Λύκειος

Forms

Λύκειος (Lúkeios) ^[1]

Etymology

The meaning of this epithet of Apollo was disputed already in antiquity.^[2][3] LSJ gives three explanations.^[4] It may be from Ancient Greek λύκος (lúkos, “wolf”), making Apollo the wolf-slayer, as in λυκοκτόνος (lukoktónos, “wolf-slaying”); it may mean the god of Λυκία (Lukíā, “Lycia”), as in Λυκηγενής (Lukēgenḗs) and Λύκιος (Lúkios); or it may come from a word for light, as Bailly prefers.^[4][5] That word survives in ἀμφιλύκη (amphilúkē, “morning twilight”) and belongs with λεύσσω (leússō, “to see”) and λύχνος (lúkhnos, “lamp”).^[6] The CGL takes the epithet as the adjective λύκειος (lúkeios, “of a wolf”) or as Λύκιος reshaped by popular etymology.^[7]

The New Pauly judges the light derivation, a model example of 19th-century nature mythology, the least valid of the three, and places the wolf at the centre of the cult: in Argos Apollo Λύκειος was the god of the young men, who represented themselves as wolves.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is the Doric form Λύκηος (Lúkēos) in Alcman, in the 7th century BC, as an epithet of Apollo.^[7][8][9]

Semantic evolution

In tragedy Apollo is addressed by this name, and Aeschylus plays on its doubtful sense, asking the Lycean lord to be a very wolf to the enemy.^[4][7] Sophocles names the Lycean market-place of Argos, by the temple of the wolf-slaying god, the city's main sanctuary.^[4][2] Inscriptions use the epithet for Pan at Tegea and as the name of a month at Epidaurus Limera, with Λύκεος at Lamia in Thessaly.^[4][8]

Its neuter Λύκειον (Lúkeion) is the name of the gymnasium of Athens.^[10][4] Latin borrowed the epithet as Latin Lycēus.^[1]

Timeline

• 7th century BC – Alcman uses the Doric form Λύκηος (Lúkēos).^[7][8][9]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus addresses Apollo by the epithet and plays on its link with the wolf.^[4][7][9]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles names the Lycean market-place of Argos.^[4][7][9]
• 1st century BC – An inscription from Miletus has the spelling Λύκηος.^[4]
• 2nd century AD – Pausanias describes the cult in the temple on the agora of Argos.^[2][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Lycean, an epithet of Apollo: the wolf-slayer, the Lycian god or the god of light.^[4][7][8]
2. Belonging to Apollo Lyceus: the Lycean market-place of Argos, where his temple stood.^[4][7]
3. An epithet of Pan at Tegea.^[4]

Noun

1. (understood μήν “month”) The name of a month at Epidaurus Limera; Λύκεος at Lamia.^[4][8]

Related words

• λύκος (lúkos)
• Λύκειον (Lúkeion)
• Λύκιος (Lúkios)
• ἀμφιλύκη (amphilúkē)
• Latin Lycēus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ Smith, William, ed. (1873), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
6. ^ Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c d e Montanari, Franco (2015), The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek, ed. Madeleine Goh and Chad Schroeder, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
10. ^ Malhadas, Daisi; Dezotti, Maria Celeste C.; Neves, Maria Helena de Moura, eds. (2006–2010), Dicionário Grego-Português, São Paulo: Ateliê; digital ed. 3 (2022), UNESP Araraquara