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συντρίβω, to rub together, shivering to atoms is an expressive way to describe συντρίβω in its most extreme sense—utter destruction into tiny, irreparable fragments.
This phrase captures:
- Total disintegration → not just breaking, but reducing to minuscule parts, akin to shattering glass or exploding into splinters.
- Sudden, violent action → a forceful rupture, like a pot breaking into shards (τὴν χύτραν συντρίψασα, Plato Hp. Maior 290e).
Parallels in Greek Thought
- Aristophanes (Pax 71) → συντρίβῆναι τῆς κεφαλῆς (to have one’s head shattered).
- Thucydides (4.11) → συντρίβειν τὰς ναῦς (to stave in ships, breaking them apart).
- Euripides → συντρίβω = contundere (Latin: to pound, pulverize).
Etymological Force
- συν- (together, completely) + τρίβω (rub, wear down, crush)
- The root τρίβω already implies grinding, wearing down, but συν- amplifies it to total destruction.
Modern English Parallels
- Smash to smithereens
- Pulverize
- Reduce to dust
While συντρίβω primarily signifies grinding, smashing, and shattering, it is frequently used metaphorically to express mental, emotional, or existential destruction across different genres of Greek literature.
1. Philosophy & Intellectual Metaphors
In philosophical texts, συντρίβω often describes the shattering of ideas, hopes, or intellectual constructs—not just physical destruction.
- Aristophanes, Vespae 1050 → συντρίβειν τὴν ἐπίνοιαν (to shatter one's design or thought)
- Here, συντρίβω signifies intellectual failure, as if an idea were physically smashed.
- Demades (12), Demosthenes (10.44) → συντρίβειν τὴν ἐλπίδα (to crush hope).
- Like καταγνύω, it implies a total loss of expectation.
- Polybius (21.13.2) → συντρίβειν τῇ διανοίᾳ (mentally shattered).
- Used to describe extreme psychological exhaustion.
Philosophical Connection:
- Plato (Republic 611d) uses συντετριμμένος to describe the crushed parts of the soul, showing a metaphysical use of the word.
- The idea of συντρίβω as the collapse of one’s mental structure aligns with Stoic and Platonic thought on the fragility of human perception.
2. Tragedy & Emotional Ruin
Greek tragedy often applies συντρίβω to overwhelming grief, loss, or defeat.
- Euripides, Cyclops 705 → ἐπειὸς σε συντρίψω (for I will crush you).
- Here, συντρίβω implies utter physical domination, but the Cyclops' defeat also symbolizes humiliation and psychological collapse.
- Plutarch (Moral. 165b) → δέος συντρίβει τὸν ἄνθρωπον (fear crushes a man).
- Fear is likened to a grinding force that destroys the will.
- Menander (Epitrepontes 561) → ὁ τρόπος συντρίβει σε (your character crushes you).
- Here, one’s own personality is the destructive force.
Tragic Connection:
- Tragedy uses συντρίβω to express total defeat—physical, emotional, or existential.
- It conveys irreversibility (like a shattered vessel cannot be restored).
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