Κέλης
dinghy, yacht
Translated by Nick Nicholas25 Oct 2008Vetting: high8 revisions
Translation
A kind of small boat. Aristophanes [writes]: "but those women, I know, came across on dinghies standing up."1 But also [sc. attested is] a ke/lhs horse, [i.e. ridden] bareback.2 [Aristophanes] is saying, therefore, that they are coming in a boat.3
And not a simple one.4
In the Epigrams: "the frame of the already carved-out dinghy no longer keeps [you] afloat, Timarion, the rowing of Cypris."5
It is a kind of boat.6
[Note] that [the verb]kelhti/zw [is attested] before Homer.7
And not a simple one.4
In the Epigrams: "the frame of the already carved-out dinghy no longer keeps [you] afloat, Timarion, the rowing of Cypris."5
It is a kind of boat.6
[Note] that [the verb]
Greek original · Adler’s text
Κέλης· εἶδος πλοιαρίου μικροῦ. Ἀριστοφάνης· ἀλλ' ἐκεῖναί γ' οἶδ' ὅτι ἐπὶ τῶν κελήτων διαβεβήκασιν ὀρθαί. καὶ ἵππος δὲ κέλης, ὁ γυμνός. λέγει οὖν, ὅτι ἐν πλοίῳ εἰσὶν ἐρχόμεναι. καὶ οὐχ ἁπλοῦν. ἐν Ἐπιγράμμασι· οὐκέτι Τιμάριον τὸ πρὶν γλαφυροῖο κέλητος πῆγμα φέρει πλωτόν, Κύπριδος εἰρεσίην. ἔστι δὲ εἶδος πλοίου. ὅτι τὸ κελητίζειν πρὸ τοῦ Ὁμήρου.
Betacode
*ke/lhs: ei)=dos ploiari/ou mikrou=. *)aristofa/nhs: a)ll' e)kei=nai/ g' oi)=d' o(/ti e)pi\ tw=n kelh/twn diabebh/kasin o)rqai/. kai\ i(/ppos de\ ke/lhs, o( gumno/s. le/gei ou)=n, o(/ti e)n ploi/w| ei)si\n e)rxo/menai. kai\ ou)x a(plou=n. e)n *)epigra/mmasi: ou)ke/ti *tima/rion to\ pri\n glafuroi=o ke/lhtos ph=gma fe/rei plwto/n, *ku/pridos ei)resi/hn. e)/sti de\ ei)=dos ploi/ou. o(/ti to\ kelhti/zein pro\ tou= *(omh/rou.
Notes (7)
- 1Aristophanes, Lysistrata 60 (but read
o)/rqriai , "at dawn", for the Suda's "standing up"). ↩ - 2Of the two senses of
ke/lhs , the "horse" meaning is prior, and kappa 1303, discussing the diminutivekelh/tion , admits as much. Nothing supports the notion thatke/lhs means the horse is bareback. See also kappa 1300. ↩ - 3Up to this point, from a scholion on Aristophanes, Lysistrata 59-60 (see above). ↩
- 4From a scholion on Sophocles, Ajax 954. Presumably, "not a normal boat" (but a dinghy), since a dinghy is hardly elaborate. The explanation has nothing to do with the digression on the other meaning of
ke/lhs ; Adler notes with approval Bernhardy's view that this material belongs with kappa 1288. ↩ - 5Greek Anthology 5.204.1-2 (Meleager [Author, Myth]). Because the Suda's text is mangled, it does not quite make grammatical sense. In the accepted version "rowing" is in the nominative not the accusative, and "Timarion" is in the genitive. The epigram is an extended metaphor comparing Timarion's body to a ship: "The rowing of Cypris [i.e. Aphrodite] no longer keeps afloat the frame of Timarion, the already carved-out dinghy." Find another extract from this epigram at sigma 896. ↩
- 6cf. Hesychius kappa2167, the Synagoge, and Photius kappa555 Theodoridis (with other references there). ↩
- 7The verb is attested in Homer, Iliad 15.679, but it means "jump from horse to horse", and is derived from the primary meaning of
ke/lhs , "riding horse"; it has nothing to do with sense "boat". See kappa 1302. ↩
Linked from6 entries
- ε1829ἘξωκέληςexokelesThe [sc. kind of] boat used by pirates, or a barebacked horse.
- ε1938Ἐπακτροκέληςepaktrokeles, skiff-speedyA pirate boat, between a skiff and a speedy; these too are vessels.
- η342Ἡμιολίαιςone-and-a-half-bankers[Meaning] pirate vessels. "Swiftly drawing the keletes and the hemiolae over the isthmus, [he] set sail in a hurry to catch the assembly of the Achaeans." And elsewhere: "certain robbers coming with many men and pirate…
- κ1299Κέληρεςdinghies, yachts"He was the first to go beyond with the long ships; but with god bringing on the darkness, the dinghies began to seek the light".
- κ1300Κέληςriding-horse[Meaning] a single horse, a bare [horse]; or also [a horse] with a saddle. But two horses yoked together [are called] sunwri/s ["pair, team"].
- κ1303Κελήτιονdinghy, yachtA small boat. From a metaphor of the keles horse, on which a single man sits.
Neighbouring entries
Revision history8 revisions · last 4 Sep 2023
- added cross-reference n.5 — Ronald Allen
- added attribution n.5 — Ronald Allen
- tweaked translation and note — Catharine Roth
- expanded n.4 — David Whitehead
- tweaked a note — David Whitehead
- cosmetics — David Whitehead
- more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- added notes and keywords, cosmetics, status — Catharine Roth
- Translated — Nick Nicholas