ἀπίθανος

apithanos

incredible, unlikely

Appears 4 times across Aristotle's works.

Frequency by work

Click a work to list every occurrence by Bekker number — each links into the reader.

Poetics 2
Open Poetics ›
Chapter 24 1459b7–1460b5

1460a27
Chapter 25 1460b6–1461b25

1461b12
Rhetoric 2
Open Rhetoric ›
Book III 2
Chapter 3 1405b35–1406b19

1406b14

Chapter 8 1408b21–1409a21

1408b22

Dictionary (LSJ)

ἀπίθανος [ῐ], ον, A. incredible, unlikely, Pl. Lg. 663e, Arist. Po. 1461b12; φαντασίαι Stoic. 2.25: Comp. ἔτι -ώτερον εἰ . . Str. 1.2.22. 2. of persons, not to be trusted or relied on, πρός τι in a matter, Aeschin. 2.3. b. unpersuaded, unconvinced, ἀ. ἂν εἴη Pl. Prm. 133c. II. not having confidence to do a thing, c. inf., Plu. Nic. 3. III. not persuasive, unconvincing, λόγος Pl. Phdr. 265b, cf. Arist. Rh. 1406b14, 1408b22; ὁρίζειν τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἀπίθανον Ael. Tact. 8.1; ἀ. λέγειν, of persons, Plu. 2.812e, cf. 819c; ἀ. ζωγράφος Luc. Ind. 22; ἀ. ἐν τῇ ὑποκρίσει Id. Pseudol. 16. Adv.-νως not persuasively, coarsely, rudely, Isoc. 5.26, D.H. Lys. 17, Epicur. Ep. 2p.35U., etc.

Key passages & sense analysis (Bonitz)

Index Aristotelicus. Hermann Bonitz's sense-by-sense analysis of ἀπίθανος — with the passages he singles out as decisive for each meaning — will appear here. That curated, interpretive selection is the layer LSJ and a raw concordance don't provide. Digitisation in progress; this entry is not yet available.

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