It means many things: either the largest unit of gold and silver, in accordance with which connotation Demosthenes says, "fifty ta/lanta [sc. talents]";[1] or a certain name for a balance, as Aristophanes [says], "but will musical skill really be judged by a ta/lanton [sc. a scale]";[2] also the Homeric [phrase] "father [Zeus] set up golden ta/lanta"[3] [sc. scales]. The third connotation is a weight. The fourth a certain name for quantity, as also 'much-talented', [meaning] a rich person. Also the Homeric [phrase] "two talents of gold lay in the middle".[4] Also "two-talent" and "three-talent" and "half-talent" are attested. Another ancient usage is that of 'third half-talent' and 'fifth half-talent' and 'seventh half-talent'. The third half-talent is two and a half talents, the fifth half-talent is four and a half, and the seventh half-talent is six and a half. Generally, when someone adds to the half talent the derivative form of any number, the number that precedes that one will apply to the talents; for instance, if it is the eighth [half-talent], it is seven [talents]; if it is the ninth, it is eight, with the half [talent] reckoned in, of course. The ancients were also fond of calling one and a half talents 'three half-talents', as also [they used to call] one and a half m[i]nas 'three half-m[i]nas'.