θήρ Ancient Greek · revision 15524

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=ine-pro *ǵʰwer-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /tʰɛ̌ːr/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈθir/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈθir/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''θήρ''' (thḗr) ''m'' or f (genitive θηρός); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|grk-pro|*kʷʰḗr]], [[inh|ine-pro|*ǵʰwer-|t=wild animal]].^(Wiktionary) Aeolic has [[m|grc|φήρ|tr=phḗr]], with /pʰ/ from the old labiovelar.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary) Mycenaean has [[gmy|qe-ro]] and [[m|gmy|qe-ri-jo]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The plural [[m|grc|θῆρες|tr=thêres]], [[m|grc|θηρῶν|tr=thērôn]] matches the dialectal forms [[lt|žvė́res|t=wild animals]], [[m|lt|žvėrų̃]] exactly, from [[m|ine-pro|*ǵʰwēr-es]], [[m|ine-pro|*ǵʰwēr-ōm]];^(Frisk 1960)^(Πάπυρος) the singular was moved into the /i/-declension in [[m|lt|žvėrìs]] and [[cu|звѣрь|tr=zvěrĭ|t=wild beast]].^(Frisk 1960) [[la|ferus|t=wild]] has a short vowel.^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Homer uses it for a wild beast or wild creature, as in the ''Iliad'' (3.449), and opposes it to birds and fishes: “eaten by fish at sea, or by beasts and birds on land” (''Odyssey'' 24.291).^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It remained mainly an epic and poetic word.^(Frisk 1960) It is often a lion, so used in Cephallenia according to a scholiast, and in tragedy it is the Nemean lion, the Erymanthian boar, Cerberus or a hind.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) The Centaurs, the satyrs and the Sphinx are “beasts” too.^(CGL 2021) Its derivative [[θηρίον|tr=thēríon]], found from the ''Odyssey'' on and originally a softening diminutive, also became after Homer the general word for an animal.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' use it for wild beasts.^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ * Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod opposes beasts to fishes and birds.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for the Erymanthian boar and Cerberus.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for the Nemean lion.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * Early Christian – The ''First Epistle of Clement'' uses it for wild animals.^(BDAG 2000)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A wild animal, [[m|en|beast]], beast of prey.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # Especially a [[m|en|lion]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(mythology)'' A monstrous creature: a [[m|en|centaur]], satyr, the Sphinx, Cerberus.^(CGL 2021)

+ # Rarely, a domestic animal.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[θηρίον|tr=thēríon]]

+ * [[μιξόθηρ|tr=mixóthēr]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|ferus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}