Mr. Mulvany in the Journal of Philology, XXV. 136, in discussing the meanings of ⋯ερ⋯ς, and trying to find something which might be a link between the uses of the word in the sense of ‘strong’ and ‘sacred,’ finds it in the phrase ⋯ερ⋯ ῥ⋯ζειν, which he would translate ‘to act strenuously in a god's service.’ But his argument may be strengthened by the translation, to which the analysis of ancient religion points, ‘to act strongly upon’; ‘to put pressure upon,’ as we should say. Both ἔρδειν and ῥ⋯ζειν are used with a dative of the person, as well as with an accusative, in the Homeric poems. And with this sense we might well align ἱερ⋯ς ⋯κατóμβας.