Κέρκος
tail
Translated by Nick Nicholas5 Nov 2008Vetting: high3 revisions
Translation
[Meaning] the tail1 of reptiles, and of any animal. [Derived] from the [verb] to skip (skairein) and to crawl (herpein).2
Aristophanes [writes]: "look, take this hare's tail."3 [Meaning] the tail of the hare.4 For the fur of the hare is soft and tender, so as to be used instead of a sponge,5 so as "to wipe clean the eye crust";6 that is, to wipe off, to sponge away.
Aristophanes [writes]: "look, take this hare's tail."3 [Meaning] the tail of the hare.4 For the fur of the hare is soft and tender, so as to be used instead of a sponge,5 so as "to wipe clean the eye crust";6 that is, to wipe off, to sponge away.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Κέρκος· ἡ τῶν ἑρπετῶν οὐρά, καὶ παντὸς ζῴου. παρὰ τὸ σκαίρειν καὶ ἕρπειν. Ἀριστοφάνης· ἰδού, δέχου κέρκον λαγώ. τὴν οὐρὰν τοῦ λαγῳοῦ. ἔστι δὲ ἁπαλὸν καὶ τρυφερὸν τὸ ἔριον τοῦ λαγῳοῦ, ὥστε ἀντὶ σπόγγου χρήσασθαι, ὥστε τὰς λήμας περιψεῖν· τουτέστι καταμάσσειν, ἀποσπογγίζειν.
Betacode
*ke/rkos: h( tw=n e(rpetw=n ou)ra/, kai\ panto\s zw/|ou. para\ to\ skai/rein kai\ e(/rpein. *)aristofa/nhs: i)dou/, de/xou ke/rkon lagw/. th\n ou)ra\n tou= lagw|ou=. e)/sti de\ a(palo\n kai\ trufero\n to\ e)/rion tou= lagw|ou=, w(/ste a)nti\ spo/ggou xrh/sasqai, w(/ste ta\s lh/mas periyei=n: toute/sti katama/ssein, a)pospoggi/zein.
Notes (6)
- 1The Attic word
ke/rkos is glossed withou)ra/ , which survived into the Modern vernacular. So also in kappa 1403. ↩ - 2
skai/rein is used in a number of folk etymologies by both Ancient and Byzantine authorities (ska/ros, skardamu/ttein, skirtoi/, skalmo/s, skirtw= ) -- as well as the accurateskarqmo/s, eu)/skarqmos . The Suda cites the derivation ofskardamu/ttein in sigma 538. This particular derivation, though, is unique to the Suda, and is stretched even by Byzantine standards. ↩ - 3Aristophanes, Knights 909 ("[...] to wipe clean your eyes"); cf. pi 1354. ↩
- 4Again,
ke/rkos is glossed withou)ra/ . ↩ - 5Cited from the scholia vetera on the passage. ↩
- 6The Suda conflates the scholia vetera here. Aristophanes has "to wipe clean the eyes",
tw)fqalmidi/w , and does not mention sleep crust. The scholia vetera introduce sleep crust in explaining the passage, continuing from their previous sentence with: "because [the fur] is soft enough to wipe clean eye crusts. wipe clean: to wipe off, to sponge away". The Suda conflates the last word of one scholion ("wipe clean") with the word being glossed in the next scholion. ↩
Linked from3 entries
- κ1403Κέρκοςtail[ke/rkos means the same as] ou)ra/. "And [he] was transporting the cavalry across, with each of the cavalryman, on foot, fastened to the tail [sc. of his horse]."
- κ1405ΚέρκωπεςKerkopes, Cercopes, Monkey-menThere were two brothers on [the] earth, who displayed every sort of wickedness, and they were called Kerkopes, taking this name from the terrible nature of their deeds. For one of them was called Passalos and the other…
- κ1663Κίρκονfalcon[Meaning variously] a hawk, or a tail, or an oarsman. "And a tail kept lithe by the oil-flask." In the Epigrams. Of Nicephorus the Patriarch, dream-interpretation: "If you hold hawks, you would undoubtedly obtain what…
Neighbouring entries
Revision history3 revisions · last 19 Feb 2013
- tweaking — David Whitehead
- fixed note number — Catharine Roth
- another x-ref; another keyword; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Nick Nicholas