When the Greeks were beset by plague, the god[1] gave them the oracular injunction "to sail to the last of the Mysians." At first they did not know what to do, but again [...] they discovered
Aiolis at the boundaries of
Mysia. Some say that the proverb of the oracle occurred when Telephos was consulting the oracle in regard to his parents [and asking] to what places he might go to find his parents, and that the god commanded him "to sail to the last of the Mysians", and that when he arrived at Teuthrania -- for the Mysians cultivate these regions -- he encountered his mother. The proverb is applied to those who are commanded to do difficult things.[2]
'Last' derived from 'checking' and hindering: the final one.[3] And 'latest', both because the 'standing' is 'beneath' him, and it is no longer possible to proceed further, but 'he stood' 'later', since there was no first.[4] Also 'utmost', from 'to have stopped'[5] and 'terminal', the last, from 'terminus', that is, 'end'.[6]
*)/esxatos *musw=n plei=n: *(/ellhsi loimw=| kratoume/nois o( qeo\s e)/xrhsen, e)pi\ to\n e)/sxaton *musw=n plei=n. oi( de\ to\ me\n prw=ton h)po/roun: au)=qis de\ th\n *ai)oli/da para\ toi=s e)sxa/tois th=s *musi/as eu(=ron. e)/nioi th\n paroimi/an tou= xrhsmou= le/gousi *thle/fw| manteuome/nw| gegone/nai peri\ gone/wn, e)pi\ ti/nas to/pous e)lqw\n eu(/roi tou\s gonei=s, to\n de\ qeo\n prosta/cai, plei=n e)pi\ to\n e)/sxaton *musw=n. a)fiko/menon d' ei)s *teuqrani/an, ne/mesqai ga\r tau=ta ta\ xwri/a *musou/s, e)pituxei=n th=| mhtri\ au(tou=. ta/ttetai de\ h( paroimi/a e)pi\ tw=n dusxerh= e)pitassome/nwn. *)/esxatos de\ para\ th\n sxe/sin kai\ kw/lusin, o( teleutai=os. kai\ u(/statos, kai\ o(/ti u(p' au)to/n e)stin h( sta/sis, kai\ ou)ke/ti probh=nai du/natai, a)ll' u(/steros ei(sth/kei, tou= prw/tou mh\ e)w=ntos. kai\ to\ pu/ma- tos, a)po\ tou= pepau=sqai, kai\ te/rmion, to\ e)/sxaton, a)po\ tou= te/rmatos, o(/ e)sti te/lous.
For Mysians and a proverb cf.
mu 1478,
mu 1479.
[1] Apollo. For this particular oracle see J. Fontenrose,
The Delphic Oracle (1978) 382-383 ##L73-74.
[2] This portion of the entry is also in
Photius,
Lexicon epsilon2050, and is ascribed by Erbse to
Pausanias the Atticist (epsilon58). Similar material -- especially similar in the account of Telephos -- appears in a scholium to
Euripides,
Rhesos 251, where Mysians are mentioned. The same scholium presents an extended version of the first explanation given here and ascribes it to the Attodographer
Demon (FGrH 327 F17). A fragment of different, but broadly similar, material appears in
Hesychius epsilon6456 (where the headword phrase, as again in
Photius, lacks 'to sail'). For further references see the apparatus of Adler and of Theodoridis on
Photius. (The lacuna between "again" and "they discovered" is a suggestion of Erbse, who would supplement it with one or more additional consultations of the oracle -- a suggestion consistent with the longer account in the
Rhesos scholium.) Oddly, here in the Suda and already in
Hesychius and
Photius, the headword phrase presents the word 'last' (
e)/sxatos) in the nominative case, whereas in the proverb cited twice in the text of the entry, it occurs in the accusative as the object of a preposition ('to the last...'). This explains the discrepancy in translation between the headword and the body of the entry. The bulk of the text seems to reflect a search for
recherché explanations to a saying the meaning of which looks rather obvious. Since (apart from its outlet on the Aegean coast) the territory of
Mysia was landlocked, "to sail to the last of the Mysians" from the standpoint of a mainland Greek would be a physical impossibility.
[3] Here commences a series of etymological speculations on the origin of
e)/sxatos ('last') and words that are semantically similar. Very similar material appears, post-Suda, in
Etymologicum Magnum 384.21-25; see Adler's apparatus for more comparanda. In this first effort
e)/sxatos is derived from
sxe/sis ('holding', 'checking').
[4] This opaque sentence seems to derive the superlative 'latest' (
u(/statos) and the comparative 'later' (
u(/steros) from a combination of
u(po/ ('under') and
sta/sis ('standing').
[5]
pu/matos ('utmost') from
pepau=sqai ('to have stopped').
[6]
te/rmion ('terminal') from
te/rma ('terminus') -- the only one of these etymologies that actually has some validity.
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