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ἡ λέξις τῆς ἡμέρας (ιβ’) – Ancient Greek Word of the Day (12)

December 29, 2021 by Jenny

ἡ αἴξ, αἰγός – a (she-) goat

ὡς τὸ πρόβατον καὶ ἡ αἴξ ἥμερόν ἐστι ζῷον· τίς δ’ ἐστὶν ἡ φωνὴ τῶν αἰγῶν; ἑλληνιστὶ αἱ αἶγες μηκῶνται, ὃθεν λέγει ἤδη ὁ Ὅμηερος·

οἵ τέ σε πεφρίκασι λέονθ᾽ ὡς μηκάδες αἶγες.

Like the sheep a goat is a tame/domesticated animal, too. What is the sound that goats make? In Greek the goats bleat, whence already Homer says:

They shudder at you like the bleating goats at the lion. (Ilias 11.383)

(All images in this series are under the Creative Commons License: Feel free to share! 🙂 )

Filed Under: Ancient Greek Word of the Week

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