Sycophant
Encyclopedia
Sycophancy means:
Alternative phrases are often used such as:
for sycophant is συκοφάντης (sykophántēs). It suggests someone who brings all kinds of charges and proves none, according to a client of Demosthenes
. A client of Lysias
adds the perspective of blackmail: "It is their practice to bring charges even against those who have done no wrong. For from these they would gain most profit." In this context, the word entails false accusation, malicious prosecution
, and abuse of legal process
for mischievous or fraudulent purposes.
The Greek root 'sukophantēs' literally translates as 'a person showing a fig' ('Sukon' / sykos / συκος fig, and phainein / fanēs / φανης to show). The fig having been a symbol used in making an accusation, itself probably a development from accuser
to informer/flatterer.
In Ancient Greece
, the word was the Athenian counterpart of the Roman delator
, a public informer. In modern Greek the term has retained its ancient classical meaning, and is still used to describe a slanderer or a calumniator.
- Obsequious flatteryFlatteryFlattery is the act of giving excessive compliments, generally for the purpose of ingratiating oneself with the subject....
; servility. - The character or characteristic of a sycophant.
Alternative phrases are often used such as:
Etymology
The GreekGreek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
for sycophant is συκοφάντης (sykophántēs). It suggests someone who brings all kinds of charges and proves none, according to a client of Demosthenes
Demosthenes
Demosthenes was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by...
. A client of Lysias
Lysias
Lysias was a logographer in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace in the third century BC.-Life:According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus and the author of the life ascribed to...
adds the perspective of blackmail: "It is their practice to bring charges even against those who have done no wrong. For from these they would gain most profit." In this context, the word entails false accusation, malicious prosecution
Malicious prosecution
Malicious prosecution is a common law intentional tort, while like the tort of abuse of process, its elements include intentionally instituting and pursuing a legal action that is brought without probable cause and dismissed in favor of the victim of the malicious prosecution...
, and abuse of legal process
Legal abuse
Legal abuse refers to abuses associated with both civil and criminal legal action. Abuse can originate from nearly any part of the legal system, including frivolous and vexatious litigants, abuses by law enforcement, incompetent, careless or corrupt attorneys and misconduct from the judiciary...
for mischievous or fraudulent purposes.
The Greek root 'sukophantēs' literally translates as 'a person showing a fig' ('Sukon' / sykos / συκος fig, and phainein / fanēs / φανης to show). The fig having been a symbol used in making an accusation, itself probably a development from accuser
Accuser
The word Accuser can mean:-*Someone who accuses* Satan, whose name means "accuser" in Hebrew.*The Accusers, a crime novel*The Accuser, an animated series* An Accuser from Middle Eastern mythology....
to informer/flatterer.
In Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, the word was the Athenian counterpart of the Roman delator
Delator
Delator is Latin for a denouncer, i.e. who indicates to a court another as having committed a punishable deed.-Secular Roman law:...
, a public informer. In modern Greek the term has retained its ancient classical meaning, and is still used to describe a slanderer or a calumniator.
See also
- Codependency
- Narcissistic supplyNarcissistic supplyNarcissistic supply is a concept in some psychoanalytic theories which describes a type of admiration, interpersonal support or sustenance drawn by an individual from his or her environment ....
- ObedienceObedience (human behavior)In human behavior, obedience is the quality of being obedient, which describes the act of carrying-out commands or being actuated. Obedience differs from compliance, which is behavior influenced by peers, and from conformity, which is behavior intended to match that of the majority. Obedience can...
- Submissiveness
Further reading
- Clark LP A Psychological Study of Sycophancy. Psychoanalytic Review 21:15-39 (1934)
- Lofberg, John Oscar, Sycophancy in Athens (2008)