Skip to main content
ἄρχω — STEP Liddell–Scott–Jones | Berean Institutes
STEP Liddell–Scott–Jones: ἄρχω Text size 19px Width Narrow Wide Theme Light Sepia Dark Save settings Highlight selection Add note Annotate selection
Save reading position
ἄρχω,
Epic dialect infinitive ἀρχέμεναι[[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 20.154: ] Refs 8th c.BC+]imperfect ἦρχον[[ [prev. work] 2.378, etc.] Refs]; Doric dialect ἆρχον[[ 5th c.BC: Pindarus Lyricus “O.” 10(11).51] Refs 5th c.BC+]: future ἄρξω[[ 8th c.BC: Odyssea Homerus Epicus “Odyssey” 4.667, 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Prometheus Vinctus” 940, 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 1.144: ] Refs 8th c.BC+]aorist ἦρξα, Epic dialect ἄρξα[[ 8th c.BC: Odyssea Homerus Epicus “Odyssey” 14.230, etc.] Refs 8th c.BC+]: perfect ἦρχα[[ “CIG” “Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum” “Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum” 3487.14 (from Thyatira), Canon Laws texts cited in 1st-2nd c.AD: Plutarchus Biographus et Philosophus 2.851f] Refs 1st c.AD+]:—middle, [[ 8th c.BC: Odyssea Homerus Epicus “Odyssey” 8.90, etc.] Refs 8th c.BC+]; non-thematic participle ἄρχμενος[[ 3rd c.BC: Callimachus Epicus “Aetia” 3.1.56, +others] Refs 3rd c.BC+]: imperfect, [[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 9.93, 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 5.28: ] Refs 8th c.BC+]future ἄρξομαι (in middle sense, see below) [[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 9.97, 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Iphigenia Aulidensis” 442, 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Institutio Cyri (Cyropaedia)” 8.8.2] Refs 8th c.BC+]; Doric dialect ἀρξεῦμαι[[ 3rd c.BC: Theocritus Poeta Bucolicus 7.95] Refs 3rd c.BC+]: aorist ἠρξάμην[[ 8th c.BC: Odyssea Homerus Epicus “Odyssey” 23.310, etc.:] Refs 8th c.BC+] —passive, perfect ἦργμαι only in middle sense, see below [[ 1.2] Refs]: aorist ἤρχθην, ἀρχθῆναι[[ 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 6.18, 4th c.BC: Aristoteles Philosophus “Politica” 1277b13, see below 11.4] Refs 5th c.BC+]:—to be first,
__I in Time, begin, make a beginning, active and middle (in [[ 8th c.BC: Homerus Epicus the _active_ is more frequently, in _Attic dialect_ Prose the _middle_, especially where personal action is emphasized), πολέμου ἄρχειν ] Refs 8th c.BC+]to be the aggressor, [[ 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 1.53] Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. ἄρχεσθαι to begin one's operations, [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Historia Graeca (Hellenica)” 6.3.6] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἄρχειν τοῦ λόγου to open a conversation, [[ [prev. author] “An.” 1.6.6] Refs]; ἄρχεσθαι τοῦ λόγου to begin one's speech, [[[prev. work] 3.2.7. Constr.: ] Refs]
Close Browse lexicon entries __I.1 mostly with genitive, make a beginning of, ἄρχειν πολέμοιο[[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 4.335; μύθων 8th c.BC: Odyssea Homerus Epicus “Odyssey” 3.68; τῶν ἀδικημάτων πρῶτον τοῦτο ἄρξαι 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 1.2; ἦρξεν ἐμβολῆς 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Persae” 409; τοῦ κακοῦ [prev. work] 353] Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἄρχειν χειρῶν ἀδίκων, ἄρχειν τῆς πληγῆς, strike the first blow, [[ 5th c.BC: Antipho Orator 4.2.1 and 2:] Refs 5th c.BC+] — in middle in religious sense, = {ἀπάρχεσθαι}, ἀρχόμενος μελέων beginning with the limbs, [[ 8th c.BC: Odyssea Homerus Epicus “Odyssey” 14.428, compare 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Ion” 651] Refs 8th c.BC+]; but active, σπονδαῖσιν ἄρξαι[[ 5th c.BC: Pindarus Lyricus “I.” 6(5).37. ] Refs 5th c.BC+]
__I.2 with genitive, begin from or with.., ἐν σοὶ μὲν λήξω σέο δ᾽ ἄρξομαι[[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 9.97; ἄρχεσθαι Διός 5th c.BC: Pindarus Lyricus “N.” 5.25] Refs 8th c.BC+]; πόθεν ἄρξωμα; [[ 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Choephori” 855; πόθεν ποτὲ ἦρκται 5th c.BC: Hippocrates Medicus “περὶ ἀρχαίης ἰητρικῇς” 5] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἄρχεσθαι, ἦρχθαι ἔκ τινος, [[ 8th c.BC: Odyssea Homerus Epicus “Odyssey” 23.199, 5th c.BC: Hippocrates Medicus “κατ᾽ ἰητρεῖον” 11] Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἀπό τινος frequently in Prose, ἀρξάμενοι αὐτίκα ἀπὸ παιδίων even from boyhood, [[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 3.12] Refs 5th c.BC+]; but more commonly ἐκ παίδων, ἐκ παιδός, etc., [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Respublica” 408d, “Thg.” 128d:] Refs 5th c.BC+] —ἀπό in non-temporal relations, ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ σοῦ. i.e. including yourself, [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Gorgias” 471c, compare 4th c.BC: Demosthenes Orator 18.297; ἀπὸ τῶν πατέρων 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Memorabilia” 3.5.15; μέχρι τῶν δώδεκα ἀπὸ μιᾶς ἀρξάμενος 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Leges” 771c] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀφ᾽ ἱερῶν ἠργμένη ἀρχή[[ [prev. work] 771a; ἀφ᾽ Ἑστίας ἀρχόμενος 5th-6th c.BC: Aristophanes Comicus “Vespae” 846. ] Refs 5th c.BC+]
__I.3 with genitive of things et dative person, ἄρχε θεοῖς δαιτός begin a banquet to the gods, [[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 15.95; τοῖς ἄρα μύθων ἦρχε 2.433, etc.; τῇσι δὲ.. ἄρχετο μολπῆς 8th c.BC: Odyssea Homerus Epicus “Odyssey” 6.101; ἦρξε τῇ πόλει ἀνομίας τὸ νόσημα 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 2.53, compare 12; τὴν ἡμέραν ἄρχειν ἐλευθερίας τῇ Ἑλλάδι 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Historia Graeca (Hellenica)” 2.2.23; ἡμὶν οὐ σμικρῶν κακῶν ἦρξεν τὸ δῶρον 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Trachiniae” 871. ] Refs 8th c.BC+]
__I.4 with accusative, ἄρχειν ὁδόν τινι, show him the way, [[ 8th c.BC: Odyssea Homerus Epicus “Odyssey” 8.107 (but also ἄρχειν ὁδοῖο] Refs 8th c.BC+] lead the way, [[ 5.237): _absolutely_ (i.e. ὁδόν), ἄρχε δ᾽ Ἀθήνη 3.12; σὺ μὲν ἄρχε 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 9.69; ἦ ῥα καὶ ἄρχε λέχοσδε κιών 3.447; ἦρχε δ᾽ ἄρα σφιν Ἄρης 5.592, compare below 11.2] Refs 8th c.BC+]: with other accusatives, ἄρχειν ὕμνον[[ 5th c.BC: Pindarus Lyricus “N.” 3.10; ἅπερ ἦρξεν 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Agamemnon” 1529 (Lyric poetry); λυπηρόν τι 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Electra” 552; ὕβριν [prev. author] “fragment” 368. ] Refs 5th c.BC+]
__I.5 of actions, σέο δ᾽ ἕξεται ὅττι κεν ἄρχῃ[[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 9.102: frequently with ] Refs 8th c.BC+]infinitive, τοῖσιν δ᾽ ἦρχ᾽ ἀγορεύειν among them, [[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 1.571, etc.; ἦρχε νέεσθαι, ἦρχ᾽ ἴμεν, 2.84, 13.329; ἄρχετε νῦν νέκυας φορέειν 8th c.BC: Odyssea Homerus Epicus “Odyssey” 22.437, etc.; ὑφαίνειν ἤρχετο μῆτιν 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 7.324; ἤρξαντο οἰκοδομεῖν 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 1.107; ἡ νόσος ἤρξατο γενέσθαι [prev. author] 2.47] Refs 8th c.BC+]: with participle, of continued action or condition, ἦρχον χαλεπαίνων[[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 2.378; ἢν ἄρξῃ ἀδικέων 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 4.119; ἡ ψυχὴ ἄρχεται ἀπολείπουσα 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Institutio Cyri (Cyropaedia)” 8.7.26; πόθεν ἂν ὀρθῶς ἀρξαίμεθα ἐπαινοῦντε; 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Menexenus” 237a, compare “Tht.” 187a (but ἄ. ἐπαινεῖν [prev. author] “Phdr.” 241e); ἄρξομαι διδάσκων 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Institutio Cyri (Cyropaedia)” 8.8.2 (but ἤρξω μανθάνειν [prev. author] “Mem.” 3.5.22). ] Refs 8th c.BC+]
__I.6 absolutely, ἄρχε take the lead! [[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 9.69] Refs 8th c.BC+]: generally, begin, ἄρχειν [τὴν ἐκεχειρίαν] τήνδε τὴν ἡμέραν Indut. cited in [[ 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 4.118, cf. Legal cited in 4th c.BC: Demosthenes Orator 24.42] Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὸ ἄρχον, opposed to τὸ ἑπόμενον, [[ 5th-6th c.AD: Damascius Philosophus “de Principiis” 234] Refs 5th c.AD+]: participle ἀρχόμενος at first, [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “de Equitandi ratione” 9.3, “Cyn.” 3.8, 5th-6th c.BC: Isocrates Orator 2.54] Refs 5th c.BC+]; at the beginning, ἀρχομένου δὲ πίθου καὶ λήγοντος[[ 8th-7th c.BC: Hesiodus Epicus “Opera et Dies” 368, compare “fragment” 192.4; ἀρχομένοισιν ἢ καταπαυομένοισι 5th-6th c.BC: Aristophanes Comicus “Equites” 1246; ἄρχεται ὁ πόλεμος ἐνθένδε 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 2.1; ἅμα ἦρι ἀρχομένῳ [prev. passage]; θέρους εὐθὺς ἀρχομένου [prev. work] 47. ] Refs 8th c.BC+]
__I.7 Grammars, of a word, ἄ. ἀπὸ φωνήεντος[[ 2nd c.BC: Dionysius Thrax Grammaticus 633.27] Refs 2nd c.BC+]; ἡ ἄρχουσα (i.e. συλλαβή) [[ 2nd c.AD: Apollonius Dyscolus Grammaticus “de Syntaxi;” 130.13. ] Refs 2nd c.AD+]
__II in point of Place or Station, rule, govern, command,
__II.1 mostly with genitive, rule, be leader of.., Βοιωτῶν[[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 2.494, compare 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 5.1, etc. ] Refs 8th c.BC+]
__II.2 less frequently with dative, ἀνδράσιν ἦρξα[[ 8th c.BC: Odyssea Homerus Epicus “Odyssey” 14.230, compare 471, 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 2.805, 5th c.BC: Pindarus Lyricus “P.” 3.4, 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Prometheus Vinctus” 940, 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Andromache” 666, “IA” 337, “IG” 7.2830 (from Hyettus), etc.] Refs 8th c.BC+]; also ἐν δ᾽ ἄρα τοῖσιν ἦρχ᾽ held command among them, [[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 13.690, compare 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Phaedrus” 238a: with ] Refs 8th c.BC+]infinitive added, ἄρχε Μυρμιδόνεσσι μάχεσθαι led them on to fight, [[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 16.65. ] Refs 8th c.BC+]
__II.3 absolutely, rule, ὅσον τό τ᾽ ἄρχειν καὶ τὸ δουλεύειν δίχα[[ 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Prometheus Vinctus” 927, compare “Pers.” 774] Refs 4th c.BC+]; especially hold a magistracy, ὁκοῖόν τε εἴη ἄρχειν μετὰ τὸ βασιλεύειν[[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 6.67] Refs 5th c.BC+]; at Athens, etc., to be archon, [[ 4th c.BC: Demosthenes Orator 21.178] Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἀρχάς, ἀρχὴν ἄρχειν, [[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 3.80, 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 6.54] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἄρχειν τὴν ἐπώνυμον (with or without ἀρχήν) [[ “IG” 3.659, 693, “SIG” 872.7. ] Refs]
__II.4 passive, with future ἄρξομαι[[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 7.159, 5th c.BC: Pindarus Lyricus “O.” 8.45, 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Persae” 589, 5th c.BC: Lysias Orator 28.7; but ἀρχθήσομαι 4th c.BC: Aristoteles Philosophus “Politica” 1259b40, 2nd-3rd c.AD: Dio Cassius Historicus 65.10] Refs 5th c.BC+]:—to be ruled, governed, etc., ὑπό τινος[[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 1.127; ἔκ τινος 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Electra” 264, “Ant.” 63; ὑπό τινι 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 1.91, 103; σφόδρα ὑπό τινος 5th c.BC: Lysias Orator 12.92; ἄρχε πρῶτον μαθὼν ἄρχεσθαι 6th c.BC: Solon Lyricus cited in 3rd c.AD(?): Diogenes Laertius 1.60, compare 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Protagoras” 326d; δύνασθαι καὶ ἄρχεσθαι καὶ ἄρχειν 4th c.BC: Aristoteles Philosophus “Politica” 1277b14; οἱ ἀρχόμενοι ] Refs 6th c.BC+]subjects, [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Anabasis” 2 6.19, etc.] Refs 5th c.BC+]
STEP Liddell–Scott–Jones — CC-BY-4.0
STEPBible TFLSJ (Translators Formatted full LSJ Bible lexicon), CC BY 4.0, Tyndale House. Greek lexical entries from the full Liddell-Scott-Jones lexicon, formatted by Tyndale House Cambridge for biblical study.
View source 