In
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...
, Koalemos (
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
: Κοάλεμος) was the god of
stupidity
Stupidity is a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason, or wit. It may be innate, assumed or reactive. The word ''stupid'' comes from the Latin word ''stupere''. Stupid characters are often used for comedy in fictional stories. Walter B. ...
, mentioned once by
Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his for ...
, and being found also in ''
Parallel Lives'' by
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...
. Coalemus is the Latin spelling of the name. Sometimes he is referred to as a
dæmon, more of a spirit and minor deity.
Otherwise, the word κοάλεμος was used in the sense of "stupid person" or also "blockhead".
An ancient
false etymology
A false etymology (fake etymology, popular etymology, etymythology, pseudo-etymology, or par(a)etymology) is a popular but false belief about the origin or derivation of a specific word. It is sometimes called a folk etymology, but this is also a ...
derives from (''koeō'') "perceive" and (''ēleos'') "distraught, crazed". His
etymology
Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
is not established, however.
[Chantraine, Pierre. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque. Histoire des mots. Tome II. Paris, Éditions Klincksiek, 1970. - p. 550, sous κοάλεμος (French); Robert Beekes (2010), "Etymological Dictionary of Greek" (Brill, Boston), p 727: "The word is clearly Pre-Greek because of the variants".]
See also
*
Alala
Alala ( Ancient Greek: (alalá); "battle-cry" or "war-cry") was the personification of the war cry in Greek mythology. Her name derives from the onomatopoeic Greek word (alalḗ), hence the verb (alalázō), "to raise the war-cry". Greek s ...
*
Alke
In Greek mythology, the name Alke (Ancient Greek: Ἁλκή means "prowess, courage"), also transliterated as Alce, may refer to:
*Alke, the spirit and personification of the abstract concept of courage and battle-strength. In the ''Iliad'', sh ...
*
Homados
In Greek mythology, Homados (Ancient Greek: Όμαδος) was the personification of battle-noise—the shouts and cries of men and the clashing of weapons. He was probably numbered amongst the Makhai, the daimones of the battlefield.
Mytholog ...
*
Ioke
*
Palioxis
In Greek mythology, Palioxis ( Ancient Greek: Παλίωξις) was the personification of backrush, flight and retreat in battle (as opposed to Proioxis). She and her sister Proioxis (Onrush) presided over the surge of battle. Palioxis was probab ...
*
Polemus
*
Proioxis
In Greek mythology, Proioxis (Ancient Greek: Προΐωξις) was the personification of onrush or pursuit in battle (as opposed to Palioxis). She and her sister Palioxis (Backrush) presided over the surge of battle. They were probably numbered ...
Notes
Resources
* A Greek-English Lexicon compiled by H. G. Liddel and R. Scott. tenth edition with a revised supplement. – Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996. - p. 966, under κοάλεμος
*
Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his for ...
, ''Knights'' from ''The Complete Greek Drama, vol. 2.'' Eugene O'Neill, Jr. New York. Random House. 1938
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.*Aristophanes, ''Aristophanes Comoediae'' edited by F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart, vol. 1. F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1907.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
Greek gods
Personifications in Greek mythology
{{Greek-deity-stub