AETOI 3 



AETOZ {continued). 



aiercp Trepdaipos. (Cf. Arist. H. A. 32, 619 b v^/ov 8e nererai, oncos eVi 

 irkelarov tottov KaBopq' bionep Belov ol avOpwirol (paaiv eivai p.6vov ra>v 

 opveayv.) Opp. Venat. i. 281 aleros aldcpioicriv emOvotv yvakoioiv. Quint. 

 Sm. iii. 354 oleovcov TrpocpepearaTOs. Opp. Hal. ii. 539 oo~o~oi> yap Kovcpoiai 

 /uer' oloivoiaiv (ivaKres, aleroi. Phile, De Aq. vtyibpopos, Kdprto~ros dpviOoiv, 

 7TTqvoKpdT(op. Eurip. fr. 1049 (Cram. An. Gr. Oxon. ii. 452) yvyjr, Kvpwdis, 



a€TOS, 6 \q>(TTOS OVTOS KOI <pl\o^(V6(TTaTUS. 



deTOS o kuA. yvr)(rios. Arist. H. A. ix. 32, 619 peyiaTos t&v aerav dnavroop, 

 pelfav re rrjs (firjvrjs, ra>v 8' aercoj/ kol rjpioXios, xpoopa £avdos, (paiufrai 5e 

 oXiyaKis cbo-nep 17 KaXovpevr) Kvpivdis : cf. Plut. Amat. iv. 9 ; vide s. v. 

 jxop^kos. This is usually taken, as is also the xP V(T ^ TOi or aa-repias of 

 Ael. H. A. ii. 39, to mean the Golden Eagle, Aq. Chrysaetus (L.) ; the 

 former birds are however said by both authors to be very rare, whereas 

 the Golden Eagle is the commonest eagle in Greece (Heldreich). 

 Aristotle's statement as to its size is modified by Pliny (H. N. x. 3, 

 media magnitudine). The passage is obscure and mythical, as shown 

 by the allusions to nvpivSis and cprjvr) : Pliny's phrase solumque in- 

 corruptae originis is a literal but perhaps incorrect translation of 

 yvrjaios. Many of the general references to aeros apply more or less 

 closely to Aq. Chrysaetus, e. g. Arist. H. A. ix. 32, 619, its nesting 

 habits ; vi. 6, 563 tLktcl rpia aia, nrqpSfci nepl rpiaKovra ijpepas I ix. 32, 

 619 b tovs 8a(rv7ro8as ol< evdvs \ap!Sdvei } aXX' els to nebiov edaas irpo(\6elv, 

 this last statement being, however, very obscure : Ael. ii. 39, &c, &c. 

 On the other hand accounts of the capture of snakes and stories of 

 the combat with the Dragon (Arist. H. A. ix. 1, 609 Tpocpfjv yap noielrai 

 tovs o<p€Ls 6 aeros : Ael. xvii. y] ; II. xii. 200 ; Aesch. Choeph. 245 ; Soph. 

 Antig. 1 10-126 ; Nonn. Dion. xl. 476 ; Nic. Theriac. 448 ; Aes. Fab. 120; 

 cf. Virg. Aen. xi. 751 ; Hor. Carm. iv. 4 ; Ovid, Met. iv. 712 ; Flav. Vopisc. 

 De Aurel. iv), are based on the habits of Circaetus galliots, the Short- 

 toed Eagle, which feeds on reptiles, and partly also of the Lammer- 

 geier. In Imhoof-Blumer and Keller's Thierbilder we have coins of 

 Chalcis in Euboea showing an Eagle with the snake in its beak, and 

 also (pi. v. 9) a similar coin of Cyrene in which the bird's head is 

 evidently a Lammergeier's. 



The Vultures were frequently confused under the name aeros, e.g. 

 Aesch. Ag. 138 o-Tvyel be delnvov aUrS>v : as also in the story of Pro- 

 metheus, e.g. Hes. Th. 523; Aesch. Pr. V. 1022 ; Pr. Sol. ap. Cic. Q. 

 Tusc. ii. 10; Apoll. Rh. ii. 1254, 1263, iii. 851 ; Lucian, Prom. 20 (i. 203) ; 

 D. Deor. i. 1 (i. 205), &c, &c. ; and as in the story of the death of 

 Aeschylus, Ael. vii. 16, Plin. x. 3, Valer. Max. ix. 12. 2, Didym. Chalc. 

 ed. Ritter, 1845, pp. 84 &c, Hesych. Onomast. c. 16, where the aeros was 

 evidently a Lammergeier, on whose propensity to feed on tortoises v. 

 Tristram, Fauna of Palestine, p. 94, see also Ibis, 1859, p. 177 ; cf. Aes. 



B 2 



