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ἐπιβαίνω , rarely ἐπηχ-βάω , imper.
A.“ἐπίβα_” Thgn.847, Dor. inf. ἐπιβῆν (infr.IV): fut.-βήσομαι: pf.-βέβηκα: aor. 2 ἐπέβην: aor. 1 Med. ἐπεβησάμην (of which Hom.always uses the Ep.form ἐπεβήσετο, imper. “ἐπιβήσεο” Il.8.105, al.; later “ἐπεβήσατο” A.R.3.869, Dor. “-βάσατο” Call.Lav.Pall.65).
A.. in these tenses, intr., go upon:
I.. c. gen., set foot on, tread, walk upon, γαίης, ἠπείρου, Od.9.83, h.Cer. 127; πόληος, πατρίδος αἴης, Τροίης, Il.16.396, Od.4.521, 14.229; ἀδύτων “ἐπιβάς” E.Andr.1034 (lyr.); ἐ. τῶν οὔρων set foot on the confines, Hdt.4.125, cf. Th.1.103, Pl.Lg.778e; “τῆς Λακωνικῆς ἐπὶ πολέμῳ” X. HG7.4.6; πυρῆς ἐπιβάντ᾽ ἀλεγεινῆς, of a corpse, placed upon . . , Il.4.99; “πλατείᾳ τῇ ῥινὶ ἐ. τοῦ χείλους” Philostr.Im.2.18; also “ἐ. ἐπί τινος” Hdt.2.107.
2.. get upon, mount on, “πύργων” Il.8.165; νεῶν ib. 512; “ἵππων” 5.328, 10.513; “δίφρου” 23.379; “εὐνῆς” 9.133; “τοῦ τείχεος” Hdt.9.70; λέκτρων ἐ. A.Supp.39; also “ἐ. ἐπὶ νεός” Hdt.8.118: freq. in Hom., in aor. Med., “ἐπεβήσετ᾽ ἀπήνης” Od.6.78, al.
b.. Archit., to be superposed, “τὰ ἐπιβαίνοντα πάντα ἐπὶ τοὺς κρατευτάς” IG7.3073.104, cf. 111 (Lebad.).
3.. of Time, arrive at, “τετταράκοντα ἐ. ἐτῶν” Pl.Lg.666b; δεκάτω (sc. ἔτεος） ἐ. Theoc.26.29; “δωδεκάτου ἐπιβάς” IG 14.1728; “τῆς μειρακίων ἡλικίας” Hdn.1.3.1.
4.. metaph., ἀναιδείης ἐπέβησαν have trodden the path of shamelessness, Od.22.424; ἐϋφροσύνης ἐπιβῆτον enter into joy, 23.52; τέχνης ἐπιβήσομαι,-βήμεναι, h.Merc.166, 465; ὁσίης ib.173; “εὐσεβίας” S.OC189 (lyr.); ἐ. δόξης entertain an expectation, Id.Ph.1463 (anap.); ἐ. σοφίας undertake it, Pl.Epin.981a; “λόγου” Luc.Astr.8; ἐ. τῆς ἀφορμῆς, τῆς προφάσεως, seize upon it, App.Syr.2, Sam.11, etc.; preside over, τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης “ψυχῆς” Iamb.Myst.9.8, al.
II.. c. dat., get upon, board, “ναυσί” Th.7.70; land on, “ἐ. τῇ Σικελίᾳ” D.S.16.66: metaph., “ἐ. ἀνορέαις” Pi.N.3.20; also, make forcible entry into, τινός οἰκίαις, γῇ, PHamb.10.6 (ii A.D.), PAmh.2.142.7 (iv A.D.).
b.. with a Prep., ἐπὶ πύργῳ ἄλλος πύργος “ἐπιβέβηκε” Hdt.1.181.
2.. c. dat. pers., set upon, assault, “τινί” X.Cyr. 5.2.26, Plu.Cim.15, etc.; simply, approach, dub. in Pi.Fr.88.2.
3.. trample on, “λὰξ ἐπίβα δήμῳ” Thgn.847.
III.. c. acc.loci, light upon, in Hom. twice of gods lighting upon earth after their descent from Olympus, Πιερίην ἐπιβᾶσα, ἐπιβάς, Il.14.226, Od.5.50; so πολλῶν ἐ. καιρόν light on the fit time, Pi.N.1.18; then simply, go on to a place, enter it, “γῆν καὶ ἔθνος” Hdt.7.50; “λειμῶν᾽” S.Aj.144 (anap.): with Prep., ἐ. ἐπὶ χώραν Decr.Amphict. ap. D.18.154; “εἰς Βοιωτίαν” D.S.14. 84.
2.. rarely c. acc. pers., attack, only poet., S.Aj.138 (anap.): metaph., of passion or suffering, Id.El.492 (lyr.), Ph.194 (anap.).
3.. mount, “νῶθ᾽ ἵππων ἐπιβάντες” Hes.Sc.286: more freq. with Prep., ἐπὶ “τὸν ἵππον” Hdt.4.22; “ἐπὶνέα” Id.8.120, cf. Th.1.111; but ἐ. ἐπὶ τὸ θῆλυ, of made quadrupeds, cover a female, Arist.HA539b26; so abs., ib. 574a20, al.: c. dat., Luc.Asin.27: c. gen., Horap.1.46, 2.78.
4.. ἐ. ἐπὶ τὸ σκέλος use, put one's weight on, a broken leg, Hp. Fract. 18.
5.. with acc. of the Instr. of Motion (cf. “βαίνω” A.11.4), ἐπιβῆναι τῷ “ἀριστερῷ ἐκείνης τὸν ἐμὸν δεξιόν” Luc.DMeretr.4.5, cf. Tox.48.
IV.. abs., get a footing, stand on one's feet, Il.5.666, Od.12.434; μἠπιβῆν it is forbidden to set foot here, IG12(3).1381 (Thera).
2.. step onwards, advance, “Τρώων δὲ πόλις ἐπὶ πᾶσα βέβηκε” Il.16.69, cf. Hes. Op. 679, f.l. in Pi.N.10.43; “ἐπίβαινε πόρσω” S.OC179 (s.v.l., lyr.): me taph., advance in one's demands, Plb.1.68.8.
3.. mount on a chariot or on horseback, be mounted, Hdt.3.84; go or be on board ship, Il.15.387, S.Aj.358 (lyr.), Hdt.8.90, Th.2.90, etc.
B.. Causal in fut. “-βήσω” Luc. DMort.6.4, Ep. inf. “-βησέμεν” Il.8.197, Hes.Th.396, but usu. in aor. 1 Act.（ἐπιβιβάζω, ἐπιβάσκω serve as pres.):—make one mount, set him upon, “ὅν ῥα τόθ᾽ ἵππων . . ἐπέβησε” Il.8.129; “πολλοὺς δὲ πυρῆς ἐπέβησ᾽ ἀλεγεινῆς” 9.546; ὥς κ᾽ ἐμὲ . . ἐμῆς “ἐπιβήσετε πάτρης” Od.7.223; “ἐ. τινὰς σκάφεσιν” J.BJ4.7.6; πλοίων ib. 11.5, cf. Luc.l.c.; “ὁπλίτας ὁλκάσιν” App.BC5.92; τινὰς ἐπὶ τὰς ναῦς ib.2.59 : also in aor. 1 Med., “νιν ἑῶ ἐπεβάσατο δίφρω” Call.Lav.Pall. 65.
b.. of things, νευρὰν ἐπέβασε κορώνας set the string on his bow's tip, B.5.73.
2.. metaph. (cf.A.1.4), ἐϋκλεΐης ἐπίβησον bring to great glory, Il.8.285; “τιμῆς καὶ γεράων” Hes. Th.396; χαλιφρονέοντα σαοφροσύνης ἐπέβησαν they bring him to sobriety, Od.23.13; λιγυρῆς “ἐπέβησαν ἀοιδῆς” Hes.Op.659; δουλοσύνας (prob.) E.Hyps.Fr.41(64).86; εἴ σε τύχη . . ἡλικίας ἐπέβησεν had brought thee to full age, IG2.2263.
3.. [ἠὼς] πολέας ἐπέβησε κελεύθου dawn sets them on their way, Hes.Op.580.
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 (78):
    • Aeschylus, Suppliant Maidens, 39
    • Bacchylides, Epinicians, 5.73
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    • Herodotus, Histories, 4.22
    • Herodotus, Histories, 7.50
    • Herodotus, Histories, 8.118
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    • Herodotus, Histories, 8.90
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    • Hesiod, Shield of Heracles, 286
    • Hesiod, Theogony, 396
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    • Homer, Iliad, 16.69
    • Homer, Iliad, 4.99
    • Homer, Iliad, 5.328
    • Homer, Iliad, 5.666
    • Homer, Iliad, 8.129
    • Homer, Iliad, 8.165
    • Homer, Iliad, 8.197
    • Homer, Iliad, 8.285
    • Homer, Iliad, 9.133
    • Homer, Iliad, 9.546
    • Homer, Odyssey, 12.434
    • Homer, Odyssey, 22.424
    • Homer, Odyssey, 23.13
    • Homer, Odyssey, 23.52
    • Homer, Odyssey, 4.521
    • Homer, Odyssey, 5.50
    • Homer, Odyssey, 6.78
    • Homer, Odyssey, 7.223
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    • Homeric Hymns, Hymn 2 to Demeter, 127
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    • Homeric Hymns, Hymn 4 to Hermes, 173
    • Homeric Hymns, Hymn 4 to Hermes, 465
    • Flavius Josephus, The Jewish War, 4.7.6
    • Plato, Laws, 666b
    • Plato, Laws, 778e
    • Plato, Epinomis, 981a
    • Sophocles, Ajax, 138
    • Sophocles, Ajax, 144
    • Sophocles, Ajax, 358
    • Sophocles, Electra, 492
    • Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, 179
    • Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, 189
    • Sophocles, Philoctetes, 1463
    • Sophocles, Philoctetes, 194
    • Thucydides, Histories, 1.103
    • Thucydides, Histories, 1.111
    • Thucydides, Histories, 2.90
    • Thucydides, Histories, 7.70
    • Xenophon, Cyropaedia, 5.2.26
    • Xenophon, Hellenica, 7.4.6
    • Homer, Iliad, 23.379
    • Homer, Iliad, 8.105
    • Homer, Odyssey, 14.229
    • Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 3.869
    • Appian, Syrian Wars, 2
    • Polybius, Histories, 1.68.8
    • Hippocrates, De fracturis, 18
    • Plutarch, Cimon, 15
    • Lucian, Toxaris vel amicitia, 48
    • Lucian, De astrologia, 8
    • Lucian, Dialogi mortuorum, 6.4
    • Lucian, Dialogi meretricii, 4.5
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