καιετοί οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν σεισμῶν ῥωχμοί

Grammatical information: adj.

Meaning: adjunct of κοίλην Λακεδαίμονα (Β 581, δ 1; verse end), gener. taken as `full of crevices, abysses', later said of the wooden horse (Q. S. 12, 314) and, through confusion with κήτειος, κῆτος, said of πώεα, φάλαγξ (Nonn.).

Origin: PG [a word of Pre-Greek origin]

Etymology: Not well explained. Zenodotus (sch. on δ 1) read καιετάεσσαν for it and understood it as `καλαμινθώδη', from καιέτα (H.) or καιετας (without accent, Apoll. Lex. s. κητώεσσαν) = καλαμίνθη; by Call. Fr. 224 the Eurotas is called καιετάεις. Other informants (in Str. 8, 5, 7 and Eust. 1478, 41) connected it however with καιετοί οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν σεισμῶν ῥωχμοί and with καιέτας = καιάδας (s. v.). - Who follows the reading of Zenodotus, must consider Aristarchos' κητώεσσαν as a `Verschlimmbesserung' (correction which makes things worse) with connection to κῆτος. Thus Bechtel Lex. s. v., who after Buttmann Lex. 2, 92ff., Solmsen Unt. 123f. a. o. assumes a word κῆτος = `crevice, abyss', which would occur in μεγα-κήτης (of δελφίς, ναῦς, evtl. also of πόντος) (diff. s. κῆτος). After Buttmann and Solmsen however κητώεσσαν (with metr. lengthening for *κητόεσσαν) is the real reading, i. e. from κῆτος as `crevice, abyss'. - It seems evident to connect καιέ\/ άτας `crevice in Sparta'; perhaps καιε\/ ατ- became *κηετ-ο-Ϝεσσα \> *κητοϜεσσα (cf. λαίθαργος\/ λήθαργος Fur. 338) of which the - ο- was lengthened. - Furnée 180 n. 6 points to the gloss ἄμυσσος κῆτος. Λάκωνες (s.s.v. βύθος), which shows that a crevice could be called κῆτος. - Ruijgh Lingua 28 (1971) derives the form from *κητοσ-Ϝεντ-.

Page in Frisk: 1,846