Koalemos

For the ancient Olympic chariot-racer, see Cimon Coalemos.

In Greek mythology, Koalemos (Ancient Greek: Κοάλεμος) was the personification of stupidity, mentioned once by Aristophanes, ^[1] and being found also in Parallel Lives by Plutarch. ^[2] Coalemus is the Latin spelling of the name.

Otherwise, the word κοάλεμος was used in the sense of "stupid person" or also "blockhead". ^[3]

An ancient false etymology derives κοάλεμος from κοέω (koeō) "perceive" and ἡλεός (ēleos) "distraught, crazed". ^[4] This etymology is not established, however. ^[5]

In Suomi language, kuolemas means "in dying"; kuolemus means "the process of dying"; and, kuolemax/kuolemaks means "deadly".

See also

• Alala
• Alke
• Ate
• Homados
• Ioke
• Palioxis
• Polemus
• Proioxis

References

1. Aristophanes, Knights 221: καὶ ποικίλως πως καὶ σοφῶς ᾐνιγμένος: ἀλλ᾽ ὁπόταν μάρψῃ βυρσαίετος ἀγκυλοχήλης γαμφηλῇσι δράκοντα κοάλεμον αἱματοπώτην.
2. Plutarch, Life of Cimon 4.3 (trans. Perrin) (Greek historian 1st to 2nd century AD):...καὶ τῷ πάππῳ Κίμωνι προσεοικὼς τὴν φύσιν, ὃν δι᾽ εὐήθειάν φασι Κοάλεμον προσαγορευθῆναι.
3. Plutarch, Life of Cimon 4.3; Aeschines Socraticus, fr. 16
4. Scholia on Aristophanes, Knights 198
5. 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".

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, 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.