Ῥήνη

See also: Ρήνη

Ancient Greek

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /r̥ɛ̌ː.nɛː/ → /ˈri.ni/ → /ˈri.ni/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /r̥ɛ̌ː.nɛː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈre̝.ne̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈri.ni/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈri.ni/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈri.ni/

Etymology 1

Proper noun

Ῥήνη • (Rhḗnē) f (genitive Ῥήνης); first declension

1. (Greek mythology) either of two nymphs:
   1. the paramour of King Oïleus of Locris and the mother of either or neither of his sons Medon and Ajax
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 2.726–728:^[1]

        οὐδὲ μὲν οὐδ’ οἳ ἄναρχοι ἔσαν, πόθεόν γε μὲν ἀρχόν· / ἀλλὰ Μέδων κόσμησεν Ὀϊλῆος νόθος υἱός, / τόν ῥ’ ἔτεκεν Ῥήνη ὑπ’ Ὀϊλῆϊ πτολιπόρθῳ.

        oudè mèn oud’ hoì ánarkhoi ésan, pótheón ge mèn arkhón; / allà Médōn kósmēsen Oïlêos nóthos huiós, / tón rh’ éteken Rhḗnē hup’ Oïlêï ptolipórthōi.

        • 1924 translation by Augustus Taber Murray^[2]

          Howbeit neither were these men leaderless, though they longed for their leader; but Medon marshalled them, the bastard son of Oïleus, whom Rhene bare to Oïleus, sacker of cities.

   2. an oread of Mount Cyllene, lover of Hermes and the mother by him of Saon of Samothrace

Declension

First declension of ἡ Ῥήνη; τῆς Ῥήνης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ Ῥήνη hē Rhḗnē
Genitive	τῆς Ῥήνης tês Rhḗnēs
Dative	τῇ Ῥήνῃ têi Rhḗnēi
Accusative	τὴν Ῥήνην tḕn Rhḗnēn
Vocative	Ῥήνη Rhḗnē
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Translingual: Rhene
• → English: Rhene
• → Catalan: Rene
• → French: Rhènè
• Greek: Ρήνη (Ríni)
• → Portuguese: Rene

Further reading

• Rhene (mythology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Ῥήνη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette

Etymology 2

According to Zosimus, the place “was called Rhene because it is surrounded by waters flowing throughout and on all sides” (Ῥήνη κληθεῖσα διὰ τὸ πανταχόθεν ὕδασι περιρρεῖσθαι — Historia Nova 5.27.250.4–5), referring to Ravenna’s original character as a settlement comprising buildings erected on piles on numerous small islands in a marshy lagoon. Compare the verb ῥέω (rhéō, “flow, stream, run, gush”, present active infinitive: ῥεῖν, rheîn), the noun ῥέος (rhéos, “anything flowing, a stream”), and the contraction Ῥῆ (Rhê) of the Titaness’s name Ῥέᾱ (Rhéā, “Rhea”), which Chrysippus Soleus derives from the verb.

Proper noun

Ῥήνη • (Rhḗnē) f (genitive Ῥήνης); first declension

1. a name by which Ravenna was purportedly known

   Synonym: Ῥᾰ́βεννᾰ (Rhábenna)

   • 498 CE – 518 CE, Zosimus, Historia Nova 5.27.250.3–9:

     Ἐν δὲ τῇ Ῥαβέννῃ (μητρόπολις δὲ Φλαμινίας, πόλις ἀρχαία, Θεσσαλῶν ἀποικία, Ῥήνη κληθεῖσα διὰ τὸ πανταχόθεν ὕδασι περιρρεῖσθαι, καὶ οὐχ ὡς Ὀλυμπιόδωρος ὁ Θηβαῖός φησι, διὰ τὸ Ῥῶμον, ὃς ἀδελφὸς γέγονε Ῥωμύλῳ, τῆς πόλεως ταύτης οἰκιστὴν γεγονέναι· Κουαδράτῳ γάρ, οἶμαι, θετέον, ἐν τῇ κατὰ τὸν βασιλέα Μάρκον ἱστορίᾳ τοῦτο περὶ τῆς πόλεως ταύτης διεξελθόντι) […]

     En dè têi Rhabénnēi (mētrópolis dè Phlaminías, pólis arkhaía, Thessalôn apoikía, Rhḗnē klētheîsa dià tò pantakhóthen húdasi perirrheîsthai, kaì oukh hōs Olumpiódōros ho Thēbaîós phēsi, dià tò Rhômon, hòs adelphòs gégone Rhōmúlōi, tês póleōs taútēs oikistḕn gegonénai; Kouadrátōi gár, oîmai, thetéon, en têi katà tòn basiléa Márkon historíāi toûto perì tês póleōs taútēs diexelthónti) […]

     • 1814 translation by an anonymous translator^[3]

       He arrived at Ravenna, an ancient city, which is the metropolis of the province of Flaminia, and a Thessalian colony. It is called Rhene, because it is surrounded by water (as the word Rhene imports), and not so named, as Olympiodorus of Thebes relates, from Remus, the brother of Romulus, who founded it; for he must yield in this to Quadratus, who has mentioned this very circumstance in his history of the emperor Marcus.

Declension

First declension of ἡ Ῥήνη; τῆς Ῥήνης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ Ῥήνη hē Rhḗnē
Genitive	τῆς Ῥήνης tês Rhḗnēs
Dative	τῇ Ῥήνῃ têi Rhḗnēi
Accusative	τὴν Ῥήνην tḕn Rhḗnēn
Vocative	Ῥήνη Rhḗnē
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.