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[378] τριτογένεια. According to the ancient Greeks this name is derived from Triton, a forest stream in Boeotia, running into lake Copais from the west. Just so Athena is called “Ἀλαλκομενηίς” ( Il.4. 8; 5. 908) from the Boeotian Alalcomenae. The name of lake Tritonis in Libya is referred to a Greek origin by Hdt.4. 179.For the etymology of Triton in connection with water see note on “Ἀμφιτρίτη” ( Od.3. 88), which contains the same stem as the Skt. trita, meaning ‘water-born.’ The title may contain an allusion to the birth of the gods from Oceanus and Tethys, Il.14. 201.Eustath. mentions as another received derivation the Cretan word “τριτώ”=‘head,’ so that the epithet would refer to the marvellous birth of Athena; which however is not alluded to in Homer. If we regard the force of metre in lengthening or shortening vowels, we may be not indisposed to refer the word to “τρίτος”, as if Zeus the god of Heaven and Hera goddess of Earth reckon as 1 and 2, so that Athena the goddess of Aether can be called “τριτογένεια”.

Homer's Odyssey. W. Walter Merry. James Riddell. D. B. Monro. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1886-1901.

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