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'''Cyphonism''' ({{lang-grc|κυφωνισμός|translit=kyphōnismos}}, from {{lang|grc|κῡφός}}, "bent, crooked") was a form of punishment using a {{lang|grc|κύφων}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|kyphōn}}), a kind of wooden [[pillory]] in which the neck of a malefactor would be fastened.<ref>{{Cite OED|cyphonism}}</ref> Formerly, this term was widely believed to refer specifically to a method similar to [[scaphism]], in which a person's naked body was smeared with honey, and exposed to flies, wasps, and other pests.<ref>{{WD1913 |title=Cyphonism |no-prescript=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cyclopaedia 1728 |title=Cyphonism |no-prescript=1}}</ref>
'''Cyphonism''' ({{lang-grc|κυφωνισμός|translit=kyphōnismos}}, from {{lang|grc|κῡφός}}, "bent, crooked") was a form of punishment using a {{lang|grc|κύφων}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|kyphōn}}), a kind of wooden [[pillory]] in which the neck of a malefactor would be fastened.<ref>{{Cite OED|cyphonism}}</ref> Formerly, this term was widely believed to refer specifically to a method similar to [[scaphism]], in which a person's naked body was smeared with honey, and exposed to flies, wasps, and other pests.<ref>{{WD1913 |title=Cyphonism |no-prescript=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cyclopaedia 1728 |title=Cyphonism |no-prescript=1}}</ref>


The translated term {{lang|grc-Latn|kyphōnismos}} itself is a [[hapax legomenon]], attested only in an explanatory gloss in the [[scholion|scholia]] on the ''[[Plutus (play)|Plutus]]'' of [[Aristophanes]]. The scholiast writes merely that the {{lang|grc-Latn|kyphōn}} is a "fetter made of wood", and {{lang|grc-Latn|kyphōnismos}} is the name given to a punishment using it.<ref>English translation in {{cite book|editor-last=Rutherford|editor-first=William G.|editor-link=William Gunion Rutherford|year=1896|title=Scholia Aristophanica: Being the Comments Adscript to the Text of Aristophanes as Have Been Preserved in the Codex Ravennas|volume=1|at=§476, p. 50|location=London|publisher=Macmillan and Co.|url=https://archive.org/details/scholiaaristopha01ruthuoft/page/50/mode/1up}}</ref> Its interpretation as referring to smearing with honey and exposure to insects originated with the Renaissance humanist [[Caelius Rhodiginus]],<ref name="Rhodiginus">{{cite book|last=Caelius Rhodiginus|author-link=Caelius Rhodiginus|year=1517|title=Ludovici Caelii Rhodigini lectionum antiquarum libri XVI|location=Basel|publisher=[[Johann Froben|Frobenius]]|page=259|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8g9mAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA259|language=la}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Gallonio|first=Antonio|translator-last=Louis-Combet|translator-first=Claude|year=2002|origyear=1591|title=Traité des instruments de martyre et les divers modes de supplice employés par les païens contre les chrétiens|page=49|isbn=2-84137-124-7|location=Grenoble|publisher=Éditions Jérôme Millon|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wZ1xqr5FMk8C&pg=PA49|language=fr}}</ref> and the term was subsequently applied to a form of torture on these lines described by [[Jerome]] as having been meted out to Christian martyrs in his ''[[hagiography|vita]]'' of [[Paul of Thebes]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Migne|first=J.-P.|author-link=Jacques Paul Migne|year=1879|chapter=Onomasticon Rerum et Verborum Difficiliorum|title=Patrologia Latina|volume=74|location=Paris|publisher=Garnier Fratres|at=col. 427|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DFNAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA427|language=la}}</ref> Rhodiginus supposed that the prisoner was bound in a {{lang|grc-Latn|kyphōn}} while this punishment took place.<ref name="Rhodiginus" />
The translated term {{lang|grc-Latn|kyphōnismos}} itself is a [[hapax legomenon]], attested only in an explanatory gloss in the [[scholion|scholia]] on the ''[[Plutus (play)|Plutus]]'' of [[Aristophanes]]. The scholiast writes merely that the {{lang|grc-Latn|kyphōn}} is a "fetter made of wood", and {{lang|grc-Latn|kyphōnismos}} is the name given to a punishment using it.<ref>English translation in {{cite book|editor-last=Rutherford|editor-first=William G.|editor-link=William Gunion Rutherford|year=1896|title=Scholia Aristophanica: Being the Comments Adscript to the Text of Aristophanes as Have Been Preserved in the Codex Ravennas|volume=1|at=§476, p. 50|location=London|publisher=Macmillan and Co.|url=https://archive.org/details/scholiaaristopha01ruthuoft/page/50/mode/1up}}</ref> Its interpretation as referring to smearing with honey and exposure to insects originated with the Renaissance humanist [[Caelius Rhodiginus]],<ref name="Rhodiginus">{{cite book|last=Caelius Rhodiginus|author-link=Caelius Rhodiginus|year=1517|title=Ludovici Caelii Rhodigini lectionum antiquarum libri XVI|location=Basel|publisher=[[Johann Froben|Frobenius]]|page=259|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8g9mAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA259|language=la}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Gallonio|first=Antonio|translator-last=Louis-Combet|translator-first=Claude|year=2002|origyear=1591|title=Traité des instruments de martyre et les divers modes de supplice employés par les païens contre les chrétiens|page=49|isbn=2-84137-124-7|location=Grenoble|publisher=Éditions Jérôme Millon|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wZ1xqr5FMk8C&pg=PA49|language=fr}}</ref> and the term was subsequently applied to a form of torture on these lines described by [[Jerome]] as having been meted out to Christian martyrs in his ''[[hagiography|vita]]'' of [[Paul of Thebes]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Migne|first=J.-P.|author-link=Jacques Paul Migne|year=1879|chapter=Onomasticon Rerum et Verborum Difficiliorum|title=[[Patrologia Latina]]|volume=74|location=Paris|publisher=Garnier Fratres|at=col. 427|chapter-url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DFNAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA427|language=la}}</ref> Rhodiginus supposed that the prisoner was bound in a {{lang|grc-Latn|kyphōn}} while this punishment took place.<ref name="Rhodiginus" />


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 19:12, 3 August 2023

Cyphonism (Template:Lang-grc, from κῡφός, "bent, crooked") was a form of punishment using a κύφων (kyphōn), a kind of wooden pillory in which the neck of a malefactor would be fastened.[1] Formerly, this term was widely believed to refer specifically to a method similar to scaphism, in which a person's naked body was smeared with honey, and exposed to flies, wasps, and other pests.[2][3]

The translated term kyphōnismos itself is a hapax legomenon, attested only in an explanatory gloss in the scholia on the Plutus of Aristophanes. The scholiast writes merely that the kyphōn is a "fetter made of wood", and kyphōnismos is the name given to a punishment using it.[4] Its interpretation as referring to smearing with honey and exposure to insects originated with the Renaissance humanist Caelius Rhodiginus,[5][6] and the term was subsequently applied to a form of torture on these lines described by Jerome as having been meted out to Christian martyrs in his vita of Paul of Thebes.[7] Rhodiginus supposed that the prisoner was bound in a kyphōn while this punishment took place.[5]

References

  1. ^ "cyphonism". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ Porter, Noah, ed. (1913). "Cyphonism". Webster's Dictionary. Springfield, Massachusetts: C. & G. Merriam Co.
  3. ^ Public Domain Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Cyphonism". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al.
  4. ^ English translation in Rutherford, William G., ed. (1896). Scholia Aristophanica: Being the Comments Adscript to the Text of Aristophanes as Have Been Preserved in the Codex Ravennas. Vol. 1. London: Macmillan and Co. §476, p. 50.
  5. ^ a b Caelius Rhodiginus (1517). Ludovici Caelii Rhodigini lectionum antiquarum libri XVI (in Latin). Basel: Frobenius. p. 259.
  6. ^ Gallonio, Antonio (2002) [1591]. Traité des instruments de martyre et les divers modes de supplice employés par les païens contre les chrétiens (in French). Translated by Louis-Combet, Claude. Grenoble: Éditions Jérôme Millon. p. 49. ISBN 2-84137-124-7.
  7. ^ Migne, J.-P. (1879). "Onomasticon Rerum et Verborum Difficiliorum". Patrologia Latina (in Latin). Vol. 74. Paris: Garnier Fratres. col. 427.
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