Ἄρης

Validation

No

Last modification

Fri, 03/04/2022 - 13:10

Word-form

ἀρήγω

Transliteration (Word)

arēgō

English translation (word)

to aid, to succour

Transliteration (Etymon)

Arēs

English translation (etymon)

Ares (god of war)

Author

Chrysippus

Century

3 BC

Source

Etym. Genuinum

Ref.

Etym. Genuinum, alpha 1165

Ed.

F. Lasserre and N. Livadaras, Etymologicum magnum genuinum. Symeonis etymologicum una cum magna grammatica. Etymologicum magnum auctum, vol. 2, Athens: Parnassos Literary Society, 1992

Quotation

Ἀρήγω· τὸ βοηθῶ. εἴρηται παρὰ τὸν ἄρην, τὸν σημαίνοντα τὸν πόλεμον, ἀρήγω, ὥσπερ καὶ βοηθῶ λέγεται τὸ ἐπὶ βοὴν θέειν, βοή γὰρ καὶ ὁ πόλεμος, ἀπὸ τοῦ παρεπομένου· ἀρήγω οὖν ἀρηγός καὶ ἀρωγός, ὥσπερ καὶ ῥηχμός ῥωχμός, ‘ῥωχμὸς ⟦γὰρ⟧ ἔην γαίης’ (Il. 23.420), παρώχηκε παρώχωκε (sic). οὕτως Ἀπολλόδωρος (FGH 244 F 236) καὶ Κρατῖνος καὶ Χρύσιππος Περὶ ἐτυμολογίας

Translation (En)

Arēgō "to aid": to succour, from Ares, which means "war", arēgō, as boētheō "to succour" comes from "to run (theein) to the cry (boēn)", because boē is the war, <named> after its consequence. From arēgō, then, *arēgos and arōgos, as *rhēkhmos / rhōkhmos "crevice" (rhōkhmos gar eēn gaiēs "there was a crevice in the ground", Il. 23.420), parōkhēke / parōkhōke. This is what Apollodorus says, and Cratinus, and Chrysippus in his On etymology.

Comment

Paronymic etymology deriving the verb from the theonym. It is a reversible etymology, as Ares' name is etymologized in older sources as deriving from ἀρήγω (Philo Judaeus, Legatio ad Gaium 113: παρὰ γὰρ τὸ ἀρήγειν, ὅπερ βοηθεῖν ἐστι, κατὰ γλῶτταν Ἄρης ὠνομάσθαι μοι δοκεῖ, καθαιρετικὸς πολέμων; Plutarch, fr. 157, l. 75-76 (ap. Eusebius, Praeparatio evangelica 3.1.5): κέκληται Ἄρης μὲν ὡς ‘ἀρήγων’ τοῖς κατὰ βίαν καὶ μάχην συμπτώμασιν). This etymology of Chrysippus' is not in Arnim. Although the formulation of the Genuinum leaves open the possibility that Chrysippus was only dealing with the relationship between ἀρήγω and ἀρωγός, what we know of Chrysippus' etymological work makes it much more probable that he was indeed etymologizing ἀρήγω by Ares. Whether Chrysippus understood it as a derivation or as a compound of Ἄρης and ἄγω, as is found in Eustathius, remains unknown.

Parallels

Hesychius, Lexicon, alpha 7159 (ἀρῆξαι· βοηθῆσαι ἐν πολέμῳ. ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἄρεος); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 3, 759 Van der Valk (Ἀρήγειν δὲ τὸ εἰς Ἄρην ἄγειν, ὅ ἐστι πορεύεσθαι, καθὰ καὶ βοηθεῖν τὸ εἰς βοήν, ἤγουν εἰς μάχην, θέειν); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 141 (Ἀρήγω: Ἀρήξειν, βοηθήσειν· καὶ ἔστι κυρίως τὸ μετὰ εὐχῆς βοηθεῖν· ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀρῶ ἀράσω καὶ   ἀρήσω, ἀρήγω. Παρὰ τὸν ἄρην, τὸν πόλεμον, ἀρήγω· ὥσπερ καὶ βοηθῶ λέγεται τὸ ἐπὶ βοὴν θέειν. Βοὴ γὰρ ὁ πόλεμος ἀπὸ τοῦ παρεπομένου· ἀρήγω οὖν ἀρηγὸς, καὶ ἀρωγὸς, ὥσπερ καὶ ῥηχμὸς καὶ ῥωχμός); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, alpha, p. 307 (Ἀρήγω. βοηθῶ. [παρὰ τὸν ἄρην, ὃ σημαίνει τὸν πόλεμον. ὥσπερ καὶ βοηθεῖν λέγεται τὸ ἐπὶ βοὴν θεῖν. βοὴ γὰρ καὶ ὁ πόλεμος ἀπὸ τοῦ παρεπομένου. ἀρήγω καὶ ἀρωγὸς, ὥσπερ καὶ ῥηγμὸς καὶ ῥαγμός.])

Modern etymology

Unclear. Maybe cognate with OHG geruohhen, ON røkja "to care for", from PIE *h2reh1g- "to support" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

No

Entry By

Le Feuvre