τρόπαιον

Forms

τρόπαιον (trópaion) n (genitive τροπαίου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter of the adjective from Ancient Greek τροπαῖος (tropaîos, “of defeat”), used as a noun,^[1][2] which is formed from τροπή (tropḗ, “turning, rout”).^[1][3][2] The trophy was set up where the enemy had turned to flight, from τρέπω (trépō, “to turn”).^[4][5] In old Attic it was accented on the next-to-last syllable, as the grammarian Herodian notes.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Aeschylus' Seven against Thebes, in a vow to set up trophies.^[7][3][2]

Semantic evolution

A trophy marked the place where the enemy turned and fled: a tree trunk or post hung with captured helmets, shields and armour, with an inscription; after a sea battle it stood on the nearest shore.^[4][5] It was usually of wood, sometimes of bronze or stone.^[3] “To set up a trophy”, with the genitive of the enemy, was the regular phrase, and in the tragedians and Aristophanes it came to mean simply to win, even over troubles or over a rival in a contest.^[3][6] The orators and Aristotle use it more broadly for any memorial of prowess.^[6]

In later antiquity it meant victory monuments in general, such as those of Augustus.^[4] It was borrowed into Latin as tropaeum.^[8] Modern Greek τρόπαιο (trópaio) is learned: the ancient battlefield monument, a war trophy, and figuratively a prize or medal.^[9]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus speaks of setting up trophies.^[3][7]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides, Euripides and Sophocles use “to set up a trophy”, also figuratively.^[3][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Lysias and Isocrates use it for a memorial of excellence.^[6]
• 1st century BC – Diodorus Siculus says trophies were usually made of wood.^[3]
• 2nd century AD – Pausanias mentions a trophy of stone.^[3]
• Modern Greek – The learned τρόπαιο (trópaio) means a trophy or prize.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A trophy, a monument of the enemy's rout set up on the battlefield, at first of captured armour.^[3][6]
2. (Rome) An emblem of victory carried by a triumphant general.^[6]
3. (plural) spoils of victory.^[6]
4. A victory; to set up a trophy is to win.^[6][3]
5. A record of prowess or excellence; a memorial.^[6]

Related words

• τροπαῖος (tropaîos)
• τροπή (tropḗ)
• τρέπω (trépō)
• Latin tropaeum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b Smith, William; Wayte, William; Marindin, G. E., eds. (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed., London: John Murray
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki