σκύλαξ

See also: Σκύλαξ

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Uncertain. Compare κύλλα (kúlla, “puppy (hapax)”), σκύλιον (skúlion, “dogfish”), σκύλλα (skúlla, “shark”), as well as Old Armenian ցուլ (cʻul, “bull”), Old Irish cuilén (“puppy”), Lithuanian kalė̃ (“bitch, female dog”), and Russian клей (klej). A Proto-Indo-European *(s)kol- (“animal”) is possible, but problematic. Based on the phonetic issues with connecting the similar words mentioned above, Beekes tentatively takes the word as Pre-Greek; it is possible that some, all, or none of the cognates mentioned above are taken from the same substrate continuum.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ský.laks/ → /ˈscy.laks/ → /ˈsci.laks/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ský.laks/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈsky.laks/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈscy.laks/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈscy.laks/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈsci.laks/

Noun

σκῠ́λᾰξ • (skúlax) m or f (genitive σκῠ́λᾰκος); third declension

1. young dog, whelp, puppy
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 9.289
   • 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Theogony 834
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.32
   1. dog
      • 405 BCE, Euripides, The Bacchae 338
      • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 375
   2. (of other young animals) whelp
   • 428 BCE, Euripides, Hippolytus 1277
2. a chain, a chain or collar for the neck
   • c. 400 BCE, Plato Comicus, Greece, 5 (quoted by Julius Pollux 10.167; fragment 23 in Kock's Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta):

     λαβὼν οὖν / τὸν σκύλακα τὸν τοῦ προξένου κἄπειτα δῆσον αὐτόν.

     labṑn oûn / tòn skúlaka tòn toû proxénou kápeita dêson autón.

     [...] having then grasped the representative's chain, which would bind him later too.

   • c. 117 BCE, Polybius, Histories‎^[1], 20.10.8:

     ταῦτα λέγων φέρειν ἅλυσιν ἐκέλευσε καὶ σκύλακα σιδηροῦν ἑκάστῳ περιθεῖναι περὶ τὸν τράχηλον.

     taûta légōn phérein hálusin ekéleuse kaì skúlaka sidēroûn hekástōi peritheînai perì tòn trákhēlon.

     With these words he ordered his men to bring a chain and an iron collar and put it on the neck of each of them.

3. (Hesychius) erotic dance? / sex position?
   • 5th c. C.E., Hesychius of Alexandria, Γλώσσαι, Σ:

     σκύλαξ· σχῆμα ἀφροδισιακόν, ὡς τὸ τῶν φοινικιζόντων

     skúlax; skhêma aphrodisiakón, hōs tò tôn phoinikizóntōn

     skúlax: sexual posturing, like that of those who act the Phoenician

Declension

Third declension of ὁ, ἡ σκῠ́λᾰξ; τοῦ, τῆς σκῠ́λᾰκος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ, ἡ σκῠ́λᾰξ ho, hē skúlax	τὼ σκῠ́λᾰκε tṑ skúlake	οἱ, αἱ σκῠ́λᾰκες hoi, hai skúlakes
Genitive	τοῦ, τῆς σκῠ́λᾰκος toû, tês skúlakos	τοῖν σκῠλᾰ́κοιν toîn skulákoin	τῶν σκῠλᾰ́κων tôn skulákōn
Dative	τῷ, τῇ σκῠ́λᾰκῐ tôi, têi skúlaki	τοῖν σκῠλᾰ́κοιν toîn skulákoin	τοῖς, ταῖς σκῠ́λᾰξῐ / σκῠ́λᾰξῐν toîs, taîs skúlaxi(n)
Accusative	τὸν, τὴν σκῠ́λᾰκᾰ tòn, tḕn skúlaka	τὼ σκῠ́λᾰκε tṑ skúlake	τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς σκῠ́λᾰκᾰς toùs, tā̀s skúlakas
Vocative	σκῠ́λᾰξ skúlax	σκῠ́λᾰκε skúlake	σκῠ́λᾰκες skúlakes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

• (little dog, puppy): κῠνάριον (kunárion), κυνίδιον (kunídion)
• (young animal): σκύμνος (skúmnos)

Derived terms

• Σκύλαξ (Skúlax)

Descendants

• Greek: σκύλος m (skýlos, “(male) dog”)
• Greek: σκύλα f (skýla, “(female) dog”)
• Greek: σκυλί n (skylí, “dog”)

Further reading

• “σκύλαξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• σκύλαξ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• σκύλαξ in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[2], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • cub idem, page 188.
  • dog idem, page 246.
  • hound idem, page 408.
  • puppy idem, page 658.
  • whelp idem, page 975.
  • young idem, page 997.