Lexicographic entries

ὕσπληξ
(Phryn. Ecl. 48, Phryn. PS 120.9, Moer. υ 5)

A. Main sources

(1) Phryn. Ecl. 48: ἡ ὕσπληξ λέγεται, ἀλλ’ οὐχ ὁ ὕσπληξ.

ὕσπληξ (‘snare’; ‘barrier at the start of a race’) is used in the feminine, but not in the masculine.

(2) Phryn. PS 120.9: ὕσπληξ· θηλυκῶς, οὐκ ἀρρενικῶς.

ὕσπληξ: [It is used] in the feminine, not in the masculine.

(3) Moer. υ 5: ὕσπληξ θηλυκῶς Ἀττικοί· ἀρσενικῶς Ἕλληνες.

Users of Attic [employ] ὕσπληξ in the feminine; users of Greek [employ it] in the masculine.

B. Other erudite sources

(1) Thom.Mag. 365.5: ὔσπληξ θηλυκῶς ἐρεῖς, οὐχ ὁ ὕσπληξ.

You shall say ὔσπληξ in the feminine, not in the masculine.

C. Loci classici, other relevant texts

(1) Hero Aut. 2.8.1–3: τάσιν δὲ ὕσπληγγος ἢ βάρος λείας δεῖ πρὸς τὰ ὅλα ἡρμόσθαι, ὅπως μὴ κατακρατῆται ἤτοι τὸ βάρος ἢ ἡ τοῦ ὕσπληγγος τάσις ὑπὸ τοῦ πλινθίου.

The tension of the twisted rope or the weight of the stone must be suited to the machine as a whole so that neither the weight nor the tension of the twisted rope is exceeded by the front frame.

(2) SGO 06/02/21 = I.Pergamon 10, vv. 1–4 [Pergamon, ca. 276 BCE]:
[πο]λ̣λὰ μὲν ἐγ Λ[ι]βύης ἦλθ’ ἅρματα, πολλὰ δ’ ἀπ’ Ἄργευς,
[πο]λλὰ δὲ π[ι]είρη̣ς ἦλθ’ ἀπὸ Θεσσαλίης,
[ο]ἷσιν ἐνη̣ριθ̣[μ]εῖτο καὶ Ἀττάλου. ἀθρόα δ’ ὕσπληξ
πάντα διὰ στρεπτοῦ τείνατ’ ἔχουσα κάλω

Many chariots came from Libya, many from Argos, many from rich Thessaly, among which [the chariot] of Attalus was also numbered. The barrier tightened, holding all [the chariots] together with a twisted rope.

(3) Plu. Quaestiones convivales 732d: ἐδόκει καὶ λόγον ἔχειν τὸ μὴ δρόμῳ, καθάπερ ὕσπληγος μιᾶς πεσούσης, ἐκδραμεῖν τὰ πάθη πρὸς τὴν γένεσιν, ἄλλων δ’ ἄλλοις ἀεὶ κατόπιν ἐπιγινομένων ἕκαστον ἐν χρόνῳ τινὶ λαβεῖν τὴν πρώτην γένεσιν.

We considered it probable that diseases did not rush into existence in a racing start, at the drop of one barrier, as it were, but that they kept arriving one after another, so that each individually, after an interval, came into being for the first time. (Transl. Minar, Sandbach, Helmbold 1961, 195).

(4) Luc. Cal. 12: κἀκεῖ γὰρ ὁ μὲν ἀγαθὸς δρομεὺς τῆς ὕσπληγγος εὐθὺς καταπεσούσης μόνον τοῦ πρόσω ἐφιέμενος καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν ἀποτείνας πρὸς τὸ τέρμα κἀν τοῖς ποσὶ τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς νίκης ἔχων τὸν πλησίον οὐδὲν κακουργεῖ οὐδέ τι τῶν κατὰ τοὺς ἀγωνιστὰς πολυπραγμονεῖ […].

In this case, too, at the drop of the barrier, the valiant runner rushes forward, making for the finish line and placing the hope of victory in his feet, and does not harm the next man or scheme against his opponents […].

D. General commentary

Three entries by Atticist lexicographers (Phrynichus, A.1 and A.2; Moeris, A.3) deal with the gender of the noun ὕσπλη(γ)ξ, (‘snare’; ‘barrier at the start of a race’), favouring the feminine form over the masculine; in the Byzantine period, the same prescription is found in the lexicon by Thomas Magister (B.1).

The etymology of the noun ὕσπληξ – also attested in the form ὕσπληγξ – is uncertain. Its interpretation as a compound of ὑσ- (from ὕστερος, ‘latter’) and -πληξ (from πλήσσω, ‘to strike’) is unsatisfactory from both a morphological and a semantic point of view. Another reconstruction, already offered by Eustathius (in D.P. 119.27–9), explains the noun as the outcome of πλήσσω + ὕς (‘swine’). Yet, because of the variant ὕσπληγξ with nasalisationNasalisation, the noun is more likely to have a pre-Greek origin, and it was later linked to the verb πλήσσω by popular etymology: see DELG, EDG s.v.

ὕσπλη(γ)ξ is first attested in Plato (Phdr. 254e.1–2), where however the gender cannot be assessed. The noun is undoubtedly attested in the masculine form in Heron’s De automatis (see e.g. 2.6.4, C.1). The first certain attestations of the feminine form in literary texts date from the 1st–2nd century CE (Harp. β 1, C.3, C.4), whereas in epigraphic documents the feminine form appears already in Hellenistic epigrams: see CEG 835.4 = SEG 40.836.4 τῆς ὕσ̣π̣λ̣[ηγος [Locri Epizefiri, 350-300 BCE or early 3rd century BCE] and C.2. Hence, there is no clear attestations of the feminine ὕσπλη(γ)ξ in classical texts to support the Atticists’ preference for this form.

The discussion of the gender of ὕσπλη(γ)ξ is one of several examples in which Atticist lexicographers discuss cases of gender change; see AGP vol. 2, Morphology, forthcoming, and entries βάτος, βῶλος, λάγυνος, ὄμφαξ, φάρυγξ and χάραξ.

E. Byzantine and Modern Greek commentary

N/A

F. Commentary on individual texts and occurrences

N/A

Bibliography

Minar, E. L.; Sandbach, F. H.; Helmbold, W. C. (1961). Plutarch. Moralia. Vol. 9: Table-talk. Books 7–9. Dialogue on Love. Translated by Edwin L. Minar, Jr., F. H. Sandbach, and W. C. Helmbold. Cambridge, MA.

CITE THIS

Elisa Nuria Merisio, 'ὕσπληξ (Phryn. Ecl. 48, Phryn. PS 120.9, Moer. υ 5)', in Olga Tribulato (ed.), Digital Encyclopedia of Atticism. With the assistance of E. N. Merisio.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30687/DEA/2974-8240/2024/03/004

ABSTRACT

This article provides a philological and linguistic commentary on the noun ὕσπληξ, discussed in the Atticist lexica Phryn. Ecl. 48, Phryn. PS 120.9, Moer. υ 5.