In a former paper in the Journal of Hellenic Studies I endeavoured to show that the primitive Hellenic unit of land measure was the γύης or plough-land, which was the portion of land lying between landmarks (οὖρα), being the amount which a pair of oxen (or mules) could plough in a day, the length of the furrow being a fixed quantity. Whilst I was able to point out some data for estimating the breadth of the piece, I was unable to throw any light on its length, or in other words on the length of the furrow.

The object of this paper is to inquire if we have the means of arriving at any solution of the question, based on fairly probable grounds. The scholia on the word πεντηκοντόγυον (cf. Ebeling, sub voc.) are as follows:

On the other hand the scholiast on Odyssey vii. 113 says:

Now in the first group of scholia it is evident that the explanations of γύης by πλέθρον, ζύγον, and ζεῦγος are all equivalent. The ζύγον and ζεῦγος mean a day's ploughing of a yoke of oxen (answering to Lat. iugum).