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Γαλεάγρα · weasel-trap, iron-maiden (γ 25) · 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 γ25

γ21Gauls, Galatai, Galatians
γ22Galateia, Galatea
γ23with a Gallian
γ24galea
γ25weasel-trap, iron-maiden
γ26Galeodes
γ27spotted lizard
γ28cheerful
γ29weasel

Suda/Γ gamma/γ25

← Previous entry,γ24 Next entry,γ26 →

Γαλεάγρα

weasel-trap, iron-maiden

Translated by Jennifer Benedict16 Jun 2002Vetting: high5 revisions

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2 notes · 39 words

Translation

[Meaning a] device for punishment.
"As a finale they threw [him?] into a weasel-trap all shut up with iron bolts and rolled it on rough ground."¹
And elsewhere: "but he threw [him] into an iron weasel-trap and killed [him]."²

Greek original · Adler’s text

Γαλεάγρα· ὄργανον τιμωρητικόν. καὶ τελευτῶντες εἰς γαλεάγραν ἐμβαλόντες περόναις σιδηραῖς διειργμένην πᾶσαν ἐν δυσχωρίαις ἐκύλιον. καὶ αὖθις· ὁ δὲ ἐν γαλεάγρᾳ σιδηρᾷ βαλὼν ἀπέκτεινεν.

Betacode

*galea/gra: o)/rganon timwrhtiko/n. kai\ teleutw=ntes ei)s galea/gran e)mbalo/ntes pero/nais sidhrai=s dieirgme/nhn pa=san e)n dusxwri/ais e)ku/lion. kai\ au)=qis: o( de\ e)n galea/gra| sidhra=| balw\n a)pe/kteinen.

Notes (2)

This word was frequently used in reference to cages for catching and/or holding various animals (though curiously, never weasels): e.g. Job 27:1 LXX; the Alexander Romance 3.18; Strabo 6.2.6; Plutarch, Moralia 974D (and cf. Lexica Segueriana, Glossae rhetoricae 227.33, Photius gamma10, Etymologicum Magnum 220.27). More frequently the animal trapped and/or held was human, as here. See note 1 below for reference to examples. Hermogenes, On forms 2.11, in discussing the vocabulary of Hypereides, classifies it as a recherché word.
1Quotation unidentifiable, though it may be a dim reflection of what we find in Appian, Libyca 15, and Polyaenus 8.12 (both in reference to the death of Regulus at the hands of the Carthaginians), or Cassius Dio 59.10 (on the abuses of Caligula). The use of the word dieirgme/nhn is puzzling here since it should normally mean 'fenced apart'. It is translated here as if it could mean 'fenced around' or 'shut up'. It is possible that instead we should understand the phrase as 'kept apart by iron bolts', i.e. the device had iron bolts on the inside both to support the structure while it is rolled and to give the occupant something uncomfortable to bump up against. 'Bolts' (pero/nai) could also be translated as 'pins' or 'spikes' (as is suggested by the passages referred to above from Appian and Polyaenus, in which the weasel-trap used on Regulus has ke/ntra ('skewers') on the inside). ↩
2This seems to be a paraphrase of a longer quotation found in kappa 240 (in reference to Alexander the Great's use of the device on Kallisthenes).

Linked from1 entry

γ24Γαλέαgalea[Meaning] the fish [of that name]. And galeo/s likewise [sc. is attested].

Neighbouring entries

γ23Γαλλαίῳwith a Gallian γ24Γαλέαgalea γ25Γαλεάγραweasel-trap, iron-maiden γ26ΓαλεώδηςGaleodes γ27Γαλεώτηςspotted lizard

Revision history5 revisions · last 27 Sep 2015

27 Sep 2015Revised — David Whitehead
21 Aug 2012coding — Catharine Roth
4 Jun 2012more keywords; cosmetics — David Whitehead
12 Apr 2008added alternative headword, augmented notes, added keyword, raised status — William Hutton
17 Jun 2002augmented and modified notes; added keyword; cosmetics — David Whitehead
16 Jun 2002Translated — Jennifer Benedict

Cite this entry

Suda On Line, s.v. Γαλεάγρα (Adler number gamma 25), trans. Jennifer Benedict, 16 Jun 2002. https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/gamma/25

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