# αvαɣkη



## Jocaste

Good evening everyone ^^

May anyone tell me what *αvαɣkη* means please ?
I tried to transcribe roughly the word.

Thanks in advance for any help 

(translation in French, Spanish, German, English or Italian, does not matter  )


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## Gnosi

Hi 
well ανάγκη means "need"

I don't know the context so I can't tell if it is used metaphorically.

Gnosi


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## anthodocheio

"Ανάγκη" means "need" the noun. In Spanish "necesidad".


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## pulcinella

Yes, normally it means "need", "necessity", "bisogno" (in Italian). Depending on the context it may also mean other things, eg like "bisogno". For example "να κανω την αναγκη μου" means "to pee", "to urinate", "to make water" in an informal way and avoiding to use a "vulgar" phrase.

It could also be other - if you place the exact phrase here, it'll be easier to say what the exact meaning is.


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## wonderment

pulcinella said:


> Yes, normally it means "need", "necessity", "bisogno" (in Italian). Depending on the context it may also mean other things, eg like "bisogno". For example "να κανω την αναγκη μου" means "to pee", "to urinate", "to make water" in an informal way and avoiding to use a "vulgar" phrase.
> 
> It could also be other - if you place the exact phrase here, it'll be easier to say what the exact meaning is.



That's funny--in English, there's a similar idiom: "I need to go" or "I have to answer nature's call."

Anyway, in ancient Greek literature ανάγκη is a very serious word loaded with meaning--it's Necessity (with a capital N). For a range of possible meanings, see here.

(pucinella, there must be a way we can help you with Greek fonts. Have you checked the links in the Resources Suggestions?)


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## pulcinella

Hi wondermant. I have Greek fonts but I don't know how to use accents and other symbols - there must be some way and I probably just have to look for that in my keyboard but as I don't usually write in Greek and I'm using a pc bought in Italy, I don't know where exactly these symbols are.

Thanx anyway


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## Jocaste

Thanks to all of you guys 
Really appreciated, truly ^^


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## Spectre scolaire

Gnosi said:


> I don't know the *context* so I can't tell if it is used metaphorically [or not].


 This could be an important point here. 

_My_ first thought when a question about the word *ἀνάγκη* comes from France was Victor Hugo’s mentioning it on the first page of his famous book _Notre-Dame de Paris_ – in fact before the beginning of the first chapter.
 ​


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## Jocaste

Gnosi said:


> I don't know the context so I can't tell if it is used metaphorically.


It was a text about economics actually.
So _need_ fits well (for me anyway ^^)


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## Outsider

Ananke was also an ancient Greek goddess who personified necessity and bondage.


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## Spectre scolaire

I wouldn’t really call Ananke a “goddess” on par with others goddesses in Greek mythology. A typical trait linked to mythological _persons_ cherished (or feared) among the Ancient Greeks is the fact that they are all offsprings of somebody – or at least, they have a history (however strange) of how they came into being. Ananke doesn’t have either – as far as I can remember.

I would have liked to look up Ananke in Robert Graves’ _Greek Myths_ (but I don’t have his two volume work next to me for the time being). Hesiod may be a better source, but Graves – even considering his many highly personal interpretations - is a reliable read as far as the gallery of _personae_ in Greek mythology is concerned. If he mentions Ananke as a goddess - the Penguin edition has got an exhaustive index - I’ll give you a point.

And yet I’d be reluctant...  
 ​


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## Vagabond

Spectre scolaire said:


> I wouldn’t really call Ananke a “goddess” on par with others goddesses in Greek mythology. A typical trait linked to mythological _persons_ cherished (or feared) among the Ancient Greeks is the fact that they are all offsprings of somebody – or at least, they have a history (however strange) of how they came into being. Ananke doesn’t have either – as far as I can remember.


"In Greek mythology, *Ananke* (Ancient Greek: Ανάγκη) was the personification of destiny, necessity and fate, depicted as holding a spindle. She marks the beginning of the cosmos, along with Cronos. She was also the mother of the Moirae, the three fates who were fathered by Zeus. She was worshipped until the creation of the Orphic mystery religion. In Roman mythology, she was called Necessitas ("necessity")."

I'd call someone who marked the beginning of the cosmos along with Cronos, mothered the Moirae and was worshipped as a goddess well, a goddess.  

(Mythologically speaking, of course)

PS: Here is a link that elaborates more on her origins and symbolism.


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## Spectre scolaire

Thanks for your reminder, _Vagabond_ – and one point to _Outsider_! 

I never thought of Ananke as having a shape, and it is indeed most uncommon to portray her. According to the suggested link – 


> Perhaps the only ancient representation of the goddess, the torch-bearing figure [on an Athenian red-figure _lekythos_ from 5th c. BC] is labelled with her name.


 The reason for this scarcity of representation is probably that Ananke belongs to --



> The primeval gods or "Protogenoi" of Greek mythology, [...] the basic components of the universe which were emerged at creation. They included Earth, Air, Sea, Sky, Fresh Water, Underworld, Darkness, Night, Light, Day, Procreation and Time.


 Ananke appeared together with the “Big Bang” of the Greek universe, so to say. She does not belong to the Greek mythological world of very tangible “persons”, as it were – I explicitly called the gods _personae_, those having a recognizable _face_. Ananke belongs to the primeval elements of the universe. That sets her somehow apart, I suppose. In the classical literature she is also consistently referred to as something abstract.
 I’d better pay a visit to the Pushkin State Museum in Moscow. ​


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