ἕλκω + ὄφις
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Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
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Quotation
ἐλάφοις δ’ ὄφεις ἀγόμενοι ῥᾳδίως ὑπ’ αὐτῶν (ᾗ καὶ τοὔνομα πεποίηται παρώνυμον οὐ τῆς ἐλαφρότητος ἀλλὰ τῆς ἕλξεως τοῦ ὄφεως)
Translation (En)
Snakes <are captured> by deer, which easily attract them. This, in fact, is why deer are called elaphoi, not from their swiftness, but from their power of attracting snakes (apo tēs helxeōs tou opheōs) (transl. Chernis - Helmbold)
Parallels
Epimerismi Homerici (ordine alphabetico traditi), epsilon 85 (Ἔλαφος· παρὰ τὸ ἕλκειν τοὺς ὄφεις· φασὶ γὰρ ὅτι παρερχόμενος καὶ τὸ κεράτιον αὐτοῦ προστρίψας τῷ φωλεῷ, λαμβάνοντες ἐκεῖνοι ἐκ τῆς ἀναθυμιάσεως τοῦ κέρατος ἐξέρχονται); Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos p. 129 (idem); Etym. Gudianum, epsilon, p. 450 (idem); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, epsilon, p. 450.15 (<Ἔλαφος>· ... ἢ ὅτι τὸ κέρας αὐτοῦ θυμιώμενον ἐλαύνει τοὺς ὄφεις· ἢ διὰ τὴν κουφότητα καὶ τὸ τάχος, ἐλαφρός τις ὤν. ‖ ἔλαφος ἀπὸ τοῦ ἕλκειν τοὺς ὄφεις· τάχα δὲ ὅτι ἐλαφρά ἐστιν); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 326 (Ἔλαφος: Τὸ ζῷον· ἢ διὰ τὴν κουφότητα καὶ τὸ τάχος, ἐλαφρή τις οὖσα· ἢ διὰ τὸ ἕλκειν τοὺς ὄφεις καὶ ἀναιρεῖν διὰ τῶν μυκτήρων· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐλαύνειν τοὺς ὄφεις· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔλος, ἔλαφος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἑλεῖν τοὺς ὄφεις, ἕλοφός τις οὖσα. Τούτους γὰρ ἐσθίουσα καθαίρεται φυσικῶς)
Comment
This is another variant of the etymology linking deers with snakes. Here they are not supposed to eat them (as in the etymology ἔλαφος / αἱρέω + ὄφις) or to chase them away thanks to a fumigation made with their horns (as in the etymology ἔλαφος / ἐλαύνω + ὄφις), but they are supposed to catch them by means of their horns. This justification is found only here, although the etymology with ἕλκω appears in other sources. In Latin cervus is derived from the Greek name of horn (κέρας) in the Isidorian tradition (Etym. 12.18 : "Deer (cervus) are so called from the word κέρας, that is, from their horns, for ‘horn’ is called κέρας in Greek. They are antagonistic to serpents; when they sense themselves burdened with infirmity, they draw the serpents from their caves with the breath from their nostrils")