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Δίπαλτος · doubly-brandished, twice-brandished (δ 1256) · 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 δ1256

δ1252conduit
δ1253passage
δ1254we will reject
δ1255with poles running through rings
δ1256doubly-brandished, twice-brandished
δ1257to double
δ1258double
δ1259duplicity
δ1260duplicity

Suda/Δ delta/δ1256

← Previous entry,δ1255 Next entry,δ1257 →

Δίπαλτος

doubly-brandished, twice-brandished

Translated by Antonella Ippolito7 Mar 2005Vetting: high5 revisions

definition
dialects, grammar, and etymology
imagery
military affairs
poetry
tragedy

1 note · 41 words

Translation

[Meaning carried] with both hands.¹ That is dexterously, with the utmost force. Sophocles [writes]: "all the army would kill me doubly-brandished in the hand".² Alternatively [it can be explained] as follows: the army would take the doubly-brandished spears and kill me.

Greek original · Adler’s text

Δίπαλτος· ἀμφοτέραις ταῖς χερσίν. οἷον περιδεξίως, παντὶ σθένει. Σοφοκλῆς· πᾶς δὲ στρατὸς δίπαλτος ἄν με χειρὶ φονεύοι. ἢ οὕτως· ὁ στρατός με φονεύοι λαβὼν τὰ δίπαλτα δοράτια.

Betacode

*di/paltos: a)mfote/rais tai=s xersi/n. oi(=on perideci/ws, panti\ sqe/nei. *sofoklh=s: pa=s de\ strato\s di/paltos a)/n me xeiri\ foneu/oi. h)\ ou(/tws: o( strato/s me foneu/oi labw\n ta\ di/palta dora/tia.

Notes (1)

[1] The original sense of the adjective di/paltos (from di- and pa/llw) would be "fully armed", in reference to the double spears an Homeric warrior ordinarily carried, according to the literary and archaeological evidence collected by Lorimer (below). But uncertainty as to the meaning is evident in antiquity itself, as the Suda confirms. It is possible that this kind of compound had changed its sense from a literal into a metaphorical one. *di/paltos is said of a thunderbolt in Euripides, Trojan Women 1103; the similar tri/paltos is referred to sufferings in Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 990 tripa/ltwn phma/twn "manifold pains" (but the passage is dubious). The usage of di/paltos by Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 323 di/palta polemi/wn ci/fh "the two swords brandished by enemies", according to Kamerbeek, is a catachresis for "wielded by two men".
2Sophocles, Ajax 408-9 (web address 1). The scholia there attribute the gloss panti\ sqe/nei to Didymus, the alternative one to the lesser-known grammarian Pius. Didymus' interpretation is preferred by Kamerbeek, who suggests a sense of the passage close to Latin ictibus ingeminans.

References

E. Hiller, Der Grammatiker Pius und die a)pologi/ai pro\s ta\s a)qeth/seis *)arista/rxou, Philologus 28, 1869, 86-115
H.L. Lorimer, Annual of the British School at Athens 38 (1940) 172 ff.
J.C. Kamerbeek, The plays of Sophocles-Commentaries, Part I: Ajax, Leiden, 1963 [second edition]

External resources

Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu

Linked from1 entry

δ1378Δοράτιονspearlet[Meaning a] small spear.

Neighbouring entries

δ1254Διωσόμεθαwe will reject δ1255Διωστῆρσινwith poles running through rings δ1256Δίπαλτοςdoubly-brandished, twice-brandished δ1257Διπλασιάσαιto double δ1258Διπλαῖdouble

Revision history5 revisions · last 12 Nov 2015

12 Nov 2015cosmetics — David Whitehead
24 Aug 2013typo — Catharine Roth
24 Aug 2013cosmetics — Catharine Roth
13 Jul 2012tweaked hw and tr; another keyword — David Whitehead
8 Mar 2005tweaked translation; other cosmetics — David Whitehead
7 Mar 2005Translated — Antonella Ippolito

Cite this entry

Suda On Line, s.v. Δίπαλτος (Adler number delta 1256), trans. Antonella Ippolito, 7 Mar 2005. https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/delta/1256

Translation by Antonella Ippolito 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 ↗