Koalemos
Encyclopedia
In Greek mythology
, Koalemos is the god of stupidity, mentioned once by Aristophanes
. The word κοάλεμος was otherwise used in the sense "stupid person".
An ancient false etymology
derives κοάλεμος from κοέω (koeō) "perceive" and ἡλεός (ēleos)"distraught, crazed". Its actual etymology is not established.
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, Koalemos is the god of stupidity, mentioned once by Aristophanes
Aristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
. The word κοάλεμος was otherwise used in the sense "stupid person".
An ancient false etymology
False etymology
Folk etymology is change in a word or phrase over time resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more familiar one. Unanalyzable borrowings from foreign languages, like asparagus, or old compounds such as samblind which have lost their iconic motivation are...
derives κοάλεμος from κοέω (koeō) "perceive" and ἡλεός (ēleos)"distraught, crazed". Its actual etymology is not established.
Sources
- A Greek-English Lexicon compiled by H. G. Liddel and R. Scott. 10th edition with a revised supplement. – Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996. - p. 966, under κοάλεμος