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[358] ἐποίχεσθαι, ‘to ply.’ This word could not properly be used of work which can be done while the work-woman sits still, as the regular usage of the verb implies moving. So “στίχας ἀνδρῶν ἐποίχεσθαι” Il.15. 279, “πάσας ἐπῴχετο” (of the seals) Od.4. 451, “νηῶν ἴκρια ἐποίχεσθαι” Il.15. 676.We must therefore take it of work at the loom (“ἱστός”, see on Od. 2.94), where the worker had to walk from side to side, following her shuttle as she threw it across. That standing was the ordinary position of women at the loom may be implied in the description in Soph. O. C.340 of Egyptian customs in contrast to those of Greece, “θακοῦσιν ἱστουργοῦντες”. See on Hdt.2. 35 with Stein's note. Cp. also Schol. “ἑστῶσαι γὰρ καὶ ἐπιπορευόμεναι ὕφαινον αἱ ποιούμεναι τὴν ἱστουργίαν”. Pindar alludes to this constant movement to and fro in “ἱστῶν παλιμβάμους ὁδούς” ( Pind. Pyth.9. 33, [18]).

Homer's Odyssey. W. Walter Merry. James Riddell. D. B. Monro. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1886-1901.

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hide References (6 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (6):
    • Herodotus, Histories, 2.35
    • Homer, Iliad, 15.279
    • Homer, Iliad, 15.676
    • Homer, Odyssey, 4.451
    • Pindar, Pythian, 9
    • Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, 340
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