All 4 Uses of
deign
in
The Odyssey, by Homer (translated by: Butcher & Lang)
- Nor would I go aboard a raft to displeasure thee, unless thou wilt deign, O goddess, to swear a great oath not to plan any hidden guile to mine own hurt.'†
Book 5 *deign = do something considered beneath one's dignity
- Nay, never will I consent to go up into thy bed, except thou wilt deign, goddess, to swear a mighty oath, that thou wilt plan nought else of mischief to mine own hurt.†
Book 10
- I see here the spirit of my mother dead; lo, she sits in silence near the blood, nor deigns to look her son in the face nor speak to him!†
Book 11deigns = does something that one considers to be below one's dignity
- He was but of little understanding, for he deigned not to tell me all nor to heed my saying, when I questioned him concerning my friend, whether indeed he is yet alive or is even now dead and within the house of Hades.†
Book 24deigned = did something that one considers to be below one's dignity
Definition:
do something that one considers to be below one's dignity