All 5 Uses of
cower
in
The Iliad by Homer (translated by: Lang, Leaf, & Myers)
- Now wouldest thou not see noble Agamemnon slumbering, nor cowering, unready to fight, but very eager for glorious battle.†
Book 4 *cowering = showing fear by positioning the body as though afraid of being hit
- Then stalwart Diomedes looked sternly at him and said: "Speak to me no word of flight, for I ween that thou shalt not at all persuade me; not in my blood is it to fight a skulking fight or cower down; my force is steadfast still.†
Book 5
- Thou saidst forsooth that without armies or allies thou wouldest hold the city, alone with thy sisters' husbands and thy brothers; but now can I not see any of these neither perceive them, but they are cowering like hounds about a lion; and we are fighting that are but allies among you.†
Book 5cowering = showing fear by positioning the body as though afraid of being hit
- If he heard now of those that all were cowering before Hector, then would he lift his hands to the immortals, instantly praying that his soul might depart from his limbs down to the house of Hades.†
Book 7
- So he thundered terribly and darted his white lightning and hurled it before Diomedes' steeds to earth; and there arose a terrible flame of sulphur burning, and the two horses were affrighted and cowered beneath the car.†
Book 8cowered = showed fear by positioning the body as though afraid of being hit
Definitions:
-
(1)
(cower) show fear by positioning the body as though afraid of being hit
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
In classic literature, cower may also mean to crouch or curl up without any hint of fear.