TAEDA
TAEDA (
δαΐς,
Att. δᾴς, dim.
δᾳδίον), a torch of fir-wood, called on this
account
pinea taeda (Catull. 61, 15; Ovid,
Ov. Fast. 2.558). Hence the name
taeda is given to the tree itself (
Plin. Nat. 16.44; cf. Hor.
Od. 4.4), for there can be no doubt that
“torch” was the primary sense of the word. Before the
adoption of the more artificial modes of obtaining light, described under
CANDELA, FAX, FUNALE, and
LUCERNA the inhabitants of
Greece and Asia Minor practised the following method, which still prevails
in those countries, and to a certain extent in Scotland and Ireland, as well
as in other parts of Europe, which abound in forests of pines (Fellows,
Exc. in Asia Minor, pp. 140, 333-335):--A tree having
been selected of the species Pinus maritima,
Linn., which was
called
πεύκη by the ancient Greeks from the
time of Homer (
Hom. Il. 11.494,
23.328), and which retains this name, with a
slight change in its termination, to the present day, a large incision was
made near its root, causing the turpentine to flow so as to accumulate in
its vicinity. This highly resinous wood was called
δᾴς, i. e. torchwood (
Thuc.
7.53); a tree so treated was called
ἔνδᾳδος, the process itself
ἐνδᾳδοῦν or
δᾳδουργεῖν, or
more fully
δαδοκοπεῖν
πεύκη<*> (Theophr.
H. P. 5.16, 2),
and a tree so affected is said by Pliny “taeda fieri”
(
H. N. 16.45): the workmen employed in the manufacture
are called
δᾳδουργοί. After the lapse of
twelve months the portion thus impregnated was cut out and divided into
suitable lengths. This was repeated for three successive years, and then, as
the tree began to decay, the heart of the trunk was extracted, and the roots
were dug up for the same purpose (Theophr.
H. P. 1.6.1; 3.9.
§ § 3, 5; 4.16.1; 10.2, § § 2, 3;--
Ath. 15.700 f). These strips of resinous
pine-wood are now called
δᾳδία by the
Greeks of Mount Ida (Hunt and Sibthorp, in Walpole's
Mem. pp.
120, 235).
For the uses of the torch by Greeks and Romans and its significance in
marriages and funerals, see
FAX
[
J.Y] [
G.E.M]