ἀμήχανος

• ἀμᾱ́χανος (amā́khanos) — Doric

From ἀ- (a-) +‎ μηχανή (mēkhanḗ) +‎ -νος (-nos)

ἀμήχᾰνος • (amḗkhănos) m or f (neuter ἀμήχᾰνον); second declension

1. impracticable, impossible, challenging, difficult, unmanageable, uncontrollable
   • 446 BCE – 386 BCE, Aristophanes, Frogs 1429:

     μισῶ πολίτην, ὅστις ὠφελεῖν πάτραν βραδὺς πέφυκε μεγάλα δὲ βλάπτειν ταχύς, καὶ πόριμον αὑτῷ τῇ πόλει δ’ ἀμήχανον.

     misô polítēn, hóstis ōpheleîn pátran bradùs péphuke megála dè bláptein takhús, kaì pórimon hautôi têi pólei d’ amḗkhanon.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. incapable, without means, resourceless, helpless, awkward
   • 442 BCE, Sophocles, Antigone 79:

     ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἄτιμα ποιοῦμαι, τὸ δὲ βίᾳ πολιτῶν δρᾶν ἔφυν ἀμήχανος.

     egṑ mèn ouk átima poioûmai, tò dè bíāi politôn drân éphun amḗkhanos.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. extraordinary, inconceivable, enormous, infinite
   • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 584b:

     αὗται γὰρ οὐ προλυπηθέντι ἐξαίφνης ἀμήχανοι τὸ μέγεθος γίγνονται, παυσάμεναί τε λύπην οὐδεμίαν καταλείπουσιν.

     haûtai gàr ou prolupēthénti exaíphnēs amḗkhanoi tò mégethos gígnontai, pausámenaí te lúpēn oudemían kataleípousin.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

4. (particularly of dreams) inexplicable, mysterious, unexplainable
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 19.560:

     δοιαὶ γάρ τε πύλαι ἀμενηνῶν εἰσὶν ὀνείρων· αἱ μὲν γὰρ κεράεσσι τετεύχαται, αἱ δ’ ἐλέφαντι· τῶν οἳ μέν κ’ ἔλθωσι διὰ πριστοῦ ἐλέφαντος

     doiaì gár te púlai amenēnôn eisìn oneírōn; hai mèn gàr keráessi teteúkhatai, hai d’ eléphanti; tôn hoì mén k’ élthōsi dià pristoû eléphantos

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

5. difficult to deal with, against whom nothing can be done
   • 484 BCE – 425 BCE, Herodotus, The Histories 586-589:

     θαῦμα δ’ ἔχ’ ἀθανάτους τε θεοὺς θνητούς τ’ ἀνθρώπους, ὡς εἶδον δόλον αἰπύν, ἀμήχανον ἀνθρώποισιν.

     thaûma d’ ékh’ athanátous te theoùs thnētoús t’ anthrṓpous, hōs eîdon dólon aipún, amḗkhanon anthrṓpoisin.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   1. (of situations) helpless, unfixable, unreconcilable, irremediable
      • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 561-562:

        τὸν οὔποτ’ αὐχοῦντ’ ἰδὼν ἀμαχάνοις δύαις λαπαδνὸν οὐδ’ ὑπερθέοντ’ ἄκραν

        tòn oúpot’ aukhoûnt’ idṑn amakhánois dúais lapadnòn oud’ huperthéont’ ákran

        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   2. irresistible
      • 630 BCE – 570 BCE, Sappho, Fragments 130:

        Ἔρος δηὖτέ μ’ ὀ λυσιμέλης δόνει, γλυκύπικρον ἀμάχανον ὄρπετον

        Éros dēûté m’ o lusimélēs dónei, glukúpikron amákhanon órpeton

        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• “ἀμήχανος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ἀμήχανος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• ἀμήχανος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• “ἀμήχανος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• Pape, Wilhelm (1914) “ἀμήχανος”, in Max Sengebusch, editor, Handwörterbuch der griechischen Sprache‎ (in German), 3rd edition, Braunschweig: Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn