ὁ λαγωός, -οῦ / ὁ λαγώς, –ώ– a hare or rabbit
ὁ λαγώς ἀτόπῳ τινὶ τρόπῳ δοκεῖ κλίνεσθαι, ἀλλὰ θαρρεῖτε· οὐ γὰρ οὕτως δεινόν ἐστι τὸ πρᾶγμα· τὸ γὰρ ὄνομα τοῦτο λήγει εἰς –ω· τοῦτο τὸ –ω καὶ αἱ λήξεις τῆς δευτέρας κλίσεως ἀεὶ συναιροῦνται εἰς –ω·
ὁ λαγωός = ὁ λαγώς
τοῦ λαγωοῦ = τοῦ λαγώ
τῷ λαγωῷ = τῷ λαγῴ
τὸν λαγωόν = τὸν λαγών
οἱ λαγωοί = οἱ λαγῴ
τῶν λαγοῶν = τῶν λαγών
τοῖς λαγωοῖς = τοῖς λαγῴς
τοὺς λαγωούς = τοὺς λαγώς
τὸ δὲ ζῷον αὐτὸ πάνυ δειλόν ἐστι, ὃ δείκνυσι καὶ ὅδε ὁ Αἰσώπειος μῦθος·
“ΛΑΓΩΟΙ ΚΑΙ ΒΑΤΡΑΧΟΙ
λαγωοὶ καταγνόντες τῆς ἑαυτῶν δειλίας ἔγνωσαν δεῖν ἑαυτοὺς κατακρημνίσαι. παραγενομένων δὲ αὐτῶν ἐπί τινα κρημνόν, ᾧ λίμνη ὑπέκειτο, οἱ ἐνταῦθα βάτραχοι ἀκούσαντες τῆς ποδοψοφίας ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τὰ βάθη τῆς λίμνης ἐδίδοσαν. εἷς δέ τις τῶν λαγωῶν θεασάμενος αὐτοὺς ἔφη πρὸς τοὺς ἑτέρους· „ἀλλὰ μηκέτι ἑαυτοὺς κατακρημνίσωμεν· ἰδοὺ γάρ, εὕρηνται καὶ ἡμῶν δειλότερα ζῷα.“
οὕτω καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις αἱ τῶν ἄλλων συμφοραὶ τῶν ἰδίων δυστυχημάτων παραμυθίαι γίνονται.“
„The hare“ seems to get delined in a somewhat strange manner, but don’t despair, the thing is not as bad as it seems: The noun is ending in -ω. This -ω and the endings of the second declension always contract to ω:
ὁ λαγωός = ὁ λαγώς
τοῦ λαγωοῦ = τοῦ λαγώ
τῷ λαγωῷ = τῷ λαγῴ
τὸν λαγωόν = τὸν λαγών
οἱ λαγωοί = οἱ λαγῴ
τῶν λαγοῶν = τῶν λαγών
τοῖς λαγωοῖς = τοῖς λαγῴς
τοὺς λαγωούς = τοὺς λαγώς
The aimal itself is very fearful, wich gets shown in the following Aesopic myth:
„THE HARES AND THE FROGS
The hares voted to commit suicide and once they had resolved to die, they had only to decide on the location. The hares concluded that the pond would be an appropriate place, so they headed off in that direction, planning to take their own lives. The frogs who lived on the banks of the pond could not endure the thumping of the hares’ approach, so they scampered into their hiding places beneath the water. One of the older hares saw them and said, ‘Overturn this vote in favour of death! Look: there are actually creatures who are even more cowardly than we are!’
Unhappy people are comforted by the sight of someone who is worse off than they are.
Note: Hares were the proverbial cowards of ancient Greece. The phrase ‘a hare’s life’ was used to indicate someone who lived in a state of constant fear (e.g., Demosthenes, On The Crown 263).“
The translation and note are taken from Laura Gibbs’ great website on the Aesopic myths: http://mythfolklore.net/aesopica/oxford/248.htm