Hello everyone,
I have a very specific question about a word in ancient greek.Does anyone know if the concept of ‘‘generosity’’ existed in ancient greek and if yes, what was the exact word and etymology?
I would be grateful if you could let me know, I appreciate any help you can provide.
Thanks!
There are many words in Greek which could be translated into “generosity”, and in order to choose which one to use, I would need which sense of generosity you mean. Generosity is derived from Latin, but in Latin the main sense is to be of noble birth, and the sense used in modern English is taken from secondary senses in Latin, used when it was implied that having a noble birth also meant that one was inclined to behave in a noble manner. Greek has a word with similar primary and secondary senses: γενναιότης. If you want a word which more specifically means to be prone to give from what one has, then perhaps ἀφθονία is better, which is made from ἀ- (not) and the verb φθονέω (to grudge, envy or refuse).
ἀφθονία, aphthonia, – means something like generosity, based on the adjective ἄφθονος, which literally means “ungrudging.” Other English words that are similar in meaning to ἄφθονος: “unstinting”, “liberal”. It also means something close to “abundant.”
Derivation: α privative (negative, like un- in English, in- in Latin) + φθόνος, “envy”.
A quick search through the LSJ gives, in addition, φιλοδωρία, ἐλευθεριότης, ἀφειδία, εὐμετάδοτος, and μεγαλοψυχία. I don’t think that I’ve run across ἀφειδία or εὐμετάδοτος in reading.
The following is a tangential contribution to this thread.
There are a few obvious Modern Greek words for “generous/generosity”, and none of them have any antiquity to them.
Noone will be surprised that the Turkish word, χουβαρντάς/χουβαρνταλίκι, has no classical antecedents—although the semantic shift it has undergone, from Persian “eating away” to Turkish “profligacy” to Greek “generosity”, tells a tale: http://hellenisteukontos.opoudjis.net/2016-12-20-what-is-your-favourite-word-in-turkish/
Noone will be surprised either that the Demotic words, ανοιχτοχέρης and απλόχερος “open-handed, spread-out–handed”, are recent, although I was surprised that they are not attested in Early Modern Greek (Kriaras dictionary).
I was surprised though that once again, a word I assumed Classical, and which would be a Modern Greek speaker’s reflexive answer to this question, γενναιόδωρος/γενναιοδωρία “brave in gifting”—turns out to be a late Puristic coinage, calquing French généreux. 1885, in fact (!)
If you were surprised that γενναιόδωρος/γενναιοδωρία is not classical, I reckon you can expect many more surprises.
But as I said before (in classical Greek), I appreciate your contributions on modern Greek, and it’s possible I’m not the only one, even though this site is specifically for ancient Greek.
You are much too kind, and I do.
Many thanks to everyone for taking the time to answer, I really appreciate it. All this information was very useful.
By way of contextual generosity, the word προσλαμβάνω sometimes occurs in situations that imply a generosity of spirit on the part of the one doing the receiving. Sometimes what tends to be explicated in one language is left to be implied in another.