πτερόν

πτερόν, τό, ([etym.] πέτομαι, πτέσθαι) mostly in pl.,

A feathers, Od.15.527, Hdt.2.73, etc.: in sg., feather, E.Rh.618, Ar.Ach.584, 1105; πτεροῦ σῦριγξ quill, Hp.Fist.6;

τὰ ὦτα πτερῷ κνωμένοις Luc.Salt.2

;

ἀντὶ τριχῶν πτερὰ φύειν Pl.Ti.91d

(cf. Ar.Av.106);

ἡ τῶν π. ἀποβολή Pl.Phdr. 246d

: prov., πόνου δ' ἴδοις ἂν οὐδαμοῦ ταὐτὸν π. misery is of varied plumage, i.e. manifold, A.Supp.329; τοῖς αὑτῶν π. ἁλίσκεσθαι to be shot with an arrow feathered from one's own plumes, 'hoist with one's own petard', Id.Fr.139; ἀλλοτρίοις π. ἀγάλλεσθαι pride oneself on 'borrowed plumes', Luc.Pro Merc.Cond.4; κείρευ πτερά 'have your wings clipped', Call.Epigr.47.8.

2 = πτέρυξ, bird's wing, freq. in pl., wings, Il.11.454, Od.2.151, etc. (sg., A.Fr.304.4);

οἶμον αἰθέρος ψαίρει πτεροῖς Id.Pr.396

; Παλλάδος ὑπὸ πτεροῖς ὄντας, metaph. from chickens under the hen's wings, Id.Eu.1001 (lyr.);

τὰ τέκν' ἔχων ὑπὸ πτεροῖς E.Heracl.10

, etc.: as an emblem of speed,

ὡσεὶ π. ἠὲ νόημα Od.7.36

;

πόδα τιθεὶς ἴσον πτεροῖς E.IT32

; δοκεῖτε πηδᾶν τἀδικήματ' εἰς θεοὺς πτεροῖσι; Id.Fr.506; also τῷ δ' εὖτε πτερὰ γίγνετο he got as it were wings, i.e. spirit, courage, Il.19.386; νωμᾷ δ' ἐν οἰωνοῖσι τοὐκείνης (sc. Ἀφροδίτης) πτερόν, ἐν θηρσίν, ἐν βροτοῖσιν, ἐν θεοῖς her uplifting influence, S.Fr.941.11.

3 wings of a bat, Hdt.2.76; of insects, Arist.HA532a25, PA682b18, al.

II any winged creature, as the Sphinx, E.Ph.806 (lyr.); a beetle, Ar.Pax76.

2 omen, πιστὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν π. S.OC97.

III anything like wings or feathers: as

1 oars,

ἐρετμά, τά τε πτερὰ νηυσὶ πέλονται Od.11.125

;

νηὸς πτερά Hes.Op.628

(unless sails, cf.

πτίλον 111.2

); ὅπῃ νεὼς στείλαιμ' ἂν οὔριον π. E.Hel.147;

σκάφος ἀΐσσον πτεροῖσι Id.Tr.1086

(lyr.): hence conversely, of birds,

πτεροῖς ἐρέσσει Id.IT289

; πτερῶν εἰρεσίᾳ, of Hermes, Luc.Tim.40.

2 ἀέθλων πτερά, i.e. the crown of victory, which lifts the victor to heaven, Pi.O.14.24, cf.P.9.125.

3 sg., wings of the wind, dub. in S.Fr.23.3.

4 fan or parasol, Com. Adesp.1129.

5 π. ἱέρακος a hawk's wing, worn by the ἱερογραμματεύς in Egypt, D.S.1.87.

6 feathered arrow, E.Hel.76.

7 ploughshare, Lyc. 1072.

8 side-walls of Egyptian temples, Str.17.1.28, Plu.2.359a.

b battlements, Procop.Aed.2.8.

c portcullis, or drawbridge, in gateways, Sch.E.Ph.114.

9 πτερὰ Θετταλικά were the fluttering corners of a χλαμύς (v.

πτέρυξ 11.4

), Poll. 7.46.