Λουτροφόρος
bath-carrier
Translated by David Whitehead6 Dec 2000Vetting: high5 revisions
Translation
[Bath-carrier] and bath-carrying. It was customary for those getting married at Athens to send out for baths for themselves on the day of the wedding. They used to send for these the boy who was their nearest male relative; and these did the the bath-carrying. It was also customary, when people died unmarried, to have a bath-carrier and position him at the tomb; this was a boy with a hydria. They used to carry the bath[-water] from the spring now called Enneakrounos, formerly Kallirhoe.1
Greek original · Adler’s text
Λουτροφόρος καὶ Λουτροφορεῖν· ἔθος ἦν τοῖς γαμοῦσιν Ἀθήνησι λουτρὰ μεταπέμπεσθαι ἑαυτοῖς κατὰ τὴν τοῦ γάμου ἡμέραν. ἔπεμπον δὲ ἐπὶ ταῦτα τὸν ἐγγυτάτω γένους παῖδα ἄρρενα· καὶ οὗτοι ἐλουτροφόρουν. ἔθος δὲ ἦν καὶ τοῖς ἀγάμοις ἀποθανοῦσι λουτροφορεῖν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ μνῆμα ἐφίστασθαι· τοῦτο δὲ ἦν παῖς ὑδρίαν ἔχων. τὰ δὲ λουτρὰ ἐκόμιζον ἐκ τῆς νῦν μὲν Ἐννεακόρου καλουμένης κρήνης, πρότερον δὲ Καλλιρόης.
Betacode
*loutrofo/ros kai\ *loutroforei=n: e)/qos h)=n toi=s gamou=sin *)aqh/nhsi loutra\ metape/mpesqai e(autoi=s kata\ th\n tou= ga/mou h(me/ran. e)/pempon de\ e)pi\ tau=ta to\n e)gguta/tw ge/nous pai=da a)/rrena: kai\ ou(=toi e)loutrofo/roun. e)/qos de\ h)=n kai\ toi=s a)ga/mois a)poqanou=si loutroforei=n kai\ e)pi\ to\ mnh=ma e)fi/stasqai: tou=to de\ h)=n pai=s u(dri/an e)/xwn. ta\ de\ loutra\ e)ko/mizon e)k th=s nu=n me\n *)enneako/rou kaloume/nhs krh/nhs, pro/teron de\ *kalliro/hs.
Notes (1)
- Abridged from Harpokration s.v., commenting on Dinarchus frs. XIX.6 and LXXXIII.1 Conomis. Note that
loutrofo/ros was the name for not only the person performing the ritual but also the particular vessel used.
cf. generally lambda 692, lambda 693. - 1For Enneakrounos (here misspelled Enneakoros)/Kallirhoe see epsilon 1209 and kappa 238. ↩
References
Robert Garland, The Greek Way of Life (London 1990) 220
Linked from2 entries
- λ692Λουτράbaths"On their passing into a city which had baths, some hand-made and artificial, some bubbling up from the bosom of the earth and overflowing, with pleasure for men and usefulness and enjoyment for those who appear [...]…
- λ693Λοῦτρονwash-water[Meaning] the wash-off, the filthy [water], that which has been washed off. "And he will drink the wash-water out of the baths." Procopius [writes]: "he bade the bath to be ready, for he wanted to take a bath there on…
Neighbouring entries
Revision history5 revisions · last 22 Apr 2013
- Revised — David Whitehead
- tweaks — David Whitehead
- augmented notes and keywords; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- augmented note — Catharine Roth
- added keyword, set status — Catharine Roth
- Translated — David Whitehead