On 05-02-21 13:29, Miguel Carrasquer wrote:
> I don't really associate vultures with swiftness, but the
> meaning may have shifted from a swifter bird of prey to what
> it is in Greek.
Skt. rjipyá- and Av. &r&zifiia- are epithets of eagles. I also have my
doubts about the standard translation of Gk. aigupios (chiefly a poetic
word) as 'vulture'. Homer's favourite adjective to go <aigupioi> is
<gampso^nukHes> 'with curved claws', but vultures' talons are in fact
weak -- what a vulture really needs is a powerful beak. Homer also has
the image of an <aigupuios> swooping down upon a flock of geese (Iliad
17.460) -- live geese, mind you!
Piotr