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A COMPARATIVE LENS ON ΚΡΑΤΥΣ ΑΡΓΕΪΦΟΝΤΗΣ: MEANING, ETYMOLOGY AND PHRASEOLOGY

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2022

Laura Massetti
Laura Massetti*
Affiliation:
Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies / University of Oxford
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

Greek κρατύς and cognates (κράτος, κρατερός, etc.) are related to Vedic krátu- ‘resolve’ and Avestan xratu- ‘[guiding] intellect’. The cumulative phraseological evidence supports this etymological proposal: in at least ten cases, Greek personal names and phrasemes exhibiting a cognate of κρατύς (that is, κράτος and compounds with first member κρατ[α]ι-) combine with terms whose Indo-Iranian linguistic cognates are joined with Vedic krátu- and Avestan xratu-. Furthermore, Indo-Iranian expressions, in which Vedic krátu- and its compounds are referred to a god as attributes, are structurally comparable to Greek κρατὺς Ἀργεϊφόντης. Since Ἀργεϊφόντης is likely to reflect ‘shining (cf. Greek φαίνω) with whiteness/brightness (ἀργει-)’, it is possible to identify Vedic phraseological matches for the Greek formula, namely expressions in which Vedic krátu- and its derivative krátumant- combine with the notion of ‘shining widely’, Vedic ví-bhā (Vedic bhā being a linguistic congener of φαίνω). The phraseological correspondence between Vedic krátu- … agní- ‘Agni, [endowed with] resolve’, and κρατὺς Ἀργεϊφόντης ‘Argeiphontes, endowed with superior might (κράτος)’ may be added to the dossier of common phraseology which the Greek god shares with the Old Indic fire-deity.

Keywords

κρατὺς Ἀργεϊφόντηςκράτοςkrátu-xratu-HermesAgniGreek mythGreek linguisticscomparative linguistics
Type
Research Article
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 72 , Issue 2 , December 2022 , pp. 459 - 468
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association

1. INTRODUCTION

Greek κρατύς is an epithet of Hermes commonly attested in the formula κρατὺς Ἀργεϊφόντης (Iliad, Odyssey, Homeric Hymns), which always covers the verse-ending sequence ⏑ ⏑ ⏤ ⏑ ⏑ ⏤ ⏤, for example Il. 16.181–2:

Φύλαντος θυγάτηρ⋅ τῆς δὲ κρατὺς Ἀργεϊφόντης
ἠράσατ’, ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἰδὼν μετὰ μελπομένῃσιν

[Polymele,] daughter of Phylas: the kratus Argeiphontes fell in love with her, when he spotted her with his eyes among the singing maidens.

Not only does κρατύς regularly occur in a fixed expression, but it is also joined with an epithet of opaque etymology and semantics. It follows that any possible explanation of the etymology and meaning of κρατύς must deal with Ἀργεϊφόντης too.

In this article, I review synchronic interpretations of κρατύς and its Greek and Indo-European (= IE) congeners (§§2–5). I then focus on what Greek cognates of κρατύς share with Indo-Iranian terms: Vedic krátu- ‘resolve’ and Avestan xratu- ‘[guiding] intellect’Footnote 1 (§§6–7). After discussing the semantics and etymology of Greek Ἀργεϊφόντης (§8), arguing that it means ‘shining with/in whiteness/brightness’, I propose that κρατὺς Ἀργεϊφόντης matches (a) Vedic collocations of the type [krátu-/sukrátu-/kavikrátu- – Agni], that is, poetic expressions of relatively free word order, in which the term krátu- and its compounds (for example sukrátu-, kavikrátu-) are referred to the fire-god Agni, and (b) Vedic collocations of the type [krátu-/krátumant- – ví-bhā], that is, poetic expressions of relatively free word-order, in which the term krátu- or krátumant- combines with the verb ví-bhā ‘shine widely’.

2. GREEK ΚΡΑΤΥΣ AND ITS GREEK CONGENERS

The following Caland-derivatives are part of the same word family as κρατύς:Footnote 2

  • • The thematic adjectives κραταιός (probably built on the first compound member κραται-, on which cf. n. 5) and κρατερός (displaying an -ero-suffix), meaning ‘mighty’, ‘strong’, for example Il. 13.345 δύω Κρόνου υἷε κραταιώ ‘the two mighty sons of Cronus’, 1.25 κρατερὸν δ᾽ ἐπὶ μῦθον ἔτελλε ‘he laid upon him a stern command’.

  • • κράτος,Footnote 3 neuter s-stem (Ionic κάρτος, Aeolic κρέτος),Footnote 4 meaning ‘superior power/victory’, for example Il. 6.387 τείρεσθαι Τρῶας, μέγα δὲ κράτος εἶναι Ἀχαιῶν ‘the Trojans were sorely pressed, and great victory rested with the Achaeans’.

  • • Att. κρείττων/κρείσσων (Ionic κρέσσων, Doric κάρρων), κράτιστος/κάρτιστος (comparative and superlative), ‘more/the most powerful/victorious’ or ‘better/the best’, for example ὁππότερος δέ κε νικήσῃ κρείσσων τε γένηται ‘whoever wins and becomes the most powerful/the best’ (Il. 3.71).

  • • κρατι-/καρτι- (first compound members), for example the man's name Καρτιδάμας (Thera).Footnote 5

  • • καρτύνομαι ‘prepare for superiority = krátos’ (Nagy [n. 5], 5 §25, n. 51), for example ἐκαρτύναντο φάλαγγας ‘strengthened the ranks’ (Il. 11.215).

  • • κρατέω ‘be strong, prevail, win’ (Hom.), also underlying the Pindaric compounds with first member κρατησι-; cf. Pind. Pyth. 10.16 κρατησίπους ‘winning by feet (in a race)’, matching ποσσί … κράτεσκε ‘he excelled in running’ (Pind. Nem. 3.52; cf. also Pyth. 10.23).

All these terms belong to the semantic field ‘strength, might, power, superiority’; hence κρατύς looks like meaning ‘mighty, powerful’ or possibly ‘superior’.

3. POSSIBLE MEANINGS OF ΚΡΑΤΥΣ WITHIN GREEK

Since antiquity κρατύς has been interpreted as a synonym of κρατερός/κραταιός, for example

Σ ε 49c Pontani

κρατύς] ὁ ἰσχυρός BHINP1Ty / κρατερός Yh / κραταιός D1FXs / ὁ δυνατὸς ὁ Ἑρμῆς Me

kratus: the strong / strong (krateros) / mighty (krataios) / mighty Hermes.

Physical-strength sense is not normally predicated of Hermes,Footnote 6 a god commonly described as a resourceful character, who overcomes enemies thanks to his wiles (αἰμυλομήτης ‘of spell-binding wiles’, Hom. Hymn 5.13, etc.).Footnote 7 Thus the might designated by κρατύς is more likely to denote Hermes’ cunning intelligence than his use of brute force. A scholium on the Odyssey associates κρατύς with the semantic field ‘intellectual superiority’ (ε 49.b Pontani):

κρατύς] ὁ φρονιμώτατος

kratus: the most sagacious.

Perhaps κρατύς was glossed in this way because it applied to a god full of guile. Nevertheless, the semantic nuance ‘intellectual superiority’ overlaps with the meaning of the Indo-Iranian congeners of κρατύς, Vedic krátu-, Avestan xratu- (cf. §4). Let us now look more closely at the semantics of these terms.

4. INDO-IRANIAN COGNATES OF GREEK ΚΡΑΤΥΣ: VEDIC KRATU-, AVESTAN XRATU-

κρατύς resembles two Indo-Iranian words: Vedic krátu- ‘resolve’ and Avestan xratu- ‘guiding intellect’, central terms in the Old Indic and Iranian poetic corpora. Both Vedic krátu- ‘resolve’, ‘will’Footnote 8 and Avestan xratu-, ‘purpose’,Footnote 9 ‘guiding intellect’ denote intellectual force directed towards achieving a certain goal.Footnote 10 In particular, Vedic krátu- seems to allow its possessor to obtain success and victory; for example

RV 5.35.1a–b

yás te sā́dhiṣṭhó á'vasa , índra krátuṣ ṭám ā́ bhara

Your resolve to help that best brings success, Indra, bring that here.

For this reason, krátu- is described as sānasí- ‘bringing gain’ (RV 10.140.4d) or jaítra- ‘bringing victory’ (10.36.10c). It is also associated with the notions ‘strength’ (1.81.4a–b), ‘(over)power’/‘victory’ (cf. 6.12.4c vanván krátvā nā́rvā ‘he … winning like a steed with its determination’) and ‘leadership/sovereignty’ (for example 4.21.2c–d yásya krátur vidathíyò ná samrā́ṭ , sāhvā́n ‘whose resolve, conquering and victorious like a sovereign king making ceremonial distributions’). In Avestan, xratu- is a form of intellectual energy or will which has a guiding role and allows someone to possess a certain type of knowledge or vision;Footnote 11 cf. Y. 49.6b–d yā və̄ xratə̄uš xṣ̌mākahiiā ā.manaŋhā / ərəš vīcidiiāi yaϑā.ī srāuuaiiaēmā / tąm daēnąm yā xṣ̌māuuatō ahurā ‘to tell me what [the concerns] of your xratu- [guiding intellect] are to let me discern truly with the energy of your [adherent] how we might make heard the view/religion of one such as you, o Lord’.Footnote 12

Both Indo-Iranian terms are associated not only with the notions ‘intellect’, ‘knowledge’, ‘comprehension’ but also with ‘power’, ‘strength’ (Vedic krátu-), ‘superiority’ (both Vedic krátu- and Avestan xratu-). The latter conceptual association manifests itself in Vedic passages where krátu- designates the distinctive quality of a winner, leader, or sovereign, and Avestan passages where xratu- is identified with Ahura Mazda; cf. Vr. 19.1h–i xratūm vīspō.vīδuuā̊ŋhəm yazamaide / yim ahurəm mazdąm ‘we sacrifice to the all-knowing xratu-, which is Ahura Māzda’.

5. GREEK ΚΡΑΤΥΣ, VEDIC KRATU-, AVESTAN XRATU-: ETYMOLOGY, DERIVATION AND PHRASEOLOGY

An etymological connection between κρατύς, Vedic krátu- and Avestan xratu- was proposed by CurtiusFootnote 13 and supported by Strunk.Footnote 14 The relationship between the terms was most convincingly reconstructed by Nussbaum through a standard pattern of internal derivation:Footnote 15 an adjective κρατύς ‘possessing superiority’ (ultimately reflecting an adjective with an alternance *krétu-/*kr̥téu̯- and generalized zero-grade of the root) is internally derived from a substantive *krótu-/*krétu-, continued by Vedic krátu-, Avestan xrátu- ‘resolve, guiding intellect’. I propose that the Greek and the Indo-Iranian terms derive from a root *kret- meaning ‘become superior’. Consequently, the three words should be kept apart from the root *(s)kert- ‘cut’ underlying Gothic hardus, Lithuanian kartùs ‘bitter’,Footnote 16 since this root and the Indo-Iranian terms display an incompatible word-structure: in a root like *(s)kert- the resonant sound -r- follows the root-vowel, but Vedic krátu- and Avestan xratu- must be traced back to a root in which the resonant sound -r- precedes the vowel. A semantic and comparative phraseological analysis of the Greek and Indo-Iranian terms will provide further support for the proposed etymology.

Vedic krátu- and Avestan xratu- share collocations with their Greek congeners (κρατύς, κραται- and κράτος). This means that the verbal elements of all listed phrasemes show clear interconnecting links. The following matches can be identified:

  1. (a) [put/set (*dheh1-) – superiority/might/resolve (*kret-)]: Greek [τίθημι – κράτος], cf. Il. 1.509–10 ἐπὶ Τρώεσσι τίθει κράτος ‘give superior power/victory to the Trojans’, matches Vedic [dhā – krátu-]; cf. RV 1.123.13b bhadrám-bhadraṃ krátum asmā́su dhehi ‘place ever more auspicious resolve in us’. Ir. dātā xratə̄uš (Y. 50.6, cf. also [xratūš – (nī.)dadat̰] in Y. 32.14a) is ambiguous: Avestan dātar- may correspond to Vedic dhātár- ‘creator’ or to Vedic dātár- ‘giver’, since Proto-Indo-Iranian *dh- and *d- merge in Avestan d-.

  2. (b) [give (*deh3-) – superiority/might/resolve (*kret-)]: Greek [κράτος – δίδωμι],Footnote 17 cf. Il. 11.319 Τρωσὶν δὴ βόλεται δοῦναι κράτος ‘for [Zeus] will give superiority [in battle]/victory to the Trojans’, overlaps with Vedic [dā – krátu-], for example RV 8.62.7a devā́ḥ ánu krátum daduḥ ‘all the gods conceded heroism and resolve [to you]’.

  3. (c) [bear/bring (*bher-) – superiority/might/resolve (*kret-)] underlies the man's name Φερεκράτης (IG I3 1192) and the collocation [φέρω – κράτος], cf. Il. 13.486 αἶψα κεν ἠὲ φέροιτο μέγα κράτος ‘then at once would he win [‘bring’] great victory’. From a formal point of view, the Greek collocation is comparable to Vedic [(ā́-)bhar – krátu-], cf. RV 7.32.26a índra krátuṃ na ā́ bhara ‘Indra, bring your resolve to bear for us’, and to Avestan [auua.bar- – xratu-], cf. Yt. 17.2e–f uta hē āsnəm xratūm / auua.baraiti vārəma ‘and she bestows inborn guiding thought at will upon him’ (Skjærvø [n. 1]).

  4. (d) [increase (*h2u̯eks- ) – superiority/might/resolve (*kret-)] occurs as [ἀέξω – κράτος] in Greek; cf. Il. 12.214 σὸν δὲ κράτος αἰὲν ἀέξειν ‘he should ever increase your might’, which partly corresponds to Avestan uxšne xraϑβe ‘to increase xratu- (Vidēvdāt 4.45e). Furthermore, since Vedic vardh and Greek ἀέξω share a variety of collocations,Footnote 18 Vedic [vardh – krátu-] provides a further comparandum; cf. RV 8.62.10b–c út tvā́m út táva krátum / bhū́rigo bhū́ri vāvr̥dhu ḥ ‘they have increased you and your resolve many times, o you of many cows’.

  5. (e) [great (*meĝh2- ) – superiority/might/resolve (*kret- )] underlies Greek [μέγα – κράτος] and [μέγιστον – κράτος];Footnote 19 cf. Il. 6.387 μέγα δὲ κράτος εἶναι Ἀχαιῶν ‘great victory rested with the Achaeans’, Il. 2.118 τοῦ γὰρ κράτος ἐστὶ μέγιστον ‘for his power is the greatest’. Both collocations have Avestan comparanda, namely the Young Avestan possessive compound aš.xratu- ‘whose xratu- [(guiding) intellect] is great’ or ‘highly endowed with xratu-’; cf. Y. 31.9 ϑβə̄ ā gə̄uš taṣ̌ā aš.xratūš ‘also the fashioner of the cow, highly endowed with xratu-. Moreover, Young Avestan aš.xratu- matches the collocation [xratu- – mazaṇt-]; cf. Y. 62.4f–g xratūm pascaēta masitəm / mazā̊ṇtəm apairi.āϑrəm ‘guiding thought in my inner ear[?], / large, great, [and] *non-erring’ (Skjærvø [n. 1]). As pointed out by Schindler,Footnote 20 Young Avestan aš.xratu- ultimately reflects *m̥ĝh2s-kretu-, while the superlatives aš.xraϑβastəma- and xraϑβišta- (Y. 1.1, Yt. 13.80) are built on the model of aš.aojastəma- ‘the very strong’ and aojišta- ‘the strongest’, which are attested in the same context as aš.xraϑβastəma-; cf. Yt. 10.141c–e aojištanąm asti aojištəm … baγanąm asti aš.xraϑβastəmō ‘among the ones possessing the greatest strength, he is the stronger … among the gods he is the one who is most endowed with xratu-’.Footnote 21

  6. (f) [superiority/might/resolve (*kret-) – mind (*men-)] underlies the man's name Κραταιμένης (Thuc.), which Nagy (n. 5) juxtaposes to [κρατερόν – μένος]; cf. Il. 7.38 Ἕκτορος ὄρσωμεν κρατερὸν μένος ‘let us rouse the mighty spirit of Hector.’ Both Vedic krátu- and Avestan xratu- are joined with derivatives of IE *men- ‘think’, as the following examples make evident:

    • – RV 4.33.9b abhí krátvā mánasā dī́dhyānāḥ ‘reflecting on it according to their purpose and with their thought’;

    • – Y. 48.3c–d vaŋhə̄uš xratūm manaŋhō yā xšnəuuīšā gə̄ušcā uruuānəm ‘(by whom) you may satisfy the intellect of good thought and the soul of the cow’ (Humbach – Faiß [n. 12]).Footnote 22

  7. (g) [follow (*seku̯- ) – superiority/might/resolve (*kret-)] is attested once in the shape [powernom. – followmid. – Xdat.]; cf. Tyrt. fr. 4.9 West δήμου τε πλήθει νίκην καὶ κάρτος ἕπεσθαι ‘victory and power are to accompany the mass of the people.’ The etymological congeners of Greek κράτος and ἕπομαι occur in two Indo-Iranian collocations: the Avestan verb hac ‘follow’ (cf. Vedic sac, Greek ἕπομαι, IE *seku̯- ‘follow’) is constructed with a subject xratu- [xratu- – hac mid.]; cf. Yt. 10.107a–d nōit̰. maṣ̌īm gaēϑīm stē / masiiā̊ hacaite āsnō xratuš / yaϑa miϑrəmcit̰ mainiiaom / hacaite āsnascit̰ xratuš ‘no material man in existence is endowed with [lit. followed by] greater insight than that which supernatural Mithra is endowed with.’Footnote 23 Vedic krátu- is the direct object of Vedic sac ‘follow’ in the collocation [sac – krátu- acc.]; cf. RV 1.156.4a–b tám asya rā́jā váruṇas tám aśvínā / krátuṃ sacanta ‘that resolve of his [of Visnu] does king Varuṇa follow, that do the Aśvins.’Footnote 24

  8. (h) [shine (*bheh2-) – superiority/might/resolve (*kret-)] underlies the male names Φανοκράτης (IG II2 478, Attica)Footnote 25 and Φασικράτης (IG II2 2332, Attica), with first members to Greek φαίνω ‘shine’ and collocation [κράτος – (ἐκ)φαίνω] ‘make shine power/victory’, cf. Pind. Nem. 4.68 δῶρα καὶ κράτος ἐξέφαναν ἐγγενὲς αὐτῷ ‘[they] made shine for him their gifts and his race's power’. Significantly, the same IE roots occur in the Vedic collocation [krátu- instr. – ví-bhā] ‘widely shine by resolve’; cf. RV 6.68.9c–d máhivrataḥ, krátvā vibhā́tiy ajáro ná śocíṣā ‘here is the one of great commandments [who] radiates by his resolve, like unaging [fire] with its flame’. The type [Xnom. – ví-bhā (widely shine) – Ainstr.] matches the type [Anom. – ví-bhā (widely shine)] within Vedic; cf. RV 1.92.11d cákṣasā ví bhāti ‘[the maiden] radiates forth with the eye’ and 9b cákṣuḥ … ví bhāti ‘[like] an eye shines forth’.Footnote 26

  9. (i) [superiority/might/resolve (*kret-) – (conquering) force (*gu̯ei̯ -)] lies at the basis of several Greek phraseological binomials; cf. νικῆσαι κρατερῆφι βίηφιν ‘win by means of powerful strength’ (Il. 21.501); the couple Κράτος and Βίη ‘Kratos (Might) and Biē (Force)’ (Hes. Theog. 384–5); the compound κρατησιβίαν (Pind. fr. Isthm. 16* S–M) ‘victorious in strength’.Footnote 27 The same IE roots figure in the Vedic collocation [krátu- – jaítra-] attested in RV 10.36.10c.

  10. (j) [find/obtain – superiority/might/resolve (*kret-)] underlies Greek [ἐξευρίσκω – κράτος] ‘find [that is, obtain/gain] superiority/victory/triumph’, cf. Pind. Isthm. 8.5 καὶ Νεμέᾳ ἀέθλων ὅτι κράτος ἐξεῦρε ‘because at Nemea he gained triumph in the contests’. Vedic [ved – krátu- acc.] and kratuvíd- ‘finding resolve’ (RV 9.44.6)Footnote 28 semantically overlap the Pindaric iunctura;Footnote 29 cf. 1.42.7c pū́ṣann ihá krátuṃ vidaḥ ‘Pūṣan, here you will find the resolve’.

These numerous phraseological matches among Greek congeners of κράτος, Vedic krátu- and Avestan xratu- provide strong support for the etymological connection between these terms.

6. VEDIC KRATU- … AGNI- AND GREEK ΚΡΑΤΥΣ ΑΡΓΕΪΦΟΝΤΗΣ

In all cases presented so far, Vedic krátu- and Avestan xratu- are substantives. Therefore, their collocations are mostly comparable to those of the Greek substantive κράτος. However, the Indo-Iranian terms are occasionally used as adjectives, just like κρατύς in Greek. Such Indo-Iranian phrasemes are structurally comparable to Greek κρατὺς Ἀργεϊφόντης.

Specifically, while, in the Avestan corpus, only Ahura Mazda is identified as xratu-,Footnote 30 Vedic krátu- occurs as an attribute or an appellative of three Vedic gods:Footnote 31 Agni (RV 1.77.3, 3.11.6, 6.9.5), Soma (9.86.43, 107.3) and Indra (10.104.10). Moreover, possessive or verbal compounds of krátu- mostly apply to the same divinities:

  1. (i) sukrátu- ‘having a good/strong resolve’ applies twenty-three times to Agni, sixteen times to Indra and eleven times to Soma.

  2. (ii) Indra is often described by means of compounds with a second member -kratu-: śátakratu- ‘having a hundred resolves/victories’ (sixty-seven times), the hapax eirēmena Vedic ámitakratu- ‘of unmatched resolve’ (RV 1.102.6a), avāryákratu- ‘of unobstructable resolve’ (8.92.8c), aviharyatákratu- ‘of un-deflectable resolve’ (1.63.2c), r̥jukrátu- ‘of straight resolve’ (1.81.7b), sambhr̥tákratu- ‘of concentrated resolve’ (1.52.8a), vŕ̥ṣakratuḥ- ‘of bullish resolve’ (6.45.l6c).

  3. (iii) Soma is most commonly the referent of the epithet kratuvíd- ‘finding resolve’ (see §5.j above). Moreover, he shares with Agni the epithets ádr̥ptakratu- ‘of undistracted resolve’ (RV 8.79.7b) and kavíkratu- ‘having a kavi's [poet's] resolve’ (9.9.1c, 25.5c, 62.13c).

  4. (iv) Agni is once described as ádr̥ptakratu- ‘of undistracted resolve’ (RV 6.49.2b), ádbhutakrátu- ‘having unerring resolve’ (8.23.8a), kratuvíd- ‘finding resolve’ (10.2.5c, see §5.j above) and váreṇyakratu- ‘whose resolve is worthy to be chosen’ (8.43.12b). Additionally, the epithet kavikrátu- ‘having the resolve of a kavi [wise poet]/a poet's purpose’ applies to him seven times (1.1.5). Finally, Agni is directly compared to krátu-; cf. durókaśociḥ krátur ná nítyaḥ ‘whose blaze is beyond domestication like one's own will’ (1.66.5a).

Since the semantic palette of krátu- ranges from ‘power/strength’ to ‘mental power, resolve, superiority’ to ‘intention [of sacrificer and receiver of the sacrifice]’, it is not surprising that the term and its compounds ultimately refer to Indra, a deity mostly celebrated for his heroic achievements, and to two deities who are primarily involved in sacrifice, Agni and Soma. Given the common characteristics that Agni and Hermes share,Footnote 32 I submit that Vedic collocations with the structure [krátu-/sukrátu-/kavíkratu- – Agni] are partial matches to Greek κρατὺς Ἀργεϊφόντης.

7. THE ETYMOLOGY OF GREEK ΑΡΓΕΪΦΟΝΤΗΣ

The epithet Ἀργεϊφόντης, the object of intensive scholarly debate concerning both its etymology and its meaning,Footnote 33 provides further support for this comparison, since it may be interpreted as a suitable epithet for an IE fire-god, whose prerogatives were partly inherited by Hermes. As explained by Koller,Footnote 34 the form may reflect an analogical metrical adaptation of *Ἀργεϊφάων or *ἀργεϊφόων, resulting from a univerbation of *ἀργεϊ φά(Ϝ)ων ‘shining/brilliant with/in whiteness/brightness’. Koller's interpretation may be supported in the light of Vedic bhā́r̥jīka- ‘shining with/in whiteness/brightness’ or, possibly, ‘whose whiteness/brightness is shining’.Footnote 35 This epithet exclusively belongs to the Old Indic fire-god Agni (RV 1.44.3, 3.1.12, 14, 10.12.2) and is built with the same lexical material as Ἀργεϊφόντης: IE *bheh2- (bhā́- cf. φάων, -φόντης) and *h2erĝ- (the second compound member -r̥jīka- contains IE *h2r̥ĝi- [cf. *h2erĝesi- being represented as ἀργεϊ- in Greek] and IE -h3ku̯o- ‘white-appearance’).Footnote 36 This correspondence suggests further possible phraseological comparisons, namely between κρατὺς Ἀργεϊφόντης and

  1. (i) the Vedic collocation [krátu-/sukrátu-/kavikrátu- – Agni] (cf. §6.iv);

  2. (ii) Vedic syntagmas in which krátu- is joined to bhā, namely [krátumant- – ví-bhā], [krátu- instr. – ví-bhā] (cf. §5.h). The collocation [krátumant- – ví-bhā] applies to Br̥haspati's power;Footnote 37 cf. bŕ̥haspate áti yád aryó árhād , dyumád vibhā́ti krátumaj jáneṣu ‘Br̥haspati! That which will be worth more than what belongs to the stranger, [that which] will radiate among the peoples with brilliance and purpose’ (RV 2.23.15a–b).

Although Vedic [krátu- instr. – ví-bhā-] is not predicated of Agni, the collocation occurs in the framework of a ‘fire metaphor’; cf. ayáṃ yá urvī́ mahinā́ máhivrataḥ , krátvā vibhā́tiy ajáro ná śocíṣā ‘here is the one of great commandments who radiates through the two wide [worlds] with his greatness and by his resolve, like unaging [fire] with its flame’ (RV 6.68.9c–d).

8. CONCLUSIONS

The results of the present study may be summarized as follows:

  1. (a) κρατύς means ‘mighty, superior’. This meaning pairs well with Ἀργεϊφόντης ‘shining with whiteness/brightness’.

  2. (b) The phraseological match between Ἀργεϊφόντης and Agni's epithet bhā́r̥jīka- supports the proposed interpretation for Ἀργεϊφόντης. At the same time, krátu- and compounds (sukrátu-, kavikrátu-, etc.) apply to Agni, while κρατύς pairs with Hermes (Ἀργεϊφόντης).

  3. (c) The notion of prominence/might/superiority is connected with the prerogative of visibility and shining light in Greek—cf. male names Φανοκράτης, Φασικράτης [κράτος – (ἐκ)φαίνω] (Pind. Nem. 4.68)—and in Vedic: cf. [krátumant- – ví-bhā] and [krátu- instr. – ví-bhā]. At the same time, these same phrasemes are partial formal matches to the formula κρατὺς Ἀργεϊφόντης.

This semantic and linguistic examination sheds light on the conceptual background to one particular trait of the god Hermes. The comparative data change how we look at the formula κρατὺς Ἀργεϊφόντης. However, the linguistic and phraseological analysis allows us to recover the semantics of κρατύς in a manner consistent with what we know about Hermes within Greek culture. The quintessential cunning god, Hermes is mighty/superior because he is endowed with purposeful resolve; as proved by a variety of mythological episodes, the Olympian is a most efficient helper thanks to his proactive thinking (cf. §3 and n. 7). The results of the study additionally suggest that Hermes might have inherited this distinctive prerogative from an IE fire-god: this hypothesis demands verification through an in-depth study of further IE comparanda, which I intend to pursue elsewhere.

Footnotes

This paper was written within the framework of the project ‘Hermes–God of Fire. Reconstructing the Indo-European Background of an Olympian God’, funded by the Carlsberg Foundation. Rigvedic translations are from S. Jamison and J.P. Brereton (transl.), The Rigveda. The Earliest Religious Poetry of India (Oxford, 2014). I thank CQ's reader for suggestions, and Emily Reith for reviewing my English.

References

1 So P.O. Skjærvø (transl.), Zoroastrian Texts. Handout for use in ‘Early Iranian Civilizations 102’ (Divinity School no. 3663a, 2007).

2 ‘Caland's Law’ is a rule of morphological replacement, according to which ro-adjectives take an i-suffix when they appear as first compound members. Since the rule extends to an entire set of suffixes, ‘Caland System’ designates the stems and morphemes participating in this series of morphological replacement. Cf. A.J. Nussbaum, ‘Caland Law and the Caland System’ (Diss., Harvard University, 1976).

3 Cf. J.L. Breuil, ‘Κράτος et sa famille chez Homère: étude sémantique’, in M. Casevitz (ed.), Études homériques. Séminaire de recherche sous la direction de Michel Casevitz (Lyon, 1989), 17–53, at 25.

4 As noted by Rau, J., Indo-European Nominal Morphology: The Decads and the Caland System (Innsbruck, 2009), 118Google Scholar n. 16, the zero-grade in the s-stem κράτος reflects an extension of the zero-grade from the adjective (κρατύς) to the adjective abstract (κράτος), since adjectives are generally taken as the derivational basis for all the Caland formations.

5 For the men's names with a first member καρτ(α)ι-/κρατ(α)ι-, cf. F. Bechtel, Die historischen Personennamen des Griechischen bis zur Kaiserzeit (Halle a.d.S., 1917), 256. The origin of the first compound member κραται- (or καρται-) is debated. According to Nagy, G., The Best of the Achaeans. Concepts of the Hero in the Archaic Greek Poetry (Baltimore, 1999)Google Scholar, ch. 5, §31, κραται- is a contamination of κρατι- and καρτα-, on the basis of which κραταιός was built. C. de Lamberterie, Les adjectifs grecs en -us, 2 vols. (Louvain-la-Neuve, 1990), 1.343 suggests that κραταιός was secondarily formed on an archaic feminine of κρατύς, κραταιά (cf. Hom. μοῖρα κραταιή). Furthermore, the first compound member κραται- reflects an artificial form influenced by κραταιή, by means of which unmetrical compounds, such as κρατίπεδος, were adapted to the Greek hexameter. T. Meissner, S-Stem Nouns and Adjectives in Greek and Proto-Indo-European. A Diachronic Study in Word Formation (Oxford, 2006), 70–1 reconstructs *krath2u- as underlying κρατύς on the basis of the feminine κραταιή and the first compound member κραται-. The etymological tie between κρατύς and Vedic krátu-, Avestan xratu- (see §5 below) speaks against this reconstruction: the Indo-Iranian terms exhibit no reflex of -h2- (laryngeal 2), which regularly causes aspiration on voiceless stops in Indo-Iranian.

6 Epithets belonging to the semantic field of war apply to Hermes only as the god ‘who watches/protects boundaries’; cf. A. Kuhle, Hermes und die Bürger: Der Hermeskult in den griechischen Poleis (Stuttgart, 2020), 48–102. J.L. García Ramón, ‘Espace religieux, théonymes, épiclèse. À propos des nouveaux textes thébains’, in I. Boehm and S. Müller-Celka (edd.), Espace civil, espace religieux en Égée durant la période mycénienne (Lyon, 2010), 73–92, at 88 argues against the warlike character of Hermes, despite the existence of Mycenaean e-ma-ạ2 a-re-ja = hErmāhāi Areiāi ‘Hermes Areias’ in PY Tn 316 (thirteenth century b.c.e.) v.7. Indeed, although a helper of Ares (cf. Il. 5.385–91), Hermes does not seem to be a warlike god. Macedo, J.M., ‘Hermes a-re-ja (PY Tn 316): a new interpretation’, Kadmos 55 (2016), 67–82CrossRefGoogle Scholar argues that Mycenaean a-re-ja reflects /aleii̯āi/ (dative) ‘defence’; such an epithet applies to Hermes as a helping deity, who protects from potential danger.

7 For Hermes as god of deceit, see P.J. Finglass, Sophocles Electra (Cambridge, 2007), 507–8.

8 On the semantics, cf. Rönnow, K., ‘Ved. krátu-. Eine wortgeschichtliche Untersuchung’, Le Monde Oriental 26–7 (1932–3), 1–90Google Scholar.

9 Cf. C. Bartholomae, Altiranisches Wörterbuch (Strassburg, 1904), 535–7; Ahmadi, A., ‘Avestan xratu-’, Iranian Studies 47 (2014), 903–13CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Cf. L. Renou, Études védiques et pāṇinéennes IV (Paris, 1958), 47: ‘required quality: the capacity of understanding, which immediately precedes an act of creation … the disposition of one's spirit towards the action … the purposeful planning and will of an action’ (my translations).

11 Rönnow (n. 8), 56: ‘xratu- has the main role’ as ‘the capacity of a human being, through which a person puts himself at the service of good or evil, and the driving force of his actions’ (my translation).

12 Translation based on H. Humbach and K. Faiß, Zarathushtra and his Antagonists. A Sociolinguistic Study with English and German Translations of his Gāthās (Wiesbaden, 2010).

13 G. Curtius, Grundzüge der griechischen Etymologie (Leipzig, 1873), 184. Accepted by H. Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (Heidelberg, 1960–72), 2.9; P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots (Paris, 1968–80, new edn 2009), 579; R.P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden and Boston, 2010), 1.773.

14 K. Strunk, ‘Semantisches und Formales zum Verhältnis von Indoiran. krátu-/xratu- und Gr. κρατύς’, in C. Toll (ed.), Monumentum H.S. Nyberg (Teheran / Liège / Leiden, 1975), 2.265–96, at 289 = Kleine Schriften (Innsbruck, 2005), 1.367–98, at 396, arguing that κρατύς is a feminine abstract in -τυ and the formula κρατὺς Ἀργεϊφόντης reflects a type βίη Ἡρακλείη, meaning ‘magische Kraft argeiphontisch’ or ‘magische Kraft Argeiphontes’ or ‘magische Kraft des Argeiphontes’ (‘magic force [κρατύς] argeiphontic/Argeiphontes/of the Argeiphontes [Ἀργεϊφόντης]’). However, oxytone stems in -tu are usually feminine abstracts, displaying a long -ῡ-, e.g. feminine γραπτύς ‘scratching’ besides γράφω ‘write, scratch’ (cf. É. Benveniste, Origines de la formation des nomes en indo-européen [Paris, 1935], 71–2), whereas Greek κρατύς (masc.) shows no trace of a long vowel.

15 A.J. Nussbaum, Two Studies in Greek and Homeric Linguistics (Göttingen, 1998), 147.

16 É. Benveniste, Le vocabulaire des institutions indo-européennes (Paris, 1969), 2.71–83 proposes an etymological link between κρατύς and Gothic hardus ‘hard’; cf. de Lamberterie (n. 5), 1.323–55, who argues for the IE root *(s)kert- ‘cut’ as underlying the terms. However, Gothic hardus, together with other Germanic words for ‘hard’, may reflect *kort-ú-: K. Strunk, ‘Gr. κρατύς und germ. *χarđus. Nachtrag zu einer fragwürdigen Etymologie’, Münchener Studien zur Sprachwissenschaft 34 (1976), 169–70 = Kleine Schriften (Innsbruck, 2005), 1.399–400. L. van Beek, ‘The development of the Proto-Indo-European syllabic liquids in Greek’ (Diss., Leiden, 2013), 117–57 contends that κρατύς ‘impetuous’ (?) derives from IE *ƙreth1- ‘loose’, proposing a further word-equation between κρατερός and Vedic śithirá- ‘loose, flexible’. But assuming Vedic śithirá- goes back to IE *ƙreth1- ‘loosen’ implies that *h1- caused aspiration on unvoiced stops in Vedic, which is far from certain, pace A.M. Lubotsky, ‘The origin of Sanskrit roots of the type sīv- ‘sew’, dīv- ‘play dice’, with an appendix on Vedic i-perfects’, in S. Jamison, H.C. Melchert and B. Vine (edd.), Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Indo-European Conference (Bremen, 2011), 105–26, at 115.

17 The collocation [κράτος – ἐγγυαλίζω] ‘handle overpower/bestow victory in the hands of’ (Il. 11.192) is a variant of the same collocation.

18 L. Massetti, ‘Phraseologie und indogermanische Dichtersprache in der Sprache der griechischen Chorlyrik: Pindar und Bakchylides’ (Diss. Cologne, 2019): http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:CHS_MassettiL.Phraseologie_und_indogermanische_Dichtersprache.2019, 73–4, 135–6, 154–6.

19 IG II² 1006. The man's name Μενεκράτης (Hecat.) might also belong to the same group. As García Ramón points out to me (personal communication), σθένος was synchronically perceived as a term whose semantics partially overlapped those of κράτος; cf. Hsch. α 2546 Latte–Cunningham ἀκρατές· ἀσθενές ‘akrates: without strengths (sthenos)’. In the light of this synchronic equation, μέγα σθένος (Hom.), μεγασθενής (Hes. and inscriptions), ἐρισθενής (Hom.) are partial synonyms of the Greek collocations and compounds mentioned above.

20 J. Schindler, ‘Zur avestischen Kompositionslehre: aš.- ‘groß’’, in G. Cardona and N.H. Zide (edd.), Festschrift for Henry Hoenigswald on the Occasion of his Seventieth Birthday (Tübingen, 1987), 337–54, at 341–2.

21 The collocation [krátu- – br̥hánt-] (RV 1.2.8c) is an additional partial match for [μέγα – κράτος], since Vedic br̥hánt- appears in similar collocations as μέγας in Greek; cf. Massetti (n. 18), 118–19.

22 Cf. Yt. 1.26, 28.1, 31.11, 32.4, 45.2, 46.18, 48.3.

23 Transl. I. Gershevitch, The Avestan Hymn to Mithra (Cambridge, Mass., 1959). Elsewhere hac is constructed with no direct object and is thus understood as ‘be in harmony’; cf. Y. 45.2c–e.

24 [sac – krátu- instr.] is found in RV 1.145.2d.

25 Additionally, Φανοσθένης (IG I3 182) partially matches Φανοκράτης.

26 Massetti (n. 18), 134.

27 W.J. Slater, Lexicon to Pindar (Berlin, 1969), s.v. κρατησιβίας.

28 The superlative kratuvíttama- is found in RV 9.108.1b.

29 S. Scarlata, Die Wurzelkomposita im R̥gveda (Wiesbaden, 1999), 482 points out the construction [vásu- – ved – krátu-instr.] in RV 2.13.11b.

30 Cf. Vr. 19.1h–i, Yt. 1.7h–i.

31 H. Grassmann and M. Koziaka, Wörterbuch zum Rig-Veda (Wiesbaden, 19966), 353–4 specify fifteen possible meanings. According to J.G. Pinault, ‘Le substantif épithète dans la langue de la Rik-Samhitâ’, in E. Pirart (ed.), Syntaxe des langues indo-iraniennes anciennes (Actes du Colloque international organisé par l'Institut du Proche-Orient Ancien, Sitges [Barcelona], 4–5 mai 1993) (Sabadell, 1997), 111–41, at 121, as an epithet, krátu- equates the adjectives krátumant- ‘provided with resolve’.

32 For Hermes as inheritor of an IE fire-god's prerogatives, see L. Massetti, ‘Hermes and Hestia revisited: Hermes ἀκάκητα and the funerary fire’, in S. Jamison and B. Vine (edd.), Proceedings of the 31st Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, Los Angeles, November 7–8, 2019 (Bremen, 2021), 197–213.

33 L. Massetti, ‘ἀργεϊφόντης … πῦρ ἀμαρύσσων: a poetic etymology?’, QUCC 128 (2021), 11–27, at 21 n. 2.

34 H. Koller, ‘Ἀργεϊφόντης’, Glotta 5 (1976), 211–15; Janda, M., Elysion. Entstehung und Entwicklung der griechischen Religion (Innsbruck, 2005), 75–84Google Scholar.

35 Cf. L. Massetti, ‘Hermes Ἀργεϊφόντης and Agni bhā́r̥jīka-’, IF 127 (2022), 131–50.

36 P. Thieme, Untersuchungen zur Wortkunde und Auslegung des Rigveda (Halle a.d.S., 1948), 40 n. 2.

37 Br̥haspati is sometimes identified with Agni (e.g. RV 1.38.13): Macdonell, A.A., Vedic Mythology (Strassburg, 1897), 102CrossRefGoogle Scholar.