Page:Philological Museum v2.djvu/359

On the Early Kings of Attica. 349 the root is rendered probable by analogy and by the vari- ation in the prefixed letter. Thus we have in Hesychius eywyvov^ dp'^alovy in the corresponding passage of Suidas explained by 'Qyvyiov. " Lex. Reg. MS. 'Eycoyiov kol Q71/- yiov^ ap-^aiov. Cyrill. Lex. MS. 'Eyvyiov. apyoTiov^ Al- berti ad loc. 'O^u^ta ixeXr] Hesych- where I believe we should read 'O^i^-ym, jueXav^ a form which Hesychius else- where uses. OpcpvaiUy (jKoreivy]. ixekavrj. In many words the o is a mere euphonic prefix^ as we perceive by a com- parison of other words of the same family^. Thus ofipijuos is evidently connected with jSpi used as an intensive, wath (ipijULO^ and (ipi9v<$ ; ofieXo^ is the same word as /3eAo9 which is connected with the root (idWoj. So in the case of the double forms oAceXXo), /ceXXo) (Lat. celer Gr. kcXtj^): o^vpwj ovpw: oaKCLTTTw^ Hes. crKCLTTTO) {(TKatpo^ cavus): oKpvoeis and Kpvoek (crudelis) : the o appears to be no part of the root. So opeyoo is clearly the Latin rego to make strait, opeyoixai in the middle voice signifying to desire, as we naturally stretch ourselves towards and make straight for that which we wish to possess. The prefixed o is sometimes inter- changed with 6. What in common Greek was o^ov^ was in iEolic e^o?9 but the Latin dens and the German zahn show that the vowel is not radical. The grammarians generally suppose an aphaeresis of the o or e, but the tendency of language is to add a letter before a consonant at the beginning to facilitate pronunciation. " Letters like sol- diers,**' says Home Tooke, " are very apt to desert and drop off in a long march ;" but on the other hand idle recruits are sometimes picked up by the way. It is remarkable that just the same change has taken place in the word 'QXvyiwv* (tko- T€Lvwv Hes. of which the root is clearly Xvyrj* ^vkto^ b/i^a Xvyaia^ Iph. T. 110. The o was necessarily changed into Wy because oyvyio^ could not enter into heroic verse. The sense of " dark suits very well the Homeric application of the name 'Q^iy^a/ to the island of Calypso. It was situated on the furthest verge of the West, the region of the evening shades. The name of the goddess KaXvyj/co {KaXvirTw) shews her to have been originally a being presiding over darkness ; 3 Strabo caUs the last king of Achaia (i. p. 556. Ox.) Ogyges; Polybius 1. 2. p. 178. Gyges.