Glossary of Greek Terms

• agathos: good
• agon: contest, ordeal; in comedy, it is the central scene including a debate on the fundamental issue of the play
• aidos: regard for others, respect, shame, sometimes personified as Aidos
• aitia: cause, responsibility anagnorisis: recognition (an important part of Greek tragedy)
• archon: one of nine public officials who governed at Athens; most important archons were the King Archon and the Eponymous Archon (the latter gave his name to the year); each held office for one year
• aretê: excellence, goodness, the special skill or unique characteristic of each human being
• aristeia: time when hero exhibits his aretê
• atê: a temporary insanity, causing disastrous error, often sent by Zeus to mortals, sometimes personified as Atê
• choregos: (pl. choregoi) wealthy citizen of Athens who is appointed by the archon to produce a series of plays at the City Dionysia
• daimon: at first a vague term denoting an unspecified god or, later, a divine or semi-divine being demos: the people, often in the political sense of the term
• diaulos: double flute that accompanied plays
• dikaios: just, righteous ("to dikaion" is "the just")
• dikê: justice, the divinely appointed order of the universe, often personified as Dikê
• ekkyklema: "something rolled out" —a sort of rolling platform which often was rolled out and turned around to reveal to the audience of the play the results of actions which took place offstage, usually to show the bodies of those killed offstage
• eris: strife, contention, often personified as Eris
• eros: love, desire, often used of strong desires which are not in the modern sense erotic, often personified as Eros
• episode: acted scenes in a Greek play
• Eunomia: "good governance" having good laws, or law-abidingness, used to describe Solon's political program in early sixth century BCE Athens
• exodos: exit of chorus at the end of a Greek play
• geras: prize of honor, concrete symbol of timê
• hamartia: mistake, crime, done in ignorance, often misconstrued as a moral failing
• hybris: excessive pride, veering towards arrogance
• kakos: bad, evil
• katharsis: purification, a spiritual cleansing, often experienced by watching Greek tragedy
• komos: dialogue between actor/s and chorus; grand conclusion of a Greek comedy, usually including a song and dance routine
• kosmos: order, proper adornment
• logos: word, story, theory, reason
• mechanê: crane or derrick that swings characters through the air in the production of a Greek play; the deus ex machina (the "god from the machine" is the appearance of a god on the mechanê who appears at the end of a play to resolve all of the conflicts
• moira: portion, share; hence, fate; personified as Moira from early times
• noos: mind, intelligence
• parabasis: middle part of old comedy where the poet addresses the audience directly and often comments on contemporary events
• parados: formal entrance of chorus in a Greek play
• peripateia: reversal, usually a reversal of fate or a fall in fortune (an important feature of Greek tragedy)
• philia: friendship, dearness
• philos: friend, dear one
• phrên: mind, sense
• polis: city, state, civic community
• prologos: opening scene or monologue that establishes the story line of a tragedy or comedy
• protagonist: the main character of a Greek tragedy
• sophrosynê: moderation, restraint
• stasimon: choral songs in a Greek play; each stasimon consisted of alternating stanzas (called stropê and antistrophê) and a concluding stanza (called responsion / epode)
• theos: god
• technê: skill or expertise
• telos: end point (toward which the beginning was directed)
• timê: honor, particularly the honor due to anyone on account of his station in life or his virtue
• xenia: guest-host relationship/friendship

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