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[70] ἐπικάρσιαι. Eustath. interprets this ‘head downwards,’ of ships plunging their bows in the seas as they run before the wind, comparing the word with “ἐπικάρ”,

χαράδραιμεγάλα στενάχουσι ῥέουσαι
ἐξ ὀρέων ἐπικάρ

(praeceps). An analogous form is “ἀνακάρ”. Nitzsch prefers the interpretation of Apoll. “ λεχ.πλάγιαι” = obliquae.’ Compare the expression “ἐπικαρσίας τοῦ Πόντου” of ships moored at an angle to the Euxine, Hdt.7. 36; and the word “ἐγκάρσιος”, ‘athwart,’ Thuc.6. 99.The ships are regarded as drifting on with the wind abeam. The radical meaning of “κάρσιος” in these compounds is, according to Düntzer, ‘curved’ or ‘crooked;’ compare “κέρας, κυρτός”.

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hide References (3 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (3):
    • Herodotus, Histories, 7.36
    • Homer, Iliad, 6.392
    • Thucydides, Histories, 6.99
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