Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T08:09:13.712Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

PINDAR, NEMEAN 3.36: ΕΓΚΟΝΗΤΙ AND GREEK LEXICA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2023

Luigi Battezzato  and
Federico Della Rossa
Luigi Battezzato*
Affiliation:
Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
Federico Della Rossa*
Affiliation:
Università Ca' Foscari, Venezia
*
[email protected]
[email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper argues that: (a) the transmitted text of Pind. Nem. 3.35–6 ποντίαν Θέτιν κατέμαρψεν | ἐγκονητί (‘[Peleus] caught the sea-nymph Thetis quickly’) is not the original text of Pindar; (b) ἐγκονητί does not fit the context, is not an attested Greek word and should be eliminated from dictionaries of ancient Greek; (c) Byzantine etymological works, followed by many modern scholars, base their explanations on the late antique form ἀκονητί, which should be eliminated from classical, Hellenistic and imperial texts; (d) the tradition of the Etymologicum Magnum knows the variant ἐγκονιτί (conjectured for Pindar by Bergk) ‘with dust’ (‘with effort’), which seems presupposed by the scholia on Pindar; (e) the form ἐγκονιτί (created on the pattern of ἀκονιτί) is to be preferred in Pindar for reasons of language and content and should be added to the dictionaries of ancient Greek.

Keywords

PindarGreek philologyGreek lexicographymetaphorancient athletics
Type
Research Article
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 73 , Issue 1 , May 2023 , pp. 17 - 25
Check for updates
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association

1. THE TEXT

Pindar, Nemean 3.32–6 reads as follows in the editions by Snell and Maehler and by Cannatà Fera (translation by Svarlien):Footnote 1

παλαιαῖσι δ’ ἐν ἀρεταῖς
γέγαθε Πηλεὺς ἄναξ, ὑπέραλλον αἰχμὰν ταμών⋅
ὃς καὶ Ἰαολκὸν εἷλε μόνος ἄνευ στρατιᾶς,
καὶ ποντίαν Θέτιν κατέμαρψεν       35
ἐγκονητί.

Among old examples of excellence is King Peleus, who rejoiced when he cut a matchless spear, and who alone, without an army, captured Iolcus, [35] and caught the sea-nymph Thetis after many struggles.

Pindar narrates the rape of Thetis as if it were an athletic contest.Footnote 2 καταμάρπτω is attested from Homer onwards with the meaning of ‘overtaking’ but also, more specifically, of ‘catching’, ‘grabbing’ and, consequently, defeating an enemy that is running away (Il. 5.65, 16.598).Footnote 3

All manuscripts (BDV) and editions present this text, except for differences in colometry or in orthographic details. This paper argues that the hapax legomenon ἐγκονητί, even if attested in all the manuscripts, does not fit the context and is not the original text of Pindar.Footnote 4 In fact, ἐγκονητί is not an attested Greek word and should not occur in dictionaries of ancient Greek. Byzantine etymological works, followed by many modern scholars, offer explanations of ἐγκονητί that are linguistically impossible (see below, section 2.2). Bergk conjectured ἐγκονιτί,Footnote 5 but did not note that his text was attested as a variant in the indirect tradition and was probably presupposed by the scholia. ἐγκονιτί is to be preferred in Pindar for reasons of language and content, and should be added to the dictionaries of ancient Greek.

2. THE MEANING OF ΕΓΚΟΝΗΤΙ

2.1 ἐγκονητί ‘quickly’

ἐγκονητί can only be interpreted as linked to the verb ἐγκονέω, which means ‘to hurry, to be quick’.Footnote 6 Homer uses only the participle ἐγκονέουσαι, meaning ‘quickly’, ‘in a hurry’ (Il. 24.648 στόρεσαν … λέχε’ ἐγκονέουσαι, Od. 7.340 and 23.291 στόρεσαν λέχος ἐγκονέουσαι).Footnote 7 All archaic and classical instances of the term mean ‘to hurry’, ‘to act quickly’.Footnote 8 Beekes (n. 6) and GE (n. 6) translate ἐγκονητί respectively as ‘quickly’ and ‘quickly, fast’; this is the only meaning that can be attributed to the adverb. However, how could Peleus defeat Thetis ‘quickly’? She is a goddess and is unwilling:Footnote 9 she metamorphoses into different animals and physical elements (Pind. Nem. 4.62–5) to avoid being defeated by Peleus.Footnote 10 The meaning ‘quickly’ is inappropriate in reference to the long struggle of Peleus and Thetis.

2.2 ἐγκονητί ‘by perseverance’/‘with effort’

In fact, translators and commentators do not normally translate ἐγκονητί as ‘quickly’, even if they do not explicitly make the observations offered in the previous paragraph. Dictionaries offer other meanings: ‘actively, vigorously, by perseverance’ (LSJ), ‘quickly or by perseverance—ref. to capturing someone’ (Cambridge Greek Lexicon).Footnote 11 ‘By perseverance’ clearly fits the context better. It is, however, the exact opposite of ‘quickly’. The adverb, attested only once, would thus have two completely opposite meanings. No linguistic explanations are offered for this meaning in modern scholarship, nor is it possible to find a link with the attested usage of ἐγκονέω.

Other interpreters suggest the translation ‘with effort’, with some stylistic variations (Svarlien: ‘after many struggles’; Race: ‘with great effort’; Pfeijffer: ‘with great effort’; Cannatà Fera: ‘a fatica, con sforzo’ [‘with difficulty, with effort’]; DGE [n. 6]: ‘esforzadamente’).Footnote 12 This explanation, appropriate in the context but with no modern linguistic justification, derives from Byzantine lexicographical works.Footnote 13 In addition to Pind. Nem. 3.36, the adverb ἐγκονητί is attested only five times, all in grammatical or exegetical works that are clearly related to the Pindaric passage. We will discuss four occurrences here, and the last one (from the scholia on Pindar) in section 4.Footnote 14

(1) Suda ε 110 Adler ἐγκονητί only reports the lemma, without any explanation or gloss, and can be disregarded.

Three Byzantine Etymologica (Genuinum, Magnum and Symeonis)Footnote 15 interpret ἐγκονητί as ‘with difficulty’, ‘with effort’, and offer this suggestion in the context of a discussion of a different adverb, ἀκονητί:

(2) Etym. Gen. α 346: ἀκονητί⋅ ἄνευ πόνου, οὗ τὸ ἐναντίον ἐγκονητί, μετὰ πόνου, κατὰ τροπὴν τοῦ π εἰς κ ἀπονητί ἀκονητί Ἰωνικῶς, ὡς τὸ πῶς κῶς, πότε κότε.

akonêti: ‘without effort’ [ponos]; its opposite is enkonêti ‘with effort’, by mutation of pi into kappa, aponêti akonêti in Ionic, as in pôs kôs, pote kote.

(3) Etym. Magn. α 676 (p. 50 Kallierges): ἀκονητί· ἄνευ πόνου, οὗ τὸ ἐναντίον ἐγκονητί, ἤγουν μετὰ πόνου, κατὰ τροπὴν τοῦ π εἰς κ ἀπονητί καὶ ἀκονητί Ἰωνικῶς, ὡς τὸ πῶς, κῶς, πότε κότε. ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ κόνις κονιτί, καὶ ἀκονιτί· ἄνευ ἀγῶνος καὶ μάχης⋅ ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τῶν ἀθλητῶν τῶν εὐμαρῶς περιγινομένων ὥστε μὴ κονίσασθαι, τουτέστι κόνιν ἐπισπάσασθαι· τοῖς γὰρ παλαίουσι ἐκ τῆς βίας ἱδρῶτα γίνεσθαι, εἶτα κόνιν ταῖς χερσὶν ἀναλαμβάνειν. ἢ ἀκονιτί· τὸ εὐχερῶς καὶ συντόμως, ὥστε μηδὲ κονιορτὸν ἐγείρεσθαι.

akonêti: ‘without effort’ [ponos]; its opposite is enkonêti ‘with effort’. By mutation of pi into kappa, aponêti akonêti in Ionic, as in pôs kôs, pote kote. Or from konis [‘dust’], koniti and akoniti, ‘without struggle’ and ‘battle’: the metaphor derives from the athletes that win so easily that they are not covered in dust, that is, they do not dust themselves. This is because wrestlers sweat in consequence of their violent efforts and, therefore, they dust themselves with their hands. Alternatively, akoniti[, which means] ‘easily’ and ‘quickly’, without raising dust.

(4) Etym. Sym. α 412: ἀκονητί⋅ ἀπὸ τοῦ κόνις κονιτί καὶ ἀκονιτί, ἄνευ πόνου, οὗ τὸ ἐναντίον ἐγκονητί, μετὰ πόνου. ἀπὸ τοῦ κόνις <***>.Footnote 16

akonêti: from the word konis [‘dust’] koniti and akoniti; its opposite is enkonêti ‘with effort’. From konis <…>

The linguistic explanations of the lexicographers are clearly inadequate.Footnote 17 The etymological connection with ponos ‘toil’, ‘effort’ is fanciful (ἐγκονητί is not attested in a text in Ionic, but in Pindar). The other explanations are based on the adverb ἀκονητί, which arose by itacism from the classical form ἀκονιτί ‘without dust’, that is, ‘without struggle’, ‘easily’ (see below, section 3). This connection is linguistically impossible for Pindar, who did not know and did not use itacistic forms. The adverb ἀκονητί came into usage over nine hundred years after the death of Pindar, in the fourth or fifth century a.d.Footnote 18 In the TLG online corpus, Diod. Sic. 19.42.2 and 20.57.3 are the only two earlier instances of ἀκονητί.Footnote 19 The editions by Fischer and Vogel, Bizière, and Durvye print ἀκονητί (MS R) but provide no argument for preferring this to ἀκονιτί, transmitted by the other extant manuscript, F.Footnote 20 Diodorus elsewhere has ἀκονιτί,Footnote 21 which should be printed also in Books 19 and 20.

The classical form ἀκονιτί, however, will offer the key to the correct interpretation of the passage of Pindar.

3. ΑΚΟΝΙΤΙ

The adverb ἀκονιτί derives from κόνις, ‘dust’,Footnote 22 and is used to designate a triumphant and complete sporting victory: one wins ἀκονιτί, ‘dustless’, when opponents, afraid to receive major injuries or permanent physical damage, do not ever dare to appear and compete. Ancient sources attest ἀκονιτί victories almost exclusively for contact sports:Footnote 23 wrestling, boxing and, above all, pankration. Footnote 24 The victory is ‘without dust’ because the athletes did not need to sprinkle themselves over with sand, as they normally did: see the verb ἐγκονίομαι in Xen. Symp. 3.8.Footnote 25

ἀκονιτί victories are already attested in the sixth century b.c. (ἀσσκονικτεί, CEG 1.372).Footnote 26 This adverb is widely used both in reference to athletic contestsFootnote 27 and (metaphorically) about military victories.Footnote 28 Quintus of Smyrna (4.319) also uses the adjective ἀκόνιτος, ‘without dust, combat or struggle’ (LSJ s.v.).

4. AN ANCIENT VARIANT

4.1 Bergk

Bergk conjectured ἐγκονιτί, implying that it had the same meaning as ἐγκονητί: ‘getting dusty’, that is, ‘with great effort’.Footnote 29 The assumed itacistic error (ἐγκονιτί → ἐγκονητί) is simple and common. The meaning would be clearly appropriate in the context: the erotic struggle between Peleus and Thetis is compared to an athletic struggle.Footnote 30

4.2 The indirect tradition

The form ἐγκονιτί (with iota) is in fact transmitted as a variant in the indirect tradition. We need to look again at the Etymologicum Symeonis (above, section 2.2; text and apparatus criticus by Lasserre and Livadaras, adapted):

ἀκονητί⋅ ἀπὸ τοῦ κόνις κονιτί καὶ ἀκονιτί, ἄνευ πόνου, οὗ τὸ ἐναντίον ἐγκονητί, μετὰ πόνου.

ἀκονητί cFVm : ἀκονιτί ECVZ | ἀκονιτί] ἀκονητί E | ἐγκονητί] ἐγκονιτί Vm

akonêti: from the word konis [‘dust’] koniti and akoniti; its opposite is enkonêti ‘with effort’.

Vm writes ϊ above the -η- of ἐγκονητί. This supralinear variant, strangely omitted by Lasserre and Livadaras, is clearly visible in the online digital reproduction of the manuscript that we were able to check,Footnote 31 and it was already reported by Gaisford.

According to Lasserre and Livadaras, the variant readings reported under the siglum Vm derive from a manuscript of the Etymologicum Magnum; Vm must be considered an independent witness of the tradition of that Etymologicum.Footnote 32 The Etymologica cannot but rely on Nem. 3.36 for the form ἐγκονητί/ἐγκονιτί. It is thus possible that the non-itacistic version of Vm depends on an ancient variant reading ἐγκονιτί derived from Pindar's text. It cannot be excluded that the iota was added under the influence of ἀκονιτί (in opposition to ἀκονητί). We have, however, other signs that support the supposition that a variant reading was known to the scholia and the etymological tradition.

5. ATHLETIC METAPHORS

The scholium on Pind. Nem. 3.61a Drachmann reads as follows:

ἐγκονητί: ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐνεργῶς. ἡ μεταφορὰ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀθλευόντων.

enkonêti: it means energôs. The metaphor is drawn from the athletes.

The first part of the scholium (ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐνεργῶς) clearly explains the form ἐγκονητί with êta. In this context, ἐνεργῶς means ‘quickly’ (not ‘vigorously’), as often in scholia.Footnote 33 The adjective ἐνεργός means ‘quick’ already in the Hellenistic Age.Footnote 34 The scholium thus explains ἐγκονητί as connected to ἐγκονέω. This is etymologically plausible and follows a linguistic and exegetical tradition that is fundamentally different from that of the Etymologica. However, as we saw (section 2.1), the meaning ‘quick’ does not fit the context.

The second part of the scholium (ἡ μεταφορὰ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀθλευόντων) evidently refers to a different reading. The form ἐγκονητί, ‘quickly’, cannot be understood as a metaphorical expression. As often, the scholia, in the form that reached us, mix different explanations which support different textual variants.Footnote 35 We cannot suppose that the scholium is commenting on κατέμαρψεν, since that verb is not metaphorical, in this context: it describes exactly what Peleus does.

Etym. Magn. α 676 = p. 50 Kallierges, lines 32–5 (cited fully above, section 2.2), discussing the form ἀκονιτί with iota (explicitly linking it with konis), explains it as an athletic metaphor (ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τῶν ἀθλητῶν). The same explanation occurs also in Suda α 923 s.v. ἀκονιτί (ἀπὸ μεταφορᾶς τῶν ἀθλητῶν). The fact that the scholium on Pind. Nem. 3.61a (ἡ μεταφορὰ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀθλευόντων), the Etymologicum and the Suda discuss the terms as ‘athletic metaphors’ supports the hypothesis that the scholium too linked the adverb with ἀκονιτί.

6. ADVERBS IN -ΤΙ AND THE ADVERB ΕΓΚΟΝΙΤΙ

6.1 ἐγκονιτί and the text of Pindar

The form ἐγκονιτί would be symmetrical to ἀκονιτί (note the prosody: ἐγκονῑτί/ἀκονῑτί). This sense would neatly fit the context. Peleus’ victory is not ἀκονιτί: Thetis resists him at length. Peleus nevertheless succeeds, but only after a ‘dusty’ struggle (ἐγκονιτί = ‘getting dusty’, ‘with effort’).Footnote 36 Peleus is superior to the other human beings. He can even win against a goddess. This surpasses normal human capacity, but to gain this result he must fight at length, as the literary and iconographic evidence tells us.Footnote 37 Pindar's conceit is especially clever: the marine Thetis is conquered in a dusty struggle. After all, she metamorphosed into a terrestrial lion (Nem. 4.62–5), among other things.

Pindar probably created ἐγκονιτί on the basis of the well-known pattern that opposes privative alpha and strengthening ἐν-: cf. for example the adjectival pairs ἔμμορος/ἄμμορος, ἐναίσιμος/ἀναίσιμος, ἔνδικος/ἄδικος, ἔννομος/ἄνομος and (after Pindar) ἄδοξος/ἔνδοξος, ἄκαιρος/ἔγκαιρος and corresponding adverbs.Footnote 38 We do not have similar pairs with adverbs in -τι, but there are not many such adverbs.Footnote 39

6.2 ἐγκονιτί and ἀκονιτί

The adverb ἀκονιτί must have been well known at the time of Pindar. ἀσσκονικτεί, a Doric form of ἀκονιτί,Footnote 40 is attested before Pindar (550–525 b.c.); the form ἀκονιτί is common in the fifth century, also in metaphorical usage.Footnote 41 CEG 2.844.5 (fourth century b.c.) uses ἀκονιτί in reference to a victory of 474; this must have been reported in some official record from the time of the victory, and the list that accompanies CEG 2.844 does include the indication Πυθοῖ πὺξ ἀκονιτί.Footnote 42 Pindar offers the first attestation of another common technical term, again with an adverb in -τι, namely ἀπτωτί, ‘without taking a fall’ (Ol. 9.92).Footnote 43 Pindar's familiarity with technical terms related to sport is obvious; furthermore, he uses another adverb in -τι, ἀβοατί, ‘without summons’ (Nem. 8.9). The adjective *ἐγκόνιτος is not attested, but Xenophon in a sporting context uses the verb ἐγκονίομαι, ‘sprinkle sand over oneself’ (Symp. 3.8; see above, section 3); we also find the form ἐνκονιστάς, ‘gymnast’ (IG VII 2420, Thebes, third century b.c.).Footnote 44 This shows that forms combining the prefix ἐν- and the root of the noun κόνις were common in ancient Greek sporting terminology, and that they are attested shortly after Pindar. Many adverbs in -ι or -τι were created at times when a corresponding adjective was not in use or was not attested.Footnote 45

The form ἐγκονιτί was thus easily understandable on the basis of its transparent etymology (the prefix ἐν-, the root of the noun κόνις, the suffix -τι) and of its clear opposition to ἀκονιτί.

7. CONCLUSION

ἐγκονιτί, a variant implied by Σ 61a and attested in the Etymologica, offers better meaning and is supported by parallel passages. Pindar's text should read:

παλαιαῖσι δ’ ἐν ἀρεταῖς
γέγαθε Πηλεὺς ἄναξ, ὑπέραλλον αἰχμὰν ταμών⋅
ὃς καὶ Ἰαολκὸν εἷλε μόνος ἄνευ στρατιᾶς,
καὶ ποντίαν Θέτιν κατέμαρψεν       35
ἐγκονιτί.

34 Ἰαολκὸν post Schroeder (κἰαολκὸν) Snell: Ἰωλκὸν codd. 36 ἐγκονιτί Etym. Magn. (Vm), (Σ), coniecerat Bergk: ἐγκονητί codd., Etym. Gen., Suda, Etym. Magn. (cett.), Etym. Sym.

Among old examples of excellence is King Peleus, who rejoiced when he cut a matchless spear, and who alone, without an army, captured Iolcus, [35] and caught the sea-nymph Thetis in a dusty struggle.

ἐγκονητί should be deleted from the dictionaries of ancient Greek (or listed as a variant under the lemma ἐγκονιτί). Similarly, ἀκονητί, which still appears in the LSJ, should be excluded from dictionaries of ancient Greek (as opposed to dictionaries of Byzantine Greek).Footnote 46

Footnotes

We wish to thank B. Acosta-Hughes and CQ's reader for helpful comments. For the purposes of academic evaluation, Battezzato is the author of sections 1, 2.2, 4.1, 6.1, 7; Della Rossa of sections 2.1, 3, 4.2, 5, 6.2.

References

1 Cf. Snell, B. and Maehler, H. (edd.), Pindari carmina cum fragmentis (Leipzig, 1987 8)Google Scholar; Fera, M. Cannatà (ed.), Pindaro: Le Nemee (Milan, 2020)Google Scholar; translation from Svarlien, D.A., Pindar: Olympian Odes, Pythian Odes, Nemean Odes, Isthmian Odes (Medford, MA, 1990)Google Scholar.

2 Many iconographic sources, starting from the seventh century b.c., represent the fight of Peleus and Thetis as a wrestling match: LIMC s.v. ‘Peleus’ (R. Vollkommer), §§78–94, 109–11. On the erotic connotations of wrestling, see Scanlon, T.F., Eros and Greek Athletics (Oxford, 2002), 260–3CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 Cf. LfgrE s.v. μάρπτω I 1 c (simplex: ‘ergreifen [feindlich]’), II 1 b (καταμάρπτω: ‘den milit<ärischen> Gegner einholen u<nd> erwischen’); I.L. Pfeijffer, Three Aeginetan Odes of Pindar: A Commentary on Nemean V, Nemean III & Pythian VIII (Leiden, 1999) on Nem. 3.53–6 (he goes too far in claiming that in Isthm. 3.53 the verb means ‘to kill’).

4 A. Matthiae, Observationes criticae in tragicos, Homerum, Apollonium, Pindarum, etc. (Göttingen, 1789), 41 considered the adverb ἐγκονητί ‘empty’, ‘dry’ (‘jejunum’). His conjecture ἀγκόνῃσι presupposes an unlikely corruption, is inappropriate in meaning (Peleus does not really ‘strangle’ Thetis) and, more importantly, is linguistically impossible (Pindar does not use dative endings in -ῃσι). The adverb is in any case not ‘empty’ but inappropriate to the context.

5 Bergk, T. (ed.), Poetae lyrici Graeci. Vol. I Pindari carmina continens (Leipzig, 1878 4)Google Scholar.

6 LSJ s.v.: ‘to be quick and active’; F.R. Adrados, Diccionario griego-español (Madrid, 1980–) (henceforth, DGE), s.v.: ‘apresurarse, ser diligente o solícito’; Montanari, F., The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek (Leiden, 2015)Google Scholar (henceforth, GE), s.v.: ‘to work energetically, bustle, hurry’; Chantraine, P., Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots (Paris, 1968–1980)Google Scholar, s.v. translates it as ‘faire son service, se donner du mal, se hâter’, and connects it to Latin conor. Beekes, R.S.P., Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden, 2010)Google Scholar, s.v. translates it ‘to hurry, be quick and active in service’.

7 Cf. LfrgE s.v. ἐγκονέω.

8 In many instances, other lexical elements from the context strengthen the idea of ‘hurry’. In addition to the Homeric passages quoted in the main text, see Soph. Aj. 811 (χωρῶμεν, ἐγκονῶμεν), 988 (ἴθ’, ἐγκόνει, σύγκαμνε), Trach. 1255 (ἄγ’ ἐγκονεῖτ’, αἴρεσθε), Eur. Hec. 507 (σπεύδωμεν, ἐγκονῶμεν. The combination of synonyms is a typical feature of poetic style: see L. Battezzato [ed.], Euripides Hecuba [Cambridge, 2018], on Hec. 86), HF 521 (ἴτ’ ἐγκονεῖτε, μὴ μεθῆτ’), Critias 43 F 1.1–2 TrGF (δέρκομαι σπουδῆι τινα | δεῦρ’ ἐγκονοῦντα), Ar. Ach. 1088–9 (ἀλλ’ ἐγκόνει⋅ δειπνεῖν κατακωλύεις πάλαι. | τὰ δ’ ἄλλα πάντ’ ἐστὶν παρεσκευασμένα), Vesp. 240 (ἀλλ’ ἐγκονῶμεν, ὦνδρες), Av. 1324 (οὐ θᾶττον ἐγκονήσεις;), Eccl. 490 (ἀλλ’ ἐγκονῶμεν⋅ τοῦ τόπου γὰρ ἐγγύς ἐσμεν ἤδη), Plut. 255 (ἴτ’, ἐγκονεῖτε, σπεύδεθ’⋅ ὡς ὁ καιρὸς οὐχὶ μέλλειν). In Aesch. (?) PV 961–2 (σὺ δὲ | κέλευθον ἥνπερ ἦλθες ἐγκόνει πάλιν) the verb takes the accusative of space (κέλευθον) travelled. The list above includes all archaic and classical occurrences. The simplex verb is only attested in grammatical works. Hesychius (κ 3502 Latte–Cunningham) glosses it κόνει⋅ σπεῦδε, τρέχε (‘konei: hurry, run’).

9 West, M.L. (ed.), The Epic Cycle: A Commentary on the Lost Troy Epics (Oxford, 2013), 69–70CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Slatkin, L.M., The Power of Thetis and Selected Essays (Washington, D.C., 2011), 1–98Google Scholar.

10 See also Soph. fr. 150 and 618 TrGF and West (n. 9), 71–2 on Cypria fr. 3. Iconographic evidence: R. Vollkommer in LIMC s.v. ‘Peleus’, 7.1.257–9 and LIMC s.v. ‘Thetis’, 8.1.8.

11 Diggle, J. et al., The Cambridge Greek Lexicon (Cambridge, 2021)Google Scholar, s.v.

12 Cf. Svarlien (n. 1); W.H. Race (ed.), Pindar (Cambridge, MA, and London, 1997); Pfeijffer (n. 3), 317; Cannatà Fera (n. 1), ad loc.

13 As Cannatà Fera (n. 1), ad loc. notes, referring to three Byzantine Etymologica (Genuinum, Magnum and Symeonis). In her translation, Cannatà Fera writes ‘con la forza’ (‘using violence’), which is different from ‘a fatica’, and again not linked to the attested meaning of ἐγκονέω. Chantraine (n. 6), s.v. ἐγκονέω translates ἐγκονητί as ‘vivement’ (which is ambiguous: ‘strongly’ or ‘briskly’?).

14 A similar explanation was perhaps suggested by Σ 60 ὁ δὲ καρτερήσας περιγέγονε, ‘he [Peleus] prevailed by persevering’. It is however not clear whether καρτερήσας is meant as a gloss on ἐγκονητί or whether it is simply an addition offered by the scholiast to stress Peleus’ valour.

15 In discussing these Etymologica we will use the edition of F. Lasserre and N. Livadaras (edd.), Etymologicum magnum genuinum: Symeonis etymologicum una cum Magna grammatica; Etymologicum magnum auctum. Volumen primum: α–ἀμωσγέπως (Rome, 1976) and its sigla. Lasserre and Livadaras use the titles Etymologicum magnum genuinum and Etymologicum magnum auctum; we use the traditional titles Etymologicum Genuinum and Etymologicum Magnum.

16 The apparatus criticus of Lasserre and Livadaras (n. 15) reads as follows: ‘ἀπὸ τοῦ κόνις initium est secundae partis glossae, de qua cf. EM 676, a Symeone perperam cum primae commixtae’. The text of the Etymologica will be discussed again below, section 4.2.

17 Pfeijffer (n. 3) on Nem. 3.35–6 offers a linguistic explanation but mixes three different hypotheses. He claims that the adverb means ‘with great effort’ (as in the Byzantine Etymologica), that it is linked to the verb ἐγκονέω (which does not indicate ‘great efforts’), and that it alludes to the dust raised by wrestlers. Pfeijffer mistakes ἐγκονέω for ἐγκονίομαι when he writes that ‘the verb ἐγκονέω literally means “to raise dust”, as an emblem for doing things eagerly or in haste (Od. 7.340, Il. 24.648 […])’. In fact, ἐγκονέω does not have an etymological connection with κόνις, and the quoted Homeric examples contradict the idea of ‘raising dust’: raising dust while making the bed would not have made Achilles happy. The mistaken link with ‘dust’ is common: L.G. Dissen (ed.), Pindari carmina quae supersunt (Gotha and Erfurdt, 1830) ‘non sine pulvere’; J. Rumpel, Lexicon Pindaricum (Lipsiae, 1883), s.v. ἐγκονητί ‘non sine pulvere, magno cum labore’; Slater, W.J., Lexicon to Pindar (Berlin, 1969)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, s.v. ἐγκονητί ‘non sine pulvere i.e. vigorously’ (the first explanation is etymologically impossible, and the second is not semantically connected to the first one). The connection with ‘dust’ is on the right track (see below, section 4), but wrong for ἐγκονητί.

18 ἀκονητί is found in Cyrill. Alex. Comm. in Ioannem, vol. II Pusey p. 35, Leontius, Contra Nestorianos I col. 1420, [Theodos.] Περὶ γραμματικῆς p. 75 Göttling, and other sources.

19 The TLG reproduces the text of F. Vogel and C.T. Fischer (edd.), Diodori Bibliotheca historica (Leipzig, 1888).

20 Vogel and Fischer (n. 19); Bizière, F. (ed.), Diodore de Sicile: Bibliothèque historique. Livre XIX (Paris, 1975)Google Scholar; Durvye, C. (ed.), Diodore de Sicile: Bibliothèque historique. Livre XX (Paris, 2018)Google Scholar.

21 15.51.4; 19.104.4; 20.78.1; 29 fr. 5 Goukowsky; 30 fr. 21 G.; 31 fr. 1 G. In all these passages ἀκονιτί is found at least in part of the manuscript tradition.

22 Chantraine (n. 6), s.v. κόνις. Beekes (n. 6), s.v. ἐγκονέω writes ‘Uncertain is ἀκονιτί […] cf. on κόνις’, but he oddly does not make mention of ἀκονιτί s.v. κόνις. The connection between ἀκονιτί and κόνις will be clear from what follows below, in the main text.

23 The only exception is Moretti, L., Olympionikai: i vincitori negli antichi agoni olimpici (Rome, 1957)Google Scholar, §993 = Sterrett, J.R.S., The Wolfe Expedition to Asia Minor [during the Summer of 1885] (Boston, 1888), 291–2Google Scholar, §413, line 11 (footrace, second half of the second century a.d.?).

24 For evidence see N.B. Crowther, ‘Victories without competition in the Greek Games’, Nikephoros 14 (2001), 29–44, at 32–8, with a discussion of Philostr. De gymnastica 11 (Philostratus wrongly states that in the Olympic Games ἀκονιτί victories were reserved exclusively for wrestlers). See also Ebert, J., Griechische Epigramme auf Sieger an gymnischen und hippischen Agonen (Berlin, 1972), 53–4Google Scholar.

25 Similarly, Plin. HN 35.139 and Suda α 923 Adler. Etym. Magn. α 676 (p. 50 Kallierges) also offers a different, less satisfactory, explanation, i.e. ‘without raising dust’: see the text quoted above, section 2.2. For these explanations, see Crowther (n. 24), 29–30; Brunet, S., ‘Winning the Olympics without taking a fall, getting caught in a waistlock, or sitting out a round’, ZPE 172 (2010), 115–24Google Scholar, at 115; Nobili, C., ‘Celebrating sporting victories in classical Sparta. Epinician odes and epigrams’, Nikephoros 26 (2013), 63–98Google Scholar, at 81 n. 96.

26 On this form, see Ebert (n. 24), 53–4; P.A. Hansen (ed.), Carmina epigraphica Graeca (Berlin and New York, 1983–1989) = CEG 1.198 (no. I 372); Wachter, R., ‘Lakonisch ἀσσκονικτεί’, MH 52 (1995), 155–69Google Scholar.

27 In literary texts: Xen. Ages. 6.3; Eratosthenes FGrHist 241 F 8; Demetrius, Formae epistolicae 15 (ἀκονιτί Weichert auctore Foerstero: ἀπονητί M); Arist. Or. 1.106 Lenz–Behr; Paus. 5.21.14, 6.7.4, 6.11.4; Max. 1.6, 3.4; Philostr. De gymnastica 11.5; Lib. Decl. 15.1.21; Chor. 5.1.6. In inscriptions: CEG 1.372 [550–525 b.c.] (ἀσσκονικτεί: cf. above, n. 26); IvO 153, line 7 [424 b.c.]; CEG 2.844.4, line 4 [370–365 b.c.] (with line 14); see also Sterrett (n. 23), no. 413, line 11: [ἀκονι]τεὶ τὴν ἐξ Ἄργους ἀσπίδα [second half of the second century a.d.?].

28 Metaphorical usages of ἀκονιτί in classical and Hellenistic Greek literary texts: Thuc. 4.73.2 (Thucydides softens the metaphor by writing ὥσπερ ἀκονιτί); Dem. 15.31, 18.200, 19.77 (for Demosthenes, see below, n. 29); Aeschin. 1.64; Polyb. 1.20.5, 1.83.3, 5.35.9, 5.48.12; Diod. Sic. 15.51.4 (ἀλλ’ ἀκονιτὶ X : ἀλλ’ ἀκονητεῖ P : ἀλλὰ κοινῇ MF), 19.104.4, 20.78.1; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3.7.6, 6.91.2, 10.28.3, 11.27.5; Philo 2.3.15, 8.147, 9.151, 15.8, 15.47, 25.38, 26.31; Strabo 16.4.24. ἀκονιτί is also attested in grammatical texts: see e.g. P.Lit.Lond. 182 = P.Lond. 126.85 (second half of the third century a.d.) and the sources discussed in section 2.2. For other grammatical texts, see the TLG online corpus.

29 Bergk (n. 5), 259. Bergk prints ἐγκονητί but adds in the apparatus criticus ‘nescio an ἐγκονιτί praestet’. He recanted in T. Bergk (ed.), Poetae lyrici Graeci. Vol. II poetas elegiacos et iambographos continens (Leipzig, 18824), 266, following Spengel, A., ‘Zu Demosthenes. Ἀκονητί’, Philologus 32 (1873), 365Google Scholar, who wrongly argued, on the basis of passages from Demosthenes, that the classical form was ἀκονητί. In fact, the form ἀκονιτί is attested in all occurrences of the word in Demosthenes, along with the wrong spellings ἀκονειτί and ἀκονητί: 15.31 (ἀκονιτί Fc), 18.200 (ἀκονιτί Yc), 19.77 (ἀκονιτί SFcY). For details, see M.R. Dilts (ed.), Demosthenis orationes (Oxford, 2002–2009), who rightly prints ἀκονιτί throughout.

30 For ἀκονιτί in erotic contexts, see also Chariton 1.2.3, 4.4.1.

31 Leiden, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit, Voss. gr. Q° 20. Reproduction: http://doi.org/10.1163/9789004373563_VGQ-020 (consulted February 2022).

32 Lasserre and Livadaras (n. 15), XX.

33 See Σ Ap. Rhod. 2.263b Wendel τὸ <αἶψα> πεπονήατο, οἷον ἐνεργῶς ἐποίουν, ἡτοίμαζον; ΣbT Il. 15.402 Erbse σπεύσομαι: ταχυνῶ, ἐνεργῶς πορεύσομαι; ΣT 15.685–6 Erbse. Several ancient sources gloss ἐγκονέω as ἐνεργέω ‘to hurry’ (e.g. ΣD Il. 24.648 van Thiel ἐγκονέουσαι: ἐνεργοῦσαι, σπεύδουσαι; Suda ε 109 Adler ἐγκονεῖτε: ἐνεργεῖτε, ταχύνατε).

34 See e.g. Polyb. 1.39.15, 1.40.14; Mauersberger, A., Polybios-Lexikon. Band I, Lieferung 2 (Berlin, 1961)Google Scholar, s.v. ἐνεργός, ‘behende, rasch’; see also s.v. ἐνεργῶς, ‘eilig, in Eile, rasch’.

35 Cf. e.g. L. Battezzato, ‘Note critico-testuali alle Coefore di Eschilo’, SCO 42 (1992), 63–94, at 64–9 on Aesch. Cho. 130–1 with A. Brown (ed.), Aeschylus: Libation Bearers (Liverpool, 2018), ad loc.

36 A similar litotes appears in Philo, Leg. all. 3.15: Jacob acquires virtue οὐκ ἀκονιτί. An athlete can be commended for winning a victory in the boys’ pankration ‘after struggling in the dust for three contests against opponents’ (τ[ρ]ισσὰ κατ’ ἀντιπάλων ἆθλα κονισάμενος, IvO 225.13, first century a.d., translation by C.H. Stocking and S.A. Stephens [edd.], Ancient Greek Athletics [Oxford, 2021], 316).

37 See n. 10 above and section 2.1. As B. Acosta-Hughes notes (personal comment), ‘normally the chalk is to help against sweat, but, in this case, Thetis is wet because she is a sea divinity, so still really hard to grapple’.

38 On privative alpha and the strengthening force of ἐν-, see Schwyzer, E., Griechische Grammatik. Erster Band (Munich, 1939), 431–2Google Scholar, 433 and 436.

39 However, see ἕκητι/ἀέκητι: Schwyzer (n. 38), 550 n. 8, 623.

40 See e.g. Risch, E., ‘“οὐκ ἀθεεί”’, MH 29 (1972), 65–73Google Scholar, at 68 = Kleine Schriften (Berlin and New York, 2013), 167–75, at 170; Ebert (n. 24), 53–4; CEG 1.198, among others. Wachter (n. 26) suggests a connection with Hsch. σ 1178 Hansen σκυνίζει· λακτίζει, but still assumes that ἀσσκονικτεί was modelled on ἀκονιτί and was influenced by the meaning of the root of κόνις/κονίω. The phonetic explanations of Risch and Ebert, who see ἀσσκονικτεί as a Doric form of ἀκονιτί, seem simpler and more convincing.

41 See nn. 27, 28.

42 See Ebert (n. 24), 118–26.

43 See Brunet (n. 25), 115, 119, who notes that the adjective ἀπτώς is also used.

44 On the meaning, see E(rnst) Fraenkel, Geschichte der griechischen nomina agentis auf -τήρ, -τωρ, -της (-τ-) (Strassburg, 1910), 1.174–5. The form ἐγκόνιμα, ‘room for sprinkling sand […], IG 9(2).31’ (LSJ) is an uncertain supplement.

45 See Risch (n. 40), 65–7, 72 and e.g. οὐκ ἀθεεί (Od. 18.353), ἀμογητί (Il. 11.637), ἀναιμωτί (Il. 17.363), ἐγρηγορτί (Il. 10.182), ἐγερτί (Heraclitus 22 B 63 DK; Soph. Ant. 413; [Eur.] Rhes. 524). On these adverbs, see also Bader, F., ‘Neutres grecs en -ti: absolutifs et privatifs verbaux’, BSL 65 (1970), 85–136Google Scholar; Anghelina, C., ‘On some adverbs with variable endings in ancient Greek’, Glotta 83 (2007), 1–12CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

46 The Supplement to the LSJ has the note (wrongly connected to ἀκονητί, but actually referring to ἀκονιτί): ‘add “see also ἀκονητί”’. This implies that ἀκονητί is considered an acceptable form. The DGE has the entry “ἀκονητί v. ἀκονιτί”; under the heading ἀκονιτί, the form ἀκονητί appears with a reference to Etym. Magn. α 676, without comment.