πότνια: Difference between revisions

|Definition=ἡ, ''poet.'' title of honour, used chiefly in addressing females, whether goddesses or women:<br><span class="bld">1</span> as [[substantive]], = [[δέσποινα]] (cf. Apion ap.Apollon.''Lex.''), [[mistress]], [[queen]] (v. sub fin.), πότνιαν ἁγνήν ''h.Cer.'' 203: mostly c. gen., [[πότνια θηρῶν]] (nom.) [[queen]] of wild beasts, of Artemis, Il.21.470; πότνια βελέων Pi.''P.''4.213; [[τὰν ἐρώτων πότνιαν]], of Aphrodite, E.''Fr.''781.16 (lyr.); π. λαῶν, [[τοξοφόρων]], Arat.112, Call. [[Fr.anon]].338: without a gen., π. Αὔως Sapph.153; πότνι' Ἐρινύς A.''Th.''887 (lyr.), ''Eu.''951 (anap.); πότνιαν ἐξαπαφὼν ἐμάν [[Euripides|E.]]''[[Ion]]'' 704 (lyr.); [Ἱστίην] πότνιαν ''h.Ven.''24; ναὶ τὰν πότνιαν Theoc.15.14: in voc., ὦ πότνι' Ἥρα A.''Th.''152 (lyr.); [[ὦ πότνια]] (''[[sc.]]'' [[Ἀθηναία]]) [[Aristophanes|Ar.]]''[[The Knights|Eq.]]'' 1170, al.; ὦ πότνι' E.''IT''533, Ar.''Pax''445; addressed to a mistress, ''AP''5.269 (Paul.Sil.).<br><span class="bld">2</span> in plural of the Eumenides, ὦ πότνιαι δεινῶπες [[Sophocles|S.]]''[[Oedipus Coloneus|OC]]''84; τὸ τῶν ποτνιέων ἱρόν [[Herodotus|Hdt.]]9.97; of Demeter and Kore, S. ''OC''1050 (lyr.), Ar.''Th.''1149 (lyr.); θεσμοφόρους ἁγνὰς π. ''Inscr.Prien.'' 196.3.<br><span class="bld">3</span> as adjective, [[revered]], [[august]], in Hom. of Hebe, Enyo, Calypso, Circe, Il.4.2, 5.592, Od.1.14, 8.448; most freq. of Hera, Il.1.551, al., cf. Sapph.''Supp.''6.2; in Hes. of Hera, Tethys, and Peitho, ''Th.''11, 368, ''Op.''73; Τριτογένεια Id.''Th.''926; [[Νίκη]] Bacis ap.[[Herodotus|Hdt.]]8.77, cf. B. 11.5; π. μήτηρ Il.1.357, al., Od.6.30, al.; especially in invocation, π. γῆ Hom.''Epigr.''7.1; ὦ π. χθών A.''Ch.''722 (anap.), E.''Hec.''70 (anap.); μᾶτερ πότνια, addressed to Earth, S.''Ph.''395 (lyr.) (also of a bird, Mosch. 4.24); πότνια νύξ [[Euripides|E.]]''[[Orestes|Or.]]''174 (lyr.); ὦ πότνια λήθη τῶν κακῶν ib.213; Ἔνοσι πότνια Id.''Ba.''585 (lyr.); ὦ μεγάλα Θέμι καὶ πότνι' Ἄρτεμι Id.''Med.''160 (anap.); ὦ πότνια αἰδώς Id.''IA''821; ὦ πότνια μοῖρα καὶ τύχη ib.1136: the phrase πότνια συκῆ is used by Arist.''Rh.''1408a16 as a parody of Cleophon's style.—Mostly used in voc. [The first [[syllable]] is short in A.''Th.''152, ''Ch.''722, E.''Med.'' 160, ''Ion'' 873, al., Theoc. l. c., but elsewhere long, cf. [[πότμος]]: the final [[syllable]] always short in nom., voc., and acc.sg.]