Note 356 — Chapter XLIX · FROM THE BEGINNING OE THE SECOND YEAR DOWN TO THE END OF THE THIRD YEAR OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. (continued 2)

Thucyd. ii, 93. ἐδόκει δὲ λαβόντα τῶν ναυτῶν ἕκαστον τὴν κώπην, καὶ τὸ ὑπηρέσιον, καὶ τὸν τροπωτῆρα, etc. On these words there is an interesting letter of Dr. Bishop’s published in the Appendix to Dr. Arnold’s Thucydidês, vol. i. His remarks upon ὑπηρέσιον are more satisfactory than those upon τροπωτήρ. Whether the fulcrum of the oar was formed by a thowell, or a notch, on the gunwale, or by a perforation in the ship’s side, there must in both cases have been required—since it seems to have had nothing like what Dr. Bishop calls a nut—a thong to prevent it from slipping down towards the water; especially with the oars of the thranitæ, or upper tier of rowers, who pulled at so great an elevation, comparatively speaking, above the water. Dr. Arnold’s explanation of τροπωτὴρ is suited to the case of a boat, but not to that of a trireme. Dr. Bishop shows that the explanation of the purpose of the ὑπηρέσιον, given by the Scholiast, is not the true one.