OPPIAN 



water, is dyed red by dipping in an infusion of oak- 

 bark and which carries a large number of hooks 

 attached at intervals by short lines of finer quality 

 (Trapa^wAa). This sort of line is employed at night. 

 One end is anchored, while to the other end a piece 

 of cork or the like is attached to indicate its position. 

 On dark nights, in place of a cork, a triangle is 

 attached, made of wood of the elder-tree, surmounted 

 by a bell, which rings as it is swayed by the waves 

 and so guides the fisherman to the spot. When this 

 engine is withdrawn from the sea, the lines are 

 arranged in a basket, the sides of which are furnished 

 with pieces of cork into which the hooks are stuck. 

 At Paxo, near Corfu, these lines are arranged in such 

 a way that they float and small sails are attached 

 which, driven by the wind, set the whole apparatus 

 in motion. 



With regard to Nets the different sorts mentioned 

 by Oppian are not easy to identify with certainty. 



1. 81KTVOV is generic for every sort of Net. 



2. a.ix(f>L/3Xy]crTpov is usually taken to be a " casting- 

 net," which is supported by Hesiod, Sc. 213 f. avrap 

 ew OLKTats I ^(TTO d.vi]p aAtet's SeSoKij/xevo^' €i)(^e Se 

 )(^€p(riv I l)(^dv(rLv dfi({ii/3X-q(TTpoi' airopp'ixj/ovTi, eot/cws, 

 although Theocritus i. 44 in a parallel passage has 

 /xeya Slktvop es f36Xov cAkci. This sense suits Aesch. 

 Ag. 1382, where Clytemnestra, describing how she 

 enveloped Agamemnon in a bath-robe, says : d/x<^i- 

 (3Xr]crTpov I locnrep l^Oviav Trepicmx^^io, ttXovtov et/xaros 

 KaKov. Cf. Aesch. Ch. 492; Herod, i. 141 ; ii. 95. 

 Pollux i. 97 mentions together SiKTva, dfx(f)i(3\rj(rTpa, 

 ypi<f>oi, Trdpaypov kivov, and so x. 132 where he adds 

 ya.yyafj.ov, Plut. Mor. 977 F 06 8 aAtets (rvvopMVTf.<i 

 . . . TO, TrAcicTTa 8iaKpovoji€va ras oltt ayKKTTpov ^oAas 



xl 



