Figurative uses of animal names in Latin and their ... - mura di tutti

SI
from the breaking on board of heavy seas." By synecdoche
the terms are then applied to the entire vessel.
In baseball circles the turtleback diamond has made its
advent in recent years.
LUPUS, Gk. Xw«o9, a Wolf; transf., A Jaw-Shaped
Device for Seizing the Aries,^** or even Men.
An instance of the military use of this word is found in
a passage where Livy tells of iron wolves threatening to
carry besiegers aloft within the walls : in alios lupi superne
ferrei iniecti, ut in periculo essent, ne suspensi in murum ex-
traherentur."^®
Comparing this wolf with the one employed to recover
articles from the bottom of a well, one might suppose the
transfer to lie in the physical act of seizing : Lupus qui est
canicula, ferreus harpax, quia si quid in puteum decidit,
rapit et extrahit, unde et nomen accipit.^**
An indication of the real reason for the name can be ob-
tained from the description of Vegetius, who lays stress on
the shape of the gripping apparatus, which resembles a pair
of shears and is equipped with teeth : Plures in modum for-
ficis dentatum funibus inligant ferrum, quem lupum vocant,
adprehensumque arietem aut evertunt aut ita suspendunt ut
impetum non habet feriendi.^^^
Further confirmation of the view that it is the shape of the
jaws, and not their action, that causes the transfer is found
in lupus, a bit with wolf-like teeth, and in lupus, a handsaw.
The power to grip and seize is a result of the shape. As in
other instances, a confusion has arisen between cause and
effect. In English a close analogy is found in the seven-
teen uses of dog, " a name given to various mechanical de-
vices, usually having or consisting of a tooth or claw used
for gripping or holding."^^*
^This recalls the proverbial antipathy between the wolf and the sheep.
Liv. xxviii, 3, 7.
'"'Isid. Orig. xx, 15, 4.
=" Veg. iv, 23.
^ Murray, New Eng. Diet. s. v. dog.