λειτουργέω

• λητουργέω (lētourgéō) — earlier Attic
• (perform religious service, minister): λῑτουργέω (lītourgéō)

λειτουργός (leitourgós, “one who performs a λειτουργία, a public servant”) +‎ -έω (-éō, denominative suffix)

λειτουργέω • (leitourgéō)

1. (at Athens, construed with a cognate accusative) serve public offices at one’s own cost
   • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Antidosis 145:

     πρὸς δὲ τούτοις οὕτως ἰδίοις οὖσι καὶ περιττοῖς κἀκεῖνο λέγεις, ὡς τῶν μὲν ἀρχῶν καὶ τῶν ὠφελιῶν τῶν ἐντεῦθεν γιγνομένων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων τῶν κοινῶν ἐξέστηκας, εἰς δὲ τοὺς διακοσίους καὶ χιλίους τοὺς εἰσφέροντας καὶ λειτουργοῦντας οὐ μόνον αὑτὸν παρέχεις ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν υἱόν, καὶ τρὶς μὲν ἤδη τετριηραρχήκατε, τὰς δ’ ἄλλας λειτουργίας πολυτελέστερον λελειτουργήκατε καὶ κάλλιον ὧν οἱ νόμοι προστάττουσι.

     pròs dè toútois hoútōs idíois oûsi kaì perittoîs kakeîno légeis, hōs tôn mèn arkhôn kaì tôn ōpheliôn tôn enteûthen gignoménōn kaì tôn állōn hapántōn tôn koinôn exéstēkas, eis dè toùs diakosíous kaì khilíous toùs eisphérontas kaì leitourgoûntas ou mónon hautòn parékheis allà kaì tòn huión, kaì trìs mèn ḗdē tetriērarkhḗkate, tàs d’ állas leitourgías polutelésteron leleitourgḗkate kaì kállion hôn hoi nómoi prostáttousi.

     • 1980 translation by George Norlin

       And to these peculiarities and idiosyncrasies you add another, namely, that you have held aloof from the public offices and the emoluments which go with them, and from all other privileges of the commonwealth as well, while you have enrolled not only yourself but your son among the twelve hundred who pay the war-taxes and bear the liturgies, and you and he have three times discharged the trierarchy, besides having performed the other services more generously and handsomely than the laws require.

   • 4th century BC, Isaeus, Philoctemon 60:

     καὶ Φανόστρατος μὲν τετριηράρχηκεν ἑπτάκις ἤδη, τὰς δὲ λῃτουργίας ἁπάσας λελῃτούργηκε καὶ τὰς πλείστας νίκας νενίκηκεν: οὑτοσὶ δὲ Χαιρέστρατος τηλικοῦτος ὢν τετριηράρχηκε, κεχορήγηκε δὲ τραγῳδοῖς, γεγυμνασιάρχηκε δὲ λαμπάδι: καὶ τὰς εἰσφορὰς εἰσενηνόχασιν ἀμφότεροι πάσας ἐν τοῖς τριακοσίοις.

     kaì Phanóstratos mèn tetriērárkhēken heptákis ḗdē, tàs dè lēitourgías hapásas lelēitoúrgēke kaì tàs pleístas níkas neníkēken: houtosì dè Khairéstratos tēlikoûtos ṑn tetriērárkhēke, kekhorḗgēke dè tragōidoîs, gegumnasiárkhēke dè lampádi: kaì tàs eisphoràs eisenēnókhasin amphóteroi pásas en toîs triakosíois.

     • 1962 translation by Edward Seymour Forster

       Phanostratus has already been trierarch seven times, and he has performed all the public services and has generally been victorious. Chaerestratus here, young as he is, has been trierarch; he has been choregus in the tragic competitions; he has been gymnasiarch at the torch-races. Both of them have paid all the special war-taxes, being numbered among the three hundred.

   • 440 BCE – 390 BCE, Andocides, On the Mysteries 132
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Aphobus 1 64
   • 4th century BC, Isaeus, Philoctemon 61:

     λ. τὰ προσταττόμενα

     l. tà prostattómena

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Polycles 9:

     δύο λειτουργίας

     dúo leitourgías

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, Against Simon 47
   • 4th century BC, Isaeus, Pyrrhus 80:

     λ. ὑπέρ τινος

     l. hupér tinos

     serve these offices for another

   • 4th century BC, Isaeus, Philoctemon 64
2. (generally) perform public duties, serve the state
   • 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, On the Confiscation of the Property of the Brother of Nicias 7:

     συνῄδεσαν γὰρ ἅπασιν αὐτοῖς ὑπὸ τῆς πόλεως τιμωμένοις, καὶ πολλαχοῦ μὲν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν κεκινδυνευκόσι, μεγάλας δ’ εἰσφορὰς εἰσενηνοχόσι καὶ λελῃτουργηκόσι κάλλιστα, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων οὐδενὸς πώποτ’ ἀποστᾶσιν ὧν ἡ πόλις αὐτοῖς προσέταξεν, ἀλλὰ προθύμως λῃτουργοῦσι.

     sunḗidesan gàr hápasin autoîs hupò tês póleōs timōménois, kaì pollakhoû mèn hupèr humôn kekinduneukósi, megálas d’ eisphoràs eisenēnokhósi kaì lelēitourgēkósi kállista, kaì tôn állōn oudenòs pṓpot’ apostâsin hôn hē pólis autoîs prosétaxen, allà prothúmōs lēitourgoûsi.

     • 1930 translation by Walter Rangeley Maitland Lamb

       For they were conscious of the honor in which the whole family were held by the city, and how they had faced danger on your behalf in many places, and had made many large contributions to your funds, and had most nobly performed their public services; how they had never once evaded any of the other duties enjoined on them by the State, but had eagerly discharged them all.

   • 266/5 B.C.E., Inscriptiones Graecae 22.665.7–13:

     ἐπειδφηβεύσαντες ἐπὶ Μεν- / λέους ἄρχοντος ποχοντος τὴν πόλιν διέμει- / πάντες εὐτακτοιθόμενοι τοῖς τε νόμο / ὶ τῶι κοσμητεαὶ ν τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν τὰς - / ὰς λειτουγοῦντες κα τὰ παρανγελλόμενα ὑπὸ / τρατηγοῦ εἰς τὴν το̣ῦ Μείου φυλακήν, καθάπερ ἐτά- / πὸ τοῦ δήμου·

     epeidphēbeúsantes epì Men- / léous árkhontos pokhontos tḕn pólin diémei- / pántes eutaktoithómenoi toîs te nómo / ì tôi kosmēteaì n tòn eniautòn tàs - / às leitougoûntes ka tà parangellómena hupò / tratēgoû eis tḕn tọû Meíou phulakḗn, katháper etá- / pò toû dḗmou;

     • 2015 translation by Sean Byrne

       since all the ephebes who served in the archonship of Menekles (267/6) when war was gripping the city maintained good order and obedience to the laws and the superintendent and continued for the year to fulfil their guard duties and the other orders issued by the general in the guarding of the Mouseion, where they were stationed by the People;

   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Memorabilia 2.7.6:

     τῇ πόλει

     têi pólei

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, On the Peace 13:

     ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας οὐσίας ὑμῖν λ.

     ek tês idías ousías humîn l.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Politics 1291a.34:

     τὸ ταῖς οὐσίαις λειτουργοῦν, ὃ καλοῦμεν εὐπόρους

     tò taîs ousíais leitourgoûn, hò kaloûmen eupórous

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians 29.5:

     τοῖς σώμασιν καὶ τοῖς χρήμασιν λ.

     toîs sṓmasin kaì toîs khrḗmasin l.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 361 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Midias 165:

     λ. τοῖς σώμασιν

     l. toîs sṓmasin

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Politics 1291a.35:

     τὸ περὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς λ.

     tò perì tàs arkhàs l.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Politics 1291a.37:

     λ. τῇ πόλει ταύτην τὴν λειτουργίαν

     l. têi pólei taútēn tḕn leitourgían

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 6.33.6
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Politics 1335b.28:

     λ. πρὸς τεκνοποιΐαν

     l. pròs teknopoiḯan

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • C.E. 3rd century, Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1119.16:

     ἄρχειν καὶ λ.

     árkhein kaì l.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (generally, construed with a dative) serve (a master)
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Politics 1278a.12:

     οἱ ἑνὶ λειτουργοῦντες τὰ τοιαῦτα δοῦλοι

     hoi henì leitourgoûntes tà toiaûta doûloi

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 3rd century B.C.E., Papiri greci e latini (Pubblicazioni della Società italiana per la ricerca dei Papiri greci e latini in Egitto) 4.361.15
   • c. 64 BC – p. AD 4, Nicolaus Damascenus, Fragmenta 7–8:

     καὶ ἅμα καλέσας τὸν εὐνοῦχον τὸν τὰς μουσουργοὺς πεπιστευμένον, Τοῦτον, ἔφη, ἄπαγε, καὶ ξυρήσας τὸ ὅλον σῶμα καὶ κισηρίσας πλὴν κεφαλῆς δὶς τῆς ἡμέρας λοῦε καὶ σμῆχε ἀπὸ λεκίθου, καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑπογραφέσθω καὶ τὰς κόμας ἐμπλεκέσθω, ὥσπερ αἱ γυναῖκες· μανθανέτω δὲ ᾄδειν καὶ κιθαρίζειν καὶ ψάλλειν, ἵνα μοι μετὰ τῶν μουσουργῶν λειτουργῇ γυναικὶ ὡμοιωμένος, μεθ’ ὧν καὶ δίαιταν ἕξει λεῖος ὢν τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν ἐσθῆτα τὴν αὐτὴν καὶ τὴν τέχνην ἔχων.

     kaì háma kalésas tòn eunoûkhon tòn tàs mousourgoùs pepisteuménon, Toûton, éphē, ápage, kaì xurḗsas tò hólon sôma kaì kisērísas plḕn kephalês dìs tês hēméras loûe kaì smêkhe apò lekíthou, kaì toùs ophthalmoùs hupographésthō kaì tàs kómas emplekésthō, hṓsper hai gunaîkes; manthanétō dè ā́idein kaì kitharízein kaì psállein, hína moi metà tôn mousourgôn leitourgêi gunaikì hōmoiōménos, meth’ hôn kaì díaitan héxei leîos ṑn tò sôma kaì tḕn esthêta tḕn autḕn kaì tḕn tékhnēn ékhōn.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 〃 8.9–14

     καὶ οὐ πολλοῦ χρόνου γίγνεται ἀνθρωπός τε λευκὸς καὶ ἁπαλὸς καὶ γυναικώδης, ᾖδέ τε καὶ ἐκιθάριζε πολὺ κάλλιον τῶν μουσουργῶν, οὐδείς τε ἂν ἰδὼν αὐτὸν λειτουργοῦντα ἐν συμποσίῳ Νανάρῳ οὐχὶ γυναῖκα ὑπέλαβε, καὶ πολύ γε ἐκείνων εὐπρεπέστερον, μεθ’ ὧν ἑκάστοτε ἐλειτούργει.

     kaì ou polloû khrónou gígnetai anthrōpós te leukòs kaì hapalòs kaì gunaikṓdēs, êidé te kaì ekithárize polù kállion tôn mousourgôn, oudeís te àn idṑn autòn leitourgoûnta en sumposíōi Nanárōi oukhì gunaîka hupélabe, kaì polú ge ekeínōn euprepésteron, meth’ hôn hekástote eleitoúrgei.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • Palatine Anthology 5.48, (Gallus, of a prostitute):

     λ. τρισὶν ἀνδράσιν

     l. trisìn andrásin

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   1. perform religious service, minister
      • 60 BCE – 7 BCE, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 2.22:

        ἐπὶ τῶν ἱερῶν

        epì tôn hierôn

        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

      • New Testament, Acts of the Apostles 13:2:

        τῷ Κυρίῳ

        tôi Kuríōi

        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

      • 1st century B.C.E., Revue des Études Anciennes 32.5.6–18, (Athens):

        Ἐκ τοῦ Μητρώου· ἀγαθὴ τύχη, ἐπὶ Παμμένου, Μουνιχίωνος τετράδι, Ξενοφῶν Θριάσιος εἶπεν· ἐπειδὴ πρόσοδον ποιησάμενος Ζήνων Ͻ Ἀντιοχεὺς ἐμφανίζει λελιτουργηκέναι ἐν τῶι ἱερῶι τῶν Ῥαμνοῦντι τῆς Ἀγδίστεως, ἔτι δὲ καὶ οἷς αὐτὸς ἱεροῦται θεοῖς ἐπὶ χρόνους καὶ πλείονας, τὰ δὲ νῦν ἐπβαρούμενος ὑπό τινων εἴργεσθαι παρὰ τὸ καθῆκον καὶ διὰ ταῦτα παρακαλεῖ τὴν βουλὴν προνοουμένη τῆς τῶν θεῶν εὐσεβείας τὴν καθήκουσαν φρτίδα ποιήσασθαι αὐτοῦ· τύχῃ ἀγαθῆι· δε τῆι βουλῆι ἐξεῖναι Ζήνωνι Ͻ Ἀντιοχεῖ γεῖν τοῖς θεοῖς τν Ῥαμνοῦνπὸ τὴς ἀρχῆς ὑπὸ ενὸς κωλ ‒ ‒

        Ek toû Mētrṓou; agathḕ túkhē, epì Pamménou, Mounikhíōnos tetrádi, Xenophôn Thriásios eîpen; epeidḕ prósodon poiēsámenos Zḗnōn Zḗnōnos Antiokheùs emphanízei lelitourgēkénai en tôi hierôi tôn Rhamnoûnti tês Agdísteōs, éti dè kaì hoîs autòs hieroûtai theoîs epì khrónous kaì pleíonas, tà dè nûn epbaroúmenos hupó tinōn eírgesthai parà tò kathêkon kaì dià taûta parakaleî tḕn boulḕn pronoouménē tês tôn theôn eusebeías tḕn kathḗkousan phrtída poiḗsasthai autoû; túkhēi agathêi; de têi boulêi exeînai Zḗnōni Zḗnōnos Antiokheî geîn toîs theoîs tn Rhamnoûnpò tḕs arkhês hupò enòs kōl ‒ ‒

        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• Greek: λειτουργώ (leitourgó)

• “λειτουργέω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press