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ἑρπετόν , Aeol.perh. ὄρπετον (q.v.), τό, (ἕρπω)
A.beast or animal which goes on all fours, Od.4.418 ; “πᾶν ἑ. πληγῇ νέμεται” Heraclit.11 ; “ἑρπετὰ ὅσσα τρέφει μέλαινα γαῖα” Alcm.60.3; “ὄφις καὶ σαύρας καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν ἑρπετῶν” Hdt.4.183 ; “τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις ἑρπετοῖς πόδας ἔδωκεν.., ἀνθρώπῳ δὲ καὶ χεῖρας” X.Mem.1.4.11 ; ἑρπετά, opp. πετεινά, Hdt.1.140, cf. Theoc.15.118, A.R.4.1240: generally, “ἑ. οὐδὲ γυνή” Call.Jov.13 ; πυκινώτατον ἑ., of a hound, Pi.Fr.106 ; of insects, Semon.13, Nic.Fr. 74.46.
II. creeping thing, reptile, esp. snake, E.Andr.269, Theoc. 24.57 ; “περὶ κιναδέων τε καὶ ἑ.” Democr.259 ; “ἑρπετά τε καὶ δάκετα <πάντα>” Ar.Av.1069 ; of the monster Typhoeus, with a snake's body, Pi.P.1.25.
2. as Adj., creeping, “κακὸν ἑ. πρᾶγμα” POxy.1060.7 (vi A. D.); “τὰ ἑ. θηρία” Philum.Ven.10.1.
Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.

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  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (7):
    • Aristophanes, Birds, 1069
    • Euripides, Andromache, 269
    • Herodotus, Histories, 1.140
    • Herodotus, Histories, 4.183
    • Homer, Odyssey, 4.418
    • Xenophon, Memorabilia, 1.4.11
    • Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 4.1240
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