Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Ansa

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

ANSA (ἄγκος, ἀγκή). That by which we take hold of any thing; whence it is specially applied, in the same way as our own word "handle," to many objects which differ essentially from one another in form and character, though all are employed for the same general purpose, as a handle to hold by. Of these the most important are the following: —

1. (Λαβή — τὰ ὦτα). The handle of any vessel for containing liquids, as cups, jugs, amphorae, &c. These of course varied in form, according to the taste of the artist who designed them, and are indifferently placed upon the neck, one or both sides, or from top to bottom of the vessel, as best suited the beauty of the whole outline, of which the ancient artists always made them a component part, so as not to have the appearance of being stuck on afterwards, as mere accessories or afterthoughts. The illustration (Ansa/1.1) is taken from a bronze jug found at Pompeii, with a single handle, of a very beautiful, though simple character; but a great variety of other forms will be shown in the course of the work. Cato, R. R. 113. Virg. Ecl. iii. 45. Ov. Her. xiv. 252. Id. Met. viii. 653.

2. Ansa ostii (ἐπισπαστήρ, κορώνη, ῥόπτρον). The handle of a door by which it is pulled open or shut to, and which also served as a knocker. (Pet. Sat. 96. 1.) These are frequently represented as simple rings attached to a hold-fast; in other cases they are more elaborately designed and ornamented, as in the illustration (Ansa/2.1) annexed, which is copied from an original of bronze, and formerly belonged to the door of a house at Pompeii.

3. Ansa crepidae (ἀγκύλη). The loop or eye on the side leather of the Greek shoe, called crepida, through which the thong or lace was passed and crossed over the instep to bind it on the foot. (Tibull. i. 8. 14.) There were the same number of these on each side of the shoe, as may be collected from the well-known story of Apelles, who was reproved by a cobbler for having omitted one of the ansae in a work which he had exposed to public view. (Plin. H. N. xxxv. 36. § 12.) The form and character is clearly seen in the illustration (Ansa/3.1), from a marble foot of Greek sculpture.

4. Ansa staterae. The eye or handle on the top of a steel-yard, by which it is suspended, and which formed its centre of libration, being fixed to the shortest half of the beam, nearest the end on which the scale or object to be weighed was attached. (Vitruv. x. 3, 4.) The illustration (Ansa/4.1) is copied from a bronze steel-yard found at Pompeii.

5. Ansa gubernaculi (οἴαξ). The handle of a rudder (Vitruv. x. 3. 5.), which was the top of the rudder pole (AA in the illustration (Ansa/5.1)), which the helmsman held with both his hands, when the rudder consisted of a mere ore without any tiller (clavus), as in the right-hand cut. But in large vessels, when the addition of a tiller was necessary, he placed one hand on the ansa (at A, left-hand cut), and the other on the clavus (B), which enabled him to move his helm with much greater facility. The right-hand figure is copied from the Column of Trajan; the left-hand one from a painting at Pompeii.

6. Ansa ferrea. An iron cramp by which the large blocks of stone were fastened together in ancient buildings, when mortar was not used. Vitruv. ii. 8. 4. same as ANCON (6), where an illustration is given.

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  Ansa/1.1
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  Ansa/2.1
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  Ansa/3.1
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  Ansa/4.1
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  Ansa/5.1