Plato › Greek Lexicon › σοφία

σοφία

sophia

cleverness

Appears 261 times across Plato's dialogues.

Frequency by work

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Dictionary (LSJ)

σοφία, Ion. -ιη, ἡ, prop. A. cleverness or skill in handicraft and art, as in carpentry, τέκτονος, ὅς ῥά τε πάσης εὖ εἰδῇ σ. Il. 15.412; of the Telchines, Pi. O. 7.53; ἡ ἔντεχνος σ., of Hephaestus and Athena, Pl. Prt. 32 1d; of Daedalus and Palamedes, X. Mem. 4.2.33, cf. 1.4.2; in music and singing, τέχνῃ καὶ σ. h.Merc. 483, cf. 511; in poetry, Sol. 13.52, Pi. O. 1.117, Ar. Ra. 882, X. An. 1.2.8, etc.; in driving, Pl. Thg. 123c; in medicine or surgery, Pi. P. 3.54; in divination, S. OT 502 (lyr.); δυσθανατῶν ὑπὸ σοφίας εἰς γῆρας ἀφίκετο Pl. R. 406b; σ. δημηγορική, δικανική, ib.365d; ἡ περὶ Ὁμήρου σ. Id. Ion 542a; οὐ σοφίᾳ ἀλλὰ φύσει ποιεῖν Id. Ap. 22b; σημαίνοντες τὴν σ . . ., ὅτι ἀρετὴ τέχνης ἐστίν Arist. EN 1141a12: rare in pl., Pi. O. 9.107, Ar. Ra. 676 (lyr.), IG 12.522 (vase, v B.C.). 2. skill in matters of common life. sound judgement, intelligence, practical wisdom, etc., such as was attributed to the seven sages, like φρόνησις, Thgn. 790,876,1074, Hdt. 1.30,60; ἡ τῶν δεινῶν σ., opp.ἀμαθία, Pl. Prt. 360d; τὴν τότε καλουμένην σ., οὖσαν δὲ δεινότητα πολιτικὴν καὶ δραστήριον σύνεσιν Plu. Them. 2; also, cunning, shrewdness, craft, Hdt. 1.68, etc.; τὸ λοιδορῆς αι θεοὺς ἐχθρὰ σ. Pi. O. 9.38. 3. learning, wisdom, μείζω τινὰ ἢ κατʼ ἄνθρωπον σοφίαν σοφοί Pl. Ap. 20e; opp. ἀμαθία, ib.22e; freq. in E., e.g. μόρσιμα . . οὐ σοφίᾳ τις ἀπώσεται Heracl. 615 (lyr.); τὸ σοφὸν οὐ σοφία (v. σοφός I.3) Ba. 395 (lyr.), etc.; freq. in Arist., speculative wisdom, EN 1141a19, Metaph. 982a2, 995b12 (pl.), 1059a18; defined as θείων τε καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων ἐπιστήμη, Stoic. 2.15; but also of natural philosophy and mathematics, σ. τις καὶ ἡ φυσική Arist. Metaph. 1005b1, cf. 1061b33. 4. among the Jews, ἀρχὴ σοφίας φόβος Κυρίου LXX Pr. 1.7, cf. Jb. 28.28, al.; Σοφία, recognized first as an attribute of God, was later identified with the Spirit of God, cf. LXX Pr. 8 with Si. 24sq. 5. later as a title, ἡ ὑμετέρα, ἡ ὑμῶν σ., POxy. 1165.6, PSI 7.790.14 (both vi A.D.).
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