ἀρά + ἄγω
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Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
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Ed.
Quotation
ἀρήξειν: βοηθήσειν. | καὶ ἔστι κυρίως τὸ μετ’ εὐχῆς βοηθεῖν, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀρῶ, ἀράσω καὶ ἀρήσω καὶ ἀρήξω καὶ ἀρηγών (Δ 7 alibi), ὁ βοηθός.
Translation (En)
Arēxein "to succour", and the proper meaning is "to come to a prayer", from arô "to pray", arasō and *arēsō and arēxō. And arēgōn is the succouring one.
Parallels
1. "to come to the prayer": Etym. Gudianum, alpha, p. 192 (Ἀρήξειν <Α 77>· βοηθήσειν, καὶ ἔστι κυρίως τὸ μετὰ εὐχῆς βοηθεῖν· ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀρῶ ἀράσω καὶ ἀρήσω [καὶ] ἀρήγω καὶ ἀρήξω, ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἀρηγών, ὁ βοηθῶν); 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).
2. "to avert a curse": Tzetzes, Exegesis in Iliadem 1.408 (ἀρῆξαι· βοηθῆσαι· ἐκ τοῦ ἀρήγω, ἢ ὡς ἀπάγω τὴν ἀρὰν καὶ βλάβην); ibid., 1.77 (ἀρήγω· ἀρήξω ἀρήξειν μέλλοντος αʹ· ἀρήξειν δὲ τὸ τὴν ἀρὰν καὶ βλάβην ξέσαι ἢ ἀποδιῶξαι).
Comment
The etymology derives ἀρήγω from ἀρά "prayer" or, in the formulation of the Epimerisms, from ἀράομαι "to pray". It was built after the etymology of the synonymous verb βοηθέω which means literally "to run to the cry", that is, "to aid". This etymology was then transposed onto ἀρήγω, as ἀρά (= βοή) + ἄγω (= θέω). The second part of the etymology (ἄγω) is not always explicit in the existing formulations. Tzetzes keeps the same etymology but changes the meaning and assumes that ἀρήγω "to aid" means "to avert the curse", because he relies on the derived meaning of ἀρά "curse", not on the older one "prayer".