ὀλίγος

ὀλίγος [pron. full] [ῐ], η, ον, later [full] ὀλίος (q.v.), of Size,

A little, small, freq. in Hom., rarer later, opp.

μέγας, σάκος Il.14.376

;

κῦμα Od.10.94

, etc. ; ὀλίγῃ ὀπί with small, low voice, 14.492 ; of stature, 9.515 ;

ὀ. κῶρος Theoc.1.47

;

οὐκ ὀλίγης αἷμα βοὸς κέχυται Call.Aet.Oxy.2080.85

; of Space,

ὀ. χῶρος Il.10.161

, etc. ; of Time,

χρόνος 19.157

,23.418, Pi. N.7.38, etc. ;

ἐν βραχεῖ κὠλίγῳ χρόνῳ S.Fr.646

(cf. IV. 3).

2 sts. in a sense between that of Size and Quantity,

ὀ. δόσις Od.6.208

;

οὖρα ὀλίγα

not copious,

Hp.Epid.1.2

; ὑποστάσιες ὀλίγαι slight sediments, ib.17 ; ὀ. καὶ οὐδέν little or nothing, Pl.Ap.23a ;

οὐδὲν ἢ ὀ. Arist.PA651b17

.

3 of Degree, ὀ. καὶ μέγας of low and high degree, Callin.1.17.

4 weak,

ἀθυμοτέρη καὶ ὀλιγωτέρη φύσις Hp.Virg. 1

.

II of Number, few, or of Quantity, little, not in Hom., freq. in [dialect] Att., Ar.Av.1417, Eq.717, etc., but rare in Trag., as

ὀλίγα κακά A.Pers.330

.—The governing body in Oligarchies and the oligarchical party in Democracies was called οἱ ὀ., Th.6.38,8.9, etc. ; ἡ ὑπὸ τῶν ὀ. δυναστεία, αἱ διὰ τῶν ὀ. δυναστεῖαι, Pl.Plt.291d, D.60.25 ;

ἑνὸς καὶ πλήθους τὸ ὀ. μέσον Pl.Plt.303a

.

2 c. inf., ὀλίγους . . στρατιῇ τῇ Μήδων συμβαλεῖν too few to engage . . , Hdt.6.109, cf. 7.207 ;

μὴ . . αἱ σφέτεραι δέκα νῆες ὀλίγαι ἀμύνειν ὦσιν Th.1.50

.

III neut. ὀλίγον as Adv., a little, slightly, little, with Verbs,

ὀ. παρακλίνας Il.23.424

, cf. 11.52, 12.452 ;

φροντίσας E.Cyc.163

;

ὀ. τοῦ ποιήματος προελθών Pl.Prt.339d

: also neut. pl.,

ἠκροβολίσαντο ὀλίγα Th.3.73

.

2 with comp. Adjs.,

ὀλίγον προγενέστερος Il.23.789

;

ὀ. ἧσσον Od.15.365

;

στιβαρώτερον οὐκ ὀ. περ 8.187

;

φέρτερος οὐκ ὀ. περ Il.19.217

; ὀ. τι πρότερον, v.l. for ὀλίγῳ, Hdt.4.79,81, cf. Pl.Plt.262b, etc. ;

ὀ. ὕστερον Id.Grg.454b

, etc. ; but ὀλίγῳ is more freq. in Prose, Hdt. ll.cc. (with v.l.), 7.113, al., Pl.Grg.460c, R.327c, etc.

IV special Phrases:

1 ὀλίγου δεῖν almost (v. δεῖ II); ὀλίγου ἐδέησε καταλαβεῖν wanted but little of overtaking, Hdt.7.10.γ' : hence ὀλίγου alone, within a little, allbut, almost,

ὀλίγου σεκύνες διεδηλήσαντο Od.14.37

, cf. Ar.Ach.348,381,Nu.722, Lys.14.17, Pl.Prt.361b, D.19.334, etc. ;

ὀ. ἅπαντες Pl.Ap.22b

;

ὀ. ἐς χιλίους

close upon

1

,000, Th.4.124 ; ὀ. ἦλθεν ἑλεῖν (v. infr. 9) Paus.1.13.6.

2

δι' ὀλίγου

at a short distance,

E.Ph.1098

, Th.2.89,3.21, dub. in A.Th.762 (lyr.) ; for (during) a short time, Th.1.77,2.85,3.43 ; within or after a short time, Id.6.11,47,7.39, etc. ; but

b

δι' ὀλίγων

in few words,

Pl. Phlb.31d

, etc. ; v. infr. VI.2.

3 ἐν ὀλίγῳ (χώρῳ is added in Hdt. 9.70) in a small space, within small compass, E.Supp.1126 (lyr.) ;

ἐν ὀ. στρατοπεδευομένοις Th.4.26

; κυκλωθέντων ἐν ὀ. ib.96 ;

εἰς ταὐτὸ πάντα . . ἁθροίσαντ' ἐν ὀ. D.3.18

; also ἐν ὀ. (sc. χρόνῳ) for a brief time, Pi.P.8.92 ; but also, in a short time, quickly,

ἔγνων καὶ περὶ τῶν ποιητῶν ἐν ὀ. τοῦτο Pl.Ap.22b

, cf. Th.4.55, Act.Ap.26.28.

b ἐν ὀλίγοις one among few, i.e. exceedingly, remarkably,

ποταμὸς ἐν ὀ. μέγας Hdt.4.52

;

ἐν ὀλίγοισι Περσέων . . ἀνὴρ δόκιμος Id.9.41

: freq. in later writers, Plu. Pomp.10, Hld.3.1 ; so σὺν ὀλίγοις, v. infr. 10.

4 ἐξ ὀλίγου at short notice, suddenly,

ἐξ ὀ. καὶ δι' ὀργῆς Th.2.11

, cf. 61,4.108, etc.

5 ἐς ὀλίγον, like παρ' ὀλίγον, within a little, ἐς ὀ. ἀφίκετο τὸ στράτευμα νικηθῆναι ib.129.

6

ἐπ' ὀλίγον

for a short time,

Hp.Prorrh.1.26

, Plot. 4.4.29, Gp.7.12.22, 10.7.10, etc. ; a little at a time, Hp.VC18 ;

εἴρηται ἐν τῷ [βιβλίῳ] ἐπ' ὀλίγον

a little way on, near the beginning,

Gal.15.428

.

7

κατ' ὀλίγον

by little and little,

Th.1.69

, Pl.Ti.85d, Luc. Nec.11, etc. ;

ἐκ τοῦ κατ' ὀ. D.S.15.34

, Ath.Med. ap. Orib.1.2.6 : but the Adj.freq. takes the gender and number of its Subst.,

κατ' ὀλίγους Hdt.2.93

, 8.113 ; οὗτοι κατ' ὀλίγους γινόμενοι ἐμάχοντο fought few at a time, in small parties, Id.9.102, cf. Pl.Tht.197d ; κατ' ὀλίγον μαχεῖται (sc. τὸ πλῆθος αὐτῶν) Th.4.10.

8

μετ' ὀλίγον τούτων

shortly after . . ,

X.HG1.1.2

.

9 παρ' ὀλίγον with little to spare, only just,

ἀπέφυγες E.IT870

(lyr.) ; to within a short distance of,

παρ' ὀ. ἦλθε . . ἐκπεσεῖν Plb. 2.55.4

, cf. 18.46.12 ; but

b παρ' ὀ. ποιεῖσθαι hold of small account, X.An.6.6.11.

10 σὺν ὀλίγοις, = ἐν ὀλίγοις, ἐπαινεθῆναι Plu.Galb.3 ; v. supr. IV.3b.

V regul. Adv. ὀλίγως is rare, 2 Ep.Pet.2.18, Aq. Is.10.7 ;

οὐκ ὀ. AP12.205

(Strat.).

VI Comparison :

1 the [comp] Comp. is commonly supplied by μείων, ἥσσων, or ἐλάσσων (qq.v.) ; the older form ὀλείζων (fr. Ολειγ-ψων) is found in Hom., λαοὶ δ' ὑπ' ὀλείζονες ἦσαν (ὑπολίζονες codd.) Il.18.519 ; so in [dialect] Att. Inscrr., IG12.76.8 (written ὄλεζον ib.63.17, al.) ; τοῖσι . . ὀλείζοσι μυστηρίοισιν ib.6.76, cf. 95 ; ὀλείζους is prob. in X.Ath.2.1 (μείζους codd.) ; so in Alexandrian Poets, Call.Jov.72 (ὀλίζοσι codd.), AP9.521 ; ἐς ὀλίζονας ἀστέρας ἄρκτου Poet. ap. Theodos. in HilgardExc.exHdn.p.19 ; also

ὀλίζωνες Nic.Th.123

, ὀλίζωνα ib.372 ; ὀλιζότερος is found in Id.Al. 479, Opp.C.3.65,394, cf. ὀλιζόω ; ὀλιγώτερος is found in Hp.Virg.I (with the sense weaker, v. supr. 1.4), S.E.M.1.70, App.Pun.42, Mith.24, Ael.NA2.42,6.51.

2 [comp] Sup. ὀλίγιστος, η, ον, always of Number or Quantity, Il.19.223, Hes.Op.723, IG12.54.7, Ar.Ra.115, Pl.628, Pl.R.473b, al. ; ὀλιγίστου, [comp] Sup. of ὀλίγου (cf. IV. I), very nearly, Phot., Hsch. (ubi ὀλιγωστοῦ) ; ὀλίγιστον as Adv., least, very little, Pl.R.587b ;

τὸ ὀ.

at least,

Id.Prm.149a

;

ὡς ὀλίγιστα Id.Grg. 510a

, Lg.953a (v.l. ὀλιγοστά) ;

ἐν ὀλιγίστῳ διασαφῶν Eust.1262.54

; so

δι' ὀλιγίστων Pl.Ep.351d

(interpol.). (Aspirated in papyri of ii-iii A.D., as

μεθ' ὁλίγον BGU388.11

, cf. 146.10.)