Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• σπεῖος ‎(speîos)

Noun

σπέος • ‎(spéos) n ‎(genitive σπείους); third declension (Epic)

1. cave, cavern, grotto
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 1.13–15

     τὸν δ' οἶον, νόστου κεχρημένον ἠδὲ γυναικός,
     νύμφη πότνι' ἔρῡκε Καλυψώ, δῖα θεᾱ́ων,
     ἐν σπέσσι γλαφυροῖσι, λιλαιομένη πόσιν εἶναι.

     [Odysseus] alone, longing for homecoming and his wife,
     the revered nymph Calypso, brightest of goddesses, detained
     in hollow caves, longing for him to be her husband.

Inflection

Derived terms

• σπήλαιον ‎(spḗlaion)
• σπῆλυγξ ‎(spêlunx)

References

• σπέος in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• «σπέος» in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963