Πνεύσας
breathing, blowing
Translated by Catharine Roth3 Aug 2013Vetting: high9 revisions
Translation
Greek original · Adler’s text
Πνεύσας· σφοδρῶς ὀργισθείς. ὁ δὲ νέος ὢν καὶ φιλόνεικος πολὺς ἐπέπνει. ἔτι δὲ τῷ προσπνεύματι συνηλαμένων καὶ μαχομένων ἐκ διαιρέσεως ταῖς μαχαίραις [τουτέστιν ὀργίλως], παρὰ τὰς ἐκ τῶν ὄπισθεν ὑπὸ τὴν μάλην παρέσφαξε.
Betacode
*pneu/sas: sfodrw=s o)rgisqei/s. o( de\ ne/os w)\n kai\ filo/neikos polu\s e)pe/pnei. e)/ti de\ tw=| prospneu/mati sunhlame/nwn kai\ maxome/nwn e)k diaire/sews tai=s maxai/rais [toute/stin o)rgi/lws], para\ ta\s e)k tw=n o)/pisqen u(po\ th\n ma/lhn pare/sface.
Notes (8)
- 1Same or similar glossing in other lexica; references at Photius pi973 Theodoridis. The headword -- aorist active participle, masculine nominative singular, of
pne/w -- must be quoted from somewhere. For this sense of it, see generally LSJ s.v., V. ↩ - 2Polybius fr. 201 Büttner-Wobst (formerly identified as Damascius Life of Isidore fr. 109 Asmus, but attributed to Polybius by Büttner-Wobst (540)). Gesturing at an instance of the later adverb
a)filoni/kws (in a manner not favoring strife) at 21.20.1 (web address 1), Büttner-Wobst prefers (ibid.) to spell the adjective hereinfilo/nikos . Linking it with the fragment'se)pe/pnei (he/she/it was breathing heavily), Büttner-Wobst also notes (ibid.) an instance of the aorist participlepneu/santes (they having breathed heavily) at 21.31.13 (web address 2). ↩ - 3Bernhardy emended this participle to
sunelhlame/nwn "having been driven together." ↩ - 4Bernhardy thought this word was a conflation of two words; Hermann suggested
tw=| pro\s a)llh/lous pneu/mati (other emendations: Dindorftw=| pneu/mati , Hultschtou/twn w(/sper pneu/mati ). ↩ - 5Toup emended this to
dia/rsews , meaning that they were fighting with broadswords (see LSJ s.v.di/arsis ). ↩ - 6Hemsterhuis suggested correcting this incomplete expression to
parasta\s "standing beside"; Toup preferredparasta/s tis "someone standing beside." ↩ - 7Dindorf suggested
a)pe/sface ; Büttner-Wobst follows (541) Hemsterhuis in correcting topata/cas a)pe/sface "striking he slew." ↩ - 8"Below the armpit" might refer to carrying a concealed weapon under the arm: see LSJ s.v.
ma/lh . This whole corrupt sentence is Polybius fr. 202 Büttner-Wobst. Büttner-Wobst accepts (ibid.) Toup's attribution of this fragment to Polybius, but also notes that Schweighäuser doubted that the problematic passage was genuinely Polybian. Walbank concedes (755) that the context of the fragment is "obscure", yet nonetheless associates it with Polybius 18.30.7 (web address 3), a general discussion of the spatial constraints plausibly affecting typical Roman soldiers' sword fighting techniques when they deploy against the Greek phalanx. Walbank thus suggests that the phrasemaxome/nwn e)k diaire/sews tai=s maxai/rais should be understood as fighting by means of sword-thrusts, describing the situation of soldiers that have been surrounded, trapped, and through lack of space cannot effect cutting blows with their swords (ibid.). ↩
References
T. Büttner-Wobst, ed., Polybii Historiae, vol. IV, (Leipzig 1904)
F.W. Walbank, A Historical Commentary on Polybius, vol. III, (Oxford 1979)
F.W. Walbank, A Historical Commentary on Polybius, vol. III, (Oxford 1979)
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 3 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from1 entry
Neighbouring entries
Revision history9 revisions · last 22 Jul 2019
- expanded n.8 — Ronald Allen
- expanded n.8, added bibliographic entry, added link — Ronald Allen
- expanded n.8 — Ronald Allen
- n.7 bibliographic reference — Ronald Allen
- expanded n.2, added bibliography, added links — Ronald Allen
- typo — David Whitehead
- Revised — David Whitehead
- tweak — Catharine Roth
- augmented n.1; more keywords; tweaking — David Whitehead
- Translated — Catharine Roth