Scatological Studies for a Sensitive Tweetsperience

Go here for more words for excrement. And here for “shitting the bed.”

Aristophanes, Wealth 625-628

“If I flash lightning, the rich dudes
And the important fools
All pray and shit in their pants.”

κἂν ἀστράψω, ποππύζουσιν
κἀγκεχόδασίν μ᾿ οἱ πλουτοῦντες
καὶ πάνυ σεμνοί.

Damox, fr. 2. 15-16

“Rub him down with shit / and expel him from school”
μινθώσας ἄφες / ὡς ἐκ διατριβῆς

Arsenius, 6.70c

“You have fallen into Augeus’ dung: this means “you are immersed in filth”

Εἰς τὴν Αὐγέου κόπρον ἐμπέπτωκας: ἤγουν ἐβορβορώθης.

Eubulus. Fr. 52 [from Athenaeus]

“After that, I left Thebes, where they dine all night
And all day long and each person has a toilet
Next to his door—and there’s nothing better
For a person who’s full. Someone who is walking far
And needs to shit after eating a lot,
He’s hilarious to see as he bites down on his lips.”
μετὰ ταῦτα Θήβας ἦλθον, οὗ τὴν νύχθ᾿ ὅλην

τήν θ᾿ ἡμέραν δειπνοῦσι καὶ κοπρῶν᾿ ἔχει
ἐπὶ ταῖς θύραις ἕκαστος, οὗ πλήρει βροτῷ
οὐκ ἔστι μεῖζον ἀγαθόν· ὡς χεζητιῶν
μακρὰν βαδίζων, πολλὰ δ᾿ † ἐσθίων † ἀνήρ,
δάκνων τὰ χείλη παγγέλοιός ἐστ᾿ ἰδεῖν.

Diogenianus, 3.49

“You are a Kyprian ox”. This is a proverb in place of ‘shit-eater.’ For Eudoksos records that these are shit-eaters.”

Βοῦς Κύπριος εἶ· ἀντὶ τοῦ σκατοφάγος. Εὔδοξος γὰρ περὶ τούτων ἱστορεῖ ὅτι κοπροφάγοι εἰσίν.

From Henderson’s maculate muse

Henderson's maculate muse book entry on the greek verb xezein, which means to shit

Σκῶρ ἀείνων, “ever-flowing shit” (Ar. Frogs, 145-6)

ὁ τῆς διαροίας ποταμὸς, “river of diarrhea” (Ar. Fr. 150.3)

σφυράδων πολλῶν ἀναμεστή, “full of many shitballs” (Eupolis, fr. 16; see Henderson 1991, 193)

μεμαγμένον σκῶρ ἐσθίειν, —αὐτὴ δ’ ἔματτεν αὐτοῖς, — “to eat the shit-cake she baked for them” (Ar. Wealth, 304)

Κάκκη 

Kakka it also has a vulgar meaning as something unclean; especially bad-smelling feces. Aristophanes writes, “holding your nose away from the kakka”.

Κάκκη: ἔχει δὲ καὶ τὸ κακέμφατον. ἡ ἀκαθαρσία, καὶ μάλιστα τὸ δύσοσμον ἀποπάτημα. Ἀριστοφάνης: ἀπὸ μὲν κάκκης ῥῖν’ ἀπέχων.

Some other words

ἀποπάτημα: feces, cf. Photius: “musikelendron: mouse excrement, muokhodon. Μυσικέλενδρον: τὸ τοῦ μυὸς ἀποπάτημα· μυόχοδον.

διαχώρημα: “leavings”; cf. Hesychius: σπατίλη· τὸ ὑγρὸν διαχώρημα: “moist feces”

ἀφόδευμα: “excrement”; cf. Hesychius, kokkilondis: A child’s excrement. κοκκιλόνδις· παιδὸς ἀφόδευμα

Compounds, etc.

Scholia in Aristophanes, Pacem, 24a

“boar and dog”: manure-eating animals

ὗς καὶ κύων: κοπροφάγα τὰ ζῷα.

Compounds, etc.

Scholia in Aristophanes, Pacem, 24a

“boar and dog”: manure-eating animals

ὗς καὶ κύων: κοπροφάγα τὰ ζῷα.

Necessary Compounds

κοπρόνους: “manure-minded”

κοπράγωγεω: “to collect crap”

κοπρεῖος: “full of crap”

κοπρολογεῖν: “to gather crap”

κοπροφαγεῖν: “to eat crap”

κοπροστόμος: “foul-mouthed”

σκατοφάγος: “shit-eater”

More from the Suda

Ἅλα [usually, salt]

Hala: fecal matter [manure]. In the Odyssey “you wouldn’t even give the shit from your home to a suppliant

Ἅλα: τὰ κόπρια. ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ: οὐ σύ γ’ ἐξ οἴκου σῷ ἐπιστάτῃ οὐδ’ ἅλα δοίης.

Βόλιτος

Bolitos: cow-patty. Attic speakers say this without a beta, the way we say bolbitos

Βόλιτος: Ἀττικοὶ οὕτω λέγουσι χωρὶς τοῦ β, ὅπερ ἡμεῖς βόλβιτον

Δεισαλέα

Deiselea: Fecal matter. For excrement is deisa.

Δεισαλέα: κοπρώδη. δεῖσα γὰρ ἡ κόπρος.

Ὀνιαία

Oniaia: the excrement of a horse. Also, onides, the feces of donkeys which are shaped usefully.

Ὀνιαία: τοῦ ἵππου τὸ ἀφόδευμα. καὶ Ὀνίδες, τὰ τῶν ὄνων ἀποπατήματα, ἃ ἐπίτηδες πεπλασμένα ἐστίν.

Ὄνθος

onthos: manure. Properly, this is bull-manure.

Ὄνθος: βόλβιτον. τουτέστιν ἡ τῶν βοῶν κόπρος.

Οἰσυπηρός

Oisêpuros: muddy, greasy as in “oily-fleeces”, wool that is filthy, covered with manure. For oisupê is the excrement of sheep.

Οἰσυπηρός: ῥυπαρός. Ἔρια οἰσυπηρά, ῥύπου πεπληρωμένα, ῥυπάσματα ἀπὸ τῆς κόπρου. οἰσύπη δέ ἐστι τὸ διαχώρημα τῶν προβάτων.

Σκῶρ

Skôr: manure, feces, it declines using skatos.

Σκῶρ: κόπρος, ἀποπάτημα. καὶ κλίνεται σκατός.

Φωρυτός

“Phôrutos: manure, or a trash-pile.”

Φωρυτός: κόπρος, ἢ χῶμα.

 

Image result for ancient greek toilet vase

 

Tawdry Tuesday: Proctological Proverb Edition

Arsenius, 34a1

“May you fall into Hades’ asshole”: [a curse]: may you die.

῞Αιδου πρωκτῷ περιπέσῃς: ἤγουν τελευτήσῃς.

Note: Even though Ancient Greek prôktos can merely mean “rear end” (as in butt), it most often means ‘anus’ in comedy and insults. Also, I wanted to use something profane and given the British/American divide on arse/ass, I decided just to go with “asshole” because it is funnier.

Diogenianus (v.1 e cod. Marz. 2.42)

“I wish you’d fall into Hades’ asshole”: this is clear

῞Αιδου πρωκτῷ περιπέσοις: δῆλον.

Diogenianus (v.2 e cod. Vindob. 133, 1.97 )

“I wish you’d fall into Hades’ asshole”: Used for cursing someone

Αἵδου πρωκτῷ περιπέσοις: ἐπὶ τῶν καταρωμένων τινί.

Diogenianus, 3.58

“The asshole survives the bath” [or, “Ass surpasses the bath”]. Whenever someone is not able to wash himself, but his bowels still assail him. This is a proverb used for things done uselessly.

Πρωκτὸς λουτροῦ περιγίνεται: ὅταν τις μὴ δύνηται ἀπονίψασθαι, ἀλλ’ ἡ κοιλία αὐτῷ ἐπιφέρηται. λέγεται ἡ παροιμία ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνωφελῶς πραττομένων.

Michael Apostolius, 14.78

“The asshole survives the bath”: This proverb is used for things done uselessly and done for show. For people with thick asses and potbellies are not able to wash themselves off easily.”

Πρωκτὸς λουτροῦ περιγίνεται: ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνωφελῶν καὶ εἰκῇ πραττομένων ἐλέγετο· οἱ γὰρ παχύπρωκτοι καὶ προγάστορες οὐ δύνανται ἑαυτοὺς ἀπονίψασθαι εὐπετῶς.

Zenobius, Vulg. 1.52

“It was cured by Akesias”: this is a proverb for when things are healed for the worse. Aristotle provides the proverb in tetrameters: “Akesias healed his asshole.”

Ἀκεσίας ἰάσατο· ἐπὶ τῶν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ἰωμένων. ὅλην δὲ Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν τετραμέτροις τὴν παροιμίαν ἐκφέρει, λέγων· Ἀκεσίας τὸν πρωκτὸν ἰάσατο.

Suda, s.v. Ἀφευθεὶς

“Singed around the asshole:” Aristophanes has this instead of being “all burned up”

Ἀφευθεὶς τὸν πρωκτόν: Ἀριστοφάνης ἀντὶ τοῦ φλογισθείς.

Balneum Tripergulae – particolare da miniatura del Codice Angelico del “De Balneis Puteolanis� di Pietro da Eboli.

Bonus: Suda on defecation (And there is more of this)

Apopatêma: this is the same as ‘dung’ Eupolis has in his Golden Age: “What is that man? Shit of a fox.” And Kratinus has in Runaway Slaves: I knocked Kerkyon out at dawn when I found him shitting in the vegetables.” We also find the participle apopatêsomenoi (“they are about to shit”) which means they are going to evacuate the feces from their bodies. But patos also means path.

Aristophanes writes “No one sacrifices the old way any more or even enters the temple except for the more than ten thousand who want to shit. So, apopatos is really the voiding of the bowels. Aristophanes also says about Kleonymous: “He went off to shit after he got he army and shat for ten months in the golden mountains? For how long was he closing his asshole? A whole turn of the moon?”

Ἀποπάτημα: αὐτὸ τὸ σκύβαλον. Εὔπολις Χρυσῷ γένει: τί γάρ ἐστ’ ἐκεῖνος; ἀποπάτημ’ ἀλώπεκος. Κρατῖνος Δραπέτισι: τὸν Κερκύονά τε ἕωθεν ἀποπατοῦντ’ ἐπὶ τοῖς λαχάνοις εὑρὼν ἀπέπνιξα. καὶ Ἀποπατησόμενοι, τὴν κόπρον κενώσοντες. πάτος δὲ ἡ ὁδός. Ἀριστοφάνης: οὐδεὶς θύει τοπαράπαν οὐδ’ εἰσέρχεται, πλὴν ἀποπατησόμενοί γε πλεῖν ἢ μύριοι. Ἀπόπατος γὰρ ἡ κένωσις τῆς γαστρός. καὶ Ἀριστοφάνης περὶ Κλεωνύμου φησίν: εἰς ἀπόπατον ᾤχετο στρατιὰν λαβὼν κἄχεζεν ὀκτὼ μῆνας ἐπὶ χρυσῶν ὄρων. πόσου δὲ τὸν πρωκτὸν χρόνου ξυνήγαγε; τῇ πανσελήνῳ.

From Henderson’s Maculate Muse

proktos

Soul. Cold.

ψυχή, ἡ: soul, life

ψύχωσις: life-giving/generating

ψυχοανακάλυπτος: soul-baring, revealing

ψυχοκλέπτης: soul-thief

ψυχοκτόνος:soul-killing

ψυχοπλανής: soul-wandering

ψυχοπότης: soul drinker (drinking of life, i.e. blood)

 

ψῦχος, τό: cold

ψυχρία: cold

ψυχοκρασία: growing cold

ψυχολογία: frigid talking

ψυχροποιός: making cold

ψυχροπότης: cold drinker (one who drinks cold water)

ψυχρόσαρκος: with cold flesh

soulCOld1

cold 2

Snowy Mountain

Greek and Roman Words on Vomiting

Greek Puking

ἐξεμέω, ἐξερεύγομαι: “vomit”

κατεξεράω: “vomit upon”

κοπριήμετος: “shit-puking”

προεξεμέω: “to puke beforehand”

ἐμεσία: “pukey”; i.e., a disposition to vomit

ἔμεσμα: “puke”, i.e. “that which is vomited

ἐμετηρίζω: “to administer an emetic”

ἐμετικός: “something that causes vomiting; an emetic”

ἀκρητόχολος: “bilious vomiting”

δυσεμής: “Difficult to vomit”

εὐέμετος: “Vomiting easily”

χολημετέω: “to vomit bile”

Image result for Ancient greek vomit vase

Herodotus, 1.133

“They can’t puke or piss in front of another”

καί σφι οὐκ ἐμέσαι ἔξεστι, οὐκὶ οὐρῆσαι ἀντίον ἄλλου

Revelations, 3.16

“I’m going to puke you from my mouth.”

μέλλω σε ἐμέσαι ἐκ τοῦ στόματός μου

Cicero, For King Deiotauros 7.22

“When you said you wanted to puke after dinner, they began to lead you into the bathroom”

‘cum’ inquit ‘vomere post cenam te velle dixisses, in balneum te ducere coeperunt

Plautus, Rudens 27

“By the god, I wish too much that you’d puke up your lungs!”

Pulmoneum edepol nimis velim vomitum vomas.

From P. Chantraine, an etymology. Did someone choke on a digamma?

chantraine (2)

The Roman Side of Things

Vomax, “given to vomiting”

Vomer, “ploughshare”; “membrum virile

Vomica: “sore, boil”; “an evil”

Vomicosus: “full of sores or tumors”

Vomicus: “ulcerous”

Vomificus: “that which causes vomiting”

Vomifluus: “flowing with pus”

Vomitio: “a spewing”

Vomitor: “one who vomits”

Vomitorious: “that produces vomiting, emetic”

Vomitus: “a vomiting”

Vomo: “to puke”, cf. Greek ἐμέω, *ϝεμ-

Image result for Ancient Roman Vomiting

A Typology of Fear for a Spooky Time of Year

Here are some passages to go with Seneca’s ruminations on the fear of death.)

Stobaeus 2.7.10c [=Diogenes Laertius 7.113]

“Hesitation is fear of future action. Agony is fear of failure and otherwise fear of worse outcomes. Shock is fear of an uncustomary surprise. Shame is fear of a bad reputation. A ruckus is fear pressing down with sound. Divine fright is fear of gods or divine power. Terror is fear of a terrible thing. A fright is fear that comes from a story.”

     ῎Οκνος δὲ φόβος μελλούσης ἐνεργείας· ἀγωνία δὲ φόβος διαπτώσεως καὶ ἑτέρως φόβος ἥττης· ἔκπληξις δὲ φόβος ἐξ ἀσυνήθους φαντασίας· αἰσχύνη δὲ φόβος ἀδοξίας· θόρυβος δὲ φόβος μετὰ φωνῆς κατεπείγων· δει-σιδαιμονία δὲ φόβος θεῶν ἢ δαιμόνων· δέος δὲ φόβος δεινοῦ· δεῖμα δὲ φόβος ἐκ λόγου.

Suda

“Fear: flight or cowardice. Fear is expecting evil. These emotions are categorized as fear: terror, hesitation, shame, shock, commotion, anxiety. Terror is fear that brings dread. Hesitation is fear about future action. Shame is fear about a bad reputation. Shock is fear from an unusual thing. Commotion is fear from a striking sound. Anxiety is fear of an uncertain matter.”

Φόβος: φυγή. καὶ ἡ δειλία. Φόβος δέ ἐστι προσδοκία κακοῦ. εἰς δὲ τὸν φόβον ἀνάγεται ταῦτα· δεῖμα, ὄκνος, αἰσχύνη, ἔκπληξις, θόρυβος, ἀγωνία. δεῖμα μὲν οὖν ἐστι φόβος δέος ἐμποιῶν, ὄκνος δὲ φόβος μελλούσης ἐνεργείας, αἰσχύνη δὲ φόβος ἀδοξίας, ἔκπληξις δὲ φόβος ἐκ φαντασίας ἀσυνήθους πράγματος, θόρυβος δὲ φόβος μετὰ κατεπείξεως φωνῆς· ἀγωνία δὲ φόβος ἀδήλου πράγματος.

Image result for Ancient Greek monster vase

Tawdry Tuesday: Proctological Proverb Edition

Arsenius, 34a1

“May you fall into Hades’ asshole”: [a curse]: may you die.

῞Αιδου πρωκτῷ περιπέσῃς: ἤγουν τελευτήσῃς.

Note: Even though Ancient Greek prôktos can merely mean “rear end” (as in butt), it most often means ‘anus’ in comedy and insults. Also, I wanted to use something profane and given the British/American divide on arse/ass, I decided just to go with “asshole” because it is funnier. In addition, I know that dative + peri for in the first example is not properly fall into, but “fall around, trace around, linger in” does not have the same ‘punch’.

Diogenianus (v.1 e cod. Marz. 2.42)

“I wish you’d fall into Hades’ asshole”: this is clear

῞Αιδου πρωκτῷ περιπέσοις: δῆλον.

Diogenianus (v.2 e cod. Vindob. 133, 1.97 )

“I wish you’d fall into Hades’ asshole”: Used for cursing someone

Αἵδου πρωκτῷ περιπέσοις: ἐπὶ τῶν καταρωμένων τινί.

Diogenianus, 3.58

“The asshole survives the bath” [or, “Ass surpasses the bath”]. Whenever someone is not able to wash himself, but his bowels still assail him. This is a proverb used for things done uselessly.

Πρωκτὸς λουτροῦ περιγίνεται: ὅταν τις μὴ δύνηται ἀπονίψασθαι, ἀλλ’ ἡ κοιλία αὐτῷ ἐπιφέρηται. λέγεται ἡ παροιμία ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνωφελῶς πραττομένων.

Michael Apostolius, 14.78

“The asshole survives the bath”: This proverb is used for things done uselessly and done for show. For people with thick asses and potbellies are not able to wash themselves off easily.”

Πρωκτὸς λουτροῦ περιγίνεται: ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνωφελῶν καὶ εἰκῇ πραττομένων ἐλέγετο· οἱ γὰρ παχύπρωκτοι καὶ προγάστορες οὐ δύνανται ἑαυτοὺς ἀπονίψασθαι εὐπετῶς.

Zenobius, Vulg. 1.52

“It was cured by Akesias”: this is a proverb for when things are healed for the worse. Aristophanes provides the proverb in tetrameters: “Akesias healed his asshole.”

Ἀκεσίας ἰάσατο· ἐπὶ τῶν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ἰωμένων. ὅλην δὲ Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν τετραμέτροις τὴν παροιμίαν ἐκφέρει, λέγων· Ἀκεσίας τὸν πρωκτὸν ἰάσατο.

Suda, s.v. Ἀφευθεὶς

“Singed around the asshole:” Aristophanes has this instead of being “all burned up”

Ἀφευθεὶς τὸν πρωκτόν: Ἀριστοφάνης ἀντὶ τοῦ φλογισθείς.

Balneum Tripergulae – particolare da miniatura del Codice Angelico del “De Balneis Puteolanis� di Pietro da Eboli.

Bonus: Suda on defecation (And there is more of this)

Apopatêma: this is the same as ‘dung’ Eupolis has in his Golden Age: “What is that man? Shit of a fox.” And Kratinus has in Runaway Slaves: I knocked Kerkyon out at dawn when I found him shitting in the vegetables.” We also find the participle apopatêsomenoi (“they are about to shit”) which means they are going to evacuate the feces from their bodies. But patos also means path.

Aristophanes writes “No one sacrifices the old way any more or even enters the temple except for the more than ten thousand who want to shit. So, apopatos is really the voiding of the bowels. Aristophanes also says about Kleonymous: “He went off to shit after he got he army and shat for ten months in the golden mountains? For how long was he closing his asshole? A whole turn of the moon?”

Ἀποπάτημα: αὐτὸ τὸ σκύβαλον. Εὔπολις Χρυσῷ γένει: τί γάρ ἐστ’ ἐκεῖνος; ἀποπάτημ’ ἀλώπεκος. Κρατῖνος Δραπέτισι: τὸν Κερκύονά τε ἕωθεν ἀποπατοῦντ’ ἐπὶ τοῖς λαχάνοις εὑρὼν ἀπέπνιξα. καὶ Ἀποπατησόμενοι, τὴν κόπρον κενώσοντες. πάτος δὲ ἡ ὁδός. Ἀριστοφάνης: οὐδεὶς θύει τοπαράπαν οὐδ’ εἰσέρχεται, πλὴν ἀποπατησόμενοί γε πλεῖν ἢ μύριοι. Ἀπόπατος γὰρ ἡ κένωσις τῆς γαστρός. καὶ Ἀριστοφάνης περὶ Κλεωνύμου φησίν: εἰς ἀπόπατον ᾤχετο στρατιὰν λαβὼν κἄχεζεν ὀκτὼ μῆνας ἐπὶ χρυσῶν ὄρων. πόσου δὲ τὸν πρωκτὸν χρόνου ξυνήγαγε; τῇ πανσελήνῳ.

From Henderson’s Maculate Muse

proktos

Eubulus, fr. 106

“This is an asshole and you are always full of nonsense.
For the asshole is tongueless and chatty at the same time.

(A.) πρωκτὸς μὲν οὖν οὗτός <γε>· σὺ δὲ ληρεῖς ἔχων.
οὗτος γὰρ αὑτός ἐστιν ἄγλωττος λάλος,

Zooglossia 9: Cats of Many Names but Few Sounds

 

Related image
Colorful Cat Mosaic from a dining room (triclinium) in the House of the Faun in Pompeii
Photographed at the Palazzo Massimo venue of the National Museum of Rome, Rome, Italy.

A proverb (in Arsenius and elsewhere; this version is from the Etymologicum Magnum)

[Comparing] a cat to Athena. This is used for those who poorly compare serious things with minor because of some minor similarity, as the proverb applies—as if someone compares Athena with a cat because they both have gray eyes.”

᾿Αθηνᾷ τὸν αἴλουρον: ἐπὶ τῶν κακῶς συγκρινόντων τὰ κρείττονα τοῖς ἥττοσι διὰ μικρὰν ὁμοιότητα ἡ παροιμία εἴρηται· ὡς εἴ τις διὰ γλαυκότητα τὸν αἴλουρον τῇ ᾿Αθηνᾷ συμβάλλοι.

As I have posted about before, there is confusion in early Greek between weasels and cats because both are used in an early period to rid the home of rodents and cats are not as well-represented until the Hellenistic period or later. This complicates finding evidence for ancient Greek representations of cat sounds (I cannot find any) and weasel sounds (very little evidence). But there are some interesting things to say about cats.

The first thing to note is that there are different names and spellings for the felix domesticus. The early Αἴλουρος appears in Herodotus (with an extra syllable). By the early Byzantine period we find an interesting etymology based on the cat’s twirling tail.

Etym. Magnum.

Ailouros: An animal. The name comes from twisting, turning and moving the tail.  Also an ailourios, some call a root this”

 Αἴλουρος: Τὸ ζῷον, παρὰ τὸ αἰόλειν καὶ ἀνάγειν τὴν οὐρὰν καὶ κινεῖν. Καὶ αἰλούριος, ῥίζα τὶς οὕτω καλουμένη.

N. B. Aelian has Αἰλούρων ὁ [7.27]

Cf. Etym. Gen.

Aielouros> This is not pleonasm but instead antithesis. It comes from “curling” [aiolein] the tail [ourên]

     Αἰέλουρος (Soph. Ichn. 296)· τοῦτο οὐκ ἔστι πλεονασμὸς ἀλλὰ ἀντίθεσις· παρὰ γὰρ τὸ αἰολεῖν τὴν οὐρὰν ἐτυμολογεῖται

Moeris

“Attic speakers say aielouros; Greeks say ailouros

αἰέλουρος ᾿Αττικοί, αἴλουρος ῞Ελληνες.

N.B. This form does appear in Herodotus, Sophocles, and more!

Additional evidence gives us little information about the ailouros. It is clear that Herodotus’ cat is the cat as we might recognize it. In other early Greek authors, the evidence gets a bit muddy. This scholion to Aristophanes provides some interesting information. It conflates names and animals, I think, but presents some catty behavior.

Schol. ad Aristophanes Pl. 693

“Stinkier than a weasel”: There are two kinds of weasels, one is wild, which is twofold. It is called an ailouros and another small animal which has red skin. And there is also a *hêmeron. This is the creature which homer calls a ktis but is commonly called katis. This one has really the worst smelling excrement. And when this animal defecates and excretes it throws dirt over it and covers what it excreted. You should also know that that ktis to which, according to the language in homer, the lexicographers of that divine man do not understand, that it is syncope for katis. This animal, they say, is a birdeater, and a complete troublemaker, like an ailouros.”

δριμύτερον γαλῆς· δύο
γένη τελοῦσι γαλῶν, τό τε ἄγριον—
ὅπερ διττόν ἐστιν· ὅ τε καλούμενος
αἴλουρος καὶ σμικρὸν ζῷον ἕτερον
πυρρὰν ἔχον τὴν χρόαν—καὶ τὸ
ἥμερον. ἥμερον δέ ἐστιν ἡ παρ’
῾Ομήρῳ μὲν κτὶς καλουμένη, κοινῶς
δὲ κατίς. ἔστι δὲ τούτου ἡ ἄφοδος
δυσοσμότατος, ὅθε καὶ ἀποπατοῦν
καὶ ἐκκρῖνον τὸ ζῷον κόνιν ἐπιβάλλει
καὶ περικαλύπτει τὰ ἐκκρινόμενα.
καὶ τοῦτο δέ σοι ἰστέον ὡς καὶ τὸ
“κτίς” τὴν παρ’ ῾Ομήρῳ λέξιν
αὐτῆς οἱ τοῦ θείου ἐκείνου ἀνδρὸς
λεξιγράφοι μὴ συνιέντες, ὅτι συγκο-
πὴ τοῦ “κατίς” ἐστι, ζῷον τοῦτό
φασιν εἶναι ὀρνιθοφάγον καὶ πανοῦρ-
γον κακῶς ἤτοι αἴλουρον.

Cf. Aelian 6.27

“People claim that cats hate and dread everything that smells bad. For this reason, they dig a hole and hide their fecal matter so that they might make it invisible when they cover it with earth.”

φασὶ δὲ τοὺς αἰλούρους πάντα ὅσα δυσώδη ἐστὶ μισεῖν τε καὶ βδελύττεσθαι. ταύτῃ τοι καὶ τὸ σφέτερον περίττευμα ἀφιέναι πρότερον βόθρον ὀρύξαντας, ἵνα ἀφανίσωσιν αὐτὸ τῆς γῆς ἐπιβαλόντες.

*I cannot find more information about this type of weasel. We need a weasel-specialist.

What I suspect might be going on here–apart from the delightful description of whatever animal this is as a bird-eater and a troublemaker–is that this scholiast is building a phonetic bridge between the Homeric weasel (ktis) and the latter Greek word for domesticated cat (kattês). The overlapping conceptual space of cat and weasel in the galea  (γαλέη) facilitates this, I think. You will note from the passages below some behavior that seems feline and some that does not.

Schol. at Arist. Clouds 169a

“Now he says that the spotted lizard is the small and red wild weasel, not the ailouros or the hêmeron weasel, this is the ktis or also the katis about which Homer also says “he placed a hat well made from a weasel on his head.” This wild weasel scrambles up and down and runs around the walls”

νῦν δὲ οὗτος ἀσκαλαβώτην φησὶ τὴν μικρὰν καὶ πυρρὰν ἀγρίαν γαλῆν, οὐ τὸν αἴλουρον οὐδὲ τὴν ἥμερον γαλῆν, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἡ κτὶς καὶ ἡ κατίς, περὶ ἧς καὶ῞Ομηρος λέγει·  κρατὶ δ’ ἔπι κτιδέην κυνέην εὔτυκτον ἔθηκεν.ἀσκελῶς δὲ καὶ ἡ ἀγρία γαλῆ ἀναρριχᾶται καὶ περιτρέχει τοὺς τοίχους.

Apollonius Sophista [cf. Hesychius s.v. κτιδέα]

“The ktis is an animal similar to a small weasel (galê, differing from the weasel in size….

κτὶς γάρ ἐστι τὸ ζῷον ὅμοιον γαλῇ μικρῷ, μεγέθει διαφέρουσα τῆς γαλῆς…

Suda

Kattês, kattou: a domesticated ailouros.”

Κάττης, κάττου: ὁ κατοικίδιος αἴλουρος.

“Home-born”: A kattês which was born in the home. “Does A homeborn cat, after eating my partridge, expects to live in my home? [=Greek Anthology 7.205, attributed to Agathias Scholasticus]

Οἰκογενής: ὁ κάττης, ὁ ἐν οἴκῳ γεννηθείς. οἰκογενὴς αἴλουρος ἐμὴν πέρδικα φαγοῦσα ζώειν ἡμετέροις ἔλπεται ἐν μεγάροις.

Here is a fragment that will horrify ailouranthropes [“cat-people”]:

Anaxandrides  (fr. 40.12-13; Athenaeus 7)

“If you see a cat in pain, you mourn.
But I am happy to kill it and flay it.”

τὸν αἰέλουρον κακὸν ἔχοντ᾿ ἐὰν ἴδῃς
κλάεις, ἐγὼ δ᾿ ἥδιστ᾿ ἀποκτείνας δέρω.

γαλῆ γαλέα mostly describes a weasel but sometimes indicates a cat, since both were used domestically to catch mice.

Aelian 6.41.30-32

“this is also a particular quality of mice. Whenever they hear the trilling of a weasel or the hissing of a serpent they transfer their young from one mouse hole to another”

…ἰδιότης δὲ ἄρα μυῶν καὶ ἐκείνη. ἐπειδὰν ἀκούσωσι γαλῆς τριζούσης ἢ συρίττοντος ἔχεως, ἐκ τῆς μυωπίας τῆς μιᾶς τὰ ἑαυτῶν βρέφη ἄλλο ἄλλῃ μετοικίζουσιν

This passage is the only place I could find evidence of the sound that weasels make. This verb is used to indicate the trilling or squeaking of multiple types of animals, usually small ones like mice and weasels.

trizein

This is not the only place where this sibilant verb is used to describe a snake’s hiss. Again, in a scholion to Aristophanes, we get a description of multiple animals sounds that includes the sssssscary snake:

Schol ad. Aristoph. Pl. 689

“Each of the animals has its own particular voice—so a goat maaaas, a cow moooos, a raven crows and other animals are similar. Thus a snake also hisses [surizei].

«ἐξάραντες ἐπικροτήσατε.») …. ἕκαστον γὰρ τῶν ζῴων ἰδίαν φωνὴν ἔχει, ὡς αἲξ τὸ μηκάζειν, βοῦς τὸ μυκᾶσθαι, κορώνη τὸ κρώζειν, καὶ τἄλλα ὁμοίως· οὕτω καὶ ὁ ὄφις τὸ συρίζειν. —ὑφῄρει δὲ ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐκτείνει.

The verb used here, however, seems to be denominative from σῦριγξ, a noun which has a bit of a messy prehistory.

surinx

The verb trizein is used for many different animals. A unique compound appears to evoke the panicked squeaking of a dying mouse. In Latin, mice pipitare.

Batrakhomuomakhia 88

“He was squeezing his hands together and he was squeaking while he died”

καὶ χεῖρας ἔσφιγγε καὶ ὀλλύμενος κατέτριζε.

An Anecdote from Aelian

“Aristeides the Lokrian, after he was bitten by a Tartessian weasel and was dying, said “It would have been much better to die after being bitten by a lion or leopard than, if there would be some excuse for death other than this creature.” I think he felt the shamefulness of the bite to be more burdensome than death itself.

     ῞Οτι ᾿Αριστείδης ὁ Λοκρὸς ὑπὸ Ταρτησσίας γαλῆς δηχθεὶς καὶ ἀποθνήσκων εἶπεν ‘ὅτι πολὺ ἂν ἥδιον ἦν αὐτῷ δηχθέντι ὑπὸ λέοντος ἢ παρδάλεως ἀποθανεῖν, εἴπερ οὖν ἔδει τινὸς τῷ θανάτῳ προφάσεως ἢ ὑπὸ θηρίου τοιούτου,’ τὴν ἀδοξίαν ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν ἐκεῖνος τοῦ δήγματος πολλῷ βαρύτερον φέρων ἢ τὸν θάνατον αὐτόν.

Varia

Antigonus Paradoxographer, 68

“A weasel’s genitals are bony”

Τῆς δὲ γαλῆς ὀστοῦν εἶναι τὸ αἰδοῖον.

Schol P ad Arist. Plut 693 

“The feces of a weasel are completely bad-smelling”

πάνυ γὰρ δύσοσμός ἐστιν ἡ τῆς γαλῆς πορδή

Physiologos 21

“Don’t eat a weasel or anything like it”

     Μὴ φάγῃς οὖν γαλῆν, μηδὲ τὸ ὅμοιον αὐτῆς.

Hermes, come home!

Gender, Smell and Lemnos: More Misogyny from Greek Myth

A proverb from the Suda

“By a Lemnian Hand: [meaning] cruelly and lawlessly. This is from a story: for they say that the women in Lemnos allegedly killed their husbands because they weren’t having sex with them”

Λημνίᾳ χειρί: ὠμῇ καὶ παρανόμῳ. ἀπὸ τῆς ἱστορίας· φασὶ γὰρ τὰς ἐν Λήμνῳ γυναῖκας τοὺς ἄνδρας αὐτῶν ἀνελεῖν αἰτιωμένας, ὅτι αὐταῖς οὐκ ἐμίγνυντο.

A few years ago I was looking up some odd word or another in the work of the lexicographer Hesychius (ok, to be honest, I was looking up words for feces and was looking at κοκκιλόνδις· παιδὸς ἀφόδευμα; kokkilondis: “a child’s excrement”). I found the following words which are pretty much absent from all modern lexica.

Kikkasos: the sweat flowing from between the thighs

κίκκασος· ὁ ἐκ τῶν παραμηρίων ἱδρὼς ῥέων.

Kikkê: Sex. Or the bad smell [that comes] from genitals

κίκκη· συνουσία. ἡ ἀπὸ τῶν αἰδοίων δυσοσμία

Obviously, the specificity of these two lexical items is amusing. But their very existence perplexed me a bit. Where did they come from? How were they used? (They don’t actually appear anywhere but in Hesychius.) After some contemplation and a little restraint, I can only conclude that the words emerge from a generally misogynistic context which also considered sex in some way unclean.

The story that I kept thinking of was that of the Lemnian women—it is one of the few connections I could make between sex and bad smells. It is also one of my least favorite myths because it echoes modern misogynistic taboos which marginalize and alienate female bodies. So, I almost didn’t write this post. But I do think that it is worth making these connections, however uncomfortable they are.

Here are two versions of the Lemnian women tale.

Apollodorus, 1.114

“Jason was the captain of the ship as they disembarked and neared Lemnos. The island then happened to be bereft of men and was ruled by Hypsipyle, Thoas’ daughter, for the following reason. The Lemnian women used not to honor Aphrodite. She cast a terrible smell upon them and, for this reason, their husbands acquired spear-won women from Thrace and slept with them.

Because they were dishonored, the Lemnian women slaughtered their fathers and husbands. Hypsipyle alone spared her father Thoas by hiding him. After they landed on the women-controlled island, they slept with the women. Hypsipyle gave birth to sons after sleeping with Jason: Eunêos and Nebrophonos.”

οὗτοι ναυαρχοῦντος ᾿Ιάσονος ἀναχθέντες προσίσχουσι Λήμνῳ. ἔτυχε δὲ ἡ Λῆμνος ἀνδρῶν τότε οὖσα ἔρημος, βασιλευομένη δὲ ὑπὸ ῾Υψιπύλης τῆς Θόαντος δι’ αἰτίαν τήνδε. αἱ Λήμνιαι τὴν ᾿Αφροδίτην οὐκ ἐτίμων· ἡ δὲ αὐταῖς ἐμβάλλει δυσοσμίαν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οἱ γήμαντες αὐτὰς ἐκ τῆς πλησίον Θρᾴκης λαβόντες αἰχμαλωτίδας συνευνάζοντο αὐταῖς. ἀτιμαζόμεναι δὲ αἱ Λήμνιαι τούς τε πατέρας καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας φονεύουσι· μόνη δὲ ἔσωσεν ῾Υψιπύλη τὸν ἑαυτῆς πατέρα κρύψασα
Θόαντα. προσσχόντες οὖν τότε γυναικοκρατουμένῃ τῇ Λήμνῳ μίσγονται ταῖς γυναιξίν. ῾Υψιπύλη δὲ ᾿Ιάσονι συνευνάζεται, καὶ γεννᾷ παῖδας Εὔνηον καὶ Νεβρο-φόνον.

Image result for Jason argonauts greek vase

Schol ad. Pind. P4 88b

“The story goes like this: Because the Lemnian women had carried out the honors for Aphrodite improperly, the goddess inflicted a bad smell upon them: for this reason, men turned them away. They all worked together and killed their husbands in a plot. Then the Argonauts, as they were travelling to Skythia, arrived in in Lemnos; when they found that the island was bereft of men, they slept with the women and then left. The sons who were born from them went to Sparta in search of their fathers and, once they were accepted among the Lakonians, they became citizens there and settled in Sparta.

ἱστορία τοιαύτη· ταῖς Λημνίαις γυναιξὶν ἀσεβῶς διακειμέναις περὶ τὰς τῆς ᾿Αφροδίτης τιμὰς ἡ θεὸς δυσοσμίαν προσέπεμψε, καὶ οὕτως αὐτὰς οἱ ἄνδρες ἀπεστράφησαν· αἱ δὲ συνθέμεναι πρὸς ἑαυτὰς ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς τοὺς ἄνδρας ἀνεῖλον. τηνικαῦτα δὲ οἱ ᾿Αργοναῦται τὸν εἰς Σκυθίαν στελλόμενοι πλοῦν προσωρμίσθησαν τῇ Λήμνῳ, καὶ εὑρόντες ἔρημον ἀρσένων τὴν νῆσον συνελθόντες ταῖς γυναιξὶν ἀπηλλάγησαν. οἱ δὲ φύντες ἐξ αὐτῶν ἦλθον εἰς Λακεδαίμονα κατὰ ζήτησιν τῶν πατέρων, καὶ προσδεχθέντες παρὰ Λάκωσι καὶ πολιτευσάμενοι συνέθεντο ἐπιθέσθαι τῇ Σπάρτῃ…

This tale seems to combine with a larger treatment of Lemnos as clear from the proverb above and this one:

A proverb from Zenobius (4.91)

“A Lemnian evil”: A proverb which they say comes from the lawless acts committed against husbands by the women of Lemnos. Or it derives from the story of the women who were abducted from Attica by the Pelasgians and settled in Lemnos. Once they gave birth, they taught their sons the ways and the language of the Athenians. They honored each other and ruled over those who descended from Thracians. Then the Pelasgians, because they were angry over this, killed them and their mothers. Or the proverb derives from the bad smell of the Lemnian women.”

Λήμνιον κακόν: παροιμία, ἣν διαδοθῆναι φασὶν ἀπὸ τῶν παρανομηθέντων εἰς τοὺς ἄνδρας ἐν Λήμνῳ ὑπὸ τῶν γυναικῶν. ῍Η διὰ τὸ τὰς ἁρπαγείσας ὑπὸ Πελασγῶν ἐκ τῆς ᾿Αττικῆς γυναῖκας εἰς Λῆμνον ἀπαχθῆναι· ἃς ἀποτεκούσας τρόπους τε τῶν ᾿Αθηναίων διδάξαι τοὺς παῖδας καὶ γλῶτταν· τούτους δὲ τιμωρεῖν ἀλλήλοις καὶ τῶν ἐκ τῶν Θρᾳσσῶν γεγενημένων ἐπικρατεῖν· τοὺς δὲ Πελασγοὺς ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἀχθομένους κτεῖναι αὐτοὺς καὶ τὰς μητέρας αὐτῶν. ῍Η διὰ τὴν δυσωδίαν τῶν Λημνιάδων γυναικῶν τὴν παροιμίαν διαδοθῆναι.

The story of the Lemnian crimes (Lêmnia Erga) is told by Herodotus (6.137-138): the Pelasgians were driven out of Attic and took Lemnos; then they got their revenge by abducting Athenian women during a festival. When the sons of these women grew up, they frightened the native Pelasgians and they were all killed.

In the major tales, it is clear that the women are not completely at fault, but they are the ones who seem to suffer the most. Within the broader narrative of the Argonaut tale, especially, we can see how women are defined by their bodies as loci of sexual interest or disinterest, the ability to produce children, and anxiety that they might not remain subordinate to male desire. The casual detail of the Pelasgian tale is especially harrowing.

Soul. Cold.

ψυχή, ἡ: soul, life

ψύχωσις: life-giving/generating

ψυχοανακάλυπτος: soul-baring, revealing

ψυχοκλέπτης: soul-thief

ψυχοκτόνος:soul-killing

ψυχοπλανής: soul-wandering

ψυχοπότης: soul drinker (drinking of life, i.e. blood)

 

ψῦχος, τό: cold

ψυχρία: cold

ψυχοκρασία: growing cold

ψυχολογία: frigid talking

ψυχροποιός: making cold

ψυχροπότης: cold drinker (one who drinks cold water)

ψυχρόσαρκος: with cold flesh

soulCOld1

cold 2

Snowy Mountain

“Like the Full Moon…” Some Greek Proverbs on Gratitude

thanksgiving

Arsenius, 6.38b

“If you are able to give thanks, don’t tarry, but give it—since you know that things are not everlasting.”

Δυνάμενος χαρίζεσθαι, μὴ βράδυνε, ἀλλὰ δίδου, ἐπιστάμενος μὴ εἶναι τὰ πράγματα μόνιμα.

Arsenius, 6.95c

“Humans have greater thanks for the unexpected”

᾿Εκ τῶν ἀέλπτων ἡ χάρις μείζων βροτοῖς

Arsenius 8.42p

“Just like food for the starving, well-timed thanks tunes and heals what the soul is missing.” – Heraclitus

 ῾Η εὔκαιρος χάρις λιμῷ καθάπερ τροφὴ ἁρμόττουσα τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἔνδειαν ἰᾶται ῾Ηρακλείτου.

Zenobius, 36.3

“The Graces are naked: [a proverb] indicating that it is right to give unsparingly and in the open.”

Αἱ Χάριτες γυμναί: ἤτοι ὅτι δεῖ ἀφειδῶς καὶ φανερῶς χαρίζεσθαι·

Arsenius 8.77b

“Thanks for the wise never dies”

῾Η χάρις πρὸς εὐγνώμονας οὐδέποτε θνήσκει.

Aresnius 8.77d

“Thanks looks as beautiful as the moon when it is full”

῾Η χάρις ὥσπερ ἡ σελήνη, ὅταν τελεία γένηται, τότε καλὴ φαίνεται.

Aresnius 8.77d

‘Thanks, like nothing else in life, ages quickest among most people”

῾Η χάρις, ὡς οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐν βίῳ, παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς τάχιστα γηράσκει.

Arsenius 18.59f 

“Don’t hesitate to die for the very things for which you want to live.”

῟Ων ἕνεκα ζῆν ἐθέλεις, τούτων χάριν καὶ ἀποθανεῖν μὴ κατόκνει.

Michaelos Apostolios, 5.18

“A field with a clod of dirt”: [a proverb applied to those] who show thanks for great things with small gestures.”

     Βώλοις ἄρουραν: ἐπὶ τῶν τοῖς μικροῖς χαριζομένων τοὺς μεγάλους.

Michaelos Apostolios, 13.37

“It is right neither to seek friendship from a corpse nor thanks from the greedy”

Οὔτε παρὰ νεκροῦ ὁμιλίαν, οὔτε παρὰ φιλαργύρου δεῖ χάριν ἐπιζητεῖν.

Image result for Ancient Greek dedicatory offerings

More on proverbs, go here.

Greek kharis (χάρις, “thanks”) is related to the verb khairô (χαίρω), “to feel joy”

From Beekes 2010:

Kharis 1

Kharis 2