Ἀθῆναι

See also: Αθήνα, Αθηνά, and Ἀθηνᾶ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• Ἀθᾶναι (Athânai) — Doric

Etymology

Plural of Ἀθήνη (Athḗnē, “Athena”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /a.tʰɛ̂ː.nai̯/ → /aˈθi.nɛ/ → /aˈθi.ne/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.tʰɛ̂ː.nai̯/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈtʰe̝.nɛ/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈθi.nɛ/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈθi.ne/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈθi.ne/

Proper noun

Ἀθῆναι • (Athênai) f (genitive Ἀθηνῶν); first declension (plural only)

1. Athens (the capital city of Greece).

Usage notes

While the city name was plural from the Classical period onward, Homer also uses a singular form: Ἀθήνη (Athḗnē).

Declension

First declension of αἱ Ἀθῆναι; τῶν Ἀθηνῶν (Attic)

Case / #	Plural
Nominative	αἱ Ἀθῆναι hai Athênai
Genitive	τῶν Ἀθηνῶν tôn Athēnôn
Dative	ταῖς Ἀθήναις taîs Athḗnais
Accusative	τᾱ̀ς Ἀθήνᾱς tā̀s Athḗnās
Vocative	Ἀθῆναι Athênai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

First declension of αἱ Ἀθῆναι; τῶν Ἀθηνέων (Ionic)

Case / #	Plural
Nominative	αἱ Ἀθῆναι hai Athênai
Genitive	τῶν Ἀθηνέων / Ἀθηνῶν tôn Athēnéōn / Athēnôn
Dative	τῇσῐ / τῇσῐν Ἀθήνῃσῐ / Ἀθήνῃσῐν têisi(n) Athḗnēisi(n)
Accusative	τᾱ̀ς Ἀθήνᾱς tā̀s Athḗnās
Vocative	Ἀθῆναι Athênai
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

First declension of Ἀθῆναι; Ἀθηνᾱ́ων (Epic)

Case / #	Plural
Nominative	Ἀθῆναι Athênai
Genitive	Ἀθηνᾱ́ων / Ἀθηνέ͜ων / Ἀθηνῶν Athēnā́ōn / Athēné͜ōn / Athēnôn
Dative	Ἀθήνῃσῐ / Ἀθήνῃσῐν / Ἀθήνῃς / Ἀθήναις Athḗnēisi(n) / Athḗnēis / Athḗnais
Accusative	Ἀθήνᾱς Athḗnās
Vocative	Ἀθῆναι Athênai
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• Ἀθήναζε (Athḗnaze)
• Ἀθήναια (Athḗnaia)
• Ἀθηναῖος (Athēnaîos, “Athenian”)
• Ἀθηναϊσταί (Athēnaïstaí)
• Ἀθήνηθεν (Athḗnēthen)
• Ἀθήνησιν (Athḗnēsin)
• Ἀθηνιάω (Athēniáō)
• Ἀθηνόθεν (Athēnóthen)

Descendants

• Albanian: Athina
• Arabic: أَثِينَا (ʔaṯīnā)
• Armenian: Աթենք (Atʻenkʻ)
• Aromanian: Athena
• Azerbaijani: Afina
• Belarusian: Афіны (Afiny), Атэны (Ateny)
• Bulgarian: Ати́на (Atína)
• English: Athens
• French: Athènes
  • → Persian: آتن (âten)
• German: Athen
• Greek: Αθήνα (Athína)
• Hebrew: אתונה (Atuna)
• Italian: Atene
• Latin: Athēnae
  • Japanese: アテネ (Atene)
• Macedonian: Атина (Atina)
• Polish: Ateny
• Romanian: Atena
• Russian: Афи́ны (Afíny)
• Serbo-Croatian: Ате́на, Aténa
• Sicilian: Atini
• Turkish: Atina
• Ukrainian: Афі́ни (Afíny), Ате́ни (Atény)
• Venetan: Atene

References

• “Ἀθῆναι”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Ἀθῆναι”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “Ἀθῆναι”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• Ἀθῆναι in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Ἀθῆναι in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• G116 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,003
• Strong's Concordance number: G116
• entry in A Greek-English Lexicon by Liddell-Scott, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1940