All 12 Uses of
righteous
in
The Odyssey, by Homer (translated by: Butcher & Lang)
- Henceforth let not any sceptred king be kind and gentle with all his heart, nor minded to do righteously, but let him alway be a hard man and work unrighteousness: for behold, there is none that remembereth divine Odysseus of the people whose lord he was, and was gentle as a father.†
Book 2righteously = in a morally correct manner
- Henceforth let not any sceptred king be kind and gentle with all his heart, nor minded to do righteously, but let him alway be a hard man and work unrighteousness: for behold, there is none that remembereth divine Odysseus of the people whose lord he was, and was gentle as a father.†
Book 2unrighteousness = immoral behaviorstandard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unrighteousness means not and reverses the meaning of righteousness. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
- Long ago when ye were children, ye marked not your fathers' telling, what manner of man was Odysseus among them, one that wrought no iniquity toward any man, nor spake aught unrighteous in the township, as is the wont of divine kings.†
Book 4unrighteous = morally wrongstandard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unrighteous means not and reverses the meaning of righteous. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
- And Athene told them the tale of the many woes of Odysseus, recalling them to mind; for near her heart was he that then abode in the dwelling of the nymph: 'Father Zeus, and all ye other blessed gods that live for ever, henceforth let not any sceptred king be kind and gentle with all his heart, nor minded to do righteously, but let him alway be a hard man and work unrighteousness, for behold, there is none that remembereth divine Odysseus of the people whose lord he was, and was gentle as a father.†
Book 5righteously = in a morally correct manner
- And Athene told them the tale of the many woes of Odysseus, recalling them to mind; for near her heart was he that then abode in the dwelling of the nymph: 'Father Zeus, and all ye other blessed gods that live for ever, henceforth let not any sceptred king be kind and gentle with all his heart, nor minded to do righteously, but let him alway be a hard man and work unrighteousness, for behold, there is none that remembereth divine Odysseus of the people whose lord he was, and was gentle as a father.†
Book 5unrighteousness = immoral behaviorstandard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unrighteousness means not and reverses the meaning of righteousness. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
- Yea and the gods, in the likeness of strangers from far countries, put on all manner of shapes, and wander through the cities, beholding the violence and the righteousness of men.'†
Book 17 *righteousness = morally correct behavior
- For I too have a righteous mind, and my heart within me is not of iron, but pitiful even as thine.'†
Book 5
- 'So spake she, but I answered her, saying: "Oh, Circe, what righteous man would have the heart to taste meat and drink ere he had redeemed his company, and beheld them face to face?†
Book 10
- Verily the blessed gods love not froward deeds, but they reverence justice and the righteous acts of men.†
Book 14
- When he had done supper, and the divine minstrel was ending his song, then the wooers raised a clamour through the halls; but Athene stood by Odysseus, son of Laertes, and moved him to go gathering morsels of bread among the wooers, and learn which were righteous and which unjust.†
Book 17
- Then Amphinomus made harangue, and spake among them, Amphinomus, the famous son of Nisus the prince, the son of Aretias: 'Friends, when a righteous word has been spoken, none surely would rebuke another with hard speech and be angry.†
Book 18
- And late and at last spake among them Agelaus, son of Damastor: 'Friends, when a righteous word has been spoken, none surely would rebuke another with hard speech and be angry.†
Book 20
Definitions:
-
(1)
(righteous as in: a righteous cause) morally correct; or morally justified
or:
acting or feeling morally superior -- especially when it isn't true (this meaning is more typically seen as a compound word beginning with "self-") -
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Less commonly, righteous is used as a synonym for wonderful.