Ancient Greek

Proper noun

Πρόξενος • ‎(Próxenos) m ‎(genitive Προξένου); second declension

1. Proxenus

Inflection

Descendants

• Greek: Πρόξενος ‎(Próxenos)
• Latin: Proxenus

References

• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English-Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,023

Ancient Greek

Noun

πρόξενος • ‎(próxenos) m, f ‎(genitive προξένου); second declension

1. a public foreigner, public guest or friend, made so by an act of the state
   • Herodotus, Histories 8.136
   • Herodotus, Histories 8.143
   1. in ancient inscriptions the πρόξενος ‎(próxenos) seems to be a public officer who had to do with registration of wills
2. a patron, protector
   • Aeschylus, The Suppliants 419, 492, 919, 920
   1. (as adjective) assisting, relieving
      • Palatine Anthology 1.28,4

Usage notes

The word expressed the same relation between a State and an individual of another State, that ξένος ‎(xénos) expressed between individuals of different States; , (but the relation between two States was also expressed by ξενία ‎(xenía) (Hdt. 6.21). In time this relation assumed a formal, diplomatic character, and the πρόξενος ‎(próxenos) enjoyed his privileges under the condition of entertaining and assisting the ambassadors and citizens of the State which he represented, so that the πρόξενοι ‎(próxenoi) answered pretty nearly to our Consuls, Agents, Residents, though the πρόξενος ‎(próxenos) was always a member of the foreign State. The office was at first probably self-chosen (compare ἐθελοπρόξενος Thuc. 3. 70), but soon became matter of appointment : the πρόξενος ‎(próxenos) was bound so to identify himself with the people he represented, that their country became to him a second country. Plat. Legg. 642 B. At Athens and in other Greek States, every State chose its own πρόξενος ‎(próxenos); at Sparta the πρόξενοι ‎(próxenoi) were appointed by the Kings (Hdt. 6. 57) or by the People (C. I. 1335, Diog. L. 2. 51). As examples of Athenian πρόξενοι ‎(próxenoi) in foreign states, we find Pindar at Thebes, Thucydides at Pharsalus, Doxander at Mytilene, Isocr. Antid. § 179 = 166, Thuc. 8. 92, Arist. Pol. 5. 4, 6 ; compare Thuc. 2. 29., 3. 2, Aeschin. 90. 23, etc. ; as Spartan πρόξενοι ‎(próxenoi) at Athens, Cimon, Alcibiades and Callias, Andoc. 23. 43, Thuc. 5. 43., 6. 89, Xen. ****. 5. 4, 22 ; so, at Athens, Nicias was πρόξενος ‎(próxenos) of Syracuse, Diod. 13. 27; Demosthenes and Thraso of Thebes, Aeschin. 46. 42 sq., 73. 20 ; at Sparta, Lichas was πρόξενος ‎(próxenos) of Argos, Thuc. 5. 76; Pharax of Boeotia, Xen. ****. 4. 5, 6 ; Clearchus of Byzantium, lb. i. 1, 35 ; Polydamas of Thessaly, lb. 6. 1 , 4. Tyrants also and barbarian States had their πρόξενοι ‎(próxenoi), compare Id. An. 5. 4, 2., 5. 6, 11. At Delphi there seems to have been a set of official πρόξενοι ‎(próxenoi), not attached to any special states, Eur. Ion 551, 1039, Andr. 1103; compare the Δελφοὶ ξεναγέται ‎(Delphoì xenagétai) of Pind. N. 7. 63. The προξενία ‎(proxenía) sometimes was exercised by whole families and became an hereditary office, Thuc. 3. 2 and 85., 5. 43, Xen. Symp. 8, 39. The Athenian πρόξενοι ‎(próxenoi) had (as we know) special privileges when they visited Athens, such as ἰσοτέλεια ‎(isotéleia), προεδρία ‎(proedría), etc., Dem. 475. 10, Dinarch. 95. fin.—On their duties, v. Dem. 1237. 17, compare Herm. Pol. Ant. § n6. 4, Ulrich de Proxenia (Berl. 1832), Meier de Pr. (Hal. 1843).

Declension

References

• πρόξενος in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• πρόξενος in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• «πρόξενος» in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• πρόξενος in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English-Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • agent idem, page 18.
  • consul idem, page 165.
  • minister idem, page 531.
  • patron idem, page 599.
  • patroness idem, page 599.
  • protector idem, page 653.
  • protectress idem, page 653.
  • Proxenus idem, page 1023.
  • representative idem, page 698.

Greek

Etymology 1

προ- ‎(pro-, “for”) +‎ ξένος ‎(xénos, “stranger”)

Noun

πρόξενος • ‎(próxenos) m, f ‎(plural πρόξενοι)

1. (diplomacy) consul

Declension

Related terms

• see: προξενείο n ‎(proxeneío, “consulate”)

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek προξενῶ ‎(proxenô)

Noun

πρόξενος • ‎(próxenos) m, f ‎(plural πρόξενοι)

1. cause

Declension