Peter's Ancient History and Religion Pages

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Ancient History and Religion with Peter Eyland

Ancient Greek Religion Glossary M -> O

makarismos

μακαρισμός

A declaration of blessedness, felicitation

Neils p88; A-S

medimnos

 

dry measure

Buxton p69

Megacles

 

Athenian statesman (6th Century BCE). Party leader between Solon's archonship and Peisistratus  tyranny.

Buxton p60

megaloprepeia

 

competitive expenditures at games

Neils p107

Megaron

μέγαρον , τό

I. large room, hall;.
1. the chief room in the Homeric palace,
2. women's apartment, bedchamber.
II. in pl., house, palace: opp. "ep' agrou" .
III. sanctuary, shrine, freq. in Hdt. (who uses the word in this sense only).
2. tomb, Epigr. Gr.453.2 (Batanaea).
IV. "ta megara" , the pits sacred to Demeter and Persephone, into which young pigs were let down in the Thesmophoria.

Buxton p15; LSJ

metic

 

resident alien in polis

 

metonymy

 

pars pro toto; one part standing for all

Buxton p28

metretes

 

wet measure

Buxton p69

miasma

μίασμἇ , ατος , τό

stain, defilement, esp. by murder or other crime, taint of guilt
that which defiles, pollution, of persons

LSJ

mimesis

 

imitation as creative adaption

Buxton p74

misthos

μισθός

wages as opposed to the gifts and rewards of the prizes

Neils p107

mutatis mutandis

 

changing those things that must be changed

Buxton p44; Guinagh

myth

μῦθος

Aristotle: the plot, the careful structuring of incident to produce a climax.

 

naophylakes

 

sanctuary officer

Buxton p39

neokoros

 

the warden of the sanctuary

Buxton p39

neokoros

 

warden of sanctuary

Buxton p39

Nikomachos

 

calendar

Buxton p21, 29

nomimon

 

customary

Buxton p40

Nymphs

 

female spirits associated with a location or landform. Also, nubile maidens in the retinue of a god or goddess.

Buxton p209

oba (s)
obê (pl)

ὠβά, ἡ

village "hê ôba" , in Laconia, a local division of the Spartan people

LSJ

Odysseus

 

Homer's Greek hero from Ithica who returned from the Trojan war

Buxton p24

oecist

 

Greek: founder [<oikos]

Buxton p48; ACOD

Oikistes

 

one kind of hero

Buxton p186

oikos

 

household

Buxton p44

oinisteria

 

A libation of wine, pured out as an offering to a hero, e.g. Heracles, or a god

Buxton p219

oinochoe

 

a jug for libations

Neils p178

olai

 

barley corns

Buxton p223

olive tree at Athens

 

Poseidon and Athena disputed over the name of the city (of Athens). Athena won by offering the city an olive tree. It was a symbol of peace, progress and power.

Buxton p23

ololygmata

 

Young women’s ululation at festivals and sacrifices

 

Olympus

 

The mountain where the 12 Olympian gods resided

 

omphalos

ὀμϕαλός , ὁ

navel - centre of the Earth at Delphi
2. umbilical cord
II. anything like a navel,
1. knob or boss; esp. in middle of shield, 2. button or knob in the middle of a yoke,
3. plug or valve closing outlet of bath 4. pl., knobs at ends of stick round which books wererolled
III. centre or middle point; later Delphi (or rather a round stone in the Delphic temple) was called o). as marking the middle point of Earth; also of an altar at Megara; "asteos omphalos" at Athens; "nêsou omphalos", of Enna in Sicily.
2. central part of a rose, containing the seed-vessel, 3. centre of an army,
4. keystone of an arched vault 5. vault, tomb,
IV. "gês omphalos" = "kotulêdôn" , navel-wort, Cotyledon Umbilicus

Buxton p83; LSJ

Oreithyia

 

"storming on the mountain" Daughter of Erechtheus. She was a basket weaver who was carried off by the North wind Boreas to Thrace (where Winter came from). She embodies the hope that nublie girls will draw the cooling wind from the North

Neils p58, 59

orgas

ὀργἅ ά, ᾷ, άν, αί, αῖς, ἄς

temper, disposition - plural, feelings, impulses

Any well-watered, fertile spot of land, meadow-land, partially wooded, with or without cultivated fields,
2. rich tract of land sacred to the gods:

Buxton p84; LSJ

orgeones

 

religious association

Buxton p222

orgia alimentare

 

first fruit festival where (exceptionally) undiluted wine was drunk

Buxton p291

ôros

ὧρος, ὁ

A year. In the plural, it means annals, (esp. Ion. writers).
Athenian year started just after Summer solstice (about June 22)

LSJ

oschophoroi

 

carriers of vine branches with grapes

Buxton p43


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