medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
If anyone cares, there are only two occurrences of BASILISKOS/-ON in the
standard LXX/OG editions, neither of which represents the Hebrew word tzepa (=
"CP(" ) or its related forms. For the parallel Hebrew // Greek texts (in
transliteration), see below (note "**"). ASPIDA is sometimes used (as below in
Isa 59.5a) to represent that Hebrew word (which occurs only 5 or 6 times total,
in Proverbs, Isaiah, and Jeremiah).
In the Psalm passage below, Hebrew "PTN" is another word for serpent or asp.
Similarly for the Isaiah term afah ")P(H" -- there seem to have been lots of
different creatures of that sort in the ancient Near East!
Bob
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Er, Marjorie, does your Larousse really say _basilikos_ and not
> _basiliskos_? The usual etymology preserves the 's' and makes the Greek
> word a derivative of _basileus_ vel sim. ("king") plus the suffix
> "-iskos". The latter is often a diminutive (cp. _asteriskos_, "little
> star" or _paidiskos_, "young boy" or "slave"), hence the view
> "petitroi", etc. seen in many explanations of the word.
>
> The serpents called in Greek "basiliskos" (and hence in Latin
> "basiliscus") are fabled creatures of the North African desert. Since
> they were not of European distribution, the possibility exists that
> their Greek name is either calqued on a non-Greek (probably Semitic)
> serpent-name meaning "king" or "little king" or else represents a
> phonetic transformation into Greek of a non-Greek serpent-same of
> whatever meaning. But to judge from the silence of standard ancient
> Greek lexicography on this point, no suitable non-Greek serpent name has
> been found to substantiate such an hypothesis. The modern equation of
> ancient _basiliskos_ with the Horned Viper (Cerastes cerastes) of North
> Africa, Israel, and the Arabian peninsula relies on the latter snake's
> being crested (hence, metaphorically, crowned). As far as I am aware,
> that feature does not occur in any ancient Greek or Latin description of
> a basilisk.
>
> Another possibility is that the creature's name is of purely Greek
> origin, expressing the notion that its extraordinarily powerful venom
> makes it, though small, the metaphorical "king" of serpents.
>
> To my very limited knowledge, G. _basiliskos_, Lat. _basiliscus_, or
> Eng. _basilisk_ is not used before the Early Modern period as a gloss or
> translation of the the OT _tsepah_ ("viper" or "adder"). Can anyone
> adduce late antique or medieval instances?
Ps 91:13
(L E)P' [90.13]
$XL A)SPI/DA [90.13]
W/PTN KAI\ BASILI/SKON [90.13] **
TDRK E)PIBH/SH| [90.13]
TRMS KAI\ KATAPATH/SEIS [90.13]
KPYR LE/ONTA [90.13]
W/TNYN KAI\ DRA/KONTA [90.13]
Isa 59:5
BYCY W)|A\
CP(WNY A)SPI/DWN (*)
BQ(W E)RRHCAN
W/QWRY KAI\ I(STO\N
(KBY$ A)RA/XNHS
Y)RGW U(FAI/NOUSIN
H/)KL KAI\ O( ME/LLWN {..^FAGEI=N}
M/BYC/YHM TW=N W)|W=N AU)TW=N
{...} FAGEI=N
YMWT ---
W/H/ZWRH =%vpa SUNTRI/YAS
--+ OU)/RION
TBQ( EU(=REN
--+ KAI\ E)N AU)TW=|
)P(H BASILI/SKOS **
>
> To further bring this back to the scope of the list, one might note that
> there are at least two early Greek martyrs named "Basiliskos"; cf.
> http://www.rongolini.com/synindex.htm
> s.v.; also a fifth-century Roman emperor of the same name:
> http://www.roman-emperors.org/basilis.htm
> http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/basiliscus/i.html
>
> Best,
> John Dillon
>
> **********************************************************************
> To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
> to: [log in to unmask]
> To send a message to the list, address it to:
> [log in to unmask]
> To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
> to: [log in to unmask]
> In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
> [log in to unmask]
> For further information, visit our web site:
> http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
>
--
Robert A. Kraft, Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania
227 Logan Hall (Philadelphia PA 19104-6304); tel. 215 898-5827
[log in to unmask]
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/kraft.html
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|