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Βάττου σίλφιον · Battos' silphium, Battus' silphium (β 186) · Suda

Letters

Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ξ Ο Π Ρ Σ Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω

Near β186

β182skate, ray
β183battology, empty repetition
β184accessible
β185Battos, Battus
β186Battos' silphium, Battus' silphium
β187Battos' silphium, Battus' silphium
β188Baton, Bato
β189frog-green
β190a frog out of Seriphos

Suda/Β beta/β186

← Previous entry,β185 Next entry,β187 →

Βάττου σίλφιον

Battos' silphium, Battus' silphium

Translated by Craig Gibson20 Jun 2002Vetting: high7 revisions

aetiology
botany
comedy
daily life
ethics
food
+4

1 note · 54 words

Translation

[sc. A proverbial phrase] in reference to those receiving rare honors. For the Cyrenaeans gave a special silphium to one of the Battoi, and on one side of the coin they stamped [a picture of] Ammon,¹ on the other [a picture of] silphium. The Ampeliotae in Libya dedicated a stalk of silphium at Delphi↗.

Greek original · Adler’s text

Βάττου σίλφιον· ἐπὶ τῶν σπανίους τιμὰς λαμβανόντων. οἱ γὰρ Κυρηναῖοι ἑνὶ τῶν Βάττων ἐξαίρετον ἔδοσαν τὸ σίλφιον, καὶ τοῦ νομίσματος ἐπὶ μὲν θατέρου Ἄμμωνα, ἐπὶ δὲ θατέρου σίλφιον ἐτύπωσαν. οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ Λιβύης Ἀμπελιῶται εἰς Δελφοὺς ἀνέθεσαν καυλὸν σιλφίου.

Betacode

*ba/ttou si/lfion: e)pi\ tw=n spani/ous tima\s lambano/ntwn. oi( ga\r *kurhnai=oi e(ni\ tw=n *ba/ttwn e)cai/reton e)/dosan to\ si/lfion, kai\ tou= nomi/smatos e)pi\ me\n qate/rou *)/ammwna, e)pi\ de\ qate/rou si/lfion e)tu/pwsan. oi( de\ e)pi\ *libu/hs *)ampeliw=tai ei)s *delfou\s a)ne/qesan kaulo\n silfi/ou.

Notes (1)

For the headword phrase, from Aristophanes, see also beta 187. Its afterlife as a proverb generated other glosses besides the one given here; see e.g. Appendix Proverbiorum 1.50, Apostolius 15.49.
See also beta 185 (for Battos), sigma 422, sigma 423.
1For Ammon see generally alpha 1638.

Linked from2 entries

β185ΒάττοςBattos, BattusA person's name. [It means] stuttering and lisping. There was a Cretan city named Oaxos, in which Etearchos [was] king, who for his motherless daughter, whose name was Phronime [...]. Providing badly for her and…
β187Βάττου σίλφιονBattos' silphium, Battus' silphiumAristophanes in Wealth [writes]: "you would not even give me Battos' silphium". [This refers to] the [plant] in Libya, which cures many ailments; it is sweet-smelling and very expensive. For Battos founded Cyrene.

Neighbouring entries

β184Βατόςaccessible β185ΒάττοςBattos, Battus β186Βάττου σίλφιονBattos' silphium, Battus' silphium β187Βάττου σίλφιονBattos' silphium, Battus' silphium β188ΒάτωνBaton, Bato

Revision history7 revisions · last 5 May 2021

5 May 2021Revised — David Whitehead
19 Sep 2015coding — David Whitehead
23 May 2012more keywords; tweaking — David Whitehead
24 Feb 2005augmented notes and keywords — David Whitehead
24 Jun 2002added note and keywords; cosmetics — David Whitehead
21 Jun 2002cross-references — Catharine Roth
21 Jun 2002added note and cross-references — Catharine Roth
20 Jun 2002Translated — Craig Gibson

Cite this entry

Suda On Line, s.v. Βάττου σίλφιον (Adler number beta 186), trans. Craig Gibson, 20 Jun 2002. https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/beta/186

Translation by Craig Gibson for Suda On Line, revised by David Whitehead, Catharine Roth, licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Shown unchanged, under the same licence, non-commercially. Original on SOL ↗