cordax

Latin > English (Lewis & Short)

cordax: ăcis, m., = κόρδαξ,
I the extravagant dance of Grecian comedy, distinguished by lively movement and wanton gesture, and by the rope which was kept passing through the hands of the dancers; the imitation of this dance was regarded as a mark of drunkenness or licentiousness: ducere, to dance it (κόρδακα ἕλκειν), Petr. 52, 9 (cf. Ter. Ad. 4, 7, 34).—Adject.: cordaces sententiae, i. e. tinnulae, staggering (together with modulatae), Fronto de Or. 2, p. 240 Mai.—
II Transf. of the trochaic rhythm, in a loose translation of Aristotle (ὁ δὲ τροχαῖος κορδακικώτερος), on account of its hopping movement, Cic. Or. 57, 193; Quint. 9, 4, 88.