τρίοδος trivium

Learn Latin and Greek Online

  • Summer School 2023
  • Online Classes
  • Blog
  • Learn Latin
    • Books
    • Classes & Tutoring
    • Online Resources
  • Learn Greek
    • Books
    • Classes & Tutoring
    • Online Resources
  • About Us

Join our newsletter

ἡ λέξις τῆς ἡμέρας (ις’) – Ancient Greek Word of the Day (16)

January 4, 2022 by Jenny

ὁ/ἡ ἵππος, -ου – a horse

ἐπὶ μὲν ἵππου οἱ πλούσιοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὠχοῦντο, ἐπὶ δὲ ὄνου οἱ πένητες· πολυτελέστεροι γάρ εἰσιν οἱ ἵπποι τῶν ὄνων τε καὶ θάττω*, ὃθεν ἤδη ὁ Ὅμηρος “ὠκύποδας” ἐκάλεσε τοὺς ἵππους, τουτέστι· ταχεῖς (= ὠκεῖς) τοὺς πόδας.

* θάττω = θάττονες/ταχύτεροι

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

On horseback the rich people used to ride, whereas on a donkey the poor people rode since horses are more expensive than donkeys and also faster. For this reason already Homer called the horses „swift footed“, i.e. „fast regarding their foot“.

Filed Under: Ancient Greek Word of the Week

© 2023 · τρίοδος trivium