John 11:49

Self Cycle

Initially, ἐνιαυτός referred to an object with a circular shape, such as a ring-shaped item or specific cup (Ath. 783c), later “the completed cycle of a year."
It is not just “year” in a calendar sense, but literally the returning / recurring period that closes upon itself.

Homeric and archaic examples preserve this cyclic sense:

• ἐνιαυτῷ = “at the completion of the annual cycle”
• περιπλομένων ἐνιαυτῶν (Od. 1.16) = “as the years rolled around (completed their orbits).”

Hence the semantic extension:
ἐνιαυτός → any full cycle / period that returns into itself.

In inscriptions (e.g., Delphi, Crete):

• πρὸ τῶ ἐνιαυτοῦ = “before the year has completed its cycle.”

• ἐνιαυτῷ = “when the yearly cycle expires.”

The term marks a closed temporal loop, not simply the number 12 months.

Because the base meaning is “a completed cycle,” Greeks extended it to any recurring temporal pattern, especially astronomical ones. Thus:

a. The Metonic Cycle

19 years = period after which lunar and solar calendars realign.
DS 12.36:
ὁ μέγας ἐνιαυτός used of the 19-year Metonic cycle.

b. The 600-year cycle

Josephus (AJ 1.3.9) mentions a 600-year ἐνιαυτός for a long astronomical period.

c. “ἀΐδιος ἐνιαυτός” (Apollodorus)

The “eternal cycle” = an unending cosmic recurrence.

Pythagorean usage — ὁ μέγας ἐνιαυτός

Eudemus (ap. Theon Smyrnaeus 198H) gives the Pythagorean doctrine:

μέγας ἐνιαυτός =

the cosmic cycle after which the entire configuration of the heavens returns to the same starting-point
(all planets, sun, moon in identical relative positions).

Characteristics:

• A determinable but immense number of years.

• Not a simple solar year; it is a harmonic / astronomical cycle.

• Based on numerical ratios of planetary periods.

• When completed, all phenomena recur exactly (Pythagorean “eternal recurrence” doctrine).

Thus for the Pythagoreans:
ἐνιαυτός = cycle of recurrence.
μέγας ἐνιαυτός = total cosmic recurrence.

This turns “year” into a metaphysical notion:
a closed, resonant period determined by the harmonic ratios (λόγοι) of celestial motions.

The root of ἐνιαυτός is transparently cyclic:

• ἐν (in) + αὐτός (self) → originally “the time that returns into itself.”
  (cf. ancient etymologists: ἐν αὑτῷ γιγνόμενος χρόνος = “the time that becomes what it was.”)

Hence:

ἐνιαυτός = a completed, self-returning period.

The Pythagorean cycle (μέγας ἐνιαυτός) is the extension of the basic meaning of ἐνιαυτός—a completed, self-returning temporal loop—to the largest possible astronomical recurrence. The term naturally expands because its core sense is cyclic completion, not merely “year.”

(cf. ἐνιαυτός LSJ, Bailly 2024)