The Homer Reader The Iliad & Odyssey · Greek and English

πατήρ

pater

father

Appears 414 times across Homer's epics.

Frequency by work

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Dictionary (LSJ)

πατήρ, ὁ, gen. and dat. πατέρος, πατέρι in Ep. and Lyr., Att. πατρός, πατρί (which is also the commoner form in Hom., Hes., and Pi.) ; acc. always πατέρα ; voc. πάτερ : pl. πατέρες, πατέρας, πατέρων (πατρῶν only Od. 4.687, 8.245) ; dat. πατράσι [ᾰ] (cf. Skt. loc. pl. pitṛṣu, no dat. pl. occurs in Hom. or Hes.), late Ep. πατέρεσσι Q.S. 10.40 :—
father, Il. 1.98, etc. ; πατρὸς πατήρ grandfather, 14.118, Od. 19.180, X. HG 6.3.4, etc. ; τοῦδε κεκλῆσθαι πατρός S. Fr. 86 ; μητρὸς καλεῖσθαι παῖδα τοῦ π. παρόν ib. 564 ; τὰ πρὸς πατρός by the fatherʼs side, Hdt. 7.99, cf. SIG 1015.7 (Halic.), etc. ; esp. of God, the father of the Israelites, LXX De. 32.6, al. ; father of men, Ev.Matt. 6.8, al. ; father of Jesus Christ, ib. 7.21, al.
II. esp. as epith. of Zeus, πατὴρ Ζεύς, π. Κρονίδης, π. ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε, Il. 4.235, 21.508, 1.544, al. ; Ζεὺς π. A. Th. 512, etc. ; Ζεῦ πάτερ καὶ θεοί Ar. Ach. 225 ; π. Οὐρανιδᾶν Ζ. Pi. P. 4.194 ; ὁ τῶν ἁπάντων Ζεὺς π. Ὀλύμπιος S. Tr. 275, etc.
III. respectful mode of addressing persons older than oneself, ξεῖνε πάτερ Od. 7.28, 48, 8.145, cf. POxy. 1296.15 (iii A. D.), etc. ; in addressing an elder brother, UPZ 65.3 (ii B.C.).
IV. metaph., father, author, ἀοιδᾶν π . . . εὐαίνητος Ὀρφεύς Pi. P. 4.176 ; χρόνος ὁ πάντων π. Id. O. 2.17, cf. Pl. Ti. 41a ; τοῦ λόγου π. Id. Smp. 177d, cf. Phdr. 257b, etc. ; ὁ π. τῶν φώτων, i.e. God, the father of the stars, Ep.Jac. 1.17 ; οἱ π. τῶν ἀτόμων the authors of the atomic theory, Gal. 1.246 ; of capital, τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκγόνους τόκους Pl. R. 555e.
V. title of a grade in the mysteries of Mithras, IG 14.1272, etc.
VI. π. πατρίδος, = Lat. pater patriae, Plu. Cic. 23, BGU 1074.1 (i A. D.), IG 7.2713.33 (Acraeph., i A. D.), etc. ; similarly, π. τῆς πόλεως ib. 5(1).1417.11 (Methone).
VII. in pl.,
1. forefathers, Il. 6.209, etc. ; ἐξέτι πατρῶν from our fathers’ time, Od. 8.245 ; ἐκ πατέρων Pi. P. 8.45.
2. parents, D.S. 21.17, Alciphr. 3.40, Epigr.Gr. 227 (Teos).
3. parent-nation, opp. colonists, Hdt. 7.51, 8.22, Plu. Them. 9. (Cf. Skt. pitár-, Lat. pater, etc.)
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