- Harpe is also a junior synonym of the wrasse genus Bodianus. In entomology, it is a part of the valva.
The harpē (ἅρπη) was a type of sword or sickle mentioned in Greek and Roman sources, almost always in mythological contexts. Most notably it was the weapon used by Cronus to castrate his father Uranus, and thus it became his symbol of power. In Greek and Roman art it is variously depicted, but it seems that originally it was a khopesh-like sickle-sword. Later depictions often show it as a combination of a sword and sickle, and this odd interpretation is explicitly described in the 2nd century Leucippe and Clitophon[1]
Notes[]
- ↑ Achilles Tatius, Leucippe and Clitophon 3.7.8—9: "ὥπλισται δὲ καὶ τὴν δεξιὰν διφυεῖ σιδήρῳ εἰς δρέπανον καὶ ξίφος ἐσχισμένῳ. ἄρχεται μὲν γὰρ ἡ κώπη κάτωθεν ἀμφοῖν ἐκ μιᾶς, καὶ ἔστιν ἐφ’ ἥμισυ τοῦ σιδήρου ξίφος, ἐντεῦθεν δὲ ἀπορραγὲν τὸ μὲν ὀξύνεται, τὸ δὲ ἐπικάμπτεται. καὶ τὸ μὲν ἀπωξυμμένον μένει ξίφος, ὡς ἤρξατο, τὸ δὲ καμπτόμενον δρέπανον γίνεται, ἵνα μιᾷ πληγῇ τὸ μὲν ἐρείδῃ τὴν σφαγήν, τὸ δὲ κρατῇ τὴν τομήν.
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The original article can be found at Harpe and the edit history here.