Dr DONALDSON, ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE ATHENIAN TRIREME. 89 



eKeiixrjv, "having flung myself, in my fear, under the 9a\aiuot, I lay as low down as possible." 

 The bottom of the hold, however, was also called the ai/rXos, a name given afterwards to 

 the bilge-water which settled there, and to the pump, by which it was bailed out. 



III. The Thranitce. 



An examination of the name of the dpavlrai or "benchmen" of the highest tier, leads 

 to some very interesting results. The whole of this tier was called the Opavov, because the 

 rowers were seated on benches, which did not reach across the vessel, but rested by means of 

 short legs on the i[vyd beneath, so as to resemble a Qprjw's or foot-stool. It has been supposed 

 that Optjvvs and Opavo^ are other forms of Op6vo%, but this seems very unlikely. It would be 

 more reasonable to connect 6p6vo% with the root arop-, and to understand an original form 

 (TTpoi'o^, but to recognize in Gpavos or Oprjvvs the root of Opavw ; for the idea conveyed by 

 the latter is that of a fragment or separate piece, the dpovos being the seat with its cushion, 

 and the Oprjvvs the detached vTroiroSiov. And this view is not affected by the consideration that 

 the Qprjvvi in a trireme was really a seat and not a foot-stool. It could only have been high 

 enough to enable the QpaviTrj's to use the "(vyou immediately before him as a stretcher, and to 

 carry the handle of his oar clear of the '(vy'iTri's below and behind him ; and, by a proper arrange- 

 ment of the seats, less than one foot six inches would suffice for this. Now we know that 

 the Opijvvs was seven feet long, even in Homer's time. It was therefore just like a low foot- 

 stool placed on the (^vyoi'. Why it was so constructed may easily be shown. If the 6prjvvi 

 had run quite across the ship, the ^vylrai and OaXafUTOi could not have got to their places 

 without passing over the upper benches, and there would have been no passage fore and aft 

 for the officers of the vessel. It must always be recollected that the trireme was not a three- 

 decker, but a mere galley with three tiers of benches, and till a comparatively late period only 

 partially decked over all. When the deck was introduced, it was carried from the poop to the 

 forecastle, either so raised in the middle that there was room for a man to walk upright along 

 the ^vya, or else carried to the same height above the bulwarks on each side, in which case 

 the sides of the bulwark were an open grating for the whole length of the vessel. Originally, 

 however, the "iKpia were confined to the two ends of the vessel, and in going amidship it was 

 necessary to step down, first to a Qptjvvi and then to the "(iiya. In Homer''s account of the 

 attack on the Greek ships, which were drawn ashore, with their heads to the sea, it is stated 

 that Ajax, who was their chief defender, passed along the line of quarter-decks, jumping from 

 ship to ship, like a horse-vaulter, and driving off" the enemy with a punting pole 22 cubits long; 

 until at last he was obliged to yield to superior numbers, and retired a little way {ave\aXeTo 

 tvtQov) i. e. so as merely to get out of immediate danger, to a bench seven feet long (Opijwv 

 e(p' tiTTairo^riv), and "he left the deck of the equal ship" (XiVe c' 'iKpia vrjo^ e'iat]^); in this 

 lower position he stood watching, and repulsing with his long pole any Trojan who en- 

 deavoured to set fire to the vessels (Z?. xv. 674 — 731). That the Oprjvvs was always seven feet 

 long, in other words, that the war-ship had always the same breadth of beam, appears from 

 the following considerations. In order to give the full advantage of the leverage for the 

 longest oar, it is manifest that the rowers of the upper tier would sit as far as they could 

 Vol. X. Paet I. 12 



