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αὐτόματος

automatos

acting of oneʼs own will, of oneself

Appears 97 times across Aristotle's works.

Frequency by work

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Dictionary (LSJ)

αὐτόματος, η, ον, Hom. and Att.; ος, ον Hes. Op. 103, Arist. GA 762a9, Philetaer. 1 D., Hp. EP 19 in Hermes 53.65. 1. of persons, acting of oneʼs own will, of oneself, αὐ. δέ οἱ ἦλθε Il. 2.408; αὐ. φοιτῶσι Νοῦσοι Hes. Op. 103; αὐ. ἥκω Ar. Pl. 1190, cf. Th. 6.91, D.S. 2.25, etc. 2. of inanimate things, self-acting, spontaneous, of the gates of Olympus, αὐτόμαται δὲ πύλαι μύκον οὐρανοῦ Il. 5.749; of the tripods of Hephaistos, which ran of themselves, ὄφρα οἱ αὐτόματοι . . δυσαίατʼ ἀγῶνα 18.376, cf. Pl.Com. 188; ὅπλα . . αὐ. φανῆναι ἔξω προκείμενα τοῦ νηοῦ Hdt. 8.37; τὰ αὐ. marionettes, Arist. GA 734b10, Hero Aut. passim: generally, spontaneous, βίος Pl. Plt. 271e; ἔπαινος Epicur. Sent.Vat. 64. 3. of natural agencies, ὁ ποταμὸς αὐ. ἐπελθών of itself, Hdt. 2.14; of plants, growing of themselves, αὐ. ἐκ τῆς γῆς γίνεται Id. 3.100; αὐ. φύεσθαι Id. 2.94, Thphr. Fr. 171.11; κύτισος αὐ. ἔρχεται Cratin. 98.8: metaph., αὐτόματα πάντʼ ἀγαθὰ . . ποριζεται Ar. Ach. 976, cf. Cratin. 160; of philosophers, αὐ. ἀναφύονται Pl. Tht. 180c. 4. of events, happening of themselves, without external agency, αὐ. δεσμὰ διελύθη E. Ba. 447; αὐ. θάνατος natural death, D. 18.205; κόποι αὐ. not to be accounted for externally, Hp. Aph. 2.5; ἀπό τινος αἰτίας αὐτομάτης Pl. Sph. 265c; without visible cause, accidental, opp. ἀπὸ πείρης, Hdt. 7.9.γʹ. II. αὐτόματον, τό, accident, τὸ αὐ. αἰτιᾶσθαι Lys. 6.25; σε ταὐ. ἀποσέσωκε Men. Epit. 568; διὰ τὸ αὐ. Arist. Ph. 195b33; τὸ αὐ. ἀγαπῶντες Id. Ath. 8.5; τῷ αὐ., opp. τέχνῃ, Id. Metaph. 1070a7: most freq. in the form ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτομάτου or ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου, ἀποθανέειν ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐ. Hdt. 2.66, cf. Th. 2.77, Pl. Ap. 38c, al., Arist. Po. 1452a5, al., Men. Pk. 31; ἐκ τοῦ αὐ. X. An. 1.3.13; τὸ Αὐ. personified, Ath.Mitt. 35.458 (Pergam.); ταὐτόματόν ἐστιν ὡς ἔοικέ που θεός Men. 291. III. Adv. -τως, = ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου, v.l. in Hdt. 2.180, Hp. Fract. 43, Arist. PA 640a27, al., Theoc. 21.27; of itself, κοχλίας αὐ. βαδίζων Plb. 12.13.11:—also αὐτοματεί or -τί (q.v.).

Key passages & sense analysis (Bonitz)

Index Aristotelicus. Hermann Bonitz's sense-by-sense analysis of αὐτόματος — 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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