Odyssea

Forms

Odyssēa f sg (genitive Odyssēae); first declension^[1] Also spelled Odyssīa and Odiss-.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Ὀδύσσεια (Odússeia, “the Odyssey”),^[1][4][5] which Greek formed from the hero's name Ὀδυσσεύς (Odusseús, “Odysseus”) with the suffix -ια (-ia).^[1] Köbler, following Frisk, calls the origin of the name itself unexplained.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro is the first to use it, in his Menippean satires, with the Greek accusative Odyssian, for Homer's poem.^[3][6][5]

Semantic evolution

Ovid names Homer's poem in the Tristia, and Seneca uses it of Homer's poem as well.^[3][6] Cicero and Gellius use the same title for the Latin version by Livius Andronicus.^[2][4][6] Petronius also has the Greek accusative Odyssian, and Ausonius Odyssean.^[4][3] Odysseae portus was the name of a promontory at the southern end of Sicily.^[4][7]

English took the title from Latin about 1600.^[8]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses the Greek accusative Odyssian for Homer's poem.^[3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero, in the Brutus, calls the Latin poem of Livius Andronicus Odyssea.^[4][6][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid names the Odyssea in the Tristia.^[4][6][5]
• before 66 AD – Petronius has the accusative Odyssian.^[4][5]
• c. 1600 – English takes the title as Odyssey.^[8]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. The Odyssey, Homer's epic poem.^[2][4]
2. The Latin translation of it by Livius Andronicus.^[2][4]
3. Odysseae portus: a promontory at the southern tip of Sicily.^[4][7]

Related words

• English Odyssey

References

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