πυρρίχη

English (LSJ)

[ῐ] (sc. ὄρχησις), ἡ,
A war-dance, Ar.Ra.153, X.An.6.1.12, Pl.Lg.816b; called from one Πύρριχος the inventor, acc. to Aristox. Fr.Hist.46, Str.10.3.8, 10.4.16; but acc. to Arist.Fr.519, from its being first used at the funeral of Patroclus (from πυρά); as a prize contest, CIG2758 IV (Aphrodisias), 3089 (Teos).
2 generally, δειναὶ πυρρίχαι = strange contortions, E.Andr.1135: prov., πυρρίχην βλέπειν 'to look daggers', Ar.Av.1169.

Greek (Liddell-Scott)

πυρρίχη: [ῐ] (ἐξυπακ. ὄρχησις), ἡ, εἶδος πολεμικῆς ὀρχήσεως (πρβλ. ἐμμέλεια), Ἀριστοφ. Βάτρ. 153, Ξενοφ. Ἀν. 6. 1, 12, Πλάτ. Νόμ. 816Β· ἐκλήθη δὲ οὕτως ἐκ τοῦ ὀνόματος Πύρριχος ὡς ἐκαλεῖτο ὁ ἐπινοήσας αὐτήν, κατὰ τὸν Ἀριστόξενον παρ’ Ἀθην. 630D, Στράβ. 467, πρβλ. 480· ἢ κατὰ τὸν Ἀριστ. (Ἀποσπάσ.), ἐπειδὴ κατὰ πρῶτον ἐγένετο χρῆσις τῆς ὀρχήσεως ταύτης κατὰ τὴν ταφὴν τοῦ Πατρόκλου (ἐκ τοῦ πυρά)· μνημονεύεται δὲ ὡς ἅμιλλα περὶ βραβείου, Συλ. Ἐπιγρ. 2758 iv, v., 3089, -90· πρβλ. πρύλις. 2) καθόλου, δειναὶ π., παράδοξοι συστροφαὶ τοῦ σώματος, Εὐριπ. Ἀνδρ. 1135· - παροιμ., πυρρίχην βλέπειν, ἔνοπλον καὶ πολεμικόν τι βλέπειν, Ἀριστοφ. Ὄρν. 1169. Πρβλ. πυρίχη.

French (Bailly abrégé)

ης (ἡ) :
pyrrhique, danse de guerre.
Étymologie: DELG πυρρός.

Greek Monolingual

ἡ, ΝΑ, και πυρίχη Α
ο πυρρίχιος χορός
αρχ.
1. φρ. «δειναὶ πυρρίχαι» — παράδοξες συστροφές του σώματος
2. παροιμ. φρ. «πυρρίχην βλέπω» — κοιτώ με άγριο βλέμμα, με μίσος.
[ΕΤΥΜΟΛ. Ο ουσιαστικοποιημένος τ. του θηλ. του επιθ. πύρριχος. Ο τ. πυρίχη είναι ποιητ.].

Greek Monotonic

πυρρίχη: [ῐ] (ενν. ὄρχησις), ἡ,
1. είδος πολεμικής ορχήσεως, σε Αριστοφ., Ξεν.· το όνομα έχει αποδοθεί στον Πύρριχο (Πύρριχος) που την επινόησε·
2. γενικά, δειναὶ π., οι παράδοξες συστροφές του σώματος, σε Ευρ.· — παροιμ., πυρρίχην βλέπειν, «βλέπω κάτι πολεμικό ή ένοπλο», σε Αριστοφ.

Russian (Dvoretsky)

πυρρίχη: редко Anth. πυρίχη (ῐ) ἡ
1) (sc. ὄρχησις) пирриха (военная пляска дорического происхождения) Eur., Xen., Plat., Arst.: πυρρίχην βλέπειν Arph. воинственно смотреть;
2) pl. прыжки или извороты (δειναὶ πυρρίχαι Arph.).

Dutch (Woordenboekgrieks.nl)

πυρρίχη -ης, ἡ [πύρριχος] pyrrhichè (krijgsdans); als inw. obj.: πυρρίχην βλέπων met een krijgsdanserige blik Aristoph. Av. 1169.

Middle Liddell

1. (sc. ὄρχησισ), the pyrrhic dance, a kind of war-dance, Ar., Xen.;—attributed to one Πύρριχος the inventor.
2. generally, δειναὶ π. strange contortions, Eur.:—proverb., πυρρίχην βλέπειν "to look daggers, " Ar.

English (Woodhouse)

(see also: πύρριχος) war-dance

Wikipedia EN

The Pyrrhichios or Pyrrhike dance ("Pyrrhic dance"; Ancient Greek: πυρρίχιος or πυρρίχη, but often misspelled as πυρρίχειος or πυρήχειος) was the best known war dance of the Greeks. It was probably of Dorian origin and practiced at first solely as a training for war. According to ancient sources, it was an armed dance.

Plato (Leges, 815a) describes it as imitating by quick movements the ways in which blows and darts are to be avoided and also the modes in which an enemy is to be attacked. It was danced to the sound of the aulos; its time was quick and light, as is also shown by the metric foot called pyrrhic.

It was described by Xenophon in his work the Anabasis. In that work he writes that the dance was performed at a festival held in Trapezus to celebrate the arrival of the troops in the city. The following is the part in which the pyrrhic dance is mentioned:

A Mysian who saw that they were amazed, retorted by persuading one of the Arcadians who had acquired a dancing girl to dress her in the finest costume he could, fit her with a light shield and bring her on to give a graceful performance of the 'Pyrrhic' dance. Thereupon there was a roar of applause, and the Paphlagonians asked if the Greek women also fought side by side with their men. The Greeks answered that these were the very women who had routed the king from his camp. Homer refers to the Pyrrichios and describes how Achilles danced it around the burning funeral of Patroclus.

The dance was loved in all of Greece and especially by the Spartans who considered it light war training. This belief led the Spartans to teach the dance to their children while they were still young.

Athenian youth performed the dance in the palaestra as part of training in gymnastics. The dance was also performed in the Panathenaic Games. There were three classes of competitors: men, youth, and boys.