Aiolê nux: êtoi melaina, ê poikilê dia ta astra.
Likewise or similarly in other lexica, and cf. the
scholia to
Sophocles,
Trachiniae 94, where the headword phrase occurs. (See further below.) Some take it to mean either "the ever-turning (or swift-circling) night" or "darkening night."
For discussion of the many possible meanings of its adjective see
alphaiota 253, cf.
alphaiota 245,
alphaiota 246.
[1]
Sophocles,
Trachiniae 94 (with
ai)o/la not
ai)o/lh: text at web address 1). The
scholia there have a fuller gloss: "black, according to the modern school; or multicoloured (= dotted?) because of the stars; or 'night the swift' because of
nukti\ qoh=| ('in swift night') in
Homer (
Iliad 12.463, cf. 10.394, 468, 24.366, 653,
Odyssey 12.284)." For
Homer's concept of the coming of night as a swift-moving substance through which one walks, see R.R. Dyer,
Glotta 52 (1974) 31-36.
No. of records found: 1
Page 1