# τερπνὸν κακόν



## María A

Hola:
Estoy leyendo De Profundis de Oscar Wilde, y él escribe:



> _"...You forgot – I will not say the formal courtesy of thanks, for formal courtesies will strain a close friendship – but simply the grace of sweet companionship, the charm of pleasant conversation, that *τερπνὸν κακόν* as the Greeks called it..._"



Por deducción puedo interpretar que se refiere al "encanto de una conversación agradable", pero siento que es una definición pobre y que tiene más significado. Les agradecería cualquier clase de aporte con respecto a esta expresión.


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## Perseas

> _"...You forgot – I will not say the formal courtesy of thanks, for  formal courtesies will strain a close friendship – but simply the grace  of sweet companionship, the charm of pleasant conversation, that *τερπνὸν καλόν* as the Greeks called it..._"



Hi,

first of all, it's καλόν, which means "the beauty of outward form" and "the moral beauty, the virtue" as well (κακόν=bad);τερπνόν means "delightful, pleasant".

I don't have read the book but I guess the author is trying to admonish his friend for she has not recognized the "sacrifices" he had done in the name of their friendship; she ought at least show true and meaningful sentiments towards him. The narrator distinguishes this behaviour from a behaviour marked of social conventions that may contain untrue or factitius features.  That's what I make of.

PS: Sorry for answering in English, I wish I knew Spanish.


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## María A

Thank you, Perseas! So then _*τερπνὸν καλόν*_ is used to describe -for example- the feeling you get when you're having a meaningful, satisfying conversation? I still find it kind of hard to fully understand what the expresion means in this context. 

And it's okay, I wish I knew _Greek_!


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## Perseas

Emmm ... yes. Τhe true feelings in a  _ close friendship_  , the _ grace  of a sweet companionship_ , the _charm of a pleasant conversation_       are all compressed into the Greek _καλόν τερπνόν_.


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## Tassos

Maria,
Dada la forma del libro (que, como sabes, en realidad es una letra), es posible que Wilde quiere decir algo "más" con esta expresión (y por eso él está utilizando una expresión griega). Pero no "mucho más" de lo que se puede leer en el resto de la frase. (siempre en relación a su amistad con el destinatario de la carta).
Perseas, it's a he, not a she.


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## an-alfabeto

Greetings!
Maybe the spanish equivalent of the words helps you understand it better:

τερπνόν: placentero
καλόν: bueno


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## Tibotzel

Ιt's κακόν, from Euripides' Hippolytus 384: 

Εἰσὶ δ' ἡδοναὶ πολλαὶ βίου,
μακραί τε λέσχαι καὶ σχολή, τερπνὸν κακόν


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## fdb

Yes, good old Oscar Wilde did actually know the classics, unlike some....


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## Αγγελος

No conocía la frase griega, ni su orígen, pero las palabras τερπνὸν y κακόν se usan todavía en la lengua. El alcohol o el tabaco sarían ejemplos de τερπνὸν κακόν.


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