeal.”
THEOINOS: DIONYSOS/BACCHUS
Theoinos (Θέοινος) is another name for Dionysos, the immortal God of wine.
Theoinia (Θεοίνια) is the Attic feast of Dionysos.
Thriambos (θρίαμβος), which also means triumph, is a hymn to Dionysos sung in festal procession in his honor.
Thusthla (θύσθλα) is a sacred implement of thiasos/thiaseia (θῐᾰσος, θῐᾰσεία), Bacchic/Dionysian celebrations, and came to refer to the Bacchic/Dionysian festival itself.
Devotees of Dionysos could be identified because they carried the thursos (θύρσος), thyrsus, a staff made of fennel tipped with a pine-cone. Thuion (θυῖον) means pine resin, a flammable material used for torches.
The writer Nonnos asks for the thyrsus to help in his inspiration for Dionysiaca:
“Bring me the fennel, rattle the cymbals, ye Muses! put in my hand the wand of Dionysos whom I sing.”
(Nonnos. Diomysiaca 1. 11, translated by W. H. D. Rouse, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 1940.)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/68752012/NONNUS-DIONYSIACA-1
Dionysos holding a thursos (pine-cone tipped staff).
Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Catalogue Number: Harvard 1960.347 Beazley Archive Number: 217539, Attic Red Figure Hydria-kalpis, Attributed to the Class of Brussels A3099, circa 410 - 400 BCE.
Below, a devotee of Dionysos is depicted carrying a thyrsus.
A female follower of Dionysos holds a thyrsos (pine-cone tipped staff).
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, USA Catalogue Number: Tampa 86.102, Apulian Red Figure Krater, Name vase of the Maplewood Painter, circa 350 BCE. http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/K12.5.html
A Bacchante (follower of Bacchus/Dionysos) carrying a pinecone-tipped thyrsus.
http://www.stoa.org/gallery/Ancient-Greek-Female-Costume/p021
THEMIS: DIVINE LAW
Thema (θέμα) means “that which is placed or laid down,” such as a deposit, treasure, burial place, situation, or astrological “nativity,” a divine fate determined by time, place, and date of birth, “divine essence meta/medium.”
Themethla (θέμεθλα) means the foundation or root. Themelioo (θεμελῐόω) means to lay the foundation, to found firmly.
Themis (Θέμις) is the immortal Goddess whose name means that which is laid down or established, the immutable divine law of justice.
According to Diodorus of Sicily, “Themis . . . was the first to introduce divinations and sacrifices and the ordinances which concern the [G]ods [and Goddesses], and to instruct [humanity] in the ways of obedience to laws and of peace.”
(Diodorus Siculus (of Sicily). The Library of History 5.67.1-5, translated by C. H. Oldfather, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1939) 279.)
In the Introduction to her book Themis, Jane Ellen Harrison writes:
“Above the [G]ods [and Goddesses], supreme, eternally dominant, stands the figure of Themis. She is social ordinance, the collective conscience projected, the Law or Custom that is Right.”
(Jane Ellen Harrison. Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion (Cambridge University Press, 1927) xxi.)
Themizo (θέμίζω) means to judge/punish.
Divinely-inspired oracular decrees are called themistes (θέμιστες). Themisteia (θεμιστεία) is the giving of “oracles” regarding divine law and righteous judgment.
Aeschylus’ play, Eumenides (circa 450 BCE), opens with the Pythia, the prophetic priestess of the “oracle” at Delphi, naming Themis as the second divinity (after Earth) to inhabit the “oracular” seat at Delphi:
“’First, in this prayer of mine, I give the place of highest honor among the [G]ods [and Goddesses] to the first prophet, Earth; and after her to Themis, for she was the second to take this oracular seat of her mother, as legend tells. And in the third allotment, with Themis' consent and not by force, another Titan, child of Earth, Phoebe, took her seat here. She gave it as a birthday gift to Phoibus [Apollo], who has his name from Phoebe.’"
(Aeschylus. Eumenides 1 ff, translated by Herbert Weir Smyth, Loeb Classical Volumes 145 &146 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1926.))
http://www.theoi.com/Text/AeschylusEumenides.html
“Oracle” of Themis consulted by the King. Themis sits on the Delphic tripod in the role of Pythia, the oracular prophetess of the Delphic shrine. She holds a phiale in one hand and a sprig of laurel in the other. King Aigeus of Athens approaches her to receive an oracle regarding the birth of a son.
Antikensammlung, Berlin, Germany F2538 Beazley Archive No.: 217214, Attic Red Figure Kylix, Attributed. to the Codrus Painter, circa 430 BCE. http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/T8.1.html
Orphic Hymn 78. To Themis (7-11) credits Themis as the first source of prophetic “oracles” (chreesmous (χρησμούς)) and religious rites:
“From thee, Apollo’s oracles arose,
And from thy pow’r his inspiration flows . . .
“Mankind from thee first learnt initial rites.”
(Orpheus. The Hymns of Orpheus, translated by Thomas Taylor (Printed for the Author, 1792. Reprinted Los Angeles, CA: The Philosophical Research Society, 1981) 217).
Thesis (θέσις) means setting, placing, laying down, positioning.
Thesmos (θέσμός) means law and order. Thesmios (θέσμιος) means something that is fixed, settled, lawful, and fitting. Thesmosunee (θεσμοσύνη) means Justice.
Thesmodeo (θεσμῳδέω) means delivering “oracular” precepts.
One of the epitaphs of the immortal Goddess Demeter was “law-bearing,” thesmophoros (θεσμοφόρος). Each year during the sowing season of late October/early November women of Athens and elsewhere in Greece participated in the Thesmophoria (Θεσμοφόρια) in honor of Demeter and Persephone, who were called the Thesmophoro (Θεσμοφόρω) or law-bearers. The temple of Demeter at Delos is the Thesmophorion (Θεσμοφόριον).
DEATH
Death is a divine mystery, the separation of the soul and the body.
Thanatos (θάνᾰτος) means death, literally “divine arising prevailing.”
Thneesko (θνήσκω) means to be dead, to be put to death, the dead, to perish, literally “divine prevailing center synchronized.”
Thneetos (θνητός) means liable to death, mortal.
Thapto (θάπτω) means to honor with funeral rites, carry out to burial, literally “divine arising unified.”
Theekaios (θηκαῖος) is a coffin, burial vault, urn for ashes, literally “divine center core arising.”
Theema (θῆμα) means tomb, literally “divine center meta/medium.”
SOUL
Thumos (θῠμός) means soul; spirit, as the principal of life, feeling and thought especially of strong feelings and passion; in physical sense, breath, life; spirit, strength; soul as shown by feelings and passions; desire or inclination, appetite; in his/her heart, with all their heart; mind, temper; spirit, courage; the seat of anger; the heart as the seat of emotions; mind, soul as the seat of thought, literally “divine pure meta/medium.”
The Greek word for soul is the basis for the scientific word “thymine,” a base element of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid), a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instruction used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms.
A diagram of DNA. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_QESO4FJ--aI/S2xDTPZHDPI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/QL8InBtsUZE/s400/dna-2.jpg
Thumaino (θῦμαίνω) means to be wroth, angry. Thumoo (θῠμόω) means to make angry or to provoke.
Thumodees (θῠμώδης), means fierce.
Thumoleon (θῡμολέων) means lion-hearted.
Thumomantis (θῡμομαντις) means prophesying from one’s soul.
Thumosophos (θῡμοσοφος) means wise from one's soul.
Thumizo (θῠμίζω) is thyme, a hot, burning-flavored aromatic herb used to create perfume and embalming materials, to flavor wine and food, and to attract and feed honeybees.
Thumbra (θύμβρα) is savory, Satureia Thumbra, an herb similar to thyme, used to combat infections and to preserve foods because of its anti-bacterial properties. Its oil has a hot, burning scent similar to thyme.
THERMAL
Heat is a quality of living people and animals. Heat is used to purify, preserve, and heal.
Thalpo (θαλπω) and thalpsis (θάλψις) mean to make warm or to foment.
Summertime in the Mediterranean is a season of heat. The Greek word for summer is theros (θέρός) or thereia (θερεία). To do summer work, to mow, reap, and harvest a crop, is therismos (θερισμός).
Therapeia (θερᾰπεία) means to serve, attend to, treat medically, care, tend, maintain; worship, provide for, take care of; cultivate, foster; prepare food or drugs; the basis for the word therapy.
Thermastra (θερμάστρα) means oven or furnace.
Thermos (θερμός) means hot. Thermee (θέρμη) means heat. Recall that Ermees (Έρμῆς) is Hermes, the immortal escort of the Gods and Goddesses, so that thermee (θέρμη) translates as divine (θ) escort/messenger (έρμη), literally “divine essence outflow meta/medium.”
Thermos (θέρμος) is the Greek word for the poisonous plant lupine, Lupinus albus, also known as wolfbane. Thermo-trageo (θερμοτρᾰγέω) means to eat lupines, a “hot tragedy.”
Thibros (θιβρός) means hot.
Theeion (θήἵον) or theiaphion (θειάφιον) is sulfur, a substance used in purifications and fumigations, also known as brimstone, the material used in matchheads. Theioo (θειόω) means to fumigate with brimstone/sulfur, to purify, hallow by smearing with sulfur.
Sulfur is a naturally occurring mineral found primarily near hot springs and volcanic craters. It has a distinct "rotten egg" smell, caused by sulfur dioxide gas escaping into the air. Thermopylae, the Gates of Hot Springs, is the oldest known center of governance in Greece and the meeting place of the Amphictyonic League.
“The Amphictyonic League was a religious association of twelve peoples … from the very beginnings of the Amphictyonic League, whose origins are shrouded in remote antiquity, the members met at the sanctuary of Demeter at Thermopylae.” Around 582 BCE the Amphictyonic League began to also hold annual conventions at Delphi.
(Pierre Amandry. Delphi (Athens: 27, Praxitelous Street, 1984.)
Sulfur http://www.cps.ci.cambridge.ma.us/element/haggerty/tec/sulfur.html
Theiodees (θειώδης) means sulphureous hot springs; things that are the color yellow (θειώδης); and the divine (θειώδης).
YELLOW
Thapsinos (θάψῐνος) means yellow. Thapsia (θαψία) garganica is a yellow-flowered plant which, when it comes in contact with the skin, causes irritation, heat, reddening, and severe itching; it was used for fumigations.
Thapsos (θάψος) is the yellow-wooded Rhus Cotinus, used for dying things yellow. The plant has smoke-like blooms.
Rhus Cotinus. http://www.henriettesherbal.com/pictures/p04/pages/cotinus-coggygria-2.htm
MOTION
Heat and motion together are characteristics of living bodies. The suffix –then (-θεν) denotes motion from a place, the basis for the word then.
Theo (θέω), in addition to meaning “divine,” also means running; flying; rolling; shining, gleaming.
Thoas (θοάς) and thoosa (θόωσα) mean to be fleet, swift, speedy. Thoos (θοός), an epithet of warriors and the immortal war-God Ares, means to be quick, nimble, swift, hasty. On a lighter note, thoasma (θόασμα) means a place for dancing. Thoazo (θοάζω) means to move quickly, ply rapidly, hurry on, rush, or dart.
Threktikos (θρεκτικός) means to be able to run; rektikos (ρεκτικός) means able to do, active.
Thuella (θύελλα) means hurricane, literally “divine pure essence loosened.”
Thuno (θύνω) means to rush, dart along, flit; also, rage, seethe.
THALIA
Thallo (θάλλω) means to sprout, grow, thrive, bloom, literally “divine arising loosened.”
Thallos (θαλλός) and thallia (θαλλία) mean a young shoot or young branch, literally, “divine arising loosened.” Thalos (θάλος) means offspring.
Thalia (Θᾰλία, Θάλεια) is the immortal Goddess of good cheer, abundance, and festivities.
Thaletho (θᾱλέθω) means to bloom and thrive. Theeleo (θηλέω) means to be full of, abound in, grow luxuriantly, flourish, make to bloom.
Thalees (Θᾰλῆς) is Thales of Miletus (circa 600 BCE), considered the first philosopher to pose and seek “to answer the question ‘What is the reality behind phenomena?’”
(Kathleen Freeman. Companion to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers (Oxford: Alden Press, 1949) 52).
Thales is quoted by Aristotle as saying, “’All things are full of [G]ods [and Goddesses].’” (Freeman, 53)
“From Aristotle we learn that he (Thales) said that the magnet had life, or soul, since it could move iron; therefore he thought life or soul was that which made things move. (He was credited with the idea, often expressed by later philosophers, that the soul is in its essence ever in motion and self-moving. Elsewhere it is said that he derived this view from studying amber as well as the magnet.”
(Freeman, 53)
ROOMS WITHOUT LIGHT
Thalamos (θάλᾱμος) is the innermost religious shrine; also, rooms without windows; inner rooms or chambers without any outside light, including bedrooms surrounded by other rooms; the darkest part of a ship (the hold).
A thalamos or tholos (θόλος) is a round building with a conical roof used in antiquity as a burial chamber but later referring to any circular, domed building.
“The {Mycenaean tholos tomb} consists of a circular, subterranean burial chamber, sometimes referred to as the {thalamos}, roofed by a corbelled vault and approached by a {dromos} [= entrance passage] that narrows abruptly at the {stomion} [= doorway] actually opening into the tomb chamber. The chamber or thalamos is built of stone rather than simply being hewn out of bedrock. Tholoi of this kind are usually, though not invariably, set into slopes or hillsides. Burials were either laid out on the floor of the tomb chamber or were placed in pits, cists, or shafts cut into this floor.
(“The Prehistoric Archaeology of the Aegean,” the lecture notes of Jeremy B. Rutter, Chairman of the Classics Department at Dartmouth College, copyright 1996 Trustees of Dartmouth College. http://projectsx.dartmouth.edu/classics/history/bronze_age/lessons/les/19.html )
THE SEA
Thalassa (θάλασσα) means sea; alas (ἅλας) means salt; of the sea.
Thetis (Θέτις) is the immortal Goddess of the sea and leader of the fifty Nereides (patron Goddesses of sailors and fishermen).
Thetis riding on a Hippokampos (fish-tailed horse) in a painting depicting Thetis and the Nereides delivering the armor of Akhilleus (Achilles).
The J Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California, USA Catalogue Number: 86.AE.611 , Apulian Red Figure Pelike Painter: Near the Gravina Painter, circa 425 - 401 BCE. http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/P12.4B.html
As depicted in Homer’s Iliad, the immortal volcano-God, Hephaistos, forged a set of armor for Thetis’ son, Achilles.
The armor of Achilles. Antiken-museen, Berlin, Germany Catalogue No.: Berlin F2294 Beazley Archive No.: 204340, Attic Red Figure Kylix, Name vase of the Foundry Painter, circa 490 - 480 BCE. http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/P13.4.html
Thetis receives a set of armor for her son Achilles from Hephaistos. The smith holds a hammer and helm, Thetis the shield and spear.
SOFT SPEECH
Thelkteerios (θέλκτήριος) means enchanting, soothing speech that heals. A thelkteer (θέλκτήρ) is one who soothes or charms, literally “divine essence loosened.” Elkt- (έλκτ-) is a prefix meaning attract, draw.
Thelgo (θέλγω) means charm, enchant, produce by spells. Thelgines (Θελγῖνες) are wizards.
Thelgesimuthos (θελγεσίμῡθος) means soft-speaking.
Thelgeetron (θέλγητρον) is the power to charm or cast a spell over.
FEMALE
Theelu- (θηλύ-) is a prefix meaning woman. Theelus (θῆλυς) means female.
Theelee (θηλή) means teat, nipple, literally “divine center loosened.”
Theelo (θηλώ) means wet-nurse. Theelazo (θηλάζω) means to suckle, nurse, give suck.
Theesai (θῆσαι) means to suck, suckle.
Theia (θεία) means aunt.
Thugateer (θῠγάτηρ) means daughter.
EUNUCH
Thulakee (θῦλάκη) means scrotum; ulakee (ῦλάκη) means barking, howling.
Thladias (θλᾰδίας) means eunuch. Thladiao (θλᾰδίάω) means to make a eunuch, literally “divine loosen.”
Thlao (θλάω) means crushing, bruising. Thlipsis (θλῖψις) means pressure, crushing, castration; note that lips (λῖψ) means stream, libation.
Some devoutly religious males would self-castrate as a sign of loyalty to and affinity with the Divine Mother.
The word for castrate, thlipsis (θλῖψις) is very similar to the word for shepherd’s purse, Capsella bursapastoris, thlaspis (θλάσπις), “one of the best specifics for stopping hemorrhages of all kinds.” Thlaspis was used to promptly arrest bleedings and floodings from wounds inward or outward.
MALE
Thourees (θουρης) means male; oureethra (ούρήθρα) means urethra.
Thoros (θορός) means semen, literally “divine entity outflow.”
Thorikos (θορικός) means something that is of or for the semen.
Thouraios (θουραῖος) means to be violent or lustful. Thouros (θοῦρος) means to be rushing, impetuous, furious, with a rush to fight.
COURAGE
Tharsos (θάρσος) means courage; arsos (άρσος) means masculine.
Tharseo (θαρσέω) means to be of good courage, to fear not.
Tharsaleos (θαρσᾰλέος) means to be confident, with good courage, bold. Tharso (θαρσώ) is an epithet of the immortal Goddess Athena.
Thrasos (θράσος) means courage in war. Thrasu- (θρασύ-) is a prefix meaning bold, strong, impudent, brave-spirited. Thrasus (θρᾰσύς) means to be bold and full of confidence.
THORAX
Thorako (θωρᾱκο) is the breast (plate), worn to protect the thoracic region, the trunk of the body between the neck and the abdomen enclosed by the ribs in which the heart, lungs, etc. are situated.
A thoraks (θώραξ) is a corslet which covers the thorax front and back.
UPROAR
Thrasso (θράσσω) means trouble, disquiet, disturb; rasso (ράσσω) means strike, dash; beat the ground, dance.
Threomai (θρέομαι) means to cry aloud or shriek; reomai (ρέομαι) means flow, stream, gush.
Threenos (θρῆνος) means funeral dirge, lament, wail; reen (ρῆν) means lamb, sheep.
Throeo (θροέω) means to cry aloud, as when one is in the throes of grief, passion, anger; roe- (ροέ-) means conduit, brook.
Thorubos (θόρὕβος) refers to the noise of a crowd, especially the confused noise of a crowded assembly; an uproar, clamor, applause, groans, murmurs, tumult, confusion, or clamor.
Throos (θρόος) and thrulos (θρῡλος) mean the noise of many voices, the murmur of a crowd.
Throsko (θρῴσκω) means to leap, spring, toss, attack; rosk- (ρῴσκ-) is a prefix meaning with violent motion.
Thruleo (θρῠλέω) means to make a confused noise, chatter, babble.
WILD ANIMALS
Theer (θήρ) means a beast of prey or wild beast; eer- (ήρ-) is a prefix meaning hero.
Theeri- (θηρῐ-) and theero- (θηρο-) are prefixes for words pertaining to wild beasts. Other words pertaining to the hunt include:
- theera (θήρα): the hunting of wild beasts, the chase, fishing, prey, game
- theer, theera (θήρ, θήρα): hunt, chase, catch, capture, pursue eagerly
- theerion (θηρίον): wild animal, prey.
Theerionarkee (θηρίονάρκη) is a plant that benumbs serpents, Nerium Oleander (one of the most poisonous plants in the world).
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
Thremma (θρέμμα) means nursling, creature, mostly used in reference to tame animals such as sheep and goats. Thremma also means nourishment; rem- (ρέμ-) means roam.
Threp- (θρεπ-) is a prefix meaning to feed, nurture, nourish, and promote growth; rep- (ρεπ-) and reps- (ρέψ-) mean to incline one way or another, direct towards, a possible basis for the word repetition.
Threpsis (θρέψις) means nourishing.
BREAK-OFF
Words that have to do with things coming loose/breaking translate literally as “divine (θ) flow/outflow (ρ):”
- thrauo (θραύω): to break in pieces, shatter
- thrombos (θρόμβος): lump, clot, curd, drop; romb- (ρόμβ-) is a prefix meaning spin, whirl.
- thrumma (θρύμμα): that which is broken off, bit; rum- (ρύμ-) means divide, division
- thruon (θρυον): reed, rushes (used for making ropes, baskets, pan-pipes, etc.)
- thrauma (θραῡμα): fragment, breakage
- thrupto (θρύπτω): break in pieces, break small; rupto (ρύπτω) means cleanse.
- thrupsis (θρύψις): breaking in small pieces; softness, weakness, delicate
- thraustos (θραῡστός): frangible, brittle; broken, crushed, easily broken
- thrausis (θραῡσις): communition (make common for all); slaughter; destruction by plague, falling off of hair in patches
- thriks (θρίξ): hair, literally “divine outflow divine-power detached-from,” perhaps to reflect the inertness of hair
- thrion (θρῖον): leaf.
THRACE
The poet Orpheus was born in Thrakee (Θράκη, Θρηἵκίη, Θρηΐκιος, Θράκιος, Θρῆἵξ, Θρᾶξ, Θρήκιος), Thrace, a region that covers sections of modern-day Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The Hymns of Orpheus, performed as theatrical spectacles, reflect ancient religious beliefs and practices. According to Kathleen Freeman, Orpheus lived in pre-Homeric times.
“Orpheus is said to have been born at Leibethra in Pieria, a district round Mt. Olympus; this district in classical times was part of Macedonia, but was originally Thracian.”
(Kathleen Freeman, Companion to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers (Oxford: Alden Press, 1st ed. 1946, 2nd ed. 1949) 1.)
Area of ancient Thrace (shaded gold) includes parts of modern Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey.
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=thrace+map&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&biw=1095&bih=598&tbm=isch&tbnid=hszGKiqQlGn_HM:&imgrefurl=http://zenius.kalnieciai.lt/europe/greece/thrace/thrace.html&docid=ZV8vZ879KMqtDM&w=592&h=510&ei=C3KITv7WIoHAgQfElv34Cg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=678&page=4&tbnh=112&tbnw=130&&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:54&tx=93&ty=56
Manly P. Hall, the first president of the Philosophical Research Society, in his Introductory Preface to the Hymns of Orpheus (translation Thomas Taylor), writes that “The Mystical Hymns of Orpheus,” originally titled “The Initiations of Orpheus,” were used in the Eleusinian Mysteries.
According to Alexander Fol, “The ancient sources are unanimous in that a Thracian, Eumulpus, was the founder of the Eleusinian mysteries.”
(Alexander Fol and Evan Marazov, Thrace & the Thracians (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1977) 27).
Gold treasures, circa 350-250 BCE, unearthed by archaeologists in ancient regions of Thrace reflect the wealth of the region.
Gold Thracian treasure from Panagyurishte, Bulgaria, circa 350-250 BCE.
http://bulgaria.domino.bg/panagyurishte/eng/12-04.htm
US Museums hosting the exhibit Ancient Gold: The Wealth of the Thracians included the St. Louis Art Museum; the Kimbell Art Museum, Ft. Worth; the M. H. DeYoung Museum, San Francisco; the New Orleans Museum of Art; the Brooks Museum of Art in Memphis; the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; and the Detroit Institute of Arts), 1998. (http://www.athenapub.com/thrace1.htm ) (Evgeni I. Paunov in Athena Review, Vol.1, no. 4, 1998 (pp.76-82).)
OTHER WORDS BEGINNING WITH Θ
Thebes
Theebai (Θηβᾱΐ) is Thebes, a Greek city in Boeotia named after a very ancient city in Egypt, literally “divine center basis.”
Thesaurus
Theesauros (θησαυρός) means store, treasure, preserve, keep, store up, the basis for the word thesaurus.
It is of interest to note that eesipees (ήσῐεπής) means throwing words. Eesiodos (Ήσίοδος) is Hesiod, a famous writer.
Sharpen
Theego (θήγω) means sharpen, whet, eeg- (ήγ-) is a prefix meaning lead, guide.
Theganee (θηγάνη) means whetstone (a stone for sharpening cutlery or tools by friction).
Theektos (θηκτός) means sharpened, whetted; eekee (ήκή) means sharp, edge, meeting-point.
Thoos (θοός) means pointed, sharp; on (ὅον) is the fruit of the service-tree and a source of sorbic acid.
Thooo (θοόω) means make sharp or pointed.
Crowded
Thama (θᾰμά) means often, thickly; ama (ᾰμά) means at once, at one and the same time.
Thamees (θᾰμέες) means crowded, close-set, frequent, often, haunt, to be accustomed, constantly, repetition.
Thamnos (θάμνος) means bush, shrub, copse.
Servant
Theetta (θῆττα) means hired servant-girl, eeton (ἥττων) means inferior.
Theeteia (θητεία) means hired service, service.
Thees (θής) means serf, bondsman.
Penalty
Thoazo (θωάζω) means pay the penalty; oaiai (ώαιαί) is an exclamation of pain.
Thoee (θωή) means penalty.
Thomizo (θωμίζω) means whip, scourge.
Touch
Thig- (θιγ-) is a prefix meaning touch; iga (ἵγα) means keep silence, hush.
Thigano (θιγγάνω) means touch, handle, take hold of.
Thiksis (θίξις) means touching.
Other
Thaasso (θᾰάσσω) means to sit. Thazos (θαζός) means seated. A seat or chair is thakeion (θᾱκεῑον) or thakos (θᾱκος).
Thairos (θαιρός) means the pivot of a door or gate. Thairaios (θαιραἶος) means axle, the shaft on which a wheel rotates; aireo (αίρέω) means grasp, seize.
Theen (θην) means in truth, in very truth.
Thibis (θῑβις) means a basket plaited from papyrus.
Thoina (θοίνα) means food. Thoin- (θοιν-) is the prefix for a meal, feast, or banquet.
Thronos (θρόνος) means throne, chair of state, “oracular” seat, chair of a teacher; favorable combination of planetary positions, literally “divine outflow entity prevailing.” Thranos (θρᾱνος) or threenus (θρῆνυς) mean bench.
Thura (θύρα) means door, gates, barriers, window, entrance.
Thos (θώς) means hunting dog; os (ώς) means how; when; where.
The letter Θ means divine.
L.H. Jeffery’s Table of archaic Greek Letters shows the letter Θ appearing as a circle bisected into four quarters.
Table of Letters. (L.H. Jeffery, The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece: A Study of the Origin of the Greek Alphabet and Its Development from the Eighth to the Fifth Centuries B.C.[E.]. (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1961.)
The depiction, below, of Persephone reigning over the afterlife, circa 330 BCE, features a crossed circle suspended within an Ionic-columned palace and Persephone holding a crossed Eleusinian torch.
Persephone in a scene depicting Orpheus' journey to the Underworld. The Goddess stands in the underworld palace holding a crossed Eleusinian torch. Museum Collection: Antikensammlungen, Munich, Germany Catalogue Number: Munich 3297, Apulian Red Figure Volute krater Painter: Name vase Underworld Painter, circa 330 - 310 BCE.
http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/K14.1B.html
Galaxies, and the Milky Way galaxy in particular, resemble the letter Θ.
Milky Way Galaxy, with Sun indicated.
http://icanhasdiary.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/milky_way_galaxy_sun05.jpg
Milky Way Galaxy.
http://www.gemini.edu/node/11303
Empedocles describes a vortex from which the roots/elements emerged:
“Empedocles tells us of a mysterious vortex . . . like the nebula in Orion or the original of our solar system, that seems to be the first stage of the world process after the motionless harmony of the sphere. Out of this came the elements one by one: first air . . . then fire . . . [then] came the earth . . . and the moist spurted forth [from earth].”
(William Ellery Leonard. The Fragments of Empedocles (Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Company, 1908) 6-7.)
http://www.archive.org/stream/thefragmentsofem00empeuoft#page/6/mode/2up/search/physics
Tartaros (Τάρτᾰρος) is Tartarus, the subterranean entity that balances against the vault of the sky, creating a perfect tension. The letter Θ may be a visual depiction of this totality.
Hesiod’s Theogony describes the heavens and Tartaros as equidistant from the surface of the earth.
“For a brazen anvil falling down from heaven nine nights and days would reach the earth upon the tenth: and again, a brazen anvil falling from earth nine nights and days would reach Tartarus upon the tenth.”
(Hesiod (circa 750 BCE), Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica, “Theogony 715 ff,” translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1914. Reprinted in English by Dodo Press dodopress.co.uk, 2011.) 45.)
GODS AND GODDESSES
Theo- (θεο-) is a prefix meaning Gods and Goddesses, literally “divine essence entity.”
Theos (θεός) means God or Goddess; divine.
Theeelasia (θεηλᾰσία) is a visitation by, or something that is sent or caused, by the Gods and Goddesses; eelasia (ηλᾰσία) means driven, so theeelasia (θεηλᾰσία) translates as “divinely-driven.”
Theiodomos (θειοδομος) means built by Gods and Goddesses; domos (δομος) means house, temple, abode, domicile.
Theothen (θεόθεν) means from the Gods and Goddesses; the suffix -then (-θεν) denotes motion from a place.
Theologeo (θεολογέω) is a discourse (λογέω) on the Gods and Goddesses and cosmology.
Theologia (θεολογία) means to talk about the Gods and Goddesses; the science of things divine; an oration in praise of or an invocation of a God or Goddess; the basis for the word theology. Theology is defined by Webster’s as the “study of divine things or religious truth; divinity.”
Theologikos (θεολογικός) means theological.
Theophileia (θεοφίλεια) means to be dear (φίλεια) to the Gods and Goddesses.
Theophobos (θεόφοβος) means fear (φοβος) of the Gods and Goddesses.
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP
Threeskeia (θρησκεία) means religious worship.
Threeskeuo (θρησκεύω) means to perform religious observances, worship.
Threeskos (θρησκός) means religious, literally “divine flow center synchronized.”
DIVINE INSPIRATION
Theiaze (θειάζε) means to be inspired, to prophesy, literally “divine essence divine-power arising.”
Theiasmos (θειασμός) means divine possession; an inspired utterance; divine (θ) giving-up-to (ειασ).
Theoleepsia (θεοληψία) and theomaneo (θεομᾰνέω) mean divine inspiration; leepsia (ληψία) means seized; maneo (μᾰνέω) means mania.
Theomanteia (θεομαντεία) is a spirit of prophecy; manteia (μαντεία) means prophetic power.
Theoreo (θεωρέω) means to look at, behold, gaze at, observe, perceive.
Theoris (θεωρίς) is the sacred ship or road which conveys state ambassadors, theoroi/thearis (θεωροι/θεᾶρίς), to their destination. The theoroi/thearis (θεωροι, θεᾶρίς) are representatives to an “oracle,” the games, the theater, or to meetings regarding governance, war, and peace.
Theoros (θεωρός) means an envoy sent to consult an “oracle.”
Thriazo (θρῑάζω) means to be rapt, possessed by a God or Goddess; divine (θ) stream (ρῑάζω).
Thuas (θυάς, θυιάς) and thusai (θῡσαι) mean an inspired, possessed woman, especially a Bacchante; a nymph associated with Dionysos' revels, literally “divine pure arising.”
Thuio (θυίω) means to be inspired.
ASTONISHMENT
Thamb- (θαμβ-) is a prefix for words meaning astonished, astounded, terrified, alarmed, amazed; an object of wonder; divinely (θ) upside-down (αμβ).
Thauma (θαῡμα) means wonder or marvel. Thaumas (Θαύμας), the immortal God of wonders, is the father of whirlwinds and rainbows, literally “divine arising pure meta/medium.”
(Hesiod, Theogony 265 ff (http://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodTheogony.html ); Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3. 20 http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=539&chapter=82130&layout=html&Itemid=27 ).
Thaumasios (θαυμάσιος) means wonderful, marvelous, admirable.
Thaeetos (θᾶητός) means wondrous, admirable; aeetos (ᾶητός) means carried on the wind.
Theepeo (θηπέω) means to be astonished; divine (θ) center (η) unified (π).
THEATRE
The word thea (θέᾱ) in addition to meaning “Goddess,” also means “to see,” literally “divine essence arising.”
Theama (θέᾱμα) means that which is spectacular.
The ancient Greek theatre, theatro (θέᾱτρο), was a place for sensory manifestations of the divine. Musicians and singers set the mood with Muse-inspired songs written by Muse-inspired poets and composers. Muse-inspired dancers, actors, scenery, and special effects conveyed visual spectacle. Incense filled the air. Libations, first-fruit offerings, and animal sacrifice were offered to the Gods and Goddesses and shared in communal meals.
Thespis (θέσπις) means to be filled with divine words or inspired by a God or Goddess, the basis for the word thespian.
Thespesios (θεσπέσιος) means sounds or words that are divinely marvelous.
Thespizo (θεσπίζω) and thesphatizo (θεσφᾰτίζο) mean to prophesy or foretell.
Thespians portraying Gods and Goddesses made their appearance in the theologeion (θεολογεῖον) above the stage. The loge in a theater is the front section of the balcony.
Theeegoros (θεηγόρος) is theatrical discourse of divinities; divine essence (θε) sit in debate/speak (γόρος).
SACRIFICIAL OFFERINGS
Central to religious rites are the sacrifices offered to the Gods and Goddesses as a show of respect, reverence, loyalty, devotion, communion, and propitiation.
Thalusia (θᾱλύσια) are first-fruit offerings, literally “divine arising loosened pure.”
First fruit offerings are traditionally made to Demeter, the immortal Goddess of agriculture and grains, and, at a later time in history, to both Demeter and Dionysos, the immortal God of wine.
Thalusis (θαλύσις) is bread made from the first fruits of the harvest.
A thalusias (θαλῡσιάς) is a priestess of Demeter.
Thenar (θένᾰρ) is the hollow in the top of the altar on which the offerings are laid; also, the palm of the hand; divine (θ) in (έν) arising outflow (ᾰρ).
Thiagon (θιαγών) are sacrificial cakes; ago (αγώ) means take with one, carry.
Thuo (θύω) means sacrificial offerings; in addition to meaning offer sacrifice, thuo (θύω) also means rage; seethe; desire eagerly, literally “divine pure brings-forth.”
Thu[ee]sis (θύ[η]σις) and thusia (θῠσία) mean sacrifice.
Thuma (θῦμα) means the sacrifice of animals or sacrificial cakes in the form of animals, literally “divine pure meta/medium.”
When an offering is made, participants cry out the word for “sacrificial,” thustas! (θυστάς).
INCENSE
Incense plays a central role in religious ceremonies.
Thueeta (θυητά) means purification, literally “divine pure center.”
Thueeeis (θῠήεις) and thuodees (θῠώδης) mean a space fragrant or smoking with incense.
Thuia (θυία) is an odorous cedar, Juniperus foetidissima; Thuia (Θυῖα) is also the festival of Dionysos at Elis.
Thueia (θῠεία) is the mortar (the receptacle in which materials are pounded to a powder and mixed); thuestees (θῠέστης) is the pestle, the tool for pounding incense into powder.
Thuiskee (θῠΐσκη) is the censer in which incense is burned.
Thuleomai (θῦλέομαι) and thuos (θύος) are cakes of incense offered in sacrifice.
Thumelee (θῠμέλη) means the place of burning, the sacrificial hearth or altar, especially the altar of Dionysus that stood in the orchestra of the theatre. Thumelee came to mean the stage, the performance of music and dancing in the orchestra, and the actors.
Thumiazo (θῦμιάςω) is the fragrant smoke of incense, used in fumigation and purification, literally “divine pure meta.”
Thuoo (θῠόω) means to fill with sweet smells, “divine pure entity.”
Thupsis (θῦψις) means burning, “divine pure incorporeal.”
THEOINOS: DIONYSOS/BACCHUS
Theoinos (Θέοινος) is another name for Dionysos, the immortal God of wine.
Theoinia (Θεοίνια) is the Attic feast of Dionysos.
Thriambos (θρίαμβος), which also means triumph, is a hymn to Dionysos sung in festal procession in his honor.
Thusthla (θύσθλα) is a sacred implement of thiasos/thiaseia (θῐᾰσος, θῐᾰσεία), Bacchic/Dionysian celebrations, and came to refer to the Bacchic/Dionysian festival itself.
Devotees of Dionysos could be identified because they carried the thursos (θύρσος), thyrsus, a staff made of fennel tipped with a pine-cone. Thuion (θυῖον) means pine resin, a flammable material used for torches.
The writer Nonnos asks for the thyrsus to help in his inspiration for Dionysiaca:
“Bring me the fennel, rattle the cymbals, ye Muses! put in my hand the wand of Dionysos whom I sing.”
(Nonnos. Diomysiaca 1. 11, translated by W. H. D. Rouse, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 1940.)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/68752012/NONNUS-DIONYSIACA-1
Dionysos holding a thursos (pine-cone tipped staff).
Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Catalogue Number: Harvard 1960.347 Beazley Archive Number: 217539, Attic Red Figure Hydria-kalpis, Attributed to the Class of Brussels A3099, circa 410 - 400 BCE.
Below, a devotee of Dionysos is depicted carrying a thyrsus.
A female follower of Dionysos holds a thyrsos (pine-cone tipped staff).
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, USA Catalogue Number: Tampa 86.102, Apulian Red Figure Krater, Name vase of the Maplewood Painter, circa 350 BCE. http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/K12.5.html
A Bacchante (follower of Bacchus/Dionysos) carrying a pinecone-tipped thyrsus.
http://www.stoa.org/gallery/Ancient-Greek-Female-Costume/p021
THEMIS: DIVINE LAW
Thema (θέμα) means “that which is placed or laid down,” such as a deposit, treasure, burial place, situation, or astrological “nativity,” a divine fate determined by time, place, and date of birth, “divine essence meta/medium.”
Themethla (θέμεθλα) means the foundation or root. Themelioo (θεμελῐόω) means to lay the foundation, to found firmly.
Themis (Θέμις) is the immortal Goddess whose name means that which is laid down or established, the immutable divine law of justice.
According to Diodorus of Sicily, “Themis . . . was the first to introduce divinations and sacrifices and the ordinances which concern the [G]ods [and Goddesses], and to instruct [humanity] in the ways of obedience to laws and of peace.”
(Diodorus Siculus (of Sicily). The Library of History 5.67.1-5, translated by C. H. Oldfather, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1939) 279.)
In the Introduction to her book Themis, Jane Ellen Harrison writes:
“Above the [G]ods [and Goddesses], supreme, eternally dominant, stands the figure of Themis. She is social ordinance, the collective conscience projected, the Law or Custom that is Right.”
(Jane Ellen Harrison. Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion (Cambridge University Press, 1927) xxi.)
Themizo (θέμίζω) means to judge/punish.
Divinely-inspired oracular decrees are called themistes (θέμιστες). Themisteia (θεμιστεία) is the giving of “oracles” regarding divine law and righteous judgment.
Aeschylus’ play, Eumenides (circa 450 BCE), opens with the Pythia, the prophetic priestess of the “oracle” at Delphi, naming Themis as the second divinity (after Earth) to inhabit the “oracular” seat at Delphi:
“’First, in this prayer of mine, I give the place of highest honor among the [G]ods [and Goddesses] to the first prophet, Earth; and after her to Themis, for she was the second to take this oracular seat of her mother, as legend tells. And in the third allotment, with Themis' consent and not by force, another Titan, child of Earth, Phoebe, took her seat here. She gave it as a birthday gift to Phoibus [Apollo], who has his name from Phoebe.’"
(Aeschylus. Eumenides 1 ff, translated by Herbert Weir Smyth, Loeb Classical Volumes 145 &146 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1926.))
http://www.theoi.com/Text/AeschylusEumenides.html
“Oracle” of Themis consulted by the King. Themis sits on the Delphic tripod in the role of Pythia, the oracular prophetess of the Delphic shrine. She holds a phiale in one hand and a sprig of laurel in the other. King Aigeus of Athens approaches her to receive an oracle regarding the birth of a son.
Antikensammlung, Berlin, Germany F2538 Beazley Archive No.: 217214, Attic Red Figure Kylix, Attributed. to the Codrus Painter, circa 430 BCE. http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/T8.1.html
Orphic Hymn 78. To Themis (7-11) credits Themis as the first source of prophetic “oracles” (chreesmous (χρησμούς)) and religious rites:
“From thee, Apollo’s oracles arose,
And from thy pow’r his inspiration flows . . .
“Mankind from thee first learnt initial rites.”
(Orpheus. The Hymns of Orpheus, translated by Thomas Taylor (Printed for the Author, 1792. Reprinted Los Angeles, CA: The Philosophical Research Society, 1981) 217).
Thesis (θέσις) means setting, placing, laying down, positioning.
Thesmos (θέσμός) means law and order. Thesmios (θέσμιος) means something that is fixed, settled, lawful, and fitting. Thesmosunee (θεσμοσύνη) means Justice.
Thesmodeo (θεσμῳδέω) means delivering “oracular” precepts.
One of the epitaphs of the immortal Goddess Demeter was “law-bearing,” thesmophoros (θεσμοφόρος). Each year during the sowing season of late October/early November women of Athens and elsewhere in Greece participated in the Thesmophoria (Θεσμοφόρια) in honor of Demeter and Persephone, who were called the Thesmophoro (Θεσμοφόρω) or law-bearers. The temple of Demeter at Delos is the Thesmophorion (Θεσμοφόριον).
DEATH
Death is a divine mystery, the separation of the soul and the body.
Thanatos (θάνᾰτος) means death, literally “divine arising prevailing.”
Thneesko (θνήσκω) means to be dead, to be put to death, the dead, to perish, literally “divine prevailing center synchronized.”
Thneetos (θνητός) means liable to death, mortal.
Thapto (θάπτω) means to honor with funeral rites, carry out to burial, literally “divine arising unified.”
Theekaios (θηκαῖος) is a coffin, burial vault, urn for ashes, literally “divine center core arising.”
Theema (θῆμα) means tomb, literally “divine center meta/medium.”
SOUL
Thumos (θῠμός) means soul; spirit, as the principal of life, feeling and thought especially of strong feelings and passion; in physical sense, breath, life; spirit, strength; soul as shown by feelings and passions; desire or inclination, appetite; in his/her heart, with all their heart; mind, temper; spirit, courage; the seat of anger; the heart as the seat of emotions; mind, soul as the seat of thought, literally “divine pure meta/medium.”
The Greek word for soul is the basis for the scientific word “thymine,” a base element of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid), a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instruction used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms.
A diagram of DNA. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_QESO4FJ--aI/S2xDTPZHDPI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/QL8InBtsUZE/s400/dna-2.jpg
Thumaino (θῦμαίνω) means to be wroth, angry. Thumoo (θῠμόω) means to make angry or to provoke.
Thumodees (θῠμώδης), means fierce.
Thumoleon (θῡμολέων) means lion-hearted.
Thumomantis (θῡμομαντις) means prophesying from one’s soul.
Thumosophos (θῡμοσοφος) means wise from one's soul.
Thumizo (θῠμίζω) is thyme, a hot, burning-flavored aromatic herb used to create perfume and embalming materials, to flavor wine and food, and to attract and feed honeybees.
Thumbra (θύμβρα) is savory, Satureia Thumbra, an herb similar to thyme, used to combat infections and to preserve foods because of its anti-bacterial properties. Its oil has a hot, burning scent similar to thyme.
THERMAL
Heat is a quality of living people and animals. Heat is used to purify, preserve, and heal.
Thalpo (θαλπω) and thalpsis (θάλψις) mean to make warm or to foment.
Summertime in the Mediterranean is a season of heat. The Greek word for summer is theros (θέρός) or thereia (θερεία). To do summer work, to mow, reap, and harvest a crop, is therismos (θερισμός).
Therapeia (θερᾰπεία) means to serve, attend to, treat medically, care, tend, maintain; worship, provide for, take care of; cultivate, foster; prepare food or drugs; the basis for the word therapy.
Thermastra (θερμάστρα) means oven or furnace.
Thermos (θερμός) means hot. Thermee (θέρμη) means heat. Recall that Ermees (Έρμῆς) is Hermes, the immortal escort of the Gods and Goddesses, so that thermee (θέρμη) translates as divine (θ) escort/messenger (έρμη), literally “divine essence outflow meta/medium.”
Thermos (θέρμος) is the Greek word for the poisonous plant lupine, Lupinus albus, also known as wolfbane. Thermo-trageo (θερμοτρᾰγέω) means to eat lupines, a “hot tragedy.”
Thibros (θιβρός) means hot.
Theeion (θήἵον) or theiaphion (θειάφιον) is sulfur, a substance used in purifications and fumigations, also known as brimstone, the material used in matchheads. Theioo (θειόω) means to fumigate with brimstone/sulfur, to purify, hallow by smearing with sulfur.
Sulfur is a naturally occurring mineral found primarily near hot springs and volcanic craters. It has a distinct "rotten egg" smell, caused by sulfur dioxide gas escaping into the air. Thermopylae, the Gates of Hot Springs, is the oldest known center of governance in Greece and the meeting place of the Amphictyonic League.
“The Amphictyonic League was a religious association of twelve peoples … from the very beginnings of the Amphictyonic League, whose origins are shrouded in remote antiquity, the members met at the sanctuary of Demeter at Thermopylae.” Around 582 BCE the Amphictyonic League began to also hold annual conventions at Delphi.
(Pierre Amandry. Delphi (Athens: 27, Praxitelous Street, 1984.)
Sulfur http://www.cps.ci.cambridge.ma.us/element/haggerty/tec/sulfur.html
Theiodees (θειώδης) means sulphureous hot springs; things that are the color yellow (θειώδης); and the divine (θειώδης).
YELLOW
Thapsinos (θάψῐνος) means yellow. Thapsia (θαψία) garganica is a yellow-flowered plant which, when it comes in contact with the skin, causes irritation, heat, reddening, and severe itching; it was used for fumigations.
Thapsos (θάψος) is the yellow-wooded Rhus Cotinus, used for dying things yellow. The plant has smoke-like blooms.
Rhus Cotinus. http://www.henriettesherbal.com/pictures/p04/pages/cotinus-coggygria-2.htm
MOTION
Heat and motion together are characteristics of living bodies. The suffix –then (-θεν) denotes motion from a place, the basis for the word then.
Theo (θέω), in addition to meaning “divine,” also means running; flying; rolling; shining, gleaming.
Thoas (θοάς) and thoosa (θόωσα) mean to be fleet, swift, speedy. Thoos (θοός), an epithet of warriors and the immortal war-God Ares, means to be quick, nimble, swift, hasty. On a lighter note, thoasma (θόασμα) means a place for dancing. Thoazo (θοάζω) means to move quickly, ply rapidly, hurry on, rush, or dart.
Threktikos (θρεκτικός) means to be able to run; rektikos (ρεκτικός) means able to do, active.
Thuella (θύελλα) means hurricane, literally “divine pure essence loosened.”
Thuno (θύνω) means to rush, dart along, flit; also, rage, seethe.
THALIA
Thallo (θάλλω) means to sprout, grow, thrive, bloom, literally “divine arising loosened.”
Thallos (θαλλός) and thallia (θαλλία) mean a young shoot or young branch, literally, “divine arising loosened.” Thalos (θάλος) means offspring.
Thalia (Θᾰλία, Θάλεια) is the immortal Goddess of good cheer, abundance, and festivities.
Thaletho (θᾱλέθω) means to bloom and thrive. Theeleo (θηλέω) means to be full of, abound in, grow luxuriantly, flourish, make to bloom.
Thalees (Θᾰλῆς) is Thales of Miletus (circa 600 BCE), considered the first philosopher to pose and seek “to answer the question ‘What is the reality behind phenomena?’”
(Kathleen Freeman. Companion to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers (Oxford: Alden Press, 1949) 52).
Thales is quoted by Aristotle as saying, “’All things are full of [G]ods [and Goddesses].’” (Freeman, 53)
“From Aristotle we learn that he (Thales) said that the magnet had life, or soul, since it could move iron; therefore he thought life or soul was that which made things move. (He was credited with the idea, often expressed by later philosophers, that the soul is in its essence ever in motion and self-moving. Elsewhere it is said that he derived this view from studying amber as well as the magnet.”
(Freeman, 53)
ROOMS WITHOUT LIGHT
Thalamos (θάλᾱμος) is the innermost religious shrine; also, rooms without windows; inner rooms or chambers without any outside light, including bedrooms surrounded by other rooms; the darkest part of a ship (the hold).
A thalamos or tholos (θόλος) is a round building with a conical roof used in antiquity as a burial chamber but later referring to any circular, domed building.
“The {Mycenaean tholos tomb} consists of a circular, subterranean burial chamber, sometimes referred to as the {thalamos}, roofed by a corbelled vault and approached by a {dromos} [= entrance passage] that narrows abruptly at the {stomion} [= doorway] actually opening into the tomb chamber. The chamber or thalamos is built of stone rather than simply being hewn out of bedrock. Tholoi of this kind are usually, though not invariably, set into slopes or hillsides. Burials were either laid out on the floor of the tomb chamber or were placed in pits, cists, or shafts cut into this floor.
(“The Prehistoric Archaeology of the Aegean,” the lecture notes of Jeremy B. Rutter, Chairman of the Classics Department at Dartmouth College, copyright 1996 Trustees of Dartmouth College. http://projectsx.dartmouth.edu/classics/history/bronze_age/lessons/les/19.html )
THE SEA
Thalassa (θάλασσα) means sea; alas (ἅλας) means salt; of the sea.
Thetis (Θέτις) is the immortal Goddess of the sea and leader of the fifty Nereides (patron Goddesses of sailors and fishermen).
Thetis riding on a Hippokampos (fish-tailed horse) in a painting depicting Thetis and the Nereides delivering the armor of Akhilleus (Achilles).
The J Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California, USA Catalogue Number: 86.AE.611 , Apulian Red Figure Pelike Painter: Near the Gravina Painter, circa 425 - 401 BCE. http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/P12.4B.html
As depicted in Homer’s Iliad, the immortal volcano-God, Hephaistos, forged a set of armor for Thetis’ son, Achilles.
The armor of Achilles. Antiken-museen, Berlin, Germany Catalogue No.: Berlin F2294 Beazley Archive No.: 204340, Attic Red Figure Kylix, Name vase of the Foundry Painter, circa 490 - 480 BCE. http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/P13.4.html
Thetis receives a set of armor for her son Achilles from Hephaistos. The smith holds a hammer and helm, Thetis the shield and spear.
SOFT SPEECH
Thelkteerios (θέλκτήριος) means enchanting, soothing speech that heals. A thelkteer (θέλκτήρ) is one who soothes or charms, literally “divine essence loosened.” Elkt- (έλκτ-) is a prefix meaning attract, draw.
Thelgo (θέλγω) means charm, enchant, produce by spells. Thelgines (Θελγῖνες) are wizards.
Thelgesimuthos (θελγεσίμῡθος) means soft-speaking.
Thelgeetron (θέλγητρον) is the power to charm or cast a spell over.
FEMALE
Theelu- (θηλύ-) is a prefix meaning woman. Theelus (θῆλυς) means female.
Theelee (θηλή) means teat, nipple, literally “divine center loosened.”
Theelo (θηλώ) means wet-nurse. Theelazo (θηλάζω) means to suckle, nurse, give suck.
Theesai (θῆσαι) means to suck, suckle.
Theia (θεία) means aunt.
Thugateer (θῠγάτηρ) means daughter.
EUNUCH
Thulakee (θῦλάκη) means scrotum; ulakee (ῦλάκη) means barking, howling.
Thladias (θλᾰδίας) means eunuch. Thladiao (θλᾰδίάω) means to make a eunuch, literally “divine loosen.”
Thlao (θλάω) means crushing, bruising. Thlipsis (θλῖψις) means pressure, crushing, castration; note that lips (λῖψ) means stream, libation.
Some devoutly religious males would self-castrate as a sign of loyalty to and affinity with the Divine Mother.
The word for castrate, thlipsis (θλῖψις) is very similar to the word for shepherd’s purse, Capsella bursapastoris, thlaspis (θλάσπις), “one of the best specifics for stopping hemorrhages of all kinds.” Thlaspis was used to promptly arrest bleedings and floodings from wounds inward or outward.
MALE
Thourees (θουρης) means male; oureethra (ούρήθρα) means urethra.
Thoros (θορός) means semen, literally “divine entity outflow.”
Thorikos (θορικός) means something that is of or for the semen.
Thouraios (θουραῖος) means to be violent or lustful. Thouros (θοῦρος) means to be rushing, impetuous, furious, with a rush to fight.
COURAGE
Tharsos (θάρσος) means courage; arsos (άρσος) means masculine.
Tharseo (θαρσέω) means to be of good courage, to fear not.
Tharsaleos (θαρσᾰλέος) means to be confident, with good courage, bold. Tharso (θαρσώ) is an epithet of the immortal Goddess Athena.
Thrasos (θράσος) means courage in war. Thrasu- (θρασύ-) is a prefix meaning bold, strong, impudent, brave-spirited. Thrasus (θρᾰσύς) means to be bold and full of confidence.
THORAX
Thorako (θωρᾱκο) is the breast (plate), worn to protect the thoracic region, the trunk of the body between the neck and the abdomen enclosed by the ribs in which the heart, lungs, etc. are situated.
A thoraks (θώραξ) is a corslet which covers the thorax front and back.
UPROAR
Thrasso (θράσσω) means trouble, disquiet, disturb; rasso (ράσσω) means strike, dash; beat the ground, dance.
Threomai (θρέομαι) means to cry aloud or shriek; reomai (ρέομαι) means flow, stream, gush.
Threenos (θρῆνος) means funeral dirge, lament, wail; reen (ρῆν) means lamb, sheep.
Throeo (θροέω) means to cry aloud, as when one is in the throes of grief, passion, anger; roe- (ροέ-) means conduit, brook.
Thorubos (θόρὕβος) refers to the noise of a crowd, especially the confused noise of a crowded assembly; an uproar, clamor, applause, groans, murmurs, tumult, confusion, or clamor.
Throos (θρόος) and thrulos (θρῡλος) mean the noise of many voices, the murmur of a crowd.
Throsko (θρῴσκω) means to leap, spring, toss, attack; rosk- (ρῴσκ-) is a prefix meaning with violent motion.
Thruleo (θρῠλέω) means to make a confused noise, chatter, babble.
WILD ANIMALS
Theer (θήρ) means a beast of prey or wild beast; eer- (ήρ-) is a prefix meaning hero.
Theeri- (θηρῐ-) and theero- (θηρο-) are prefixes for words pertaining to wild beasts. Other words pertaining to the hunt include:
- theera (θήρα): the hunting of wild beasts, the chase, fishing, prey, game
- theer, theera (θήρ, θήρα): hunt, chase, catch, capture, pursue eagerly
- theerion (θηρίον): wild animal, prey.
Theerionarkee (θηρίονάρκη) is a plant that benumbs serpents, Nerium Oleander (one of the most poisonous plants in the world).
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
Thremma (θρέμμα) means nursling, creature, mostly used in reference to tame animals such as sheep and goats. Thremma also means nourishment; rem- (ρέμ-) means roam.
Threp- (θρεπ-) is a prefix meaning to feed, nurture, nourish, and promote growth; rep- (ρεπ-) and reps- (ρέψ-) mean to incline one way or another, direct towards, a possible basis for the word repetition.
Threpsis (θρέψις) means nourishing.
BREAK-OFF
Words that have to do with things coming loose/breaking translate literally as “divine (θ) flow/outflow (ρ):”
- thrauo (θραύω): to break in pieces, shatter
- thrombos (θρόμβος): lump, clot, curd, drop; romb- (ρόμβ-) is a prefix meaning spin, whirl.
- thrumma (θρύμμα): that which is broken off, bit; rum- (ρύμ-) means divide, division
- thruon (θρυον): reed, rushes (used for making ropes, baskets, pan-pipes, etc.)
- thrauma (θραῡμα): fragment, breakage
- thrupto (θρύπτω): break in pieces, break small; rupto (ρύπτω) means cleanse.
- thrupsis (θρύψις): breaking in small pieces; softness, weakness, delicate
- thraustos (θραῡστός): frangible, brittle; broken, crushed, easily broken
- thrausis (θραῡσις): communition (make common for all); slaughter; destruction by plague, falling off of hair in patches
- thriks (θρίξ): hair, literally “divine outflow divine-power detached-from,” perhaps to reflect the inertness of hair
- thrion (θρῖον): leaf.
THRACE
The poet Orpheus was born in Thrakee (Θράκη, Θρηἵκίη, Θρηΐκιος, Θράκιος, Θρῆἵξ, Θρᾶξ, Θρήκιος), Thrace, a region that covers sections of modern-day Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The Hymns of Orpheus, performed as theatrical spectacles, reflect ancient religious beliefs and practices. According to Kathleen Freeman, Orpheus lived in pre-Homeric times.
“Orpheus is said to have been born at Leibethra in Pieria, a district round Mt. Olympus; this district in classical times was part of Macedonia, but was originally Thracian.”
(Kathleen Freeman, Companion to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers (Oxford: Alden Press, 1st ed. 1946, 2nd ed. 1949) 1.)
Area of ancient Thrace (shaded gold) includes parts of modern Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey.
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=thrace+map&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&biw=1095&bih=598&tbm=isch&tbnid=hszGKiqQlGn_HM:&imgrefurl=http://zenius.kalnieciai.lt/europe/greece/thrace/thrace.html&docid=ZV8vZ879KMqtDM&w=592&h=510&ei=C3KITv7WIoHAgQfElv34Cg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=678&page=4&tbnh=112&tbnw=130&&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:54&tx=93&ty=56
Manly P. Hall, the first president of the Philosophical Research Society, in his Introductory Preface to the Hymns of Orpheus (translation Thomas Taylor), writes that “The Mystical Hymns of Orpheus,” originally titled “The Initiations of Orpheus,” were used in the Eleusinian Mysteries.
According to Alexander Fol, “The ancient sources are unanimous in that a Thracian, Eumulpus, was the founder of the Eleusinian mysteries.”
(Alexander Fol and Evan Marazov, Thrace & the Thracians (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1977) 27).
Gold treasures, circa 350-250 BCE, unearthed by archaeologists in ancient regions of Thrace reflect the wealth of the region.
Gold Thracian treasure from Panagyurishte, Bulgaria, circa 350-250 BCE.
http://bulgaria.domino.bg/panagyurishte/eng/12-04.htm
US Museums hosting the exhibit Ancient Gold: The Wealth of the Thracians included the St. Louis Art Museum; the Kimbell Art Museum, Ft. Worth; the M. H. DeYoung Museum, San Francisco; the New Orleans Museum of Art; the Brooks Museum of Art in Memphis; the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; and the Detroit Institute of Arts), 1998. (http://www.athenapub.com/thrace1.htm ) (Evgeni I. Paunov in Athena Review, Vol.1, no. 4, 1998 (pp.76-82).)
OTHER WORDS BEGINNING WITH Θ
Thebes
Theebai (Θηβᾱΐ) is Thebes, a Greek city in Boeotia named after a very ancient city in Egypt, literally “divine center basis.”
Thesaurus
Theesauros (θησαυρός) means store, treasure, preserve, keep, store up, the basis for the word thesaurus.
It is of interest to note that eesipees (ήσῐεπής) means throwing words. Eesiodos (Ήσίοδος) is Hesiod, a famous writer.
Sharpen
Theego (θήγω) means sharpen, whet, eeg- (ήγ-) is a prefix meaning lead, guide.
Theganee (θηγάνη) means whetstone (a stone for sharpening cutlery or tools by friction).
Theektos (θηκτός) means sharpened, whetted; eekee (ήκή) means sharp, edge, meeting-point.
Thoos (θοός) means pointed, sharp; on (ὅον) is the fruit of the service-tree and a source of sorbic acid.
Thooo (θοόω) means make sharp or pointed.
Crowded
Thama (θᾰμά) means often, thickly; ama (ᾰμά) means at once, at one and the same time.
Thamees (θᾰμέες) means crowded, close-set, frequent, often, haunt, to be accustomed, constantly, repetition.
Thamnos (θάμνος) means bush, shrub, copse.
Servant
Theetta (θῆττα) means hired servant-girl, eeton (ἥττων) means inferior.
Theeteia (θητεία) means hired service, service.
Thees (θής) means serf, bondsman.
Penalty
Thoazo (θωάζω) means pay the penalty; oaiai (ώαιαί) is an exclamation of pain.
Thoee (θωή) means penalty.
Thomizo (θωμίζω) means whip, scourge.
Touch
Thig- (θιγ-) is a prefix meaning touch; iga (ἵγα) means keep silence, hush.
Thigano (θιγγάνω) means touch, handle, take hold of.
Thiksis (θίξις) means touching.
Other
Thaasso (θᾰάσσω) means to sit. Thazos (θαζός) means seated. A seat or chair is thakeion (θᾱκεῑον) or thakos (θᾱκος).
Thairos (θαιρός) means the pivot of a door or gate. Thairaios (θαιραἶος) means axle, the shaft on which a wheel rotates; aireo (αίρέω) means grasp, seize.
Theen (θην) means in truth, in very truth.
Thibis (θῑβις) means a basket plaited from papyrus.
Thoina (θοίνα) means food. Thoin- (θοιν-) is the prefix for a meal, feast, or banquet.
Thronos (θρόνος) means throne, chair of state, “oracular” seat, chair of a teacher; favorable combination of planetary positions, literally “divine outflow entity prevailing.” Thranos (θρᾱνος) or threenus (θρῆνυς) mean bench.
Thura (θύρα) means door, gates, barriers, window, entrance.
Thos (θώς) means hunting dog; os (ώς) means how; when; where.
