Aeschylus, Agamemnon 825-828

Greek Homeric Greek and Early Greek Poetry
1

Aeschylus, Agamemnon

[825] ἵππου νεοσσός, ἀσπιδοστρόφος λεώς
[826] πήδημʼ ὀρούσας ἀμφὶ Πλειάδων δύσιν
[827] ὑπερθορὼν δὲ πύργον ὠμηστὴς λέων
[828] ἄδην ἔλειξεν αἵματος τυραννικοῦ

my rough translation
young horse, shield bearing people
leap, dash around the setting Pleiades
'leaped the tower of the savage people/lion
lick up one’s fill of the blood of tyranny


This verse is of interest to me and unsure if λεώς and λέω is λαός 'people or λέων 'lion

"ἵππου νεοσσός is the trojan horse here but why is it νεοσσός, is this suppose to be Lt. equuleus/eculeus; little horse, a constellation.

2

827 ὠμηστὴς λέων, nominative. Lion not people. And not young horse. Respect the grammar!

3

Especially with a word like ὠμηστὴς, a frequent association of lions. “Savage” for the word is fine enough translation, but it really emphasizes the act of eating raw meat (thus synonymous with ὠμοφάγος, another word that is used with lions).