previous next

[129] εὐῆρες ἐρετμόν. The epithet “εὐήρης” is not connected with “ἐρ-έσσω” but with “ἀρ-αρίσκω”, its meaning being the same as the Lat. ‘habilis’ Virg. Aen.1. 318, etc. Oars are called here the ‘wings of ships,’ not only because they speed them along, but because the row of oars rising and falling at either side of the ship bears a resemblance to the movements of a bird's wing. In Eur. I. T.1346 we find the curious phrase “ταρσῷ πίτυλος ἐπτερωμένος” to describe the splash made by the wing-like oars, and similarly “ναῦς ἐπτερωκυῖα” (Polyb. 1. 46. 9) represents a ship with her oars ready for a start. As a sort of converse we may quote Virgil's expression ‘remigium alarum.’ The idea of planting the oar as a memorial reminds us of the request of Elpenor, sup. 77.

Homer's Odyssey. W. Walter Merry. James Riddell. D. B. Monro. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1886-1901.

The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide References (2 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (2):
    • Euripides, Iphigeneia in Taurus, 1346
    • Vergil, Aeneid, 1.318
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: