Note 986 — Chapter XXXVI · FISH IN OFFERINGS, AUGURIES, ETC.

Apollo to the Greeks was at once archer-god and god of divination. The word ἀγεῖλε, “he gave as his oracular response,” means literally “he picked up” (the arrows). Indeed the curious fact that λέγω in Greek denotes “I say” and in Latin “I read” is best explained by O. Schrader, who points out that it meant originally “I pick up” or “collect” (the arrows of divination) and so both read and declare the will of heaven. See O. Schrader, Prehistoric Antiquities of the Aryan Peoples, trans. F. B. Jevons (London, 1890), p. 279.