Tiresias

In very general lines, Tiresias (Greek Τειρεσίας; Teiresias) first appears in Homer. He is known as a blind soothsayer of Apollo in Thebes, Boeotia. His father was Everes (Εὐήρης; Eyērēs). His mother, the nymph Chariclo (Χαρικλώ, Chariklō), descends from Udaeus[1], one of the Spartoi men (see section Cadmus in Boeotia and Thebes). The personage appears in numerous ancient texts. Luc Brisson has identified eighteen texts about the seer, from which he attempted to compile three versions of a single myth according to their central theme: the first is about Tiresias’ sex change, the second about his blinding by Athena, and the third, about his other misfortunes (Brisson 1976).

There are, however, other essential mythemes and wordings around this persona. Tiresias lived for at least seven generations in Thebes, beginning as an advisor to Cadmus himself. He was struck blind by Athena after seeing her naked. Chariclo, his mother, was a devotee of Athena. Chariclo begged Athena to give Tiresias his sight back, but the goddess could not undo her curse. Instead, she gave him the gift of prophecy by cleaning his ears so he could hear the birds and giving him a stick to walk as if he had his sight. Others say it was Hera, Zeus’ wife, who blinded him, and Zeus himself, who gave him the talent of prophecy. His change of sex is associated with him separating two copulating snakes. He became a woman for seven years. In Homer, Tiresias drinks blood to get his inspiration[2]. Homer says nothing about sex change. One difficulty in interpreting such multipurpose myths is that each text tells more than one aspect, but no text tells it all (Loraux 1978). The myth is built up. Is there one Tiresias or more? Does the term refer to a specific object, or is it generic? By exiting the supernatural and unintelligible sphere, while paying attention to the names of the heroes (Table 1 and 2), we might get some insight.

Table 1. Semantics of Tiresias (TEIRESIAS).

TEIRESIAS
TEI	stretch, strain, lengthen, aim at, direct towards
TEIR	oppress, distress, weaken, rub hard, wear away
EIR	say, vomit, ask, love (all connotations)
EIRE	bondage, slavery; a wreath of olive or laurel
EIRESI	wound round with wool
EIRESIA	ply, rowing, oar
ESIA	concave / to see mentally, see, perceive, behold
ESI	impulse, tendency, an aiming at, sending forth, sit
SIA	food?
SIAS	cause loathing or disgust / broken olive

There is a whole long, independent word within the seer’s name. Teiresias contains εἰρεσία (eiresia), from the verb ἐρέσσω (eressō). The verb means to row, speed by rowing, drive, ply, i.e., work with a tool, especially one requiring steady, rhythmic movements. The noun means rowing, oaring, throbbing. Rowing is a specific movement and a very iconic signifier. Oars move forward in the air and back in the sea. Otherwise, the boat would not travel. The concept of a back-and-fro movement that does not follow the same route in both directions applies to many human activities using tools. For example, wiping water or dust from a solid surface, combing hair, writing, turning a screw, or, more abstractly, following a program, repetitive industrial work, etc. The English verb to ply contains the sememes of diligent, steady, vigorous, regular, and persistent pressure applied on a tool in a particular direction for some purpose. The same sememes apply to English rowing and Greek eiresia. Teiresias seems, therefore, to be an action or a tool of this kind. Irreversibility is also evoked by the mytheme that Athena couldn’t wave her curse. The wordmaker seems to have added a letter at the start and one at the end of eiresia to make up Teiresias. Before going any further, let me note the damage that the phonocentric change of spelling from Teiresias[3] to a more modern Tiresias has done to the semantics of the name.

According to Saussure’s theory of arbitrariness of linguistic signs, the poet could have used any related root verb to covey the sememes of diligent pressure applied on a tool, e.g., wiping or combing. The choice of eiresia (plying, rowing) would be arbitrary unless Teiresias is a kind of oar or a plier (tool to ply). Neither eiresia, the starting T, nor the final S was chosen randomly because Teiresias can thus be split as Teir-esias to covey further information about the object. Words starting with tei indicate applying some force in a specific direction. For example, τείνω (teinō) means to stretch by force, pull tight, aim at, direct towards, extend, and lengthen. Homer calls the stars τείρεα (teirea) because they never move back on the same side of the sky. The same notion of monodirectional work applies to building a wall, τειχίζω (teichizō), and, of course, the wall τεῖχος (teichos). When tei- is followed by R[4], teir- denotes an irreversible, monodirectional process causing wear. The stem is phonetically rendered in English tear. The Homeric verb τείρω (teirō) is the only Ancient Greek verb starting with teir- and means to wear out or away, oppress, exhaust, distress, or weaken. It is used for age, hunger, sweat, weapons, ulcers, troubles, rubbing hard, etc. Therefore, Teiresias should be a monodirectional wearing process or tool. If this is what the poets had in mind, they had no choice but use T in front of -eiresia-. There are other possibilities, but they convey other meanings: ἀείρω (aeirō) means to lift, raise up (using A as an up-arrow)[5], κείρω (keirō; with K for reducing width), to cut, and πείρω (peirō; with P for a mouth, hole, orifice), to pierce quite through. These are all monodirectional, irreversible processes (-eir-; /ir/), like εἴρω (eirō), to say, tell, speak, i.e., to utter words in a sensible order following a line of thought.

According to Plato, the ending morpheme esia of eiresia – also found in Teiresias – equals ἐσσία (essia), οὐσία (oysia) and ὠσία (ōsia), all meaning essence, substance, the matter of things[6]. Eiresia (eir-esia; rowing, oaring) has at least two significant parts. The first (eir-) means a monodirectional, irreversible process or movement. The second (-esia) is the substance, matter of a thing, which obviously is the sea. Thus, oaring transcribes the notion of a monodirectional movement in the sea matter, i.e., seawater. Esia, or essia, is also glossed as ἔσσιμος (essimos), meaning concave, of surfaces, which accentuates the notion of depth inside the matter of a thing, the bite. Essia reminds the German Essen (to eat) and English essential (essen-tial; /ɪˈsɛn.ʃəl /). At the end of the day, essential (corrupted essen-sial?) is only what enters the aerodigestive tract.

What about Teiresias? What is the substance here? To specify the matter, the poet adds a terminal S and creates the ending sequence -sias as found in ἀκεσίας (akesias), one who heals, physician or surgeon, midwife, from ἄκεσις (akesis; compare English ache), healing, cure, mending, repair, or plaster[7]. When one adds a terminal S to sia, one literally ends sia. Sia starts words like σιαίνω (siainō) to cause loathing or disgust; σιαλίς (sialis), drivelling; σιαλίζω (sializō), to slaver, foam, make noises in the throat with expectoration; σίαλον (sialon), spittle, saliva, synovial fluid; σίαλος (sialos), fat, grease, fat hog; σιαντία (siantia), nuisance, disgust; and σιαγών (siagōn), jaw-bone, jaw, cheek. Like sialon became saliva in English, sial- became sale (dirty, vile, despicable) in French. Another iconic French word, chiasse (runs, diarrhoea, vexation, pain, annoyance), is probably a phonetic loan for Greek sias (/ʃjas/). I argued elsewhere that sia means food, as a-sia (Asia) means lack of food famine (see section Europe and Asia).

Letters preceding the ending -sia frequently signify preparations or characterizations before eating (or mouth-work in general, e.g., ἀφασία, aphasia, speechlessness). For example, ἀβρωσία (abrōsia) is a want of food, fasting; ἀγρεσία (agresia), hunting, chase, of fish, draught, take; αἱρέσια (airesia), dues paid on the discharge of cargoes; ἀκρασία (akrasia; with a privative a-), inadequate mixture, ill temperature, of meats; ἀκαθαρσία (akatharsia; also privative a-), uncleanness, foulness, impurity, something inedible; θυσία (thysia), burnt-offering, sacrifice; ἀμβροσία (ambrosia) the food of the gods, of immortality, an elixir, a mixture of water, oil, and various fruits; and so on. Letters and stems following sia- as in the examples of the above paragraph, denote consequences of eating, mainly foulness, pollution, and digestive issues. Thus, the ending sia-s of Teiresias would literally mean food-end.

With the semantics of teir- traced to an irreversible, monodirectional process causing wear and -sias, as food-end, Teiresias starts looking like the guy or the tool for rubbing and cleaning up the mess after a meal and its undesirable consequences, perhaps a healer, but most probably just a cleaner. An independent word starting with eire-, not followed by S, is the Homeric term εἴρερος (eireros) which means bondage, slavery, pointing to a slave who does the dirty work after the meal. More frequent, however, is eiresi- from εἰρεσιώνη (eiresiōnē), referring to a branch of olive or laurel wound round with wool, a wreath hung with fruits, borne about by singing boys at festivities where offerings were made to Helios and the Hours; afterwards, it was hung up at the house door. Winding is, again, a monodirectional process (eir-). A similar wreath is still made in Greece with flowers during traditional 1st of May festivities and hung up at the house door for a couple of months, presumably to celebrate spring and bring prosperity to the household. With olive and laurel oils being considered appeasing and healing products, there is little doubt the festive wreath symbolizes a branch wrapped with wool, soaked in such oils, and used for delicate body cleaning.

If so, Teiresias would turn out to be a rubbing tool made of a wooden stick (branch) wound round with wool, soaked in an appeasing (essential) oil, moving diligently in a single direction – like an oar – for the purpose of cleansing and repairing the undesired effects of feeding (drivelling, vomiting, defecation, etc.) after a meal. Remember, Teiresias was born and lived in Thebes, Boeotia; therefore, it primarily refers to infancy and baby-care innovations (see section Cadmus in Boeotia and Thebes).

Upon observing his wife applying wads of cotton to toothpicks, Leo Gerstenzang[8] conceived the idea of manufacturing a ready-to-use cotton swab. In 1923, he founded a firm that marketed baby care accessories (Schueller 1996). This event may have marked the first modern industrial production of cotton swabs, but if my hypothesis is correct, cotton or wool swabs already existed in Homer’s times.

Figure 1. Cotton swabs. Artwork by Aney (Creative Commons license) and Gregory F Maxwell (GNU Free Documentation License).

Cotton swabs look like oars (eiresia; Fig 3.9.1). Like Teiresias, they have a stick that allows them to easily walk in and out of the ear. They are blind because wool is wound around their eyes, and they cannot see where they go inside the ear. Moreover, they are soaked in water or oil. However, they are seers, prophets, and predictors because they can mentally see and predict something to be removed. In Homer, Odysseus, the pipe water (see section Odysseus) meets and humidifies the cotton swab Teiresias in the underworld (the wound). The swab needs to suck blood before delivering its diagnosis. If the wool sucks blood, the prognosis is terrible. But the worst can be avoided with some care. For example, if the impurities of the tap water used for wound cleansing (companions of Odysseus) are thoroughly removed (die out), the prognosis gets much better.

Later, authors were greatly amused with Teiresias’ change of sex after separating the two copulating snakes with his stick. The two snakes are the pieces of wool wound around the stick’s ends. They are indeed literally separated by the stick. Suppose Teiresias means cotton swab, and the middle stem eiresia (rowing, oaring) represents an oar stick. In that case, the two wound wool snakes separated by the oar stick are the initial T and the terminal S of T-eiresia-s. By separating these two snakes, we have the word eiresia, which is feminine. By putting back the snakes to copulate again, we get the masculine T-eiresia-s. The seven years that lasted Teiresias’ gender change correspond to the seven letters of -eiresia, the length of separation between the initial T and final S. The funniest is, perhaps, the Latin-born verb to copulate, from copulatus, to join together, couple, bind, link, unite. In Greek, this verb is homophonous to the root of the Greek verb κωπηλατέ-ω (kōpēlate-ō), meaning to row. That κωπήλατ-ος (kōpēlat-os) means formed like an oar!

Fun left aside, the ancient authors knew exactly the morphology and meaning of the word Teiresias. They created their myths (riddles) to transmit this knowledge to their students through fun mental exercises. The students learned nothing by heart – they wouldn’t be able to build temples with such nonsense – but were obliged to solve the riddles like they did with mathematical exercises. The kids had enough to study the thousands of technical terms (proper names, theonyms, toponyms, etc.) in the Iliad and the Odyssey. These books contained everything people needed to know, from personal hygiene, cuisine recipes, and literary criticism to mechanics, architecture, and marker economics, but religion. We will explore only some of the most famous terms in the relevant chapters. No wonder these books were studied by generation after generation for centuries till the invasion of the Judeo-Christian curriculum and methods. The theatre, revisiting the significant terms and riddles, was a pedagogical tool for mass education analogous to our television. The public could read the plays at a macro level, generating emotions and ethical messages and explaining how things are related at a micro level. By so developing public awareness, the development of democracy was only a matter of time.

Table 2. The semantics of Tiresias’ parents, Everes (EYĒRĒS) and Chariclo (ChARIKLŌ)

EYĒRĒS
EYĒRĒS	well-fitted, well-poised, easy to handle
EY	well, water (see section Ey)
ĒR	blood, juice; lift, raise up, draw (water), lift and take away, remove…
EYĒR	good to draw (water)
EYĒRĒ	ladle
ĒRĒ	Heracles, Hera (wood-; house; wooden houseware)
ChARIKLŌ
ChAR	grace, favour, beauty, joy, delight
ChARI	give freely, gratify, or indulge
ARI	very, goodness, excellence
ARIK	difficult, hard to bear, hard to deal with, irksome, prolific
RIK	shrivelled, shrunk, contracted
RIKL	ventricle, -
KLŌ	cage, twig, spray, slip, thread, fibre

Tiresias was the combination (son) of Εὐήρης (Eyērēs) and Χαρικλώ (Chariklō). The semantics of the parent terms are listed in Table 2. The common adjective εὐήρης (eyērēs) means well-fitted, well-poised, easy to handle. In Homer, the term always refers to oars, but it acquires the meaning of well-knit later. Hippocrates uses it in instruments well-fitted for medical purposes [9]. We recognize the root ey, a very common Greek diphthong meaning well, and water (see sections Ey and Zeus – the rain). The remaining letter sequence contains ἠρ (ēr), a contraction of ἔαρ (ear[10]), for blood, juice, or ἦρα (ēra), from ἀείρω (aeirō), to lift, raise up, take up, draw water, bear as a burden, lift and take away, remove, take away, put an end to, clear away, etc. The compound stem eyēr is found in εὐήρυτος (eyērytos), meaning good to draw water (e.g., absorbent), as well as in εὐήρετμος (eyēretmos), well fitted to the oar. It is also in εὐήρεια (eyēreia), meaning a fair voyage by boat as well as tolerance of or indifference to evil, dishonest conduct, looseness, uncritical facility, hastiness, indifference to danger, ease, agreeableness, comfort, dexterity, skill. The whole eyērē- from Eyērēs is also in εὐηρημένοι (eyērēmenoi) glossed by Hesychius as τετορυνημένοι, from τορύνω (torynō), to stir up or about, cognate of τορύνη (torynē), stirrer, a ladle for stirring things while boiling[11]. These are tools for operations that cannot, or must not, be done by necked hand. The subsequent stem, ērē, is found in ἠρήρει (ērērei), from ἀραρίσκω (arariskō), to join, fit together, fasten, construct, fit, equip, furnish with a thing, please, gratify, agreeable, welcome, prepared, ready. It is also in ἠρήρειστο (ērēreisto), from ἐρείδω (ereidō), to fix firmly, plant in, prop up, support, stay, press hard, push, thrust, infix, plant in, press closely, be tight, of bandages. Eyērēs likely has a wooden part readily found in the household (e.g., a toothpick). Because ērē is Ἥρη (‘Ērē), a Homeric version of the goddess Hera, and Hera represents the household, probably the wooden items of it (see section Hera and Heracles – the house and the wood). If true, Eyērēs would literally be rendered as water-pick.

Tiresias inherits its structural and functional properties from its father, Eyērēs, and potential uses from its mother, Chariklō. Following the semantic walk of the latter term as summarized in Table 2, we find char most frequently in words about grace, beauty, and gratitude (e.g., χάρις; charis), or joy, delight (χαρά; chara). But char also starts words about crafting, particularly designating sharpness and accuracy, like χαράσσω (charassō), to make pointed, sharpen, cut, scratch, smite, engrave, carve, sketch, draw, mark, or χάρμη (charmē), tip, point of a lance, spear-head, spear-shaft. Moving away from the initial ch (Chi; X; point, mark), we find the Homeric ἀρι (ari), for very, and arik from ἀρίκεσι (arikesi), glossed as χαλεπαῖς (chalepais; Hesychius). The latter means harsh, hard to bear, painful, grievous, hard to do or deal with, irksome, cruel, harsh, stern, most dangerous or troublesome, painful, miserable, and severe. Then, rik is exclusively for ῥίκνωσις (‘riknōsis) and its cognates and metaphors; they all essentially refer to the shrivelling of the skin. The stem rikl is not found in Greek, but it is used in the English ventricle, probably also as a wrinkle. The ending of Chariklō, klō, is not a typical ending morpheme. In fact, it only occurs as such in Chariklō. But it starts several words related to threads and fibres or meaning enclosure using such materials. For example, the leading verb κλώθω (klōthō) means to twist by spinning, making a thread, especially of the goddess of fate (Klōthō; Clotho) who spins a man’s thread of life or of fate. The noun κλῶσμα (klōsma) means thread or clue, and κλών (klōn) means thread or fibre, but also twig, spray or slip.

The uses of Tiresias transmitted genetically from its mother are, therefore, cherishing and caring of skin for grace and beauty when it wrinkles or, in more painful and dangerous circumstances, before closing (stitching) and covering wounds for healing. Its father transmitted its structure and function with an absorbent material fixed firmly to a wooden stick, like an oar, providing easy handling and cleaning operations in places where no necked hands are allowed.

Claims

Everes = well fitted

Chariclo = cherishing, caring

Tiresias = the cotton swab

References

Brisson, Luc. 1976. Le Mythe de Tirésias: essai d’analyse structurale. Vol. 55. Études préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l’Empire romain. Leiden: Brill.

Loraux, Nicole. 1978. “L. Brisson, Le Mythe de Tirésias. Essai d’analyse Structurale [Compte-Rendu].” L’Homme, De l’idéologie 18 (3–4): 238–42.

Schueller, Randy. 1996. “Cotton Swab.” BNet. CNET Networks, Inc. 1996.

 

---

[1] Apollod.3.6.6.

[2] Hom.Od. 11.2.

[3] Hom.Od. 11.2.

[4] R is often interpreted herein as head, top, or surface.

[5] Compare ἀήρ (aēr; genitive ἀέρος; aeros), mist, haze, lower air; later, generally air; adjective ἀέριος (aerios), misty, in the air, high in the air, of the air, aerial, broad as air (note H, for wide, in aēr), infinite, indefinite, vain, futile,; neuter adjective ἀέριον (aerion), gas.

[6] ἐσία in LSJ; see also Plat.Crat. 401c or H N Fowler’s translation.

[7] As used by 1st century BC natural philosopher Asclepiodotus Tacticus and by 2nd century AD Greek physician, surgeon, and pharmacist Galen; Asclepiodotus quoted in Gal.13.442.

[8] Leo Gerstenzang in English Wikipedia; accessed 27 May 2021.

[9] Hp.Medic.2.

[10] Compare the English ear in both senses, the organ of hearing and (shape of) the seed-bearing head or spike of a cereal plant and oar.

[11] Compare French torréfacteur, coffee roaster.

Cadmus in Boeotia and Thebes

The word βαιός (baios) and, essentially, its root bai mean little, small, scanty, paltry, humble, a low condition, and infancy. It is also used in βαιών (baiōn) for driveling, talking nonsense (or not correctly talking at all) or letting saliva and mucus flow from the mouth and nose, typical behavioral features of infancy. The verb βαίνω (bainō), to step, walk, stand, depart, go, describes this primary human behavioral trait developed at infancy. Bainō uses the root bai for infancy, the letter N for movement (see section N), and the big-O (Omega; Ω; see section Ω) for multiple rounds (OO > Ω). In Greek, therefore, to walk or step literally means infant-movement-rounds. A leech, i.e., a parasitic worm that sticks to human skin and sucks blood, is called βαῖτυξ (baityx). This is made of bai, likely referring to infant’s suckling, T for sticking (see section T), and YX for pricking the skin, blood extraction, or a point (X) protuberance (see section Kybebe), i.e., a pimple. A βαία (baia) is glossed as a nurse (nursery), although it probably (also) means a leech used for therapeutic purposes[1].

Digging deeper into bai, the ba sub-cluster also appears in βάβιον (babion), meaning child, hence English babe (/beɪb/) and French bave (drool). When ba doubles, as in βάβαξ (babax; chatterer) or in βάρβαρος (barbaros; barbarous, barbarian), it implies a multiplicity of meaningless childish utterances. The verb βάζω (bazō) means to speak, say, while βάω (baō) is a synonym of bainō, (step, walk), as above, but without significant movement (absence of N). The exclamation of surprise βαβαί (babai; ba-bai) would literally translate as a small utterance without significant meaning, or almost. Similarly, βάξις (baxis) is a simple voice, an unclear oracular saying, or a rumor, always requiring interpretation. Another version of such primitive cry is ἄβα (aba), loud cry, shout, battle-cry, cry of mourning, the murmur of a crowd, aid called for, succor. In the sector of writing or calculations, ἄβαξ (abax) is the elementary equipment, a slab, board, reckoning-board for counting votes, dice-board.

Another primitive exclamation is that of disgust, βοῖ (boi or boï; /voi/) or αἰβοῖ (aiboi or aïboï; /aivoi/); compare English voice. A longer (|-|; H) voice becomes βοή (boē; boh! boo), loud cry, shout, synonymous to babai as just above. Note, again, the conversion of OO to OH. Some exclamations are natural, spontaneous, instinctive, or intuitive sounds transcribed in an onomatopoetic fashion. They do not obey grammatical or semantic rules but arbitrary conventions when written. They are perhaps the only cases where Saussure’s theory of arbitrariness of linguistic signs applies with success. In this sense, boi and boē are almost identical. The only difference is in the length of the voice/cry in time, its intensity, and the number of people making it (I/H for short/long, baby-word/scream, individual/crowd, instantaneous/repetitive; compare English hubbub).

Most Ancient Greek words starting with ὠτ (ōt), are about ears or hearing with very rear exceptions. For instance, ὠτίον (ōtion), plural ōtia, is a diminutive of ear/ears. In-between the stems boi and ōtia of Βοιωτία (Boiōtia), Boeotia, we have a couple of other meaningful clusters. The interjection οἵως (oiōs; from presentative οἷος, oios) means such as, of what sort, what a…, like as, just such as, the sort of person who…, the thing which…, because of what they heard, how, in what a state, as, just as, as for instance, about. A subsequent stem, iōt forms the name of the letter ἰῶτα (iōta; I, Iota), which also means a line, stroke (on a sundial), smallest letter. Iōta appears in an Ancient Greek proverb as anything tiny, the slightest thing. Summing up the semantics of Boeotia, we have:

Table 1. Semantic analysis of BOIŌTIA.

BOI	voice, disgust, cry
OIŌ	how, in what it ends, such as, of what sort,
IŌT	anything tiny, the slightest
ŌTIA	little ears, hear

Boeotia is a poetic word for cry-is-how-it-ends-the-slightest-thing-they-hear-in-their-little-ears. Who are they? No doubt, the infants! So, Cadmus went to the infants who cried for the slightest thing. There he founded the city of Thebes with a famous wall and became its king.

The Greek name of the Cadmean city is Θήβα (Thēba) or, more frequently, its ‘plural’ Θῆβαι (Thēbai, Thebes). Same myth, same method! The stem thēb appears almost independently in the noun θῆβος (thēbos) glossed by Hesychius as θαῦμα (thayma) meaning wonder, marvel. Moving by one letter to the right, we find ἠβαιός (ēbaios), an Ionic form of baios (as above) for small, little, usually with a negative sense, not at all. The intermediate stem, ἥβα (ēba), means youth, youthful spirit. Thebes may be interpreted as a small wonder, a little marvel, or no wonder at all (Table 2). The archaic Theta (Th) looked like a wheel (ʘ, 𐌈). It iconically conveyed a turn. Thēbai can, thus, also be interpreted as a bit of turn, a slight transition in infancy, or an innovation. By giving the infants a wall, Cadmus the pen became their king, and a minor miracle was established. I guess they stopped crying, no wonder!

Table 2. Semantic analysis of ThĒBAI

ThĒB	wonder, marvel
ĒBA	youth, youthful spirit
BAI	small, not at all

There are, however, problems with the above interpretation of Cadmus. A pen as a writing and drawing implement is not a primary need of infants. Moreover, Cadmus retains his wife Harmonia in Boeotia. Harmonia, interpreted as a soup-like object, fits the concept of infancy and its primary needs (baby food). Therefore, a refinement of the meaning of Cadmus (Kadmos) as a feeding device seems appropriate. In this sense, Cadmus would be a hypernym of a pen. A pen is a feeding device since it feeds paper and other fibrous materials with a stain by capillary action (suction, absorption). Still, a feeding device is not necessarily a pen. The hyponyms of feeding devices include pen, baby bottle, and container tubes such as those collapsible packages of viscous liquids, e.g., toothpaste, artist’s paint, adhesive, caulk, or ointment. Feeders are generally tubular dispensers with a bland end and a narrower outlet orifice, typically a nozzle that controls the flow’s direction, mass, speed, and shape. They work by pressure chances, either positive (squeezing) or negative (sucking). The natural nozzle prototypes are the breast nipples and the penis. The prototypes of fed objects are the mouth, frequently used as a metaphor for any orifice and the vagina.

The interpretation of Kadmos (Cadmus) as a feeder’s nozzle, or nozzle-feeder, remains consistent with the kad-mos morphology of the name. The stem kad- (Romanized cad; remember cas-cad-e) refers to the inlet of a tube in a series (i.e., the mouth as the inlet of the digestive tube; see section Casmilos and Cadmilos) whereas the -mos ending evokes suckers and suction (see section Cadmus and Cilix). It also remains compatible with the mytheme of Cadmus in Samothrace (sam-othr-akē; higher education; see section TheMysteries of and the Nike of Samothrace). The entire myth is an elementary theory of fluid physics, of which one application is the pen for writing. This explains capillary action. The association of Cadmus with Boeotia, the infancy (as above), also evokes a baby feeder and active suction. But the narrative contains additional mythemes for further explanation and association with other concepts.

During his wandering, Cadmus passed by Delphi (Δελφοί; Delphoi; the womb). The oracle advised him to give up his quest, follow a cow, and build a town where the cow would lie down exhausted. According to Pausanias, this cow (βοῦς; boys) was bought from the herdsmen of Pelagon (Πελάγων; Pelagōn), king of Phocis (Φωκίς; Phōkis). She had a white mark on each side like the orb of a full moon. The cow guided Cadmus to Boeotia, where he founded the city of Thebes. As compiled by various authors, the story continues as follows. Intending to sacrifice the cow to Athena, Cadmus sent some of his companions, Deioleon (Δείολέων; Deioleōn) and Seriphus (Σέριφος; Seriphos), to the nearby Ismenian (Ἰσμήνιος; Ismēnios) spring for water. They were slain by the spring’s guardian dragon (δράκων; drakōn) dedicated to Ares.

Next, Cadmus slew the dragon breaking his teeth with a stone. Following the advice of goddess Athena, he sowed the teeth of the monster. Fierce armed men known as Spartoi (Σπαρτοί; Spartoi; ‘sown’) sprang from the teeth. Cadmus threw a stone among them. Not knowing who threw the stone, these men slew each other. Only five remained, Echion (Ἐχίων; Echiōn), Udaeus (Οὐδαῖος; Oydaios), Chthonius (χθόνιος; Chthonios), Hyperenor (Ὑπερήνωρ; ‘Yperēnōr), and Pelorus or Pelor (Πέλωρος or Πέλωρ; Pelōros or Pelōr)[2]. According to the Theban legend, those five Spartoi assisted Cadmus in building the Cadmeia citadel of Thebes and founded the city’s noblest families. The dragon being sacred to Ares, the god made Cadmus do penance by serving him for a period, some say for one year, others, for eight. According to Thebans, the gods gave him Harmonia as his wife at the end of this period. There is no mention of Samothrace in this version of the myth.

The citadel of Thebes is the citadel of the mouth with its towers, the teeth. In the second part of the myth, its authors make sure we understand it is all about teeth. The stone represents hard food that kills the primary teeth, thus allowing space for the five noble families of permanent adult teeth to grow. The denture has a crenelated parapet linking to Ares (defense, protection, security; see section Demeter and Ares – irrigation and defense). As a fluid feeder (baby bottle), Cadmus served Ares to protect infants without teeth or fragile teeth from hard solid food. Some said this protection lasted for one year (primary teeth develop after 6 months till about 18 months, maximum two years). Others said eight years, i.e., the age at which most permanent denture is fully developed. The mythographers recommended soft food administered by Cadmus (suction, baby bottle) till that age.

Spartoi, from σπείρω (speirō; to sow, scatter, spread, disperse), does mean sown, grown from seed, cultivated, but it also means scattered, i.e., occurring or found at intervals or various locations rather than all together, not organized. The sememe of dispersion describes well the structure of early baby dentures. The variable order by which different authors list the five types of permanent teeth does not help us precisely identify the Theban families. However, Pelōros (Pelorus) stands out. The common noun is glossed as the monstrous, prodigious, tremendous, terrible, gigantic tread. The second part of the word exists as an independent word, ὦρος (ōros) – a variant of ὅρος (‘oros) – meaning boundary, landmark, the time within which. The intermediate sequence, ἕλωρ (elōr), means spoil, prey, of unburied corpses, in other words, rotting. The candidate etymon verb πέλω (pelō) means to come into existence, become, be. Another candidate, πελάζω (pelazō), means to approach, draw near, come near, bring into. The sememes included in Pelorus match the characteristics of the wisdom teeth. These teeth are at the boundaries of the developed denture, both in space and time. They are prone to infection, and they frequently cause problems to the proximal teeth and other tissues due to the limited available space for tooth eruption. Their eruption has been known to cause dental issues and pain at least as far back as Aristotle (Aristotle 2015).

If Pelorus corresponds to the wisdom teeth family, Apollodorus would seem to have got the sequence right, mentioning them last. Then, the first listed Echion family would be that of incisors. For some authors, however, the names of the Spartoi (scattered; scarce) may have meant the various tooth morphologies or stages of development observed in an infant’s mouth at a time. We would, thus, have teeth perceived to be ‘underground’ (Chthonius; from χθόνιος, chthonios; underground), just appearing ‘on-ground’ (Udaeus; οὐδαῖος, oydaios, on the ground), overbearing, overweening (Hyperenor; ὑπερήνωρ, ‘yperēnōr), monstrous, prodigious, huge (Pelorus; πέλωρος, pelōros), or sharp, pricky (Echion; ἔχις, echis, viper; ἐχῖνος, echinos, hedgehog; etc.).

Infant denture development incurs discomfort, pain, and inflammation (from inflame), i.e., local temperature elevation. These phenomena are iconically represented as a dragon spitting flames. In Greek, the words δράκων (drakōn; dragon, serpent, noose, bandage) and δράκος (drakos; Ancient Greek eye, Modern Greek dragon) are alternatively related to the verbs δέρκομαι (derkomai), meaning to see, see clearly, flash, gleam, and δράσσομαι (drassomai), to grasp with the hand, lay hold of. Both verbs may signify sudden, unusual, or clear manifestations of health conditions such as high temperature (flash, flair, blaze) or pain, as we instinctively lay hold of the part of the body that hurts. The dragon killed by Cadmus in Boeotia is the discomfort treated with a pacifier or finger suction in infancy. A cold spoon or a wet cloth are recommended today. Killing a dragon (inflammation) and breaking the teeth out is semantically close to relieving the discomfort (think of a pain killer) and helping the teeth erupt. It is enough to turn one’s mind round in the right direction, to think out of the box. This mental exercise was apparently the predominant pedagogical method in Ancient Greek education. It would be interesting to investigate the meaning of dragons in other mythologies.

The A of a dragon, pointing up, is replaced by a Y (Latin V or U), pointing down, in English drug. A drug may be perceived as a dragon killer, bringing down what is elevated in a medical condition, i.e., pain, inflammation, etc. The stem dru (equivalent to dry), from drug, is found in the Homeric δρῦς (drys), originally meaning any tree, with most frequent references to olive trees and pines. Probably, drys referred to trees (perhaps any plants and dry plant products) of medicinal value precisely because these were used to bring down dragons (pathological conditions). The stem is also found in English druid, a priest, magician, or soothsayer in the ancient Celtic religion, or, more probably, the medic of the time.

The cow that guided Cadmus to Boeotia belonged to Pelagon, the kink of Phocis. The name of the king Πελάγων (Pelagōn; Pelagon) is relatively straightforward. A morphologically similar verb, πελαγόω (pelagoō), means to turn into sea, flood. Infants urinate beyond control and flood all over the place. This behavior is the king of Phocis (Φωκίς; Phōkis). There are no cognates of Phōkis that could help us decipher the toponym. Our only hope reposes to the principle of antonymy by inversion. The inverse of the stem phōk, kōph, makes words related to κωφός (kōphos), mute, noiseless, dumb. If the principle holds, phōk should be found among the antonyms of mute, dump. It could be among the synonyms of talkative or noisy. I prefer the synonyms of noisy because Greek words related to articulate voice begin with phōn (e.g., φωνή; phōnē; voice), not with phōk. The latter is predicted to mean something like deafening noise, cry, scream. Babies tend to cry when they get wet. The cow that Cadmus (the baby feeder) followed came from the flood-makers of the land of screaming. But could a cow mean a baby? Funny enough, the Greek word for cow, βοῦς, transliterates as boys, and has also been used with the many metaphorical meanings[3]. According to current standard etymologies, the English boy has been associated with the term baby and the old stem boi (from Boiōtia; Boeotia)[4].

Intending to sacrifice the cow to Athena, Cadmus sent his companions, Deioleon (Δείο-λέων; Deioleōn) and Seriphus (Σέριφος; Seriphos), to the nearby Ismenian (Ἰσμήνιος; Ismēnios) spring for water. I argued that Athena is the olive tree or the olive oil (see section Athena and Athens). A sacrifice of a cow to Athena is the oiling of a baby. The sememes traced in the relevant Ismenian spring mythemes are as in Table 3. Ismenian refers to the established procedures of wiping, cleansing and cherishing a baby during its first year of life. The companions of Cadmus, the baby bottle, are its contents. Seriphus is a bitter chicory broth. Chicory has been known for its appeasing properties. Deioleon is about the need to remove dangerous, potentially toxic, or infectious impurities.

Table 3. Semantic analysis of Ismenian, Seriphus, and Deioleon.

ISMHNIAN	Sememes
ISM	foundation, knowledge
SMH	wipe or cleanse with soap or unguent
MHNI	cherish
HNI	a year old, yearling
SERIPhOS
SERIPhO	wormwood, bitterness
SERI	endive, chicory (soother, appeaser)
ERIPh	kid, of kid, soup or sauce, broth, fat, greasy
DEIOLEŌN
DEI	there is a need to, one ought to
EIO	where, him, her
IOL	venom, deadly
OLE	impure, turbid, destroy, make an end of
LEŌN	dangerous (animal, but not only)

At Thebes, Cadmus and Harmonia began a dynasty with four daughters, Agave (Ἀγαύη; Agayē), Autonoë (Αὐτονόη; Aytonoē), Ino (Ἰνώ; Inō) and Semele (Σεμέλη; Semelē), and Polydorus (Πολύδωρος; Polydōros), their only son (Atsma 2017). Ino was married to Athamas (Ἀθάμας; Athamas), Autonoe to Aristaeus (Ἀρισταῖος; Aristaios), and Agave to Echion, the first of the five Spartoi and the preferred son-in-law of Cadmus. Agave means great pride. It consists of agay from ἀγαυός (agayos; illustrious, noble, brilliant, glorious), gay from γαυλός (gaylos; milk-pail, water-bucket, any round vessel, drinking-bowl) and γαυρόω (gayroō; make proud, exult, pride oneself on). Great pride and exultation (Agave) were associated with Echion, the incisors, the first primary teeth to appear in a baby’s mouth, and the preferred son-in-law of Cadmus. Not only did the eruption of Echion make the parents very proud, but it also signed the end of breastfeeding and the beginning of Cadmus (baby bottle) feeding.

There are, however, different possible interpretations of Agave, Echion, and the other Spartoi. A particularly appealing one invokes the French verb gaver: force-feed, eat to excess, fill up, stuff, fatten, exasperate. Agave (from Agayē; /agavi/) is probably related to gaver (from *gayer; /gave/), meaning to make happy, satisfy. The initial a- plays the role of an intensive prefix (Reece 2009). Then, the daughter of the baby bottle (Cadmus) and broth (Harmonia) would mean overfeeding and its consequences: inflation, flatulence, swelling, bulge, puff, blow, burp, belch, etc. The notion of pride conveyed by gay as above (e.g., gayroō) would be a metaphor for physical inflation. Along the same line, Echiōn (Echion, Agave’s husband) could split as ech-iōn. The starting stem ech- is not other than that in the Homeric verb ἔχω (echō), to have, hold. The ending morpheme -iōn forms several comparative, superlative, or nominalized adjectives. For example, αἰών (aiōn) is a very long time, lifetime, eternity, ἀλγίων (algiōn), more or most painful, ἀγχίων (anchiōn), nearer, ἀρείων (areiōn), better, stouter, braver, βραχίων (brachiōn), shorter, shortest, ἐγγίων (eggiōn), nearer, nearest, ἐχθίων (echthion), more hateful, γαιών (gaion), a heap of earth, and so on. Thus, Echion would mean having more (than enough), having too much. This hypothesis would turn the meaning of the other Spartoi into quantity or size levels. Chthonius would be underground, not sufficient, too little, Udaeus the ground-level, just enough, the right level, Hyperenor, just over, Pelorus, a lot, great, enormous, and Echion, too much.

This interpretation would be consistent with the continuation of the myth. Agave and Echion had a son, Pentheus, and a daughter, Epeiros. In Pentheus (Πενθεύς; Pentheys), we distinguish pen- and -theys. Pen is the root of the verbs πένω (penō), πένομαι (penomai), and πενέω (peneō), all meaning to be poor in, have the need of. The related noun is πενία (penia), meaning poverty, need. We also find the stem pen in English penny, pension, penury, pending, implying incompleteness, insufficiency, something missing, or a small amount. The ending -theys, as independent word (θεῦ, they) comes from τίθημι (tithēmi), meaning to set, put, place. Pentheus is, thus, a minimum setting, a mark indicating the minimum amount of content required in a container. Penth- is found in πένθος (penthos), grief, sorrow, misery, mourning, grief for the dead, a state of distress for something missing. If the Pentheus level is not reached in infancy, the missing amount causes a cry.

Pentheus’ sister, Epeiros or Epiros (Ἤπειρος; Ēpeiros), must be the optimal, or highest level or the amount allowed. The initial H (Ē) denotes an interval, distance. Hp- (ēp-) is found in ἤπιος (ēpios) meaning gentle, kind, mild, less intense, soothing, assuaging, soft, favorable for beginning a thing. The following stem, peir, is in πεῖρα (peira), meaning trial, attempt, being proved, experience, experiment. It is also found in; πειρά (peira), sharp point; πειραικός (peiraikos), over the border; πεῖρας (peiras), end, limit, completion, achievement; πειρατέον (peirateon), one must attempt; πειράω (peiraō), to attempt, endeavor, try, make proof of, have experience of; and πείρω (peirō), pierce, run through, cleaving a way through. It is, therefore, quite evident that Ēpeiros is the level or amount proven by experience or experiment to be gentle and appropriate, to begin with. Epeiros accompanied her parents Cadmus and Harmonia while carrying the dead body of her brother Pentheus (the border mark passed). The Greek geographical region of Epirus (spelled precisely like Epeiros) is mountainous and entirely above inundation level.

The stem ōni is necessarily that of ὤνιος (ōnios), meaning for sale, to be bought, commercially imported, goods for sale, market wares. Of course, these include fresh and attractive products such as vegetables, fruits, and meats. The inverse stem, inō, starts only ἰνώδης (inōdēs), meaning fibrous, sinewy, of parts of animals or plants. Inō works out, therefore, to be the fiber; generally, the inedible parts of vegetables and meats are difficult to chew or digest. This is confirmed by the simple verb, αἵνω (ainō), to sift, winnow if the word is read with a privative a- prefix as a-inō (de-fiber). The daughter of Cadmus (feeder) and Harmonia (viscous fluid, soup, broth), Ino represents the fibrous byproducts of foods. She married Athamas (Ἀθάμας), made up of atha-, -tham-, -thama-, and -amas, which sum up to not verdant, withered, very dense and hard, imperturbable, unchewable, pointing to unused parts of foods. These unused parts (Athamas) and the fiber (Ino) gave birth to two sons, Learchus (Λέαρχος; Learchos), the sausage, and Melicertes (Μελικέρτης; Melikertēs), i.e., other transformed and preserved foods stuffed in animal intestines (Table 4).

Table 4. Semantic analysis of Athamas, Learchos, and Melikertēs.

AThAMAS	Sememes
AThA	not verdant, withered (ἀθαλής; athalēs); undying (ἀθανής; athanēs)
AThAM	imperturbable (ἄθαμβος; athambos)
ThAMA	thick, frequent, often (θαμά; thama)
AMAS	unchewed (ἀμάσητος; amasētos)
LEARChOS
LEA	to be smooth (λεάζω; leazō), triturate, pound in a mortar, grind (λεαίνω; leainō)
EAR	blood, juice, springtime (ἔαρ; ear); ewer (ἕαρον; ‘earon)
ARCh	begin, make a beginning (ἄρχω; archō); rectum, anus (ἀρχός; archos)
MELIKERTĒS
MEL	to be an object of care or thought, take an interest in (μέλω; melō)
MELI	honey, sweetgum (μέλι; meli)
ELIK	winding, convolution, of the bowels (ἑλίκη; elikē)
IKE	make like (ἰκελόω; ikeloō)
KER	heart-cutting (κερτόμιος; kertomos); cut short, shear (κέρσας; kersas)
ERT	threaded, passed through, noose, slipknot, a mesh of a net (ἐρτός; ertos)

 

The eldest daughter of Cadmus (baby bottle) and Harmonia (broth) was autonomy (Autonoë), from αὐτονοέω (aytonoeō), to think for oneself, take care of oneself. She married Aristaeus (Ἀρισταῖος Aristaios), the upstanding, from the Homeric inseparable intensive prefix ἀρι- (ari-), very, and the verb ἵστᾶμι (‘istami), to stand, make to stand, establish, set on foot, stand firm, be set up or upright, stand up, rise up, be erected, be built, arise, begin, take up an intellectual attitude. The upright position (Aristaeus) was credited with the invention of many valuable arts. It was the patron of a wide array of rustic and rural arts, crafts, skills, practices, and traditions – practically the entire cultural activity of humans. He learned, for example, the arts of medicine, i.e., prophecy (prediction), healing and herblore (pharmacy) – like his half-brother, Asclepius – how to track, hunt with an arrow (Artemis) and trap animals, dress and prepare their meat (butchering) and skins (leather making), metal mining, blacksmithing and metalworking, stone quarrying and stonemasonry, clay working (pottery and ceramics), woodworking (forestry, carpentry), viniculture and production of alcoholic beverages (wine, ale, beer, etc.), agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairying (production and distribution of milk, cream, butter, oxygala similar to yogurt, and cheese), how to keep chickens for their eggs, beekeeping, along with how to produce olives and how to process them into olive oil (Athena; see section Athena and Athens), how to weave ropes and baskets, sheep shearing, pastoralism, how to cultivate fruit trees and vegetable plants, the art fishing, and food preservation (fermenting, pickling, brining, curing, smoking and drying of foodstuffs, to mention a few.

Autonomy with the upright position gave birth to a son called Actaeon (Ἀκταίων; Aktaiōn), aorist of the verb ἀκταινόω (aktainoō), to lift, raise, or ἀκταίνω (aktainō), to keep my stature erect. They also had a daughter called Macris (Μακρίς; Makris; length, in this case, body length, stature), the feminine of μακρός (makros; long) or μάκρος (makros; length, size). Actaeon probably represents childhood, when the infant stands up on her feet, and adolescence, for as long as the youth keeps gaining height. His name consists of akt- and -aiōn. The latter stem exists independently as αἰών (aiōn), which primarily meant a period of existence, lifetime, life, age, generation, then acquiring more abstract connotations of an extended length of time, age, epoch, times of, forever, perpetually, or eternity. The starting stem, akt-, is thought to be cognate of the verb ἄγω (agō), meaning to lead, carry, fetch, bring, take with one, bear, manage, conduct (how a person behaves), and tons of related sememes about doing things along a line (plan, program). It also appears, for example, in ἀκτή (aktē), headland, foreland, promontory, edge, coastline – which must be observed for safe navigation – in ἀκτέον (akteon, rhyming with Actaeon) meaning one must… (lead, do, keep the peace, etc.), and in the modern term actin, for a family of proteins that is responsible for the macro-structure (cytoskeleton), shape, and movement of cells.

One must… implies obligation and responsibility. The best English translation of akt- is its straightforward Latinization, act (action, deed). One is responsible for one’s acts is a pleonasm meaning one is responsible for one’s obligations and responsibilities. Standing upright (Aristaeus) and being autonomous (Autonoë) generate life-lasting obligations and responsibilities (Actaeon), besides biological growth in size (Macris).

The youngest daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, Semele (Σεμέλη; Semelē) is equivalent to Roman goddess Stimula (stimulus). Hesychius glosses the common noun σεμέλη (semelē) as ἑορτή (‘eortē), i.e., feast, festival, holiday, generally, holiday-making, amusement, pastime, or an assembled multitude at a festival. The original meaning of the deity was, I am afraid, a little naughtier than that. In most of the deciphered Ancient Greek words starting with sem-, the morpheme is followed by N for movement (see section N). The stem semn- is allegedly associated with the verb σέβομαι (sebomai) and inherits its sememes of reverence, worship, holiness, divinity, feeling of shame, devotion, respect to gods, being religious. These interpretations are already exaggerated in favor of the supernatural (see section Rite and worship), but the conversion of B into MN is still harder to justify.

Thus, σεμνός (semnos) and its cognates became victims of premeditated elevation with religious connotations to mean revered, august, holy, etc. However, the verb σεμνοποιέω (semnopoieō), from semnos and poieō (to make), is glossed to magnify, blow up, make something appear larger than it is. Also, the simplest verb σεμνόω (semnoō) means to make solemn or grand, exalt, magnify, hold the head high, give oneself airs. Therefore, semn- must contain the sememe of becoming or making larger. Even in a seemingly religious context[5], this verb has been translated as to excite[6] or to induce[7]. Among other semn- words, σεμνολογία (semnologia; semn- + λέγω, legō, to talk, speak, or think about) is glossed as boasting, and σεμνολόγημα (semnologēma), as pride, anything that one may be proud of. Boasting and pride imply stature magnification. All the sudden, their cognate verb σεμνολογέω (semnologeō) is inconsistently translated as to speak solemnly, and σεμνότης (semnotēs), as solemnity, seriousness, dignity, reserve, or shyness; these are antonyms of pride and boasting.

A clearly iconic word, σεμελος (semelos), the masculine version of Semele (Σεμέλη; Semelē), is glossed by Hesychius as a snail. A snail iconically shrinks its muscular body entirely into its shell when it feels the danger and outstretches to an impressive maximum when it feels safe. It is precisely this extreme expansion and withdrawal responses (movement; N) to environmental stimuli that sem and semn describe. Moreover, the ending elē of Semelē appears independently as ἕλη (‘elē), from the verb αἱρέω (aireō), which means to take with the hand, grasp, take for oneself, choose (partner), join a party, or to be taken, be chosen (see section Cybele). The Romans were right to equate Semele with Stimula. Semele literally means expansion-by-grasping (-stimulus) and refers to the impressive expansion of sexual organs (penis and nipples) upon manipulation and sucking. Such actions precede and initiate sexual intercourse, i.e., Dionysus (see section Dionysus – the sex). According to the myth, Semele was the mother of Dionysus. The stem sem is also found in English semen, seminal, seminar, seminary, and French semer (to seed), implying expansion in a biological or cultural sense. The prefix semi- describes a state before completion, therefore, a potential expansion. In English slang, semi is used for partial erection.

The fourth and last child of Cadmus and Harmonia was Polydorus (Πολύδωρος; Polydōros). Today, we are accustomed to reading the prefix poly-, from πολύς (polys; many, much), in everything that starts with this letter sequence. The remaining part, dōros, is thought to be a masculine transformation of δῶρον (dōron), meaning gift, present, from the verbs δωρέω (dōreō) or Homeric δωρέομαι (dōreomai), to give, bestow, present. Thus, the name is interpreted as the much gifted, or who brings many presents. Too easy! But who is this Polydorus? What properties does he inherit from Cadmus (suction) and Harmonia (filler)? And what presents does he bring?

Another split is possible. The ending -os means ‘the thing that’ (see section Vowels and diphthongs). We are left with pol-ydōr. The starting stem, pol, is found in πόλος (polos), which means pivot, axis, and in the root verb πολέω (poleō), to go about, range over, move, turn up (e.g., the soil with a plow), come into existence. The second part is ὕδωρ (‘ydōr), water. Split this way, Polydorus is the thing that turns the water up or brings water into existence. This is a water provider, well-drill (turning the soil up), or water-drawing device based on suction. It is probably the latter because, when combined with (married to) Nycteïs, Polydorus gave birth to Labdacus.

The wife of Polydorus, Νυκτηίς (Nyktēis; Nycteïs) begins with Ny for inward or downward movement (see sections Mu and N). It ends with ktē, as in κτῆσις (ktēsis), meaning acquisition, possession, success in, ownership, property (especially of land, farm, estate), from κτάομαι (ktaomai), to procure for oneself, get, acquire, possess, have in store, etc. The name Nycteïs points, thus, to a drill (down, inward-hole-movement), a private well, or, most probably, stock fluid-vessel. It has no more to do with the night (νύξ; nyx) than it has with νύξις (nyxis), i.e., pricking, stabbing, stinging[8].

The son of Polydorus (water-drawer) and Nycteïs (private well) was Λάβδακος (Labdakos; Labdacus). In Labdakos, we find lab from λαβή (labē), the part intended for grasping, a handle, haft, grip, and λαβεῖν (labein), to take hold of, grasp, take in hand, undertake. Then, we have abd from ἄβδελον (abdelon), meaning low (lower), humble, near the earth, submissive, downcast, dejected, abased in power, but ἄβδης (abdēs) is a thing that causes great trouble or suffering. Labda (λάβδα) is the correct Ancient Greek name of the letter Lambda (λ), which, incidentally, looks like the force rod of an antique hand water-pump (Fig. 3.5.1). The following stem, bda, is shared with βδάλσις (bdalsis), suction, and βδάλλω (bdallō), to milk, yield, suck. Finally, dak must contain the sememe of dripping fluid because δακρύω (dakryō) means to weep, shed tears, while ῥύομαι and ἐρύω (‘ryomai and eryō) mean to rescue, save, deliver, draw, attract, absorb; and because the inverse of dak, kad is used in κάδος (kados), a vessel for collecting and storing fluids such as water, wine, etc. Labdakos seems thus to be a troublesome, low-yield, siphon-like method of drawing fluids based on the suction (bdalsis). Could it also be a syringe? Lab for the handle, bda for suction, akos (ἄκος; from ἀκέομαι; akeomai) for a cure, remedy[9], means of obtaining a thing!

Polydorus (the sucking breath) died, the myth goes, while Labdacus (the drawn fluid volume) was a young child (small and insufficient), leaving Nycteus as his regent (alternative method). However, Lycus (Λύκος, Lykos) soon replaced him in that office[10]. Nycteus, the father of Nycteïs and father-in-law of Labdacus, was a fluid source (see section Ey), i.e., fluid drawing, based on a simple puncture of the container made with a drill or with impact. A stopper (Lycus; Latin lupus; a carpenter’s tool, stopper, or tap shaped like a wolf’s conical tooth) replaced the puncture later to stop leaking. The common noun λύκος (lykos) is glossed as the wolf, but also as to be struck dumb, i.e., to have one’s mouth forcedly closed. When Labdacus had grown, he ruled Thebes (used in many minor innovations) for a short while. He died while he was still young after losing a war with the king of Athens, Pandion, over their borders. This king of Athens (the olive trees; see section Athena and Athens) is the olive oil. The siphon effect (Labdacus) died when the interphase (border) between water and oil reached the inlet orifice of the siphon tube. The oil took over, and Labdacus lost the battle. Pandion (Πανδίων; Pandiōn) was probably a mixture of water and oil (ruling the olive oil market), with the two phases separating during transfer.

Claims

Cadmus = baby bottle

Pandion = mixture of oil and water

Labdacus = siphon-like method for drawing liquids, syringe

Nycteïs = private well, a stock fluid vessel

Polydorus = well drill, water suction devise

Noble families of Thebes = the groups of teeth

Autonoë = autonomy

Learchos = sausage

Melicertes = transformed and preserved foods stuffed in animal intestines

Athamas = unused parts of food products

Epeiros or Epiros = the optimal, or the highest amount allowed

Thebes = innovation

Cognates

Agave: French gaver

References

Aristotle. 2015. The History of Animals. Translated by D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson. Aeterna Press.

Atsma, Aaron J. 2017. “Ismenian Dragon (Drakon Ismenios).” In Theoi Project. Aukland, New Zealand: Theoi. Com. 2017.

Reece, Steve. 2009. Homer’s Winged Words: The Evolution of Early Greek Epic Diction in the Light of Oral Theory. Leiden: Brill.

 

---

[1] Str. 5.4.5.

[2] This is Apollodorus’ listing (Apollod. 3.4.1). Pausanias lists the Spartoi in a different order: Chthonius, Hyperenor, Pelorus, Udaeus, and Echion (Paus. 9.5.3); and Hyginus in yet another: Chthonius, Udaeus, Hyperenor, Pelorus, and Echion Hyginus, Fabulae 178 in Theoi.com).

[3] βοῦς in LSJ.

[4] boy in the OED; accessed 20 May 2021.

[5] σεμνοποιεῖ τὸ θεῖον in Strab. 10.3.9.

[6] Strab. 10.3.9 translated by H C Hamilton, W Falconer.

[7] Strab. 10.3.9 translated by H. L. Jones.

[8] Νύξ and νύξις are related (see section Ladon and the Hesperides).

[9] Hp. Acut. 1.

[10] Paus. 9.5.4-5.