I put 'taras' into a Greek-to-English dictionary, and found this. It doesn't explain the part about being male-specific, but perhaps someone knowledgeable about Greek and Greek history/culture can make the connection. Does this help at all?
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Liddell & Scott Intermediate Lexicon
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or see expanded entry in the LSJ9 (Great Scott).
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to stir, stir up, trouble, in a physical sense, etaraxe ponton Od.; homou t. tên te gên kai tên thalattan Ar.; brontêmasi kukatô panta Aesch.; panta t., of a speaker, to jumble up, Dem.; deina t. makes "confusion worse confounded," Soph.

[2] to trouble the mind, confound, agitate, disturb, disquiet, Trag., Plat., etc.: absol. to cause confusion, Plat.

[3] of an army, to throw into disorder, Hdt., Xen., etc.:mdash;Pass. to be in disorder, Hdt., Thuc.

[4] of political matters, to agitate, distract, Ar.:mdash;Pass. to be in a state of disorder or anarchy, Thuc., Dem.

[5] tarattesthai epi tôn hippôn to be shaken in one's seat on horseback, Xen.

[II] to stir up mud, raise by stirring up, Ar.: metaph., t. neikos, polemon Soph., Plat.; Pass., polemos etarachthê Dem.

[III] intr. perf. tetrêcha, to be in disorder or confusion, be in an uproar, tetrêchei d' agorê Il.; agorê tetrêchuia Il.