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Hector

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Forms

Hector m (genitive Hectoris); third declension[1][2] The accusative is ⟨Hectorem⟩ or ⟨Hectora⟩, the plural ⟨Hectores⟩ or ⟨Hectoras⟩.[1][3] Ennius measures the ⟨o⟩ of the oblique cases long.[1][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἕκτωρ (Héktōr).[5][2][4][6] Köbler compares ἔχειν (échein, “to hold, have”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Ennius' tragedies on, in lines that Cicero and Varro quote, with a long ⟨o⟩ in Hectōris.[1][2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Latin literature Hector is the eldest son of Priam and Hecuba, the chief hero of the Trojans,[1] killed by Achilles:[4][6] so in Cicero's Tusculan Disputations, Virgil's Aeneid and Horace.[4][2][3] Varro discusses the plural forms Hectores and Hectoras,[1] and Ovid uses the plural figuratively: et multōs illīc Hectoras esse putā, “and think that there are many Hectors there”.[3][7] The adjective Hectoreus means “of Hector”, and in poetry “Trojan”, and in Silius Italicus even “Roman”, since the Romans claimed descent from the Trojans.[2][4]

The name is the source of Italian Ettore.[3] English used Hector for any valiant warrior in the late 14th century, and in the 1650s made from it the slang noun and the verb hector “to bluster, bully”, from Hector's urging the Trojans to keep up the fight.[8]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius names him in his tragedies.[1][4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero names him in the Tusculan Disputations.[4][6][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil names him in the Aeneid.[2][4][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses the plural figuratively.[3][5]
  • late 14th century – English uses the name for a valiant warrior.[8]
  • 1650s – English hector “to bluster, bully” is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Proper noun

  1. Hector, son of Priam and Hecuba, the chief hero of the Trojans.[1][2][4]
  2. (figurative, plural) Men like Hector, brave warriors.[3][7]

Word family

  • Hectorēus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli
  8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com