inauris
~is,earpreon
dedit servus Abrahe ‥ Rebecce ~es aureas et armillas [cf. ]. ‥ murenule et ~es unum sunt. sunt autem ornamenta aurium sicut armillae sunt ornamenta brachiorumGen. xxiv 22
non auro, non argento colligendo unde post quasi sapiens architectus ~es et anulos atque monilia veluti mulierum ornamenta componerem
ornamenta pedes [femine ] nova ‥ poscunt, / auris inaures, colla monalia, brachia torques
habeat etiam torques et ~es [gl.: ornamenta aurium, ]aneus et enorailles, anel de or
ut de modico auro quod habebat faceret sibi ~es aureas, ad conciliandam viz. sibi gratiam dilecti sui
dantur Job post flagella ~es auree
Judeorum vero et Grecorum mulieres ‥ ~es portant indifferenter et in illis summe gloriantur
hec ~is, est annulus in aure
INAURISan ear-ring; called in Greek ἐνώτιον, because it was worn in the ear (οὖς), and ἐλλόβιον, because it was inserted into the lobe of the ear (λοβός), which was bored for the purpose; also ἕρματα, from εἴρω, to string together (cf. ὅρμος: Hom. Il. 14.182, Hymn. ii. in Ven. 8; Plin. Nat.12.2).
Ear-rings were worn by both sexes in Oriental countries (Plin. Nat.11.136); especially by the Lydians (Xen. Anab. 3.1, § 31), the Persians (Diod. Sic. 5.45), the Babylonians (Juven. 1.104), and also by the Libyans (Macrob. Sat. 7.3.7), and the Carthaginians (Plant. Poen. 5.2, 21). Among the Greeks and Romans they were worn only by females.
This ornament consisted of the ring (κρίκος, Diod. Sic. l. c.) and of the drops (stalagmia,
Festus, p. 317; Plant. Men. 3.3, 18). The ring was generally of gold, although the common people also wore ear-rings of bronze (see Nos. 1, 4, from the Egyptian Collection in the British Museum). Instead of a ring a hook was often used, as shown in Nos. 6, 8. The women of Italy still continue the same practice, passing the hook through the lobe of the ear without any other fastening. The drops were sometimes of gold, very finely wrought (see Nos. 2, 7, 8), and sometimes of pearls (Plin. ll. cc.; Sen. de Ben. 7.9.4; Ovid. Met. 10.265; Claud. de VI. Cons. Honor. 528; Sen. Phaedr. 400) and precious stones (Nos. 3, 5, 6). The pearls were valued for being exactly spherical (Hor. Epod. 8, 13), as well as for their great size and delicate whiteness; but those of an elongated form, called elenchi, were also much esteemed, being adapted to terminate the drop, and being sometimes placed two or three together for this purpose (Plin. Nat.9.113; Juven. 6.459). In the Iliad (14.182, 183), Hera, adorning herself in the most captivating manner, puts on ear-rings made with three drops; on the epithets τρίγληνα μορόεντα, see Helbig, d. Horn. Epos, p. 271 f.; Leaf, ad loc.; GEMMAPliny observes (11.136) that greater expense was lavished on no part of the dress than on the earrings; and according to Seneca the value of two or three estates might be worn in a single ear (de Ben. 7.9.4; cf. de Vita Beata, 17.2). All the ear-rings above engraved belong to the Hamilton Collection in the British Museum; we add another of a more elaborate description, in which animal figures of high artistic beauty take the place of mere ornamental patterns.
In opulent families the care of the ear-rings was the business of a female slave, who was called Auriculae Ornatrix (Gruter, Inscr.). The Venus de' Medici, and other female statues, have the ears pierced, and probably once had ear-rings in them. The statue of Achilles at Sigeum, representing him in female attire, likewise had this ornament (Serv. in Verg. A. 1.30; Tertull. de Pall. 4).
[J.Y] [W.W](ἐλλόβιον, ἐνώτιον, ἕρμα). An ear-ring fastened, as in modern times, to the ear through the hole (fenestra) bored in the lobe. They were worn in Greece and Italy by women, and among ultra-fashionable men it appears to have been the practice to wear a single earring, much as the “smart” set in London at one time favoured the wearing of a single bracelet by men. Earrings were of every conceivable pattern and value, and were often set with precious stones, and sometimes with drops (stalagmia).