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σκην-ή , Dor. σκα_νά , ἡ (not in Hom., who uses κλισίη (q.v.)).
I. tent, booth, IG12.314.110, E.Hec.1289; “ἐπὶ σκηναῖς . . ναυτικαῖς” S.Aj. 3; σκηνῆς ἔνδον ib.218 (anap.); ὑπὸ σκηναῖσι ib.754; σκηνῆς ὕπαυλος ib.796; “σκηνὴν ποιήσαντες” Th.2.34; “πηξάμενοι” Hdt.6.12, cf. And.4.30; “ἵστασθαι” X.Cyr.8.5.3; τὰς ς. καταλύειν, διαλύειν, strike camp, Plb.6.40.2, Paus.10.25.3; “ς. δερματίνη” PCair.Zen.13.14 (iii B.C.); but also ς. μάλα ἰσχυρῶν ξύλων hut, D.Chr.7.23; booth in the marketplace, Ar.Th.658, D.18.169 (both pl.), Theoc.15.16; “σκανὰν ἐμ Πυλαίᾳ τὰν πρώταν ὑπάρχειν αὐτῷ” SIG422.11 (Delph., iii B.C.): pl., camp, A. Eu.686, Ar.Pax731, X.An.3.5.7.
2. σκηνὰς ἐς ἱεράς to the holy tabernacle, E.Ion 806, cf. 1129, LXX Ex.26.1, al.
II. stage-building as background for plays, Pl.Lg.817c, Poll.4.123 sqq., Vitr.5.6.1; “τῆς ς. τὸ τέγος” IG11(2).161 A115, cf. D127 (Delos, iii B.C.), 153.14 (ibid.); τραγικὴ ς. a sort of πῆγμα, such as that from which the prologue of A.Ag. is perhaps spoken, X.Cyr.6.1.54, Plu.Demetr.44, Suid. s.v. τραγικὴ ς.
2. οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς ς. [ἥρωες] heroes represented on the stage, D.18.180; οἱ ἀπὸ σκηνῆς actors, players, opp. χορός, Arist.Pr.922b17; also “οἱ περὶ σκηνήν” Plu.Galb.16; “οἱ ἐπὶ σκηνῆς” Alciphr.3.65 codd., cf. Luc.Nec.16; cf. σκηνικός and v. infr. 111.1b.
3. τὸ ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς μέρος that which is actually represented on the stage, Arist.Po.1459b25; τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς σκηνῆς (sc. ᾁσματα), songs or odes sung by one of the actors standing on the stage (not by the chorus), ib.1452b18; “τὰ μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ς. οὐκ ἀντίστροφα, τὰ δὲ τοῦ χοροῦ ἀντίστροφα” Id.Pr.918b27.
4. metaph., stage-effect, acting, unreality, σκηνὴ πᾶς ὁ βίος 'all the world's a stage', AP10.72 (Pall.); “ἡ ς. τοῦ βίου” Max.Tyr.7.10; theatrical trick, deception, J.BJ2.21.2, Hdn.3.12.3.
III. tented cover, tilt of a wagon or carriage, X. Cyr.6.4.11, D.S.20.25, Plu.Them.26; “ς. τροχήλατοι” A.Pers.1000 (lyr.); also, bed-tester, D.41.11.
b. metaph., τὸν ὑπὸ (prob. cj. for ἐπὶ） σκηνῆς βίον the hidden life, Luc.Icar.21.
2. in large ships, state-cabin on the poop, Poll.1.89, Palaeph.29; “τῶν συριῶν ὑπὲρ τὴν ς. οὐσῶν” PHib.1.38.7 (iii B.C.); ἀποκαταστήσω [τὸν σῖτον] ἐπὶ σκηνήν ib.86.8 (iii B.C.).
IV. entertainment given in tents, banquet, X. Cyr.2.3.1, 4.2.34, etc.; “ς. δημοσία” Id.Lac.15.4.
Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.

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  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (38):
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