νηλεής

• ἀνελεήμων (aneleḗmōn), ἀνελήμων (anelḗmōn)
• ἀνηλεής (anēleḗs) — especially in prose
• νηλειής (nēleiḗs) — Epic
• νηλής (nēlḗs) — by hyphaeresis

From νη- (nē-, negative prefix) +‎ ἔλεος (éleos, “mercy, pity”) +‎ -ής (-ḗs, adjectival suffix). Beekes suggests that its use in phrases such as νηλεὲς ἦμαρ, rather than being figurative, may reflect a distinct etymology νη- (nē-) +‎ ἀλέομαι (aléomai) +‎ -ής (-ḗs), with the meaning 'inescapable'.^[1]

νηλεής • (nēleḗs) m or f (neuter νηλεές); third declension

1. merciless, pitiless, relentless, ruthless
   • c. 700 BC, Homer, Iliad, 15.375-6:

     τῶν μνῆσαι καὶ ἄμῡνον, Ὀλύμπιε, νηλεὲς ἦμαρ,
     μηδ’ οὕτω Τρώεσσιν ἔᾱ δάμνασθαι Ἀχαιούς.

     tôn mnêsai kaì ámūnon, Olúmpie, nēleès êmar,
     mēd’ hoútō Trṓessin éā dámnasthai Akhaioús.

     Remember these things and ward off, Olympian [Zeus], a day without mercy,
     and do not let the Achaeans be defeated by the Trojans like this.

   • 4th century BC, Anaximenes of Lampsacus, Rhetoric to Alexander‎^[1], section 37.3:

     Οὗτος μὲν οὖν ὁ τρόπος ἔσται δι’ οὗ τὴν εὐμένειαν παρασκευαστέον. Τοὺς μὲν γὰρ μήτε εὖ μήτε κακῶς διακειμένους αὐτοὺς μὲν συντόμως ἐπαινετέον, καὶ τοὺς ἐναντίους κακολογητέον, δεῖ δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐκ τούτων ἐπαινεῖν ὧν μάλιστα μέτεστι τοῖς ἀκούουσιν, λέγω δὲ φιλόπολιν φιλέταιρον ἐλεήμονα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα· τὸν δ’ ἐναντίον κακολογεῖν ἐκ τούτων ἐφ’ οἷς οἱ ἀκούοντες ὀργιοῦνται, ταῦτα δ’ ἐστὶ μῑσόπολιν μῑσόφιλον ἀχάριστον ἀνελεήμονα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα.

     Hoûtos mèn oûn ho trópos éstai di’ hoû tḕn euméneian paraskeuastéon. Toùs mèn gàr mḗte eû mḗte kakôs diakeiménous autoùs mèn suntómōs epainetéon, kaì toùs enantíous kakologētéon, deî dè autoùs ek toútōn epaineîn hôn málista métesti toîs akoúousin, légō dè philópolin philétairon eleḗmona kaì tà toiaûta; tòn d’ enantíon kakologeîn ek toútōn eph’ hoîs hoi akoúontes orgioûntai, taûta d’ estì mīsópolin mīsóphilon akháriston aneleḗmona kaì tà toiaûta.

     So this will be the means by which [the listeners'] favorable impression should be prepared. Those who are neither well nor badly disposed themselves should be briefly praised, and those opposed should be criticized, but you need to praise some of those that the listeners feel part of the most (and I call them patriotic, loyal to their friends, merciful, and that sort of thing), and to criticize your opponent for those things that the listeners will get angry about, i.e., as unpatriotic, hating their friends, ungrateful, merciless, and that sort of thing.

   • 343 BC, Aeschines, On the False Embassy‎^[2], section 163:

     ἔπειτα ἐγὼ μὲν διὰ ταῦτα ἀνηλεής τις εἰμὶ ἄνθρωπος, σὺ δὲ εὐσεβὴς ὁ τῶν ὁμοσπόνδων καὶ συσσῑ́των κατήγορος;

     épeita egṑ mèn dià taûta anēleḗs tis eimì ánthrōpos, sù dè eusebḕs ho tôn homospóndōn kaì sussī́tōn katḗgoros?

     So because of these things I am some ruthless person, while you are pious as the accuser of those who shared your libations and meals?

2. unpitied

• “νηλεής”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• νηλεής in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “νηλεής”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[3], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • unpitied idem, page 927.