Carpaea

Carpaea

Among the ancient Athenians and Magnesians, carpaea (Gr "polytonic|καρπαία") was a kind of dance or military exercise, performed by two persons; the one acting as a laborer, the other as a robber. This is explained by Xenophon in "Anabasis", Book VI. The scene starts as follows: the laborer lays aside his weapon, and goes to sow and plough, yet looks warily about himself, as if afraid of being surprised. The robber suddenly appears, and the laborer, leaving his plough, gets his weapon, and fights in defence of his oxen. The whole scene is performed to the sound of flutes, and in cadence.

Sometimes, the robber was overcome, and sometimes the laborer. The victor's reward was the oxen and plough. The design of the exercise was to teach and accustom the peasants to defending themselves against the attacks of ruffians.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • CARPAEA — Graece Καρπαῖα, saltatio, quam Aeneianes et Magnetes armati solebant saltare. Argumentum tale: Quidam positis armis arat et serit, crebro respectans metuentis modô. Supervenit latro, quô visô raptim resumptis armis pugnat, pro bubus; idque in… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Aeolic Greek — For the architectural style, see Aeolic order. Distribution of Greek dialects in the classical period.[1] Western group …   Wikipedia

  • Ancient Macedonian language — For the unrelated modern Slavic language, see Macedonian language. language name=Ancient Macedonian region=Macedon ( extinct language ) extinct=absorbed by Attic Greek in the 4th century BC familycolor=Indo European fam2= possibly Greek… …   Wikipedia

  • SALTATIO — quanti fuerit a Veterib. aestimata, argumento multa sunt: id vero inprimis, quod ceremoniae nullae aut spectacula antiquiora fuêre, quibus Saltatio non adhiberetur. Est autem haec facultas quaedam, motibus ac gestibus corporis, certô artificiô,… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”