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WotD: Olympic

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Johannes Patruus

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Sep 14, 2012, 3:07:30 AM9/14/12
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http://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry:showfullentry/true?t:ac=Entry/131155

Patruus

Ed Cryer

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Sep 14, 2012, 6:52:49 AM9/14/12
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Johannes Patruus wrote:
>
> http://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry:showfullentry/true?t:ac=Entry/131155
>
> Patruus

"1597 G. Markham tr. G. Pétau de Maulette Deuoreux xci. 15 That
Prince, mee thought, was finely shapt, vpright, Such as was Marops at
th'Olympick games."

I can't find this "Marops" anywhere with Google; apart from in this
citation from 1597.

Ed


Ed Cryer

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Sep 14, 2012, 10:50:23 AM9/14/12
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Even with "Merops" (an actual ancient Greek name that appears several
times in mythology) no mention in connection with the Olympics. In fact
no "Merops" since the first recorded Olympics in 776BC.

Ed

B. T. Raven

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Sep 14, 2012, 4:46:19 PM9/14/12
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Die Fri Sep 14 2012 09:50:23 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time) Ed Cryer
<e...@somewhere.in.the.uk> scripsit:
Maybe Rhadamanthus' trinepos or Aida's bistritavus. The L & S says he or
an earlier one was from Aethiopia. Maybe the Jesse Owens of the Boeotian
decathelon.
Anyway, with an English A Marops is pronounced the same as Merops.

Ed Cryer

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Sep 14, 2012, 5:46:48 PM9/14/12
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Hiya man. It's good to see you back here again.
This is a tangled web of etymology. You seem to know more than me when
you bring in Aethiopian. It led me to two words in L&S;
μέροψ, οπος, ὁ
αἰθοψ, οπος, (αἰθός, ὄψ)

Beyond that lies conjecture, attempting to second-guess the goodly man's
sources, and (uno verbo) chaos.

Ed

B. T. Raven

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Sep 15, 2012, 3:21:53 PM9/15/12
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Die Fri Sep 14 2012 16:46:48 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time) Ed Cryer
By L. & S. I mean Lewis and Short, not Liddle and Scott. As they say of
the spaghetti sauce, it's in there (Ethiopian I mean).


Eduardus

Ed Cryer

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Sep 16, 2012, 11:17:41 AM9/16/12
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Ah, a bit of light.

Mĕrops 1
Mĕrops, ŏpis, m., = Μέροψ.
A king of Ethiopia, husband of Clymene, and reputed to be the father of
Phaëthon, Ov. M. 1, 763; id. Tr. 3, 4, 30.—
A king of the isle of Cos, from whose name its inhabitants in early
times were called Meropes, Quint. 8, 6, 71.—
A Roman proper name, Inscr. Mur. 887, 5.

mĕrops 2
mĕrops, ŏpis, m., = μέροψ,
a bird that devours bees; hence also called apiastra, the bee-eater,
Verg. G. 4, 14; cf. Plin. 10, 33, 51, § 99.

Now then, "A Roman proper name, Inscr. Mur. 887, 5." seems to lead out
of the maze if we could just find those inscriptions somewhere.
Anyone?

Ed



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