Everything about Anax totally explained
» For the genus of dragon flies, see Anax (dragonfly).
is an ancient
Greek word for "
king". It is one of the two Greek titles traditionally translated this way, the other being
basileus, which also translates as
sovereign.
Anax can be interpreted more accurately as "
high king".
The word
anax derives from the stem wanakt-', and appears in
Mycenaean written as (}}). The
digamma was pronounced
/w/ and was dropped very early by eastern Greek
dialects (for example
Ionian).
The word
Anax in the
Iliad refers to
Agamemnon (for example "Commander-in-Chief") and
Priam, kings who exercise overlordship over other kings. This possible hierarchy of one "anax" exercising power over several local "basileis" probably hints to a proto-feudal political organization of Bronze Age Greece. The
Linear B word (), meaning "royal", and the Greek word , meaning "palace", are derived from . Anax is also a ceremonial epithet of the God
Zeus ("Zeus Anax") in his capacity as overlord of the Universe, including the rest of the Gods. The meaning of "king" of
basileus in Classical Greece is due to a shift in terminology that took place during the
Greek Dark Ages. In Mycenaean times, a appears to be a lower-ranking official, while in Homer, Anax is already an archaic title, used for legendary heroes and gods rather than for contemporary kings.
The Greek title has been compared to
Sanskrit, a word for "merchant", but in the
Rigveda once used as a title of
Indra. The word could then be from
PIE *, roughly "bringer of spoils" (compare the etymology of
lord, "giver of bread"; compare also the
Vanir).
In Modern Usage
In modern greek the term is still in use in the description of the royal palace for example anactora meaning "The mansion of anax".
Further Information
Get more info on 'Anax'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://anax.totallyexplained.com">Anax Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
