Σφάκον
sage
Translated by David Armstrong2 Jul 2014Vetting: high6 revisions
Translation
[Used] in place of 'salvia' [e)leli/sfakon ].1 Aristophanes [writes]: "and then he began grinding juniper-berries, anise, sage." As [being items] suitable to stop a colic.2
Greek original · Adler’s text
Σφάκον· ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐλελίσφακον. Ἀριστοφάνης· κᾆθ' ὁ μὲν ἔτριβε κεδρίδας, ἄνηθον, σφάκον. ὡς ἐπιτήδεια παῦσαι στρόφον.
Betacode
*sfa/kon: a)nti\ tou= e)leli/sfakon. *)aristofa/nhs: ka)=|q' o( me\n e)/tribe kedri/das, a)/nhqon, sfa/kon. w(s e)pith/deia pau=sai stro/fon.
Notes (2)
- LSJ (web address 1) define the headword (a masculine noun in the accusative singular, as used in the subsequent quotation) as "sage-apple" but that English term is properly applied to the fruit of the sage variety Salvia pomifera ssp. calycina, whereas the usage of this term here (with the assertion of its equivalence to
e)leli/sfakon -- see n. 1) and elsewhere suggests that it can apply to the aromatic leaves of the plant. Either meaning could be appropriate to the Aristophanes passage cited; Austin and Olson ad loc. define it simply as 'a wild herb'. - 1
e)leli/sfakon vel sim. is usually identified as Salvia triloba ('Greek sage'): see LSJ at web address 2. ↩ - 2Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 486, with comments derived from the scholia there. Mnesilochus, disguised as a woman, tells how she deceived her husband, faking a nocturnal stomach-ache so that she could slip out to meet her lover. ↩
References
C. Austin & D. Olson (2004) Aristophanes: Thesmophoriazousai. Oxford: Oxford University Press
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
Neighbouring entries
Revision history6 revisions · last 4 Jun 2022
- coding — Catharine Roth
- cosmeticule — Catharine Roth
- corrected my own grammatical error — William Hutton
- cosmetics — Catharine Roth
- more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics; raised status — David Whitehead
- cosmetics, tweaked translation and augmented notes, added keywords, raised status — William Hutton
- Translated — David Armstrong