CHAPTER I
Words used by Menander which are Condemned by one or more of the Grammarians
After the Athenians lost their ascendancy in the affairs of Greece, their originality in literature began to decline. Loss of supremacy brought with it loss of vigor. With the rule of the Macedonian came a lessening of interest in public affairs, accompanied by a spiritual weakening. Patriotism had been a large factor in producing the great literary works of the fifth century. When this impulse was gone, men of a literary bent devoted themselves to scientific pursuits and to the study of the writings of the past. Schools of grammarians sprang up. Other circumstances contributed to this result. With the conquests of Alexander, Greek spread and became a world-language. This advance brought a loss of purity, due to the difficulty foreigners had in learning the language. As the current speech gradually changed the use of glosses to interpret the older language became more and more necessary. As the fifth century Greek had to be instructed in Homer (cf. Aristophanes Δαιτ. fr. 222 K.), so the Greek of the third century required helps to the understanding of old tragedy and comedy. Again, the immense superiority of the classical masterpieces, the recognition that they were "classic" (ἀρχαῖος is indeed the word for "classic") brought with it a certain veneration for the language of the "classical" writers where it differed from the current speech. The teacher was not content to inculcate the principles of the best writing of his day, but gave to his pupils, as the standard by which they should measure their style, the best writers of the fifth and fourth centuries. The result was, inevitably, the equating, more or less, of the λέξεις = glosses, with λέξεις δόκιμοι, and the mere glossary came in the end to serve as a dictionary of standard usage. When we come to the revival of "Atticism", the lines were drawn very closely. All departures, or supposed departures, from the old Attic in vocabulary and syntax were ruthlessly condemned, and these standards were applied not only to contemporary writers but also to the best writers of the Alexandrian period, such as Menander. For if the grammarian had condemned a word in an author of his own time, he could not afford to be confronted by a student with the same word in Menander. The great popularity of Menander made it all the more necessary for the strict stylist to utter a warning against him.
Prominent among the votaries of this creed were Herodes Atticus and Aristides;[1] but for maintenance of a rigorous standard of Attic style Phrynichus stands at the head of the atticizing school of grammarians. The eligible words were taken from the works of a small list of writers. The canon of Phrynichus is given by Photius, Bibl. p. 101 b Bekker:
Εἰλικρινοῦς δὲ καὶ καθαροῦ καὶ Ἀττικοῦ λόγου κανόνας καὶ στάθμας καὶ παράδειγμά φησιν (sc. Φρύνιχος) ἄριστον Πλάτωνά τε καὶ Δημοσθένην μετὰ τοῦ ῥητορικοῦ τῶν ἐννέα χοροῦ, Θουκυδίδην τε καὶ Ξενοφῶντα καὶ Αἰσχίνην τὸν Λυσανίου τὸν Σωκρατικόν, Κριτίαν τε τὸν Καλλαίσχρου καὶ Ἀντισθένην μετὰ τῶν γνησίων αὐτοῦ δύο λόγων, τοῦ περὶ Κύρου καὶ τοῦ περὶ Ὀδυσσείας, τῶν μέντοι κωμῳδῶν Ἀριστοφάνην μετὰ τοῦ οἰκείου, ἐν οἷς ἀττικίζουσι, χοροῦ, καὶ τῶν τραγικῶν Αἰσχύλον τὸν μεγαλοφωνότατον καὶ Σοφοκλέα τὸν γλυκὺν καὶ τὸν πάνσοφον Εὐριπίδην.
Of this list we have practically nothing left of Aeschines, Critias and Antisthenes, with the possible exception of the Xenophontic Ἀθηναίων Πολιτεία,[2] and two words assigned to Antisthenes, but usually considered spurious.[3] Among the rest, Phrynichus definitely censures Xenophon (p. 89 L., 160 R. al.), and Euripides (p. 341 L., 427 R.); while nowhere in his extant work does he cite any word from Aeschylus or Sophocles as an example of good Attic. He places under the ban also Herodotus (p. 130 L., 207 R. al.), Homer (p. 145 L., 223 R. al.), Hesiod (p. 101 L., 149 R.), Epicharmus (p. 108 L., 194 R. al.), Aristotle (p. 311 L., 366 R. al.), Theophrastus (p. 341 L., 427 R.), new comedy as a group (p. 344 L., 456 R. al.), and the writers of new comedy individually passim; and even of the orators Hyperides (twice: pp. 333 L., 417 R., 335 L., 419 R.).
Positive evidence from the extant writings of Phrynichus as to which writers were approved we find for the orators at pp. 37 L., 103 R., and 379 L., 474 R.; for Plato p. 37 L., 103 R. al.; for Thucydides p. 312 L., 366 R. al.; for old comedy p. 37 L., 103 R. al.; for Aristophanes p. 323 L., 370 R., al.[4]
To these Atticists, whose literary souls lived in the glorious age of Athenian ascendancy, the speech of their contemporaries was barbarous and unfit for the purposes of literature, composed as it was of words from every dialect spoken in Greece, with the addition of Hebrew, Egyptian and other foreign elements. Attic alone was the medium of good literature; words from any other dialect were at once condemned (e.g. Phryn. p. 358 L., 463 R., al., esp. p. [270 L. adn. cr.] 338 R.).
This attitude of theirs met with a good deal of opposition even in their own day, and many writers like Galen[5] and Plutarch[6] refused to be bound by rules so strict; though Galen himself has been accused of lapsing into the critical spirit of the Atticists.[7] The influence of the Atticists, however, affected them also.[8] This school is represented among grammarians by the Antiatticist[9] in Bekker's Anecd. Graec. I p. 75–116, and by Pollux.[10] They approved of words used in Homer and Ionic writers, and even in new comedy.
In distinguishing "good" words from "bad", Moeris and other grammarians frequently employ the terms Ἀττικῶς, Ἑλληνικῶς and κοινῶς. The exact distinction between the last two terms, which was for a long time unsettled, has been recently decided by A. Maidhof, who shows[11] that Ἑλληνικῶς refers to the Hellenistic literary language, while κοινῶς means the speech of everyday life, especially of the lower classes. Since either word brands an expression as un-Attic, it is unnecessary for the purposes of this dissertation to regard the distinction.
Naturally the spoken language contained many words unsuited to a good style. It is so in every age, and in every nation. Before a word is considered "good", we commonly search "good" writers for it. When we find it used by an approved author, we regard it as a "good" word. This was the process also of the Atticists. The great difference lies in the fact that their limits were far too narrow, and, set far back in the past, prevented the language from growing. Many words of Menander they failed to find among the representative authors who formed their canon, and hence they were especially severe in their criticism of him. Their harshness may have been due also in part to the great vogue of Menander, which made his faults, as they deemed them, all the more prominent, and might induce others to copy him, whether consciously or not. One quotation from Phrynichus will suffice to prove that this great comic poet was, in his opinion, quite outside the pale of good authors. Phryn. p. 442 L., 500 R. αἰχμαλωτισθῆναι· τοῦθ᾽ οὕτως ἀδόκιμον, ὡς μηδὲ Μένανδρον αὐτῷ χρήσασθαι. διαλύων οὖν λέγε αἰχμάλωτον γενέσθαι.
Even the source of Pollux, more liberal than Phrynichus, was not satisfied with Menander's diction. He says (3.29) Μένανδρος, ᾧ ἀεὶ μὲν οὐ χρηστέον ὡς οὐκ ἀκριβῶς Ἑλληνικῷ,[12] ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἀκατονομάστων πιστευτέον· ὧν γὰρ γενῶν ἢ πραγμάτων ἢ κτημάτων ὀνόματα παρ᾽ ἄλλοις οὐκ ἔστι, ταῦτα ἀγαπητὸν ἂν εἴη κἂν παρὰ τούτου λαβεῖν.
The words found in Menander which are definitely attacked by the grammarians may conveniently be divided into three groups, according to the nature of the criticism directed against them:
I. A word is used by οἱ νεώτεροι, οἱ νῦν, ἡ νέα (sc. Ἀτθίς), ἡ νέα κωμῳδία; or, it is used παρ᾽ ἡμῖν; all in contrast to οἱ ἀρχαῖοι, οἱ παλαιοί.
II. A word is used by Ἀλεξανδρεῖς, Μακεδόνες, Ἕλληνες; or it is Ἀσιατικόν, Ἑλληνικόν, βαρβαρικόν; or it is used Ἑλληνικῶς, κοινῶς; all in contrast to Ἀττικοί, or Ἀττικόν, or Ἀττικῶς. Here are included a few names of objects which are Μακεδονικά, βαρβαρικά, Ἑλληνικά; in one instance (οὐθείς, Eust.) the phrase is ἐσχάτως βαρβαρίζει.
III. A word is:
a. ἀνεκτόν.
b. ὑπόφαυλον.
c. ἰδιωτικόν, ἀδόκιμον. Or we find comments like these, expressing disapproval: μᾶλλον τὸ δεῖνα (some other word is preferable), οὐδεὶς τῶν δοκίμων εἶπεν, οὐ γὰρ χρῶνται οἱ δόκιμοι, πειστέον δὲ τοῖς δοκίμοις τοῖς μηδ᾽ εἰδόσι τοὔνομα, τοῖς ποιηταῖς ἀφείς, Μενάνδρῳ δεδόσθω, παρασεσημασμένον. Sometimes a word which is currently misused, and which we find in Menander in this improper meaning, is simply cited with its proper meaning under the word which is recommended, e. g. [Hdn.] Philet. p. 471 Piers. ἐπιλήσμων· ὁ ἐπιλανθανόμενος· λήθαργος δέ, κύων ὁ κρύφα δάκνων. Here λήθαργος in the meaning ἐπιλανθανόμενος is by implication condemned. In the case of νουνεχόντος, Apollon. Alex. in Bekk. Anecd. 587.15 says δοκεῖ ἀσύστατον εἶναι. In these instances the contrast is with δόκιμον, etc.
d. Expressions of positive disapproval: οὐ χρὴ λέγειν, οὔ φασι δεῖν λέγειν, οὐκ, ἀποτρέπου λέγειν, ἁμαρτάνει λέγων. Also, μετάθες τὸ α εἰς τὸ ε, λέγων πεντέμηνος (Phryn.), and τόλμη καὶ τόλμα, . . . νάρκη δὲ διὰ τοῦ η (Phryn. apud Bekk. Anecd.).
e. Expressions of more positive disapproval: φαυλόν, παμπόνηρον, αἰσχύνει τὴν πάτριον φωνὴν (λέγων) (Phryn.), τοῦτο Μένανδρος τὴν καλλίστην τῶν κωμῳδιῶν τῶν ἑαυτοῦ, τὸν Μισογύνην, κατεκηλίδωσεν εἰπών (Phryn.), . . . καὶ ἄλλα κίβδηλα ἀμαθῆ.
The following is an alphabetical list of all Menander's words which are condemned by the ancient grammarians. After each word stands the name of the grammarian who objects to it, and a designation (e.g. I, IIIb, etc.) of the group and subdivision to which it belongs in accordance with the categories above outlined. For a full statement about each word the reader is referred to chapter III.
ἀκουστής: Poll. IIIe.
ἀκρατεύομαι: Phryn. IIIc; Th. M. IIId.
ἀμβλυωπέω: Harp. II; Th. M. IIId.
ἀνάριστος: Phot. Berol. IIIc; Suid. IIIc.
ἀορτή: Suid. II; Anon. ap. Bekk. Anecd. II.
ἀπόδημος: Moer. II; Th. M. IIId.
ἄχρις: Phryn. IIIc; Moer. II; Ps.-Hdn. II.
βάκηλος: Phryn. IIId; Th. M. IIId.
βασίλιννα: Ael. Dion. ap. Eust. II.
γῦρος: Phryn. IIIe.
διατροφή: Th. M. IIId.
δύσριγος: Phryn. IIIe; Poll. I.
ἑαυτοῖς for ἀλλήλοις, etc.: Eust. IIId.
ἔγχυτος: Moer. II.
ἐξαλλάττω = τέρπω: Phryn. IIIc; Antiatt. ap. Bekk. Anecd. II.
ἐπαρίστερος: Phryn. IIId; Poll. IIIc; Th. M. IIId.
ἐπικόπανον: Poll. I.
ἐπιχειμάζω: Phryn. IIIc.
ἡμίγραφος: Poll. IIIa.
ἡμιλάσταυρος: Poll. IIIe.
ἡμιφυής: Poll. IIIa.
ὁ θάτερος: Phot. IIId; Etym. Gud. IIId; Etym. Magn. IIId; Eust. II; Th. M. II, IIId.
κακοδαιμονέω: Phryn. IIIc; Th. M. IIIc.
καταφαγᾶς: Phryn. IIIe; Poll. IIIe.
καυσία: Poll. II; Suid. II
κοιτών: Phryn. IIIc; approved by Poll.[13]
κολλυβιστής: Phryn. IIIc, d; Moer. II; Th. M. IIIc, d.
κόνδυ: Ath. II; Hesych. II.
κουρίς: Helladius II.
λαβρώνιος: Ath. II.
λήθαργος: Phryn. I, IIIe; Ps.-Hdn. IIId; Th. M. II.
λιτυέρσης: Poll. II; Ath. II; Phot. II; Suid. II.
μεγιστάν: Phryn. I, IIId; Th. M. IIIc.
ὁ μέθυσος: Phryn. IIId; Poll. IIIc; Moer. II; Antiatt. ap. Bekk. Anecd. IIId; Ps.-Hdn. IIIc; Th. M. IIIc.
μειρακίσκος: Th. M. IIIc.
μελίπηκτον: Th. M. IIIc.
μερισμός: Th. M. IIId.
μεσοπορέω: Phryn. IIIe.
μετανοέω: Moer. II.
μετριάζω: Phryn. I, IIIc.
μυόχοδος: Moer. II. (Moeris attacks the noun τὸ μυόχοδον; but his censure would apply also to the adj.)
μωρός (not μῶρος): Arcad. II.
νάρκα: Phryn. ap. Bekk. Anecd. IIId; Ath. I.
νουθετησμός: Poll. IIIe.
νουνεχόντως: Apollon. ap. Bekk. Anecd. IIIc.
οὐθείς: Phryn. I, IIId; Phot. I; Eust. II.
ὀψωνιασμός: Phryn. IIIe; Poll. IIIe.
ὀψώνιον: Phryn. IIIe; Phot. I.
ὁ Πάνακτος: Harp. I; Suid. I.
παράσιτος. Poll. I.
πεντάμηνος: Phryn. IIId; Moer. II; Th. M. II.
περισκελίς: Moer. II.
πολύτιμος: Th. M. IIIc; Lex. Vind. IIIc.
πορνοκόπος: Phryn. I, IIIe; Th. M. I.
προσπαίζω w. dat.: Th. M. IIId.
ῥίσκος: Poll. I.
σάρισ(σ)α: Poll. II; Hesych. II; Phot. II; Suid. II; Etym. Gud. II; Etym. Magn. II.
σής, σητός: Moer. II; Phot. IIId; Th. M. II.
σκοῖδος: Hdn. II; Hesych. II; Phot. II.
στριφνός: Moer. II.
σύσσημον: Phryn. IIIe.
τηγανισμός: Poll. IIIb; cf. Moer. (II) and Phryn. ap. Bekk. Anecd. s. v. τάγηνον (II).
τρόπαιον (not τροπαῖον): Arcad. II; Schol. in Thuc. I; Schol. in Dion. Thrac. ap. Bekk. Anecd. II; Suid. I; Etym. Magn. I.
Total 63, of which 2 (ἀπόδημος and κοιτών) are approved elsewhere.
It is difficult to classify accurately such cases as Συν. λεξ. χρησ. ap. Bekk. Anecd. 423.9 and Suid. s. v. ἀπέφησεν· ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀντεῖπε. Μένανδρος. The use of ἀντί may be taken to imply that Menander employed ἀπέφησε where he should have had ἀντεῖπε; i.e. where ἀντεῖπε was the correct Attic word, and hence ἀπέφησε was not strictly correct. Obscure as this instance is, the problem is still further complicated by instances like Eust. 809.42 παρὰ Αἰλίῳ Διονυσίῳ κεῖται τὸ λυκοφιλίως ἀντὶ τοῦ ὑπόπτως, ὑπούλως κτλ., and Phot. λυκοφιλίως· ὑπόπτως, ὑπούλως. οὕτω Μένανδρος. The latter is the usual way of defining a word which would be unfamiliar to the average reader; i.e. the lemma is cited as being used in the meaning of the other word or words. It is impossible, therefore, to decide whether in the first citation the two expressions are merely synonymous and Eustathius is not condemning Menander, or Photius has copied his original in a more abridged fashion. Again, compare Moer. 48 ἀκκισμός, Ἀττικῶς, προσποίησις, Ἑλληνικῶς, with Hesych. ἀκκισμός· προσποίησις. In Moeris the phrasing would seem to indicate disapproval of the word προσποίησις, yet this disapproval is not reproduced in Hesychius. Further, note the following examples: Phot. p. 257 N. ἡκόντων· ἀντὶ τοῦ ἡκέτωσαν.—Id. p. 309 N. καλοῦμεν· ἀντὶ τοῦ καλέσομεν, where ἡκόντων and καλοῦμεν are the regular Attic forms, as Photius must have known. Clearly the use of ἀντί cannot be regarded as expressing either approval or disapproval. I shall therefore merely mention the additional instances of this use of ἀντί in connection with words which appear in Menander but not in good Attic. Obviously there can be no words which the grammarians explain by ἀντί τινος with the possible implication that they were not good Attic, that do not appear in my list. The list follows:
ἀνατρέχω = ἀναλύω, βαθύς = πονηρός, ἐξαλλάττω = τέρπω, ἐσχάτως = ἀκρῶς, κιγκλισμός = τάραχος, λυκοφίλιος = ὕποπτος, παθαίνομαι = πάθους μεταλαμβάνω, πατάγημα = λάλος, πανοῦργος, ὑπόθεσις = ὑποθήκη. Total 9, of which 1 (ἐξαλλάττω) is censured elsewhere, and 2 (ἐσχάτως and παθαίνομαι) approved.
On the other hand we also find in Menander many words which are specifically mentioned by grammarians as Attic and are contrasted with others called "Hellenic" or "Koine". This has been noticed by Bruhn,[14] but he seems to attach too much importance to the fact. For "even Menander", though guilty of sacrilege against the holy Attic dialect, would not always use the word which was later put under the ban. These words as a class do not come within the scope of this study as outlined above. The following list includes all words recommended as good which fail to appear in what we have left of the accepted writers.
ἄβρα: Hesych.
ἀγαπησμός: (Favorinus[15]) ; Phot. Berol.
ἀγγαρεύω: Phot. Berol.; Suid.
ἀνάδοχος: Hesych.; Suid.
ἀνεμιαῖος: Moer.; Th. M.
ἀντάλλαγος: Anon. ap. Bekk. Anecd.; Phot. Berol.; Suid.
ἀπόδημος: Poll.; condemned by Moeris and Thomas Magister.
αὐθέκαστος: Phryn.
γαστρίζω: Phryn.; Th. M.
δημιουργός: Schol. in Ar. Eq. 650; Suid.; Etym. Magn.; Ael. Dion. ap. Eust.
δίθυρος: Hesych. s. v. θυρίς; Poll.
ἐσχάτως: Phryn.; Th. M.
ζωπυρέω: Moer.; Th. M.
θεραπαινίδιον: Th. M.
κλαυμυρίζομαι: Phot.
κοιτίς: Anon. ap. Cram. Anecd. Ox.; Etym. Magn.; Etym. Gud.; Suid.
κοιτών[13]: Poll.; condemned by Phrynichus.
λέμφος: Ammon.
μάγαρον: Ael. Dion. ap. Eust.; Phot.
μισογύνης: Poll.; Moer.
νεόττιον: Hesych.; form of word only, Phryn.; Th. M.
ὀλολύττω: Phot.
ὄφις = ψέλλιον: Moer.
παθαίνομαι: Phot.
παιδισκάριον: Hesych.; Phot.; Th. M.
(παλίμβολος in other meaning: Th. M.)
(προτέλεια in other meaning: Th. M.)
ῥοίδιον: Phryn.
σανδαλοθήκη: Phot.
ὑπέρευγε: Longin. ap. Spengel Rhet. Gr. I p. 307.25.
ὑπέρφοβος: Poll.
χαμαιτύπη: Poll.; Moer.; Th. M.
Total 32, of which 2 (ἀπόδημος and κοιτών) are definitely censured by other grammarians.
- ↑ Schmid, Atticismus I p. 194, II p. 243.
- ↑ See above, Intr. n. 9.
- ↑ Christ, Gr. Litt.4 p. 436; I5 pp. 544, 612; at any rate, they are not the two approved by Phrynichus.
- ↑ For the full list see Nächster, De Pollucis et Phrynichi controversiis, diss. Lips., 1908, pp. 14 ff.
- ↑ Galen de Alim. Fac. VI p. 633 Kühn; VI p. 584 Kühn; al. freq.
- ↑ Plut. Mor. 42 D. The attitude of Lucian was hostile also; cf. his Lexiphanes and Ῥητόρων Διδάσκολος.
- ↑ Guil. Herbst, Galeni Pergameni de atticissantium studiis testimonia, Marburg 1910, p. 27 says "Ipse ergo Galenus Atticismi praeceptis, quamquam sexcenties adunco naso ea suspendit, plane se liberare non potest." In the part of the work published as a dissertation he fails to prove this contention. Manifestly no argument can be based on the passage to which this note is attached: Galen VI 779 K. Galen mentions the fact that certain writers of his day use φοινικοβάλανος for the fruit of the date-palm instead of φοῖνιξ and asserts that this word does not occur in the works of the older writers. This does not constitute a defense of Atticism. On the contrary, he says that the word he prefers is used by all the Ἕλληνες. We may note in passing that his use of this latter term is untechnical.
- ↑ Wilamowitz, Griech. Lit.1 p. 146.
- ↑ See Schmid, Atticismus III p. 347; Christ, Griech. Litt.4 p. 802; Thumb, Griech. Dial. p. 362.
- ↑ See Nächster, l. c. pp. 12, 17 ff. for a full discussion of his attitude.
- ↑ Zur Begriffsbestimmung der Koine besonders auf Grund des Attizisten Moiris, diss. Würzburg 1912 = Heft 20 of Schanz's Beiträge zur historischen Syntax der griechischen Sprache. See esp. pp. 54, 61.
- ↑ Note that Pollux's standard of good usage seems to be τὸ ἀκριβῶς Ἑλληνικόν, as distinguished from that of Phrynichus, who demands τὸ ἀκριβῶς Ἀττικόν.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 The word κοιτών was clearly used by Menander, but apparently only to condemn it; see Poll. 1.79: εἰ γὰρ καὶ Μένανδρος αὐτὸ βαρβαρικὸν οἴεται, ἀλλ᾽ Ἀριστοφάνης ὁ κωμῳδοδιδάσκαλος (=fr. 6K.) τὰ τοιαῦτα πιστότερος εἰπὼν αὐτοῦ ἐν Αἰολοσίκωνι.
- ↑ L. c. p. 69 f. "Ich glaube einerseits gezeigt zu haben, dass die Sprache des Menander nicht die strenge Verurteilung des Phrynichus verdient, vielmehr, im ganzen genommen, als Quelle der reinen Atthis, besonders der attischen Umgangssprache gelten kann. Wesentlich ist hier der Gebrauch vieler Wörter, die von den Grammatikern als spezifisch attisch bezeichnet werden." The occasional use of a good Attic word does not help to prove that Menander wrote pure Attic.
- ↑ ἀγαπησμός is approved by Favorinus according to a quotation in the Thes. Ling. Graec.; but I have been unable to find the reference in Dindorf's edition of Favorinus. See chap. III below, s. v.