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Question for Greek and Latin speakers - Gladius Hispaniensis - 10-23-2011
Ave
I was going over the Koine Greek of the Book of the Apocalypse of St. John and was startled to see that a ship's pilot is referred to as 'κυβερνήτης'. This is uncannily close to the Latin 'Gubernator' and I'm wondering if the Latin word is a loan word from Greek or if Koine Greek just incorporated the Latin word.
Thanks in advance for any answers.
Re: Question for Greek and Latin speakers - griffin - 10-23-2011
Yep. It's the same deal. I believe Aeschylus was fond of the ship of state metaphor back in the 5th century BCE, and it's stuck around for a long time.
There is a Latin word for navigator, in fact it is navigator. Both are used by Romans, but they seem to prefer Gubernator. I guess to answer your question, for the Romans it is a word they pillage from the Greeks of yore.
Re: Question for Greek and Latin speakers - hoplite14gr - 10-31-2011
Navigator in Greek (ancient and modern) is "PLOIGOS".
Kyvernitis is: governor
There is confusion since some times kyvernitis is a description for the captain.
The source of the confusion is that ancient ship masters (treirarchoi)who had the money but not the skill were leaving the ship duties to an appointed person - the kyvernitis.
Even to day in the Hellenic navy the officer who runs the ship with an admiral onboard is called kyvernitis he deals with running the ship so that the admiral is free to run the fleet