medize

See also: Medize

English

Alternative forms

• Medize
• medise, Medise

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek verb Μηδίζω (Mēdízō, literally “side with the Medes”), corresponding to Mede +‎ -ize.

Verb

medize (third-person singular simple present medizes, present participle medizing, simple past and past participle medized)

1. (intransitive, historical, of ancient Greeks) To side with the Persians; to be loyal to the Persian Empire rather than Greeks.
   • 1979, Hypomnemata: Untersuchungen zur Antike und ihrem Nachleben, Heft 55, Servants of the Gods: A Study in the Religion, History and Literature of Fifth-century Athens, page 74:

     It is sometimes said that in giving unfavourable or ambiguous responses to Athens, Delphi was medizing. But surely this view is wide of the mark. What could Delphi possibly hope to gain by siding with the Persians? If Delphi was in fact medizing, why did the Persians attempt to take it and to plunder its sanctuary? The truth is that Delphi's overriding aim was the preservation of traditional religion,

   • 1983, John Van Antwerp Fine, The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History, page 327:

     There would also have been the problems of deciding in each particular case whether the medizing had been voluntary or done under duress, and within each community whether all had been guilty or only some dominant group.

Related terms

• Medism
• Medizer

See also

• Hellenize