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Winged Words

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

J. A. K. Thomson
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Extract

The metaphor is derived from archery. The epithet πτερόεɩς is appropriate to arrows [πτερόεντες ỏịστοί E 171, ỉờν ἰβλ⋯τα πτερόεντα Δ 117, ἰοì πτερόεντες π 773, ἰ⋯ πτερόεντα ϒ 68]. Just as ἰ⋯ πτερόεντα means ‘feathered arrows,’ so ἔπεα πτερόεντα means ‘feathered words.’ The early Greeks, when they formed a picture of words in their minds, thought of them as missiles—not as birds. Whence ‘to utter’ words is ἱέναɩ or ⋯ϕɩέναɩ. Missiles so light are more readily imagined as arrows than as spears or stones.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , January 1936 , pp. 1 - 3
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1936

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