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οἶστρος , ὁ,
A.gadfly, breese, prob. Tabanus bovinus, an insect which infests cattle, “τὰς μέν τ᾽ αἰόλος οἶ. ἐφορμηθεὶς ἐδόνησεν, ὥρῃ ἐν εἰαρινῇ” Od.22.300 ; of the fly that tormented Io, A.Supp.541(lyr.), Pr.567 sq. (lyr.) (also called μύωψ, ib.675, Supp.308 : but the two are distd. by Arist.HA490a20,596b14).
2. an insect that infests tunny-fish, prob. Brachiella thynni, ib.557a27,602a28.
3. a small insectivorous bird, perh. Sylvia trochilus, ib.592b22.
II. metaph., a sting, anything that drives mad, “κεραυνοῦ οἶ.” E.HF862 ; “οἴστροις Ἐρινύων” Id.IT1456 : abs., the smart of pain, agony, S.Tr.1254.
2. any vehement desire, insane passion, Hdt.2.93, E.Hipp.1300, Pl.R.577e, etc.; “ὄρεξις μετὰ οἴστρου καὶ ἀδημονίας” Epicur.Fr.483 : c. gen. objecti, κτεάνων for wealth, AP11.389（Lucill.): generally, madness. frenzy, S.Ant.1002, E.Or.791 : pl., Id.Ba.665 ; “μανιάδες οἶ.” Id.IA548(lyr.).
3. in good sense, zeal, “οἶ. εἰς πᾶν ἀγαθὸν ἔργον” PMasp.3.13(vi A. D.).
III. a throw at dice, Eub.57.5.
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 (15):
    • Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, 567
    • Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, 675
    • Aeschylus, Suppliant Maidens, 308
    • Aeschylus, Suppliant Maidens, 541
    • Euripides, Bacchae, 665
    • Euripides, Heracles, 862
    • Euripides, Hippolytus, 1300
    • Euripides, Iphigeneia in Aulis, 548
    • Euripides, Iphigeneia in Taurus, 1456
    • Euripides, Orestes, 791
    • Herodotus, Histories, 2.93
    • Homer, Odyssey, 22.300
    • Plato, Republic, 577e
    • Sophocles, Antigone, 1002
    • Sophocles, Trachiniae, 1254
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