[Sca-cooks] magpie / Athenaeus

Terry Decker t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net
Wed Mar 5 15:06:15 PST 2008


>
> <<
>> "jays" instead of "magpies". That's not the same kind of bird? (...)
>
> Magpies and jays are both members of the family Corvidae (as are crows). 
> In
> Latin, "pica" appears to be used for both jays and magpies, so this is
> probably a case where the translators chose different meanings for the 
> same
> word.  Pica is now the genus name for magpies.
>
> Bear  >>
>
> Thanks a lot! However, as you are well aware, the text of Athenaeus is 
> written
>
> in Greek. The passage in question: ed. Gulick vol. II, page 106.
>
> E.

IIRC, the Latin derives from the Greek usage of "kissa" ar "kitta" for jay 
or magpie, but my knowledge of the language is so slim that you might wish 
to check to see if the term was used interchangeably as it appears to have 
been used in Latin.

Bear 




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