ἕπω

Forms

ἕπω (hépō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sep- (“to care for, handle”), an old thematic root present.^[2][3][4] It is identical with Sanskrit सपति (sápati, “to care for, honour”);^[2][3] Avestan has athematic forms meaning “to hold in the hand”.^[2][3][1] An old enlargement is Latin sepeliō (“to bury”), which matches सपर्यति (saparyáti, “to honour”).^[2][3][5] Frisk derives ὅπλον (hóplon) and δίοπος (díopos) from the same root, and probably ἐπητής (epētḗs).^[3][1]

It is not related to ἕπομαι (hépomai, “to follow”), but in epic the two are sometimes confused, or this verb takes on its sense.^[2][3][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses the simple verb once, of Paris handling his fine armour in his chamber (Iliad 6.321).^[5][7][6]

Semantic evolution

Elsewhere in Homer it appears only with adverbs or prefixes, in tmesis: with ἀμφί “to beset” or “to busy oneself about”, with ἐπί “to attend to” and with μετά “to look after”.^[7][5] The compounds ἀμφέπω (amphépō), διέπω (diépō), ἐφέπω (ephépō), μεθέπω (methépō) and περιέπω (periépō) carried the verb on.^[5][6] Beekes and Frisk record it as poetic, and in Ionic and Hellenistic Greek.^[2][3]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of handling one's armour.^[5][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be busy with, handle, look after.^[5][6][7]
2. With adverbs, in tmesis: to beset, to attend to, to direct.^[7]

Word family

• ἀμφέπω (amphépō)
• διέπω (diépō)
• ἐφέπω (ephépō)
• μεθέπω (methépō)
• περιέπω (periépō)

Related words

• ὅπλον (hóplon)
• Latin sepeliō

Usage notes

LSJ heads ἕπομαι (hépomai) under a second, unattested active *ἕπω (B), which occurs only in the middle; it has a separate source, with Latin sequor.^[5][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son