Aristotle › Greek Lexicon › ῥοπή

ῥοπή

hrope

turn of the scale, fall of the scale-pan, weight

Appears 38 times across Aristotle's works.

Frequency by work

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Dictionary (LSJ)

ῥοπή, ἡ, (ῥέπω) A. turn of the scale, fall of the scale-pan, weight, Arist. Cael. 307b33; μέχρι τοῦ μέσου τὴν ῥ. ἔχειν gravitate to . ., ib.297a28; downward momentum, τῷ μείζονι βάρει καὶ ῥ. πλείων παρέπεται Ph. Bel. 69.21; ῥ. ποιεῖν make (counter-)weight, Thphr. CP 5.4.7; ἁ γᾶ ἐρήρεισται ἐπὶ τᾶς αὐτᾶς ῥ. in equilibrium, Ti.Locr. 97e; διαστρεφόντων τὴν ῥ. disturbing the balance, Plu. Cam. 28. 2. metaph., balancing, suspense, ἀ δʼ (sc. ἀ πόλις) ἔχεται ῤόπας Alc. 25; ῥ. Δίκας A. Ch. 61 (lyr.); ἐν οὖν ῥ. τοιᾷδε κειμένῳ S. Tr. 82; ποντοναῦται . . λεπταῖς ἐπὶ ῥοπῆσιν ἐμπολὰς μακρὰς ἀεὶ παραρρίπτοντες staking distant ventures on nice balancings, Id. Fr. 555 ( = Philol. 88.2); ῥ. βίου μοι the turning-point or sinking-point of life, i.e. death, Id. OC 1508; ῥ. ʼστιν ἡμῶν ὁ βίος ὥσπερ ὁ ζυγός Men. Mon. 465. b. turn of the scale, ποιεῖν ῥ. turn the scale, Arist. Pol. 1295b38; τοῦ πολέμου Isoc. 12.50; πολλάκις μικραὶ δυνάμεις μεγάλας τὰς ῥ. ἐποίησαν Id. 4.139; μεγάλην ἔσεσθαι τὴν ῥ., εἰ . . Id. 14.33; εἰς ἑκάτερα τὰ μέρη ῥοπὰς λαμβάνοντα τὸν πόλεμον Plb. 1.20.7, cf. Trag.Adesp. 102: hence, decision, outcome, βλέπω δύο ῥ.· ἢ γὰρ θανεῖν δεῖ μʼ . . ἢ . . E. Hel. 1090; ἀσθενεῖς καὶ ἐπὶ ῥ. μιᾶς ὄντες at the mercy of a single weighing in the scales, Th. 5.103. II. weight placed in the scale-pan, Arist. Mech. 850a13; esp. small additional weight, make-weight, casting weight, IG 22.1013.35, al.; ὡς ῥ. ἐκ πλαστίγγων LXX Wi. 11.22; ὡς ῥ. ζυγοῦ ἐλογίσθησαν ‘as dust in the balance’, ib.Is. 40.15; οὐδʼ ὅσον ῥ. Herod. 7.33. 2. metaph., σμικρὰ παλαιὰ σώματʼ εὐνάζει ῥ. casting weight, S. OT 961; σῶμα νοσῶδες σμικρᾶς ῥ . . δεῖται προσλαβέσθαι πρὸς τὸ κάμνειν Pl. R. 556e; δέδορκε φῶς ἐπὶ σμικρᾶς ῥ. E. Hipp. 1163, cf. Plu. Art. 30. b. δεῖ ῥ. διδόναι ταῖς αὑτῶν πατρίσι τοὺς συγγραφέας give the casting weight to . ., Plb. 16.14.6. c. weight, decisive influence, ὡς τοῖσδε καὶ δὶς ἀντισηκῶσαι ῥοπῇ A. Pers. 437; μεγάλη γὰρ ῥ., μᾶλλον δὲ ὅλον, ἡ τύχη παρὰ πάντα τὰ πράγματα D. 2.22; ῥ. ἔχειν have influence, Id. 11.8, cf. SIG 761.5 (Delph., i B.C.); ἔχει τι βρῖθος καὶ ῥ. πρὸς τὸν βίον Arist. EN 1101a29, cf. 1094a23, 1172a23; πλείστην παρέχεται ῥ. εἰς τὸ νικᾶν Plb. 6.52.9. III. decisive moment, crisis (i.e. victory), καὶ τὸν Βαλαὰμ . . ἀπέκτειναν ἐν τῇ ῥ. LXX Jo. 13.22: so generally, moment, πρὸς μίαν ῥ. . . διεφθάρη in one moment, ib.Wi. 18.12; ὑστάτην βίου ῥ. αὑτοῖς ἐκείνην δόξαντες εἶναι ib.3 Ma. 5.49; ἐν ῥοπῆς καιρῷ βραχεῖ AP 11.289 (Pall.). IV. discount deducted from a payment, PLond. 3.780.4 (vi A.D.), POxy. 143.3 (vi A.D.), etc.; perh. illicit commission, Cod. Just.4.59.1.1.

Key passages & sense analysis (Bonitz)

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