Etymology and morphology

The morphology of the word indicates that it is a derivative of -ya- and as such can be reconstructed to the form *makhar-ya (Chantraine 1968: 673, Beekes 2010: 915), which suggests an affinity with the word μῆχαρ 'means, manner'. Their common element can be reconstructed to the form *meh2gh- and linked to the verb μάχεσθαι 'to fight'. Beekes, however, rejects this hypothesis (2010: 915, see also 916 and 950), postulating a pre-Greek origin of the word and linking it to μάγειρος 'butcher, cook'. The word has its pendant in the Hebrew mekērā 'sword', but it seems to be a Greek loan (Chantraine 1968: 673, Beekes 2010: 915). The Mycenaean form ma-ke-ra is interpreted as a personal name, although there has been a suggestion to see it as machaira (Diccionario Micénico, vol. I: 419, bibliography there).

Construction and function

With the word μάχαιρα the Greeks referred to large, cutting-adapted (τέμνειν: cf. Hom. Il. 11.844, Democr. 302) knives with a slightly curved, single-edged blade (vide Gordon 1958: 25, fig. 2). They may have been made of bronze (cf. Hom. Il. 3.292, 19.266) or of iron (Daimachus 8c, cf. Booikidis, Strout 1997: 77 - blades of iron knives found among the bones of sacrificial animals, 6th century BC), which is why in the poetry in the descriptions of the sacrifice we often encounter the metonymic use of words meaning "bronze" (cf. Hom. Il. 3.292, 19.266) and "iron" (cf. Hom. Il. 23.30) in the sense of a knife. Their manufacture was carried out by special craftsmen, μαχαιροποιοί (D. 27.9) or μαχαιρουργοί (Demad. Fr. 75). The handles of the knives may have been made of ivory (D. 27.9, cf. also Theopomp.Com. 7: ἐλεφαντοκώπους ξιφομαχαίρας).

It seems certain that in the sacrificial ritual the μάχαιρα acted as a multifunctional tool. It was used to inflict a blow on an animal that was supposed to draw blood from it (σφάζειν: h Hom. 3.535; μαγειρικῶς σφάζειν: Ar. Pax 1017-8; τέμνειν σφάγια: E. Supp. 1196; τράχηλον τρίβειν: Aesop. 92.12 aliter), while later it was used for cutting meat (χρῆσθαι, in the context of spit and pot: Hdt. 2.41; διατέμνειν κρέας: Hdt. 2.41) and, probably, also for skinning the animal (ἐκτείνειν δέρμα: Pi. P. 4. 241-3, see also → κοπίς ➚). Harder parts of the animal, such as bones, were cut with a cleaver → κοπίς ➚. In the case of larger animals, such as oxen, an axe → πέλεκυς ➚ was used to deliver the killing blow. In poetry the sacrificial knife is sometimes referred to as a 'sword', ξίφος. This is frequent especially in Euripides. In Alkestis 74 Thanatos wants to consign the title character to sacrifice (κατάρχεσθαι) by cutting strands of her hair with a sword (ξίφει, 73-76; cf. Hom. Il. 3.271-273, 19.252-254, where μάχαιρα is used for this purpose). In another of the poet's tragedies, Elektra, we have the synonymy σφαγίς-φάσγανον-ξίφος (E. El. 1142, 1222, 1225, see → σφαγίς ➚), used for stylistic varietas (vide etiam Eu. IT 27, 621, 880, 1190, 1459).

We also encounter the machaira as a tool for cutting meat outside an explicitly sacrificial context (τέμνειν κατὰ μέλη: Pi. O. 1.49; σφάζειν: E. Cyc. 242-243;

†καθαρπάζειν†: E. Cyc. 403; τέμνειν D. 25.46), and in comedy it is a frequent attribute of cooks, butchers and sausage-makers (Ar. Eq. 489, Ar. Pax 1017-1018, Alex. 174, vide etiam D. 25.46). In the Homeric account of the oath, μάχαιρα was also used to cut the hair of the animal intended for the commodious sacrifice (τέμνειν τρίχας: Hom. Il. 3.271-273, 19.252-254). The custom of placing the machaira in the κανοῦν basket during the Athenian sacrificial ritual provided the impetus for the concept of sacrifice as a 'comedy of innocence' (Burkert 1983; cf. Parker 2011: 127-131, Graf 2012; critically on Burkert's concept: Naiden 2013: 9 ff.), it also plays an important role in the theory of Vernant, who saw it as one of the means of stripping the victim of the hallmarks of murder (φόνος) (for a critical reevaluation of Burkert's and Vernant's theories in terms of vase representations, see: Pierce 1993).

The multifunctionality of the machaira is alluded to by Aristotle in the Politics (Arist. Pol. 1252b), although in this case he speaks of the Delphic machaira, perhaps a specific variety of knife (Aristotle, Politics 1252b). The Μάχαιρα may also have been used to cut human hair (in a ritual context: Hdt. 2.61; outside the ritual context: Ar. Ach. 849, Ephipp. 14), and two crossed machaira formed scissors - μάχαιραι κουρίδες (Cratin. 37). Pseudo-Aristotle (Ps.-Arist. Mir. 847a) and Pseudo-Plutarch (Ps.- Plu. Fluv. 10.5) mention a stone born on Mount Berekynthos called machaira which drives mad whoever finds it during the mysteries of Hekate (τῶν μυστερίων τῆς Ἑκάτης ἐπιτελουμένων ἐμμανὴς γίνεται). The origin of the name is not clear, and the explanation given by Pseudo-Plutarch that the stone contains iron may be secondary.

History

In explaining the word μάχαιρα in his lexicon, Hesychius equates it primarily with the sword ξίφος. The book of Suda also regards it as a kind of sword (σπάθη), presenting a description in which there is no trace of a sacrificial context - μάχαιρα is described there from the perspective of the history of the Roman army and the interpretation of dreams starring swords* (http://P1). We encounter a misunderstanding of the word in the scholiast Pindar, who comments on the death of Neoptolemos, killed by a machaira during an argument over meat from a sacrificial animal, as follows (κρεῶν νιν ὑπὲρ μάχας ἔλασεν ἀντιτυχόντ ̓ ἀνὴρ μαχαίρᾳ, Pi. N. 7.42): "They say that when Neoptolemos was offering the sacrifice, the Delphians carried off the thymata, as is their custom. And Neoptolemos, not being able to bear it, stopped them. And they, armed with swords (ξίφη ἔχοντας), put him to death" (Scholia vetera in Pindari carmina, A. B. Drachmann, vol. III, p. 125, scholion 42a). This explanation is clearly wrong and shows how at times little of the linguistic and cultic reality of the fifth century BC was understood by the late antique Greeks.

It seems certain that for Homer μάχαιρα was not yet a weapon, although Homeric warriors carried it with them. In the Iliad, Patroklos uses it to extract an arrowhead from the wound of Euripylos (Hom. Il. 11. 844), the μάχαιρα also hangs beside the sword ξίφος at the belt of Agamemnon, who uses it to cut off the hair of the animals destined for the oath-accompanied sacrifice (Ἀτρεΐδης δὲ ἐρυσσάμενος χείρεσσι μάχαιραν, ἥ οἱ πὰρ ξίφεος μέγα κουλεόν αἰὲν ἄωρτο, "And Atreides drew the knife which he always had by the great scabbard of his sword", Hom. Il. 3.271-272, 19.252-253). When the throats of the animals have to be cut after the words of the oath have been spoken, 'pant' is used for this, which here is probably a metonymy of machairy: ἦ, καὶ ἀπὸ στομάχους animal τάμε νηλέϊ χαλκῷ ('he said and cut the throats [of the animals] with pant, which knows no mercy', Hom. Il. 3.292, 19.266). Gilded machaires were also worn by the boys in the dancing procession carved on the shield of Achilles (Hom. Il. 18.597).

The picture emerging from the Homeric poem is confirmed by the vase depictions. As Gordon argues, μάχαιρα as a hoplite weapon before 530 BC does not appear on them at all, although it does appear in the context of sacrifice (cf. Pierce 1993: 256). It is only after 510 BC that depictions of the soldier's machaira appear in increasing numbers on red-figure vases (Gordon 1958: 24, no bibliography).

The machaira as the equipment of the Greek hoplite also appears in Herodotus (7.225), and the context - Leonidas' surrounded soldiers fight with machairas, fists and teeth - may indicate that it was still a weapon that was only resorted to as a last resort. We know from Xenophon that the horsemen of Darius' advance guard had 'Greek machaires', which would indicate the existence of a utilitarian and military variant of this knife in his time (on military machaires, vide Gordon 1958). The term μάχαιρα is also regularly applied to weapons used by Eastern peoples (Hdt 7.79, 7.89, 7.91, X. An. 4.6.26, 7.2.30, 7.4.16, X. Cyr. 1.2.13, 2.1.16, 2.3.10, 4.1.3, 4.5.58, 7.1.2, 7.1.33, 7.1.34, 7.1.37), which of course does not mean that the Colchians, Egyptians or subjects of the Great King fought with Greek knives. The realities of the ancient military can therefore be seen as the source of later confusions, although it should be noted that military knife-blades of the μάχαιρα type never gained popularity in the Greek world (Gordon 1958: 25).

Catalogue of occurrences in the context of sacrifice or meal

1. slaughter knife: h Hom. 3.535, Aesop. 92.13 alliter, E. Cyc. 242 (slaughter of humans), E. Supp. 1206, E. Fr. 143 = Ar. Th. 694, Hdt. 2.41, Ar. Pax 1017, Thphr. Fr. 18;

2. ~ for cutting meat: Pi. O. 1.49 (human meat), Hdt. 2.41, E. Cyc. 403 (human meat), Pherecr. 82, Ar. Eq. 489 (sausage-knife), D. 25.46 (butcher's knife), Archestr. 31.5;

3. ~ for skinning an animal: Pi. P. 4.242;

4. ~ in the general context of sacrifice: Pi. N. 7.42, Ar. Fr. 684, Ar. Pax 948, Pl.Com. 91;

5. ~ To other actions during the oaths: Hom. Il. 3.271, 19.252, Hdt. 4.70;

6. ~ Delphic: Arist. Pol. 1252b.