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ἀνάγκη

anagke

force, constraint, necessity

Appears 721 times across Plato's dialogues.

Frequency by work

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Dictionary (LSJ)

ἀνάγκη, Ion. and Ep. ἀναγκαίη, ἡ, A. force, constraint, necessity, κρατερὴ δʼ ἐπικείσετʼ ἀ. Il. 6.458; ἀναγκαίη γὰρ ἐπείγει ib.85; ἀναγκαίῃ πολεμίζειν 4.300; τίς τοι ἀνάγκη πτώσσειν; 5.633; οἷσιν ἀ. (sc. φυλάσσειν) 10.418, al.: but in Hom. usu. in dat. as Adv., ἀνάγκῃ perforce, of necessity, ἀείδειν Od. 1.154; φεύγειν Il. 11.150: in act. sense, forcibly, by force, ἴσχειν, ἄγειν, Od. 4.557, 22.353; μνήσασθαι 7.217: strengthd. by καί, 10.434; ὑπʼ ἀνάγκης 19.156; opp. ἑκόντες, Pl. Phdr. 231a; ὑπʼ ἀναγκαίης Hdt. 7.172, al.; ἐξ ἀνάγκης S. Ph. 73, Th. 3.40, etc.; διʼ ἀνάγκης Pl. Ti. 47e; σὺν ἀνάγκᾳ Pi. P. 1.51; πρὸς ἀνάγκαν A. Pers. 569 codd. (lyr.), cf. Epict. Ench. 29.2; κατʼ ἀνάγκην X. Cyr. 4.3.7: ἀνάγκη ἐστί, c. inf., it must be that . . , is necessary that . . , cf. Il. supr. cit.; πᾶσα ἀ. ἐστὶ ὗσαι Hdt. 2.22; τρέφειν τοὺς τοκέας τοῖσι μὲν παισὶν οὐδεμία ἀ., τῇσι δὲ θυγατράσι πᾶσα ἀ. ib.35: c. dat. pers., ἀ. μοι σχεθεῖν A. Pr. 16, cf. Pers. 293:—in Trag. freq. in answers and arguments, πολλή γʼ ἀνάγκη, πολλήʼ στʼ ἀνάγκη, or πολλή μʼ ἀνάγκη, with which an inf. may always be supplied, E. Med. 1013, Hec. 396, S. Tr. 295; so πᾶσʼ ἀνάγκη El. 1497, cf. Pl. R. 441d; ἀνάγκη μεγάλη [ἐστί] ib.485e, Is. 3.6, D. 28.9; ἐν ἀνάγκῃ ἐστί Lys. 6.8: later ἀνάγκην ἔχω, c. inf., Ev.Luc. 14.18. 2. necessity in the philosophical sense, Arist. APo. 94b37, Metaph. 1026b28, Ph. 199b34; logical necessity, Metaph.1064b33: in pl., laws of nature, τίσιν ἀνάγκαις ἕκαστα γίγνεται τῶν οὐρανίων X. Mem. 1.1.11, cf. Hp. Aër. 21. b. natural need, γαστρὸς ἀνάγκαις A. Ag. 726, cf. Ar. Nu. 1075, X. Cyn. 7.1; ὑπʼ ἀ. τῆς ἐμφύτου Pl. R. 458d; ἐρωτικαῖς ἀ. ib., etc. c. ἡ ἀ. τοῦ τόπου the lie of the ground as a necessary condition, PLille 4.14. d. ἀνάγκη δαιμόνων, αἱ ἐκ θεῶν ἀνάγκαι, fate, destiny, E. Ph. 1000, 1763: freq. personified in Poets, Parm. 8.30, Emp. 116, A. Pr. 105, S. Fr. 256; Ἀνάγκᾳ δʼ οὐδὲ θεοὶ μάχονται Simon. 5.21. 3. compulsion exerted by a superior, ἀ. προστιθέναι, ἐπιτιθέναι, X. Hier. 9.4, Lac. 10.7. b. violence, punishment, esp. of torture, mostly pl., ἐς ἀνάγκας ἄγεσθαι Hdt. 1.116, cf. Antipho 6.25, Herod. 5.5; προσάγειν τινὶ τὰς ἀνάγκας Th. 1.99; τὰ πρὸς ἀνάγκας ὄργανα instruments of torture, Plb. 15.28.2: later in sg., ἡ ἀ. τῶν βασάνων Plu. 2.305e; πρὸς ἀνάγκην under torture, Id. Publ. 17: metaph., Hp. de Arte 13; δολοποιὸς ἀ., i. e. the stratagem of Nessus, S. Tr. 832; βρόχων πλεκταῖς ἀνάγκαις Xenarch. 1.9. c. duress, ‘force majeure’, ὅρκους οὓς ποιέονται ἐν ἀνάγκῃ ὄντες Democr. 239; stress of circumstances, ἀκούσιοι ἀ. Th. 3.82. d. treatment by mechanical force, τῶν ἀναγκῶν τινὰ προσφέρειν Hp. Fract. 15, cf. Art. 73. 4. bodily pain, anguish, κατʼ ἀνάγκην ἕρπειν painfully, S. Ph. 206 (lyr.); ὑπʼ ἀνάγκης βοᾶν ib.215; ὠδίνων ἀνάγκαι E. Ba. 89 (lyr.): generally, distress, ἐν ἀνάγκαις γλυκὺ γίνεται καὶ τὸ σκληρόν Simon. 226; freq. in LXX, Jb. 15.24, al.; ἡ ἐνεστῶσα ἀ. 1 Ep.Cor. 7.26: esp. in pl., IG 12 (7).386.23 (Amorgos, iii B. C.), D.S. 4.43, 2 Ep.Cor. 6.4, etc. II. tie of blood, kindred, Lys. 32.5. III. = ἡ δικαστικὴ κλεψύδρα, Hsch.
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