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[359] αἱμασιάς ‘a wall,’ as 24. 224 “αἱμασιὰς λέξοντες ἀλωῆς ἔμμεναι ἕρκος”. It is apparently a dry wall, as Herodotus speaks of lizards living in such a wall (2. 69 “κροκοδείλοισι τοῖσι ἐν τῇσι αἱμασιῇσι”). αἱμασιὰς λέγων means ‘building walls of (unhewn) stone’; probably, however, it is incorrect to say that “λέγων” here means ‘laying.’ Literally it is=‘choosing,’ and is used because the stones were picked to fit each other; hence the brachylogy ‘to pick walls’ = ‘to pick stones for building of walls,’ and so simply ‘to build.’ Cp. the later “λιθολόγος”=‘builder.’

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

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