Ἐπιλλίζω (Od. 18.11), from ἐπι(λ)λίγδην ‘Grazing’ (Il. 17.599) to ἰλλός ‘Squint-eyed’: History of a Misunderstanding

Abstract

The article argues that the Odyssean hapax ἐπιλλίζω (Od. 18.11) does not mean ‘to wink’, as traditionally assumed, but ‘to harass, to provoke’, and is the verbal base of the adverb ἐπι(λ)λίγδην ‘grazing’, said of a projectile. It belongs to the PIE root *sleig̑- ‘to rub’ (rather than ‘to slide’). The Odyssey only features the metaphoric use of the verb, but the proper meaning is preserved in Nicander’s fr. 100 ἐπιλλίζοντας ὀϊστούς. Apollonius of Rhodes uses ἐπιλλίζω in agreement with the Odyssean meaning ‘to provoke’. Later, two reinterpretations occurred. The traditional understanding of ‘to wink’ results from a synchronic etymology relating ἐπιλλίζω to ἰλλός ‘squint-eyed’: this accounts for Nicander’s use of ἐπιλλίζω (Ther. 163) and is therefore older than the 2nd c. BCE. Later on, Nicander’s ἐπιλλίζοντας (fr. 100) was erroneously related to λίγξε ‘(the bow) groaned’ by Greek grammarians, and wrongly translated ‘whizzing’.