πυρφόρος: Difference between revisions

|Definition=(parox.), ον,<br><span class="bld">A</span> [[fire-bearing]], especially of [[lightning]], πυρφόρος [[κεραυνός]] Pi.''N.''10.71, A.''Th.''444, [[Sophocles|S.]]''[[Oedipus Coloneus|OC]]''1658; ἀστραπαί Id.''OT''200 (lyr.); Διὸς [[ἔγχος]] [[Aristophanes|Ar.]]''[[The Birds|Av.]]''1749 (lyr.); πυρφόρος αἰθέρος [[ἀστήρ]] Id.''Th.''1050 (lyr.).<br><span class="bld">b</span> <b class="b3">πυρφόροι οἰστοί</b> [[arrow]]s [[with combustibles tied to them]], so that they may [[set fire]] to [[woodwork]], Th.2.75, Arr.''An.''2.21.3; τοῖς μὲν π… τοῖς δ' ἄλλοις βέλεσι [[Diodorus Siculus|D.S.]]20.96; οἱ πυρφόροι ibid.; [[πυρφόρα]], τά, ib. 88; [[πυρφόρος]], [[ὁ]], [[engine for throwing fire]], [[fire-dart]], Plb.21.7.1 (dub.), Jul.''Or.''2.62d.<br><span class="bld">II</span> in special senses,<br><span class="bld">1</span> [[epithet]] of several divinities, as of [[Zeus]] in reference to his [[lightning]]s, S.''Ph.''1198 (anap.); of [[Demeter]], prob. in reference to the [[torch]]es used by her [[worshipper]]s, E.''Supp.''260; similarly <b class="b3">πυρφόροι θεαί</b> of [[Demeter]] and [[Persephone]], ''IG''4.666.9 (Lerna), E.''Ph.''687 (lyr.); πυρφόρους Ἀρτέμιδος αἴγλας [[Sophocles|S.]]''[[Oedipus Tyrannus|OT]]'' 206 (lyr.); <b class="b3">Προμηθεὺς πυρφόρος</b> the [[Fire-bringer]], title of a satyric play of A., cf.[[Sophocles|S.]]''[[Oedipus Coloneus|OC]]''55; also of [[Capaneus]], A.''Th.''432, [[Sophocles|S.]]''[[Antigone|Ant.]]''135 (lyr.); of Eros, ''AP''5.87 (Rufin.); but, <b class="b3">θεὸς πυρφόρος</b> the [[fire-bearing]] [[god]], the god [[who produces plague]] or [[who produces fever]], [[Sophocles|S.]]''[[Oedipus Tyrannus|OT]]''27.<br><span class="bld">2</span> [[bearer of sacred fire]] in the [[worship]] of [[Asclepius]], <b class="b3">Ἀσκληπιοῦ δμῶα πυρφόρος</b> ''IG''3.693; of the [[Syrian]] Goddess, Luc. ''Syr.D.''42.<br><span class="bld">b</span> [[πυρφόρος]], [[ὁ]], in the [[Spartan]] [[army]], the [[priest who kept the sacrificial fire]], which was never allowed to go out, X.''Lac.''13.2: hence [[proverb|prov.]] of a total [[defeat]], ἔδει δὲ μηδὲ πυρφόρον . . περιγενέσθαι = not even the bearer of the sacred flame should have survived, [[Herodotus|Hdt.]]8.6, cf. D.C.39.45; οὐκ ἔσται πυρφόρος ([[varia lectio|v.l.]] [[πυροφόρος]]) τῷ οἴκῳ Ἠσαύ [[LXX]] ''Ob.''18.<br><span class="bld">3</span> <b class="b3">πυρφόρος ἡ ἐκ Δελφῶν</b> [[bearer of sacred fire]] from [[Delphi]], ''SIG''711 ''D'' 22 (ii B.C.), cf. 728''I'' (i B.C.); Φοίβου πυρφόροι ''IG''4.666.15 (Lerna); also in a [[Bacchic]] [[θίασος|thiasos]], ''AJA''37.253 (Latium, ii A.D.).