What is the Ancient Greek translation of ‘Stachys’, and what are the modern Greek translations of ‘Hydrobius’, ‘Kornephoros’, and ‘Protrygater’?

By: | Post date: 2017-04-07 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Ancient Greek, Linguistics, Modern Greek

They’re all Ancient Greek, really, and they’re all Greek star names from Nick Nicholas’ answer to What are all the Greek star names?

  • α Virginis: Stachys is “Ear of Wheat”. It’s Aratus’ name, and the established name Spica is its Latin translation.
  • ζ Hydrae: Hydrobius (whatever the name’s provenance) is “living in water” (or in Hydra, I guess)
  • β Herculis: Kornephoros is supposed to be “club bearer”. The ancient Greek is in fact korynēphoros; mangling of Ancient Greek appears to be routine in my list. Its alternative name, Rutilicus, is also “a corruption of the Latin word titillicus, meaning ‘armpit’.” (Beta Herculis – Wikipedia)
  • ε Virginis: Protrygater is “fore-harvester” (referring to the wine harvest). Again, this is Aratus’ name and the established name, Latin Vindemiatrix meaning ‘the grape-harvestress’, is derived from it.

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