ὀπάων

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ὀπέων (opéōn) — Ionic

Etymology

According to Beekes, the term derives from earlier *ὀπά-ϝων (*opá-wōn, “belonging to the retinue”), itself derived from *ὀπά (*opá, “followers, retinue”). Beekes suggests that this possible intermediary form may constitute a verbal noun from ἕπομαι (hépomai, “to follow, obey”), which is from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”). Alternatively, the linguist Anthony Yates suggests that it may derive from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-eh₂,^[1] itself possibly the source for *sokʷh₂ṓy.^[2] The psilosis is also found in ὀπάζω (opázō, “to chase, oppress”). It is likely that the term is related to Mycenaean Greek [script needed] (o-qa-wo-mi).^[3]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /o.pǎː.ɔːn/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /oˈpa.on/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /oˈpa.on/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /oˈpa.on/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /oˈpa.on/

Noun

ὀπᾱ́ων • (opā́ōn) m (genitive ὀπᾱ́ονος); third declension

comrade in war; companion; esquire
Synonym: θερᾰ́πων (therắpōn)
(in general) follower; attendant

Declension

Third declension of ὁ ὀπᾱ́ων; τοῦ ὀπᾱ́ονος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ὀπᾱ́ων ho opā́ōn	τὼ ὀπᾱ́ονε tṑ opā́one	οἱ ὀπᾱ́ονες hoi opā́ones
Genitive	τοῦ ὀπᾱ́ονος toû opā́onos	τοῖν ὀπᾱόνοιν toîn opāónoin	τῶν ὀπᾱόνων tôn opāónōn
Dative	τῷ ὀπᾱ́ονῐ tōî opā́onĭ	τοῖν ὀπᾱόνοιν toîn opāónoin	τοῖς ὀπᾱ́οσῐ / ὀπᾱ́οσῐν toîs opā́osĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸν ὀπᾱ́ονᾰ tòn opā́onă	τὼ ὀπᾱ́ονε tṑ opā́one	τοὺς ὀπᾱ́ονᾰς toùs opā́onăs
Vocative	ὀπᾶον opâon	ὀπᾱ́ονε opā́one	ὀπᾱ́ονες opā́ones
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

^ Yates, Anthony (2022), “A new prosodic reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European *-mon-stems”, in Indo-European Linguistics, volume 10, number 1, →DOI, →ISSN, page 271 of 214–288
^ Yates, Anthony D. (2019), “Suffixal* o-vocalism without “amphikinesis:” On Proto-Indo-European*–oi-stems and ablaut as a diagnostic for word stress”, in Goldstein, David M, Jamison, Stephanie W, Vine, Brent, editors, Proceedings of the 30th Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference‎^[1]
^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “ὀπᾱ́ων”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1089

“ὀπάων”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ὀπάων”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“ὀπάων”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
ὀπάων in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ὀπάων in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963

[1] Yates, Anthony (2022), “A new prosodic reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European *-mon-stems”, in Indo-European Linguistics, volume 10, number 1, →DOI, →ISSN, page 271 of 214–288

[2] Yates, Anthony D. (2019), “Suffixal* o-vocalism without “amphikinesis:” On Proto-Indo-European*–oi-stems and ablaut as a diagnostic for word stress”, in Goldstein, David M, Jamison, Stephanie W, Vine, Brent, editors, Proceedings of the 30th Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference‎^[1]

[3] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “ὀπᾱ́ων”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1089

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