σποδός, ἡ,
wood-ashes, embers, [[ 8th c.BC: Odyssea Homerus Epicus “Odyssey” 9.375, “hymnus ad Mercurium” 238 ] Refs 8th c.BC+]: generally, ashes, [[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 2.140 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐπ᾽ Ἰσμηνοῦ τε μαντεία σ., of the ashes of an altar, [[ 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Oedipus Tyrannus” 21, compare “Ant.” 1007, 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 4.35; σ. ἱερὰ ἡ ἐκ τοῦ βωμοῦ “SIG” 1171.18 (from Lebena) ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; of the dead, [[ 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Agamemnon” 435, 443 (both Lyric poetry), “Ch.” 687, 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Electra” 758, etc.] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀμφὶ σποδὸν κάρᾳ κεχύμεθα, in sign of mourning, [[ 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Supplices” 827 (Lyric poetry), compare 1160; σποδὸς δὲ τἄλλα, Περικλέης, Κόδρος, Κίμων 2nd c.AD: Alexander Rhetor 25.12 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]:—death by plunging into a room filled with ashes, αὐτήν μιν ῥῖψαι ἐς οἴκημα σποδοῦ πλέον [[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 2.100 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; as a Persian punishment (cf. Val. [[ 1st c.BC(?): Maximus Astrologus 9.2.6), εἰς τὴν σποδὸν ἐμβάλλεται 5th-6th c.BC: Ctesias Historicus “fragment” 29.48, compare 51, +others, LXX.2Mac.13.5f —There seems to be no difference in sense between σποδός and τέφρα: both occur in Trag., the latter alone in _Attic dialect_ Prose. ] LXX+5th c.BC+]
__II dust, τῆς χαμᾶθεν σποδοῦ [[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 4.172 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; μετρεῖν τὴν σ., of labour in vain, [[ 2nd c.AD: Arrianus Historicus “Epicteti Dissertationes” 3.26.17. ] Refs 2nd c.AD+]
__III oxide of certain metals, σ. Κυπρίη copper oxide, [[ 5th c.BC: Hippocrates Medicus “γυναικεῖα” 1.104; σ. Ἰλλυριῶτις [prev. author] “Ulc.” 13; σ. χρυσῖτις [prev. author] “Mul.” 1.103, compare 1st c.AD: Dioscorides (Dioscurides) Medicus 5.75. ] Refs 5th c.BC+]