Βωμολόχος

altar-ambusher

Translated by Robert Dyer · 25 Feb 2002 · Vetting: high · 10 revisions

Translation

[Meaning] he who lies in wait¹ around the altars, with the purpose of getting something from those who are sacrificing. But metaphorically also [it means] he who flatters certain people, in pretty much the same way, for profit. Also [sc. attested are] bwmakeu/mata² and bwmoloxeu/mata.³ Apollodorus of Cyrene [sc. says it means] the witty flatterer⁴ and jester. Some [sc. say that it means] the man who flatters with a certain wit.⁵ But also [it means] the scoundrel up to every trick and the sycophant.⁶

Greek original

Βωμολόχος· ὁ περὶ τοὺς βωμοὺς λοχῶν, ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαβεῖν τι παρὰ τῶν θυόντων. μεταφορικῶς δὲ καὶ ὁ παραπλησίως τούτῳ ὠφελείας ἕνεκά τινας κολακεύων. καὶ βωμακεύματα καὶ βωμολοχεύματα. Ἀπολλόδωρος Κυρηναῖος, ὁ εὐτράπελος καὶ γελωτοποιός. τινὲς τὸν μετά τινος εὐτραπελίας κόλακα. καὶ τὸν πανοῦργον δὲ καὶ συκοφάντην.

Betacode

*bwmolo/xos: o( peri\ tou\s bwmou\s loxw=n, u(pe\r tou= labei=n ti para\ tw=n quo/ntwn. metaforikw=s de\ kai\ o( paraplhsi/ws tou/tw| w)felei/as e(/neka/ tinas kolakeu/wn. kai\ bwmakeu/mata kai\ bwmoloxeu/mata. *)apollo/dwros *kurhnai=os, o( eu)tra/pelos kai\ gelwtopoio/s. tine\s to\n meta/ tinos eu)trapeli/as ko/laka. kai\ to\n panou=rgon de\ kai\ sukofa/nthn.

Notes (6)

This entry is identical to Pausanias the Atticist beta2b and Photius, Lexicon beta321. It is based in part on observations of the grammarian/lexicographer Apollodorus of Cyrene (RE 1.286 'Apollodorus 65'). It should be read in the context of complementary observations in beta 486, beta 487, beta 488, beta 490 and chi 296.
The rascally begging around altars by people (apparently even the musicians and priests responsible for ritual music and prayer) who regularly cracked jokes at once witty and cheap, must have been a feature of Athenian life, at least in the time of Aristophanes. The term clearly became current for a type of joking somewhat witty and ingratiating and yet vulgarly trivial. A joke of this sort by a parasite or hanger-on of Maecenas in the days of Augustus at the end of the Roman Republic and beginning of the Empire, when the urbane wit of a Catullus was highly prized, can be classified by Aelian as bwmoloxi/a (beta 488 note 4).
1For the second part of this compound, from the verb loxa/w 'waylay, ambush', see lambda 711, lambda 720. ↩
2This word (beta 484), 'acts of the altar-watchers'(?), is attested only as a synonym for the headword given by Apollodorus of Cyrene, as cited in the scholia on Plato, Republic 606C (and Etymologicum Magnum 218.7). It would be derived from 'altar' and a verb for watching attested only in the Cypriot dialect by Hesychius and possibly in Cretan (Leg. Gort. 2.17). Thus perhaps altar-ambushers were also called 'altar-watchers'. ↩

External resources

Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu

Linked from (9)

α2674Ἄντικρυςright on, straight on β484Βωμακεύματαribald jests β485Βώμαξscoundrel β486Βωμολοχεύεσθαιaltar-ambusher β487Βωμολοχεύμασιwith the low buffoonery and rascally tricks of the altar-ambushers.β488Βωμολοχεύσαιτο(if one) were to play the wit at the altar β490Βωμολόχοςaltar-ambusher δ1650Δυσκολοκάμπτους ᾠδάςintricate-twisted songs χ296Χιάζεινto play the Chian

Neighbours in Adler order

β486Βωμολοχεύεσθαιaltar-ambusher β487Βωμολοχεύμασιwith the low buffoonery and rascally tricks of the altar-ambushers.β488Βωμολοχεύσαιτο(if one) were to play the wit at the altar β489Βωμολόχοςaltar-ambusher β490Βωμολόχοςaltar-ambusher β491Βωμόνbomos, bomon β492Βωμόςaltar; podium

Revisions (10)

23 Sep 2015David Whiteheadcoding and other cosmetics
17 Aug 2012David Whiteheadmore keywords; cosmetics
17 Aug 2012Catharine Rothfurther tweaks
16 Aug 2012Catharine Rothtweaks, cross-references
12 Aug 2012Catharine Rothcoding
3 Jun 2012David Whiteheadcosmetics
18 Oct 2005David Whiteheadanother keyword
2 Sep 2002David Whiteheadadded note; cosmetics
25 Feb 2002Robert Dyertranslated

Translation

Greek original

Betacode

*bwmolo/xos: o( peri\ tou\s bwmou\s loxw=n, u(pe\r tou= labei=n ti para\ tw=n quo/ntwn. metaforikw=s de\ kai\ o( paraplhsi/ws tou/tw| w)felei/as e(/neka/ tinas kolakeu/wn. kai\ bwmakeu/mata kai\ bwmoloxeu/mata. *)apollo/dwros *kurhnai=os, o( eu)tra/pelos kai\ gelwtopoio/s. tine\s to\n meta/ tinos eu)trapeli/as ko/laka. kai\ to\n panou=rgon de\ kai\ sukofa/nthn.

Notes (6)

This entry is identical to Pausanias the Atticist beta2b and Photius, Lexicon beta321. It is based in part on observations of the grammarian/lexicographer Apollodorus of Cyrene (RE 1.286 'Apollodorus 65'). It should be read in the context of complementary observations in beta 486, beta 487, beta 488, beta 490 and chi 296.
The rascally begging around altars by people (apparently even the musicians and priests responsible for ritual music and prayer) who regularly cracked jokes at once witty and cheap, must have been a feature of Athenian life, at least in the time of Aristophanes. The term clearly became current for a type of joking somewhat witty and ingratiating and yet vulgarly trivial. A joke of this sort by a parasite or hanger-on of Maecenas in the days of Augustus at the end of the Roman Republic and beginning of the Empire, when the urbane wit of a Catullus was highly prized, can be classified by Aelian as bwmoloxi/a (beta 488 note 4).

1For the second part of this compound, from the verb loxa/w 'waylay, ambush', see lambda 711, lambda 720. ↩

2This word (beta 484), 'acts of the altar-watchers'(?), is attested only as a synonym for the headword given by Apollodorus of Cyrene, as cited in the scholia on Plato, Republic 606C (and Etymologicum Magnum 218.7). It would be derived from 'altar' and a verb for watching attested only in the Cypriot dialect by Hesychius and possibly in Cretan (Leg. Gort. 2.17). Thus perhaps altar-ambushers were also called 'altar-watchers'. ↩