When I was a little child, I read a book called Lyckans lexikon, "The Dictionary of Happiness" by Falstaff, Fakir, pen name of Axel Wallengren.
Translated into English, the first lines of the first dialogue go like this:
- What is happiness?
Already Nyokratus asked that.
- Who was Nyokratus?
An old Greek.
- What is an old Greek?
A dead person who lived on black soup and truth.
- What is truth?
Well...
- I insist. What is truth?
From thereon, the book becomes less interesting, and Nyokratus is never mentioned again.
I read this when I was a child, but my childish curiosity never inspired me to learn more about Nyokratus. If Falstaff said he was an old Greek and stopped there, surely there was nothing more of interest? It turns out I was right. Nyokratus is not mentioned anywhere else in world literature, apart from those two lines in Lyckans lexikon. He is a made up figure and of no interest whatsoever.
Nevertheless, I ask myself, where the name comes from. Falstaff made it up, but he must have been inspired by something. One can come up with a few guesses.
Guess 1: new. In Swedish, the word for new is ny. Perhaps it is some association to a new Socrates.
Guess 2: νυός. The Greek word nyos (νυός) means daughter in law. The word κράτος means strength, power. Perhaps there is something about the power of the daughter in law. Is a family happier when the daughter in law is strong?
Guess 3: Νικοκράτης. The name Nikokrates, which sounds somewhat like Nyokratus, was the name of a tyrant of Cyrene (Κυρήνη) in present day Libya. He killed the husband of a lady called Aretaphila (Ἀρεταφίλα), and then married her against her will. She tried to poison him, but failed. When he accused her, she claimed that she had tried to apply a love potion, and he apparently believed her - at least according to the author Polyaenus (Πoλύαινoς). The story goes on with a lot of people killing each other. However, Aretaphila survives the mayhem and then lives a long and peaceful life with family and friends. Perhaps Falstaff thought that all this had something to do with happiness. There is anyhow no record of Nikokrates asking what happiness is. Or of him eating black soup.
Translated into English, the first lines of the first dialogue go like this:
- What is happiness?
Already Nyokratus asked that.
- Who was Nyokratus?
An old Greek.
- What is an old Greek?
A dead person who lived on black soup and truth.
- What is truth?
Well...
- I insist. What is truth?
From thereon, the book becomes less interesting, and Nyokratus is never mentioned again.
I read this when I was a child, but my childish curiosity never inspired me to learn more about Nyokratus. If Falstaff said he was an old Greek and stopped there, surely there was nothing more of interest? It turns out I was right. Nyokratus is not mentioned anywhere else in world literature, apart from those two lines in Lyckans lexikon. He is a made up figure and of no interest whatsoever.
Nevertheless, I ask myself, where the name comes from. Falstaff made it up, but he must have been inspired by something. One can come up with a few guesses.
Guess 1: new. In Swedish, the word for new is ny. Perhaps it is some association to a new Socrates.
Guess 2: νυός. The Greek word nyos (νυός) means daughter in law. The word κράτος means strength, power. Perhaps there is something about the power of the daughter in law. Is a family happier when the daughter in law is strong?
Guess 3: Νικοκράτης. The name Nikokrates, which sounds somewhat like Nyokratus, was the name of a tyrant of Cyrene (Κυρήνη) in present day Libya. He killed the husband of a lady called Aretaphila (Ἀρεταφίλα), and then married her against her will. She tried to poison him, but failed. When he accused her, she claimed that she had tried to apply a love potion, and he apparently believed her - at least according to the author Polyaenus (Πoλύαινoς). The story goes on with a lot of people killing each other. However, Aretaphila survives the mayhem and then lives a long and peaceful life with family and friends. Perhaps Falstaff thought that all this had something to do with happiness. There is anyhow no record of Nikokrates asking what happiness is. Or of him eating black soup.
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