--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Carl Edlund Anderson" <cea@...> wrote:
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott" <BMScott@> wrote:
> > Yes. The Lexicon of Greek Personal Names gives them as
> > <Aineías> and <Aíneios>.
>
> I'm assuming these are formed from ain- plus some kind of suffix, the only one of which
> comes to mind is the usual -ijo- suffix that makes gentival adjectives (e.g. Latin -ius),
but
> though that could kind of explain the ending on the o-stem form <Aíneios>, I don't
> understand the <e> in the middle ... nor the masculine a-stem form <Aineías> at all :/
I found the following page
<
http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/nagy/BofATL/chapter15.html>, part of an online
version of Gregory Nagy's _The Best of the Achaeans_, which offering the following notes
on this name:
=====
To sum up: the war of words between Aeneas and Achilles reveals the presence of an
independent Aeneid tradition within the Iliad. Moreover, it reveals Aeneas himself as a
master of poetic skills in the language of praise and blame. On the one hand, he has the
power to tell stories about Achilles that make him the object of blame. On the other, he
actually tells the full story of his own genealogy--an exercise in heroic self-affirmation
that amounts to the ultimate praise of the hero by the hero (Cf. again Muellner 1976.74-
77). In view of these characteristics of Aeneas, we may consider the etymology of his
name. As Karl Meister has argued (Meister 1921.156-157; cf. Perpillou 1973.186.),
Homeric Aineiâs is the Ionic reflex of *Ainaâs (by way of *Aineâs), derivative of a noun that
survives as ainê. As a formal parallel, Meister cites Homeric Augeiâs (XI 701), the Ionic
reflex of *Augaâs (by way of *Augeâs), derivative of a noun that survives as augê. Now this
word ainê (as in Herodotus 3.74, 8.112) is a by-form of aînos, the semantic range of
which has revealed a bivalence of praise and blame (Ch.12§§18-19, Ch.13§12). There is a
parallel bivalence in the figure of Aeneas.
=====
I suppose aine is just a 1st declension feminine version of 2nd declension ainos which, for
whatever reason, was used to form a 1st declension masculine name *Aineas, though I
don't understand why this wasn't simply *Ainas instead (doubtless betraying my lack of
knowledge about Greek and PIE there!). This than became *Ainaas (again, for reasons as
yet mysterious to me), recast in Ionic as Aineias.
Hmm, I wish I had a copy of Meister's _Die Homerische Kunstsprache_ to check his
explanation -- anyone got a copy handy? (I'm in South America, and darned if I know
where I'll find one!). I remember Gregory Nagy was one of the examiners for my
undergraduate thesis, too; where is he when I need him! ;)
The Aineios version of the name looks easier, though again I don't understand why this
isn't simply Ainios? (With a simple -ijo- suffix to what I presume is the root?)
Cheers,
Carl