Harpe

The harpē (ἅρπη) was a type of sword mentioned in Ancient Greek and Latin sources, almost always in mythological contexts. Most notably it was the sword used by Perseus to decapitate the Medusa, and by Cronus to castrate his father Uranus. In Greek and Roman art it is variously depicted, but it seems that originally it was a khopesh-like sickle-sword. Later depictions often show it as a combination of a sword and sickle, and this odd interpretation is explicitly described in the 2nd century Leucippe and Clitophon

The Greek ἅρπη is in origin a loan from a Semitic word reflected in Biblical Hebrew as חרב "a sword".

Famous quotes containing the word harpe:

    We never forgive those who make us blush.
    —Jean-François De La Harpe (1739–1803)

    We always weaken whatever we exaggerate.
    —Jean-François De La Harpe (1739–1803)