The Homer Reader The Iliad & Odyssey · Greek and English

ὕλη

hyle

forest, woodland

Appears 29 times across Homer's epics.

Frequency by work

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Dictionary (LSJ)

ὕλη [ῡ], ἡ,
forest, woodland, Il. 11.155, Od. 17.316, Ep.Jac. 3.5, etc.; γῆν . . δασέαν ὕλῃ παντοίῃ Hdt. 4.21; ἀπʼ ὕλης ἀγρίης ζώειν Id. 1.203; ὕλα ἀεργός virgin forest, Berl.Sitzb. 1927.167 (Cyrene); τὰ δένδρα καὶ ὕλη fruit-trees and forest-trees, Th. 4.69 (cf. δένδρον); not only of forest-trees, but also of copse, brushwood, undergrowth (cf. ὕλημα), directly opp. to timber-trees, X. An. 1.5.1, Oec. 16.13, 17.12, PSI 6.577.8 (iii B. C.), Sor. 1.40: also in pl., h.Cer. 386, Hecat. 291 J., Mosch. 3.88, Plb. 5.7.10, D.S. 3.48, D.H. Th. 6, Str. 5.1.12, 15.1.60, Plu. Pyrrh. 25, Cat. Ma. 21, Comp.Cim.Luc. 3, Luc. Prom. 12, Sacr. 10, Am. 12, Babr. 12.2, al., Nonn. D. 3.69, 252, 16.91, 36.70, etc.
II. wood cut down, Od. 5.257 (cf. III); firewood, fuel, Il. 7.418, 23.50, 111, al., Od. 9.234, Hdt. 4.164, 6.80; brushwood, Id. 7.36, Th. 2.75, etc.; timber, ὕ. ναυπηγησίμη Pl. Lg. 705c; ναυπηγήσιμος καὶ οἰκοδομική Thphr. HP 5.7.1, cf. IG 42(1).102.50 (Epid., iv B. C.); also, twigs for birds’ nests, Arist. HA 559a2.
III. the stuff of which a thing is made, material, (perh. so of wood), Od. 5.257; rarely of other material, as metal, οἱ παρʼ ἄκμονι . . ὕλην ἄψυχον δημιουργοῦντες Plu. Praec. 2.802b (cf. S. Fr. 844, but ὕλη is Plutarchʼs word): generally, materials, PMasp. 151.91 (vi A. D.).
2. in Philosophy, matter, first in Arist. (Ti.Locr. 93b, al. is later); defined as τὸ ὑποκείμενον γενέσεως καὶ φθορᾶς δεκτικόν, GC 320a2; as τὸ ἐξ οὗ γίγνεται, Metaph. 1032a17; οὐσία ἥ τε ὕ. καὶ τὸ εἶδος καὶ τὸ ἐκ τούτων ib. 1035a2; opp. as δυνάμει τόδε τι to τόδε τι ἐνεργεία, ib. 1042a27; opp. ἐντελέχεια, ib. 1038b6: in later philosoph. writers, mostly opp. to the intelligent and formative principle (νοῦς), Procl. Inst. 72, etc.; ὕ. τῶν ἀριθμῶν Iamb. Comm.Math. 4.
3. matter for a poem or treatise, ὕ. τραγική, ποιητικαὶ ὗλαι, Plb. 2.16.14, Longin. 13.4, cf. 43.1, Vett.Val. 172.1, etc.; ἡ ὑποκειμένη ὕ. the subject-matter, Arist. EN 1094b12, cf. Phld. Rh. 2.124 S.
4. ὕ. ἰατρική materia medica, Dsc. tit.; so ὕλη alone, materia medica, Id. 1 Prooem., Gal. 17(2).181; ὗλαι τῆς τέχνης ibid., cf. 6.77, Sor. 1.83, 110, 2.15, 28; ἡ ὕ. τῶν ὁπλομαχικῶν ἐνεργειῶν Gal. 6.157.
b. ἡ μέση ὕλη the middle range of diet, Sor. 1.46, 2.15; τροφιμωτέρα ὕλη Id. 1.95, cf. 36.
5. pl., material resources, βασιλικαὶ ὗλαι Ph. 1.640.
IV. sediment, Ar. Fr. 879, cf. Sch. Ar. Pl. 1086, 1088 (hence ὑλίζω (ἀφ-, δι-) , ὑλώδης II); mud, slime, UPZ 70.9 (ii B. C.); ὕλῃ, ὕλει, and ἰλυῖ are cj. for ὕδει in Thgn. 961.
2. matter excreted from the human body, Sor. 1.22, 23, 25, al.; ἡ ὕ. τῶν ἐμπυημάτων Gal. 18(2).256; phlegm, catarrh, PMed. in Arch.Pap. 4.270 (iii A. D.).
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