I have been seeing this sign lately. EEE stands for Eastern Equine Encephalitis, which sounds terrifying. The acronym is, coincidentally, the sound I make when I read about it. This, of course, made me think of the Homeric name for Circe’s Island, Aiaia.
Schol. PQV ad Hom. Od. 9.32
“Aiaiê: A name from the Tyrrheanian Island, Aiaia, or, a Kolkhian one. For Aiaia is a city in Kolkhis.”
Αἰαίη] ἐξ Αἰαίης νήσου τῆς Τυρρηνίας, ἢ Κολχικῆς. Αἰαία γὰρ πόλις τῆς Κολχίδος
Schol. MS Barnes ad Od. 9.32
“But Aiaia is the name of Kirkê’s island which is near Hades and it comes from the moaning of the people on it, from the lamenting utterance “ai, ai”.
νῦν δὲ Αἰαία ἐστὶν ἡ τῆς Κίρκης νῆσος ἡ πλησίον τοῦ ῞Αιδου οὖσα ἀπὸ τῶν στεναγμάτων τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ, παρὰ τὸ αἲ αἲ θρηνητικὸν ἐπίρρημα.
Schol. E Ad. Od. 9.32
“Aiaiê, a daughter of Aiêtês. Or she is being honored from the Aiaian land. It is a city in Kolkhis.”
Αἰαίη] τοῦ Αἰήτου θυγάτηρ. ἢ ἀπὸ Αἰαίας χώρας τιμωμένη. ἔστι δὲ πόλις Κολχίας.
Hesychius
“Aiaiê: The island which Kirkê inhabits. And Kirkê herself receives the nickname the “tricky Aiaian”. This is probably an ethnic name from the Island. The word is made from the “ai ai” mourners utter, since this was how the men lamented when they were slaughtered by the Laistrygonians. Or the name comes from the rightful mourning of those men who were turned into beasts.”
Αἰαίη· ἡ νῆσος, ἣν κατῴκει ἡ Κίρκη. καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ Κίρκη ὁμώνυμος· Αἰαίη δολόεσσα (ι 32) ‖ ἢ ἐθνική, ἀπὸ τῆς νήσου. τὸ ὄνομα δὲ πεποιημένον παρὰ τὸ αἲ αἲ τοὺς θρηνοῦντας φθέγγεσθαι, ἤτοι <οὕτως> τοὺς [ὑπὸ τῶν] παρὰ τοῖς Λαιστρυγόσιν ἀναιρεθέντας θρηνεῖσθαι. ἢ διὰ τὸ ἀξίαν εἶναι θρήνου τὴν τῶν μεταμορφουμένων ἀποθηρίωσιν
I have not seen any convincing modern updates, but if one shows up I will add it:
There is the possibility that it could be a primal name, e.g. "earth" or something reflecting the immortality, e.g. "eternal"; but I am a fan of folk-etymologies.
What say you BB? .@GreekEtymology [both images from beekes 2010] pic.twitter.com/CuLaVMx31J
— sententiae antiquae (@sentantiq) September 20, 2019
https://twitter.com/DimitriNakassis/status/1175173332032864257?s=20
