Though the entire literature is not preserved for comparison, these facts nevertheless show that the language was very materially enriched in this respect by the incoming of philosophic thought, and that the sudden and extensive use of the termination -κός is directly traceable to the Greek philosophers and sophists as a class.
Croiset characterizes Xenophon as "a perfect specimen of the καλὸς κἀγαθός, . . . . . . of sound, well-balanced mind, judicious, not over enthusiastic, obedient to reason, thoughtful of good order and harmony, and as highly educated as was possible for a well-bred Athenian in the time of the sophists and Socrates".[1] It is interesting to note the effect that the "New Culture" produced on this typical Athenian of the early part of the fourth century, as regards his use of words in -κός. He employs an unusually large number of them, about 136; he has one-half of this number, i. e. 68, in the Memorabilia, his most important work dealing with matters of philosophy, 36 in the Oeconomicus, and 40 in the Cyropaedia,[2] both of the latter numbers including, of course, some words already counted. Sauppe's Lexilogus shows that 48 words in -κός, or 35 per cent. of the author's complete list of such words, occur only once in Xenophon, and that 9 of these are found seldom, if ever, in other authors—figures which indicate that he sometimes went out of his way to use them. And not only has he many, and often unusual, words in -κός in his works, especially in those that relate to Socrates, but he occasionally crowds several into one passage, as, for example, Mem. I, 1, 7:
καὶ τοὺς μέλλοντας οἴκους τε καὶ πόλεις καλῶς οἰκήσειν μαντικῆς ἔφη προσδεῖθαι· τεκτονικὸν μὲν γὰρ ἢ χαλκευτικὸν ἢ γεωργικὸν [ἢ ἀνθρώπων ἀρχικὸν] ἢ τῶν τοιούτων ἔργων ἐξεταστικὸν ἢ λογιστικὸν ἢ οἰκονομικὸν ἢ στρατηγικὸν γενέσθαι, πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα μαθήματα καὶ ἀνθρώπου γνώμῃ αἱρετὰ ἐνόμιζεν εἶναι.
and Mem. III, 1, 6:
