HARPOCRATION

harpocration, valerius, greek grammarian of alexandria. he is possibly the harpocration mentioned by julius capitolinus (_life of verus_, 2) as the greek tutor of antoninus verus (2nd century a.d.); some authorities place him much later, on the ground that he borrowed from athenaeus. he is the author of a [greek: lexikon] (or [greek: peri ton lexeon) ton deka rhetoron], which has come down to us in an incomplete form. the work contains, in more or less alphabetical order, notes on well-known events and persons mentioned by the orators, and explanations of legal and commercial expressions. as nearly all the lexicons to the greek orators have been lost, harpocration's work is especially valuable. amongst his authorities were the writers of atthides (histories of attica), the grammarian didymus, dionysius of halicarnassus, and the lexicographer dionysius, son of tryphon. the book also contains contributions to the history of attic oratory and greek literature generally. nothing is known of an [greek: 'antheron synagoge], a sort of anthology or chrestomathy attributed to him by suidas. a series of articles in the margin of a cambridge ms. of the lexicon forms the basis of the _lexicon rhetoricum cantabrigiense_ (see dobree, p. p.). the best edition is by w. dindorf (1853); see also j. e. sandys, _history of classical scholarship_, i. (1906), p. 325; c. boysen, _de harpocrationis fontibus_ (kiel, 1876). harpoon (from fr. _harpon_, a grappling-iron, o. fr. _harpe_, a dog's claw, an iron clamp for fastening stones together; the source of these words is the lat. _harpago_, _harpa_, &c., formed from gr. [greek: harpage], hook, [greek: harpazein], to snatch, tear away, cf. "harpy"), barbed spear, particularly one used for spearing whales or other large fish, and either thrown by hand or fired from a gun (see whale-fishery).