Ῥαχίζων
cleaving, cutting through the spine
Translated by Catharine Roth9 Sep 2010Vetting: high3 revisions
Translation
[Meaning he] slaughtering, cutting through.1 Sophocles [writes]: "[he] cleaving in a circle." Meaning slaughtering around the place of the fold. [sc. The term is used] because the first and great[est] cut occurs along the spine.2 By a metaphor we also call those who accomplish great things r(axistai/ ["cleavers"].3
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ῥαχίζων· σφάζων, διακόπτων. Σοφοκλῆς· κύκλῳ ῥαχίζων. ἀντὶ τοῦ κατὰ τόπον τῆς ἐπαύλεως σφάζων. διὰ τὸ τὴν πρώτην καὶ μεγάλην διακοπὴν κατὰ τὴν ῥάχιν γίνεσθαι. ἐκ μεταφορᾶς δὲ καὶ τοὺς μεγάλα κατορθοῦντας ῥαχιστάς φαμεν.
Betacode
*(raxi/zwn: sfa/zwn, diako/ptwn. *sofoklh=s: ku/klw| r(axi/zwn. a)nti\ tou= kata\ to/pon th=s e)pau/lews sfa/zwn. dia\ to\ th\n prw/thn kai\ mega/lhn diakoph\n kata\ th\n r(a/xin gi/nesqai. e)k metafora=s de\ kai\ tou\s mega/la katorqou=ntas r(axista/s famen.
Notes (3)
- An expanded version of Photius rho57 Theodoridis.
- 1The headword, extracted from the quotation given, is present participle of
r(axi/zw (cf. rho 61, rho 62, and more broadly rho 65), masculine nominative singular. ↩ - 2Sophocles, Ajax 56 (web address 1), with scholion; cf. Hesychius s.v. ↩
- 3cf. rho 62 for another sense of
r(axisth/s . ↩
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from2 entries
- ρ61Ῥαχίζεινto cut through the spineThe [verb that means] to separate the back and the parts of the chine, or to cleave; as Euripides says.
- ρ62Ῥαχίζεινto cleaveTo brag. Also [sc. attested is the related noun] r(axisth/s ["one who cuts through the spine"], [meaning] a braggart. Theopompus in Pamphile [writes]: "Demophon, of all these things the braggart."
Neighbouring entries
Revision history3 revisions · last 27 Oct 2013
- another note; tweaking — David Whitehead
- cosmetics — David Whitehead
- expansions to notes; tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Catharine Roth