immediately swarm about him and make a show of their friendship as soon as his good fortune becomes known, he calls ὄχλος πρεσβυτικός (787, cf. πρεσβυτῶν ὄχλος Vesp. 540). The Youth has likewise been made wealthy through the recovery of Plutus' sight (968, 1004), and in consequence spurns his former love; when he sees the multitude of wrinkles in the face of his ἀρχαίας φίλης (cf. 1082–3), he exclaims (1050):
ὦ Ποντοπόσειδον καὶ θεοὶ πρεσβυτικοί.
In a few instances there is a deliberate change from the usual termination of a word to the fashionable -κός for the comic effect, when no special reason for the employment of such a sophistic form appears in the context and surrounding circumstances.
ὡρικός for ὡραῖος, translated "beautisome" by Professor Gildersleeve, occurs first in Crates 40:
πάνυ γάρ ἐστιν ὡρικώτατα
τὰ τιτθί᾽ ὥσπερ μῆλον ἢ μιμαίκυλα,
then in the merry phallic song Ach. 263 sq.,[1] where the scholiast reports that Aristophanes had previously used ὡρικὸν μειράκιον καὶ κόρη in the Banqueters (fr. 235), and finally in Pl. 963, used of the wrinkled old woman who is dressed in girlish costume like a coquette and affects to be young.
βαδιστικός Ran. 128 'walkist' for βαδιστής. Cf. Poll. III 92; Bekk. An. 55, 20.
ποτικός Alcae. Com. 9. No context to show the tone of the passage. Cf. πότης and πότις.
εἰρηνικός in Ran. 715 has a different meaning from εἰρηναῖος in Eq. 805. The former denotes character, 'a man of peace', 'a peace man', the latter a state or condition, 'at peace'. There is therefore no comic purpose here. It is this characterizing force of formations in -κός that makes them so well adapted for use as adverbs.
ἀνδρικός is found in the early plays only (Ach. to Pax); 18[2] out of the 21 occurrences of ἀνδρεῖος are in the later plays (Av. to Pl.). ἀνδρικός is used as an adverb in three-fourths of its occurrences, viz. Eq. 81, 82, 379, 451, 453, 599, Vesp. 153, 450, Pac. 478, 498, 515, 1307; where ἀνδρείως occurs (Pac. 732, Th. 656, Ran. 372),
