λύτρον
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Λύρα. παρὰ τὸ λύω, οὗ ὁ μέλλων λύσω. λύτρα ἐδόθη τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι παρὰ τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἔκλεψε βοῶν ὁ αὐτὸς Ἑρμῆς.
Translation (En)
Lura "lyre". From luō "to unbind", the future of which is lusō. It was given as a ransom (lutra) by Hermes to Apollo, for the oxen that the same Hermes had stolen.
Parallels
Theodosius, Peri grammatikēs, p. 59 (Φασὶ γάρ τινες, ὅτι λύρα εἴρηται οἱονεὶ λύτρα· ὅτι ὁ Ἑρμῆς ὑπὲρ τῆς κλοπῆς τῶν βοῶν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος χελώνην ἐκδήρας καὶ κατασκευάσας λύραν ἔδωκε τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰρημένης κλοπῆς); Etym. Parvum, lambda 28 (Λύρα· παρὰ τὸ λύω λύσω λύρα· λύσις γὰρ ἐδόθη τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος, ὑπὲρ οὗ ἔκλεψεν τοὺς βοῦς ὁ Ἑρμῆς); Etym. Gudianum, lambda, p. 375 (Λύρα, παρὰ τὸ λύω, λύσω, λύρα· ἐδόθη γὰρ τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι παρ’ Ἑρμοῦ, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἔβλεψε τὰς βοῦς αὐτοῦ λύτρα τις οὖσα, ἢ παρὰ τὸ λύειν τὴν ἀράν); Eustathius, Comm. Il., vol. 2, p. 132 (Αἵ τε γὰρ χορδαὶ ἦν ὅτε λίνεαι ἦσαν, καὶ Ἑρμῆς δέ, φασί, πρῶτος Ἀπόλλωνι σκευωρίαν μουσικὴν ἐξ ὀστράκου χελώνης ἐμηχανήσατο εἰς λύσιν μήνιδος τῆς ἐπὶ κλοπῇ βοῶν ἐκείνου. Διὸ καὶ χέλυς ἡ αὐτὴ καὶ λύρα, τοῦτο μὲν ὡς οἷον λύτρα τις, ἐκεῖνο δὲ ὡς ἀπὸ τῆς χελώνης, ἀφ’ ἧς χελύω χελύσω ῥῆμα, ὅθεν ἡ χέλυς); Eustathius, Comm. Od., vol. 2, p. 264 (κατὰ τὴν χελώνην χέλυς ὕστερον πᾶσα κιθάρα ἐκλήθη, ἐπειδὴ χελώνης ὄστρακον μέγα πήχεως περιθέσει καὶ χορδῶν ἐντανύσει λύραν ἀπήρτησεν, ἣν Ἑρμῆς Ἀπόλλωνι ἐχαρίσατο εἰς λύτρον, ἀνθ’ ὧν ἔκλεψεν ἐκείνου βοῶν); Eustathius, Prooemium commentaire in Pindari opera 34 (ὡς δὲ λύρα εἴρηται ἢ παρὰ τὸ λύειν ἀρὰς οἷς πρὸς ἡδονὴν γλυκέως ἁρμόττεται, ἢ παρὰ τὸ μυθικῶς εἰς λύτρον καταλλακτήριον εὑρεθῆναι ὑπὸ Ἑρμοῦ, ὃς χέλυν, ὅ ἐστι λύραν, ἐξ ὀστράκου συντεθεῖσαν χελώνης δοὺς τῷ Φοίβῳ ἀντὶ βοῶν κλοπῆς οὕτως ἐλύσατο ἑαυτῷ τὸν ὑπὲρ τοῦ κλέμματος χόλον, λέγουσι καὶ αὐτὰ οἱ παλαιοί); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 572 (Λύτρον: Παρὰ τὸ λύω λύσω· ὅθεν καὶ λύρα, λύτρα τὶς οὖσα· ἐδόθη γὰρ τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι παρὰ τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἔκλεψε βοῶν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ὁ Ἑρμῆς); Commentaria in Dionysii Thracis Artem grammaticam, Scholia Marciana, p. 308 (Λύρα δὲ ἐλέχθη λύτρα τις οὖσα· ὁ γὰρ Ἑρμῆς σοφισάμενος χελώνην ἐκδεῖραι καὶ κατασκευάσαι τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι κιθάραν λύτρον ἀντὶ τῆς κλεψίας τῶν βοῶν ἐποίησεν); ibid., Scholia Vaticana, p. 173-174 (Εἴρηται δὲ λύρα, λύτρα τις οὖσα· φασὶ γὰρ ὅτι ποτὲ Ἑρμῆς ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ ἀναστρεφόμενος εὗρε χελώνην, καὶ διακόψας ἐποίησε κοιλίαν λύρας· ἡνίκα δὲ τὰς τοῦ Ἡλίου βοῦς κλέψαι ἠβουλήθη, καὶ διὰ τὸ μαντικὸν τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἠδύνατο, συνελήφθη· · εἰδὼς δὲ καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ μουσικόν, δέδωκεν ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ τὴν λύραν λύτρον, καὶ ἠλευθερώθη τοῦ ἐγκλήματος)
Comment
Derivational etymology. The explanation relies on mythology. Apollos' instrument, the lyre, was given to him by Hermes in order to appease his wrath after Hermes had stolen Apollo's oxen. The word for "ransom" in Greek is λύτρα (neuter plural), derivative of λύω, for the ransom is what releases the prisoner. The lyre is not a ransom in the myth, for Hermes was not prisoner, yet it is the instrument of the reconciliation between the gods. The derivational chain seems to be λύω → λύτρα → λύρα, and the real etymon is λύτρα rather than λύω, which is the etymon of the etymon. However, this was not important for Greek etymologists, and their etymologies often provide as the etymon either the direct etymon or the etymon of the etymon. The assumed loss of the /t/ between the etymon and the lemma is a pathos (a formal change that has no consequence on meaning)