<<For the record, it is TELEION, not TELION (although those who use a
modern
> pronunciation may feel that these are equivalent).
>
> I'm inclined to understand this in eschatological terms of the
> distinction
> between that which is "incomplete" and that which is "complete."
>>
Thanks for the corrections, Carl, and I think you, I, and Jim West all
agree on the point I was trying to make, which is that TELEION *in this
context* is abstract, not personified or concretized. I was trying to
stay away from the meaning of the word.
But now that that subject's been broached, I have always been
uncomfortable with the Modern English rendering of TELEIOS as "perfect"
(although I have less problem with the Latin "perfectus" because of its
etymology!); I appreciate both your and Jim's suggestions as to the
semantics of this word, and agree that they capture much more of the
meaning than the utter flawlessness that "perfection" in its modern
sense requires. "Complete" and "mature" fit, for me, much better.
I mentioned to Jim West offline that the musicological term
"through-composed" has always seemed to me the one English word that
best captures the meaning of TELEIOS (and again, it matches much better
the etymology of the equivalent used in the Vulgate); unfortunately, its
use is limited to the jargon of a discipline that is rather obscure!
"Well-made" is not quite strong enough, IMHO.
-Chuck Stevens [SMTP: Charles.Stevens@unisys.com]