Abstract This paper analyses the meaning of μύκλος in two passages of Lycophron’s Alexandra (771 and 816). The thorough study of the contexts shows that the most likely interpretation of the word in both verses is “donkey”: μύκλοις γυναικοκλῶψιν “woman-stealing donkeys” (771) and τὸν ἐργάτην μύκλον “the hard-working donkey” (816). The definition “lewd” of ancient scholia, assumed by modern lexica and scholars, is nothing but an ad hoc explanation of the former passage which does not suit the latter. After refuting previous etymologies, I contend that μύκλος is originally a deverbative adjective in *‑lo‑ built on the onomatopoetic aorist μῠκεῖν “bellow”.

中文翻译：

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Les ânes chez Ulysse: à propos du sens et de l'étymologie de grec ancien μύκλος (Lycophron, Alexandra 771 et 816)

摘要 本文分析了Lycophron的亚历山德拉（771和816）两段中μύκλος的含义。对上下文的深入研究表明，两节经文中最有可能对这个词的解释是“驴”：μύκλοις γυναικοκλῶψιν“女人偷驴”（771）和τὸν ἐργάτην μύκλον“勤劳的驴”（816）。现代词典和学者对古代 scholia 的“淫荡”定义，无非是对前一段的临时解释，不适合后一段。在驳斥之前的词源之后，我认为 μύκλος 最初是 * ‑lo‑ 中的一个贬义形容词，它建立在拟声不定过去时 μῠκεῖν “波纹管”之上。