Lexicographic entries

λυχνία, λυχνεῖον
(Phryn. Ecl. 288, Phryn. PS 86.21, Poll. 10.115)

A. Main sources

(1) Phryn. Ecl. 288: λυχνίαν· ἀντὶ τούτου λυχνεῖον λέγε ὡς ἡ κωμῳδία.

λυχνεῖον fam. d : λύχνιον fam. bc, cod. B.

λυχνίαν (‘lampstand’, acc. sing.): In place of this use λυχνεῖον, as comedy [does].

(2) Phryn. PS 86.21: λυχνίον· οἱ ἀμαθεῖς λυχνίαν αὐτὸ καλοῦσιν.

λυχνίον should be emended to λυχνεῖον (see D.).

λυχνίον: Uneducated people call it λυχνία.

(3) Poll. 10.115: καὶ λύχνιον μὲν ἐφ’ οὗ ἐντίθεται ὁ λύχνος, ἡ καλουμένη λυχνία.

Cf. Poll. 6.103: λύχνοι δὲ καὶ λυχνία· οὕτω δὲ ἐκαλοῦντο αἱ λυχνίαι […], ‘λύχνοι (‘lamps’) and λυχνία (i.e. λυχνεῖα): so are called the λυχνίαι […]’.

And the λύχνιον, on which the lamp is placed, [i.e.] the so-called λυχνία.

B. Other erudite sources

(1) [Ammon.] 304: […] λυχνεῖον δὲ ἐκάλουν τὴν λυχνείαν.

Cf. Thom.Mag. 222.6: λυχνεῖον δὲ τὴν λυχνίαν.

[Attic authors] called the λυχνεία λυχνεῖον.

(2) [Ammon.] 305 (~ Herenn.Phil. λ 112): λυχνίον λυχνού<χου> διαφέρει. λυχνίον μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἡ λυχνία ὡς Ἀντιφάνης φησὶν ἐν Ἀφροδίτης γοναῖς, λυχνοῦχος δὲ ὁ φανός.

Cf. Et.Gud. 375.13–5. In fact, the λυχνοῦχος is different from the φανός (‘torch’) too, for it indicates a kind of lantern used in the open air: cf. Phryn. PS 87.1–3Phryn. PS 87.1–3: λυχνοῦχος μέν ἐστι σκεῦός τι ἐν κύκλῳ ἔχον κέρατα, ἔνδον δὲ λύχνον ἡμμένον, διὰ τῶν κεράτων τὸ φῶς πέμποντα (‘The λυχνοῦχος is a vessel with brackets arranged in a circle and a lamp kindled in (it), which sends lights through the brackets’) and Rutherford (1881, 131–2).

λυχνίον is different from λυχνοῦχος, for λυχνίον is the lampstand (λυχνία), as Antiphanes says in The Birth of Aphrodite (fr. 57.2 = C.3), whereas λυχνοῦχος is the torch.

(3) Ath. 15.700c–d: Φερεκράτης δὲ ἐν Κραπατάλοις τὴν νῦν λυχνίαν καλουμένην λυχνίον κέκληκεν διὰ τούτων· ‘(A) τίς τῶν λυχνίων ἡργασία; (Β) Τυρρηνική’. ποικίλαι γὰρ ἦσαν αἱ παρὰ τοῖς Τυρρηνοῖς ἐργασίαι φιλοτέχνων ὄντων τῶν Τυρρηνῶν. Ἀριστοφάνης δ’ Ἱππεῦσι· ‘τῶν δ’ ἀκοντίων | συνδοῦντες ὀρθὰ τρία λυχνίῳ χρώμεθα’. Δίφιλος δ’ ἐν Ἀγνοίᾳ· ‘ἅψαντες λύχνον | λυχνεῖον ἐζητοῦμεν’.

λυχνίον codd. CE : †λuχνειον† cod. A : λυχνείαν cod. B : λύχνειον codd. MP, Musurus | λυχνίων cod. A : λυχνείων Musurus (see C.1) | Ἀριστοφάνης codd. ACE : Ἀντιφάνης Porson | λυχνίω or λυχνίῳ codd. ACE, Eust. (B.7) : λυχνείῳ Musurus.

Pherecrates, in Small Change, (fr. 90 = C.1) uses the term λυχνίον (‘lampstand’) for what is known today as a λυχνία, in the following passage: ‘(A) Where were these lampstands (λυχνίων, neut. plur.) made? (B) [They’re] Etruscan’. A wide variety of goods were manufactured in Etruria, since the Etruscans were interested in crafts of all sorts. Aristophanes (actually Antiphanes) in Knights (fr. 109 = C.4): ‘We tie three of the javelin-shafts together, stand them upright, and use them as a lampstand (λυχνίῳ)’. Diphilus in Ignorance (fr. 2 = C.5): ‘After we lit a lamp (λύχνον), we started looking for a lampstand (λυχνεῖον)’. (Transl. Olson 2012, 197, modified).

(4) Hsch. λ 1474: λύχνιον· ἡ λυχνία.

λυχνίον cod. H (on the accent see Dindorf, ThLG vol. 5, 455 and D.). Cf. Phot. λ 489.

λύχνιον: [It means] lampstand (λυχνία).

(5) Su. λ 877: λύχνιον· οὐδετέρως λέγεται τὸ λύχνιον. ‘κελεύει τῶν λυχνίων τῶν ἀνακειμένων αὐτῷ (ἀργυρᾶ δὲ ἦν ταῦτα) τὸ ἕτερον φέρειν ἀράμενον ἐμφανῶς’.

λύχνιον: λύχνιον is used in the neuter gender. ‘He orders that one of the (two) lampstands offered to him (for they were made of silver) be brought after being publicly raised’ (Ael. fr. 141b Domingo-Forasté = C.7).

(6) Phot. λ 490: λυχνίον λεκτέον, οὐχὶ λυχνίαν.

λυχνίον Dindorf (ThGL vol. 5, 454) : λυχνία codd. gz.

One should say λυχνίον, not λυχνία.

(7) Eust. in Od. η 84–133 (2.290.8–11 Cullhed–Olson): τὴν δὲ ἐκ ξύλων τετμημένων σύνθεσιν τοῦ εἴτε φανοῦ εἴτε λύχνου δηλοῖ, φασι, καὶ Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν τῷ ‘τῶν ἀκοντίων συνδοῦντες ὀρθὰ τρία, λυχνίῳ χρώμεθα’, ἤγουν λυχνίᾳ· τὴν γὰρ νῦν, φασι, λυχνίαν λυχνίον ἐκάλουν, ὡς Φερεκράτης.

Aristophanes (actually Antiphanes) as well, they say, illustrates the binding together of pieces of split wood to produce either a φανός (‘torch’) or a λύχνος (‘lamp’), in ‘We tie three of the javelin-shafts together, set them upright, and use them as a lampstand (λυχνίῳ)’ (fr. 109 = C.4), i.e. as a λυχνία (‘lampstand’); because they used to refer to what is today a λυχνία, they say, as a λυχνίον, as Pherecrates [does] (probably fr. 90 = C.1). (Transl. Cullhed, Olson 2023, 291, modified).

(8) Eust. in Od. 2.189.37–9: ὅτι δὲ λύχνῳ σύστοιχόν τι λυχνοῦχος ὁ φανὸς καὶ τὸ λύχνιον, ὅ πέρ ἐστι λυχνία προπαροξυτόνως ἀναλόγως τῷ θύρα, θύριον καὶ λύρα, λύριον, δηλοῦσιν οἱ παλαιοί.

The ancients indicate that the λυχνοῦχος, the torch, corresponds to λύχνος and that λύχνιον, i.e. the lampstand (λυχνία), [is accented] proparoxytone by analogy with θύρα (‘door’), θύριον (‘little door’), and λύρα (‘lyre’), λύριον (‘little lyre’).

(9) [Zonar.] 1323.21–2: λυχνίον. ὁ λύχνος. λυχνεῖον δὲ ὁ τόπος τοῦ λύχνου, διὰ διφθόγγου.

λυχνίον: [It means] lamp. λυχνεῖον, with the diphthong, [is] instead the place of the lamp (i.e. the object on which the lamp is placed).

C. Loci classici, other relevant texts

(1) Pherecr. fr. 90:
(A) τίς τῶν λυχνείων ἡργασία; (Β) Τυρρηνική.

λυχνίων Athenaeus’ cod. A, corrected by Musurus (see B.3, apparatus); cf. Franchini (2020, 37).

(A) Where were these lampstands made? (B) [They’re] Etruscan. (Transl. Olson 2012, 197, adapted).

(2) Ar. fr. 573:
στίλβη θ’ ἣ κατὰ νύκτα μοι
φλόγ’ ἀνασειράζεις ἐπὶ τῷ
λυχνείῳ

λυχνίῳ codd., corrected by Dindorf (1835 vol. 2, 663).

You lamp, that at night hold back the flame for me on the lamp holder.

(3) Antiph. fr. 57.1–3:
τονδὶ λέγω, σὺ δ’ οὐ συνιεῖς; κότταβος
τὸ λυχνεῖόν ἐστι. πρόσεχε τὸν νοῦν· ᾠὰ μὲν
⏒ – ⏑ – ⏒ πέντε νικητήριον.

λυχνεῖον Blaydes (1896, 103) : λυχνίον or λύχνιον Athenaeus’ codd. ACE (15.666f).

I’m talking about this; but you don’t understand? The lampstand is the cottabus-equipment. Pay attention! Eggs, on the one hand, five … as a prize. (Transl. Olson 2023, 218).

(4) Antiph. fr. 109:
τῶν δ’ ἀκοντίων
συνδοῦντες ὀρθὰ τρία λυχνείῳ χρώμεθα

λυχνίω(ι) Athenaeus’ codd. ACE, Eust. (B.7), corrected by Musurus (see B.3, apparatus).

We tie three of the javelin-shafts together, stand them upright, and use them as a lampstand. (Transl. Cullhed, Olson 2023, 291, adapted).

(5) Diph. fr. 2:
ἅψαντες λύχνον
λυχνεῖον ἐζητοῦμεν

After we lit a lamp, we started looking for a lampstand. (Transl. Olson 2012, 197, adapted).

(6) LXX Ex. 25.31: καὶ ποιήσεις λυχνίαν ἐκ χρυσίου καθαροῦ, τορευτὴν ποιήσεις τὴν λυχνίαν.

You will also make a pure gold lampstand. You will work the lampstand with a hammer.

(7) Ael. fr. 141b Domingo-Forasté: κελεύει τῶν λυχνίων τῶν ἀνακειμένων αὐτῷ, ἀργυρᾶ δὲ ἦν ταῦτα, τὸ ἕτερον φέρειν ἀράμενον ἐμφανῶς.

He orders that one of the (two) lampstands offered to him be brought (they were in fact made of silver) after publicly raising it.

D. General commentary

In both the Eclogue (A.1) and the Praeparatio sophistica (A.2), Phrynichus prescribes the noun λυχνεῖον (on the spelling λυχνίον, see below) instead of λυχνία to denote the lampstand. Firstly, two issues will be addressed in the commentary: the meaning and distribution of these forms in literary texts and the accentuation of λυχνεῖον/λυχνίον, which in later lexicographical sources is sometimes attested as proparoxytone (λύχνιον). Finally, the reasons behind Phrynichus’ proscription of λυχνία will be investigated (on the general distrust of nouns in -ία in Atticist lexica, see entry θερμότης, θερμασία; ἱκεσία, ἱκετεία; κάκη, κακία; μιαρία, μιαρός and AGP vol. 2, Nominal Morphology, forthcoming).

λυχνεῖον/λυχνίον is a denominal derivativeDerivatives from the noun λύχνος (‘lamp’) and belongs to a category of utensil nouns formed with the suffix -ιον/-εῖον-ιον; see Chantraine (1933, 58; 60–1). Apart from an attestation in a fragment of the Peripatetic philosopher Clearchus quoted by Athenaeus (fr. 87.4 = Ath. 14.648f), the form λυχνεῖον is attested only in comedy (cf. C.1, C.2, C.3, C.4, and C.5; apart from C.5, in the other passages the form λυχνεῖον is the result of modern emendations – required by the metre – of the transmitted λυχνίον) and in Attic inscriptions (cf. e.g. IG 1³.422.109 [414/3 BCE], IG 2².1425.348, 368, 370, and 413 [368/7 BCE]; see Threatte 1980, 316), but apparently it disappears after the 3rd century BCE, except in grammatical texts. Since in Attic texts the attested form is λυχνεῖον rather than λυχνίον, one may assume that this is the form to be read in both Phrynichus’ Eclogue (A.1) and Praeparatio sophistica (A.2), although in the latter case no graphic variations are recorded in the manuscript tradition; cf. Olson (2023, 220 n. 124). Similarly, λυχνεῖον is most likely to be read instead of λυχνίον in the grammatical sources quoting comic passages (B.2, B.3, B.7), as well as in those presumably derived from Atticist sources (B.6).

More complex are the cases in which the proparoxytone form λύχνιον appears to be original in the text (A.3, B.4, B.5). This accentualAccent variation falls within the broader difficulty of establishing definite rules for the accentuation of nouns in -ιον: see Dieu (2022, 303–6). In fact, in B.4 the transmitted λυχνίον was corrected to λύχνιον by Dindorf (ThLG vol. 5, 455), who, on the basis of the evidence provided by Eustathius (B.8), argued that the form without the diphthong should be accented proparoxytone, on the model of other nouns such as θύριον (‘little door’) and λύριον (‘little lyre’) – on the development of the suffix -ιον for the formation of diminutives, hypocoristics, and pejoratives, see Chantraine (1933, 64–8). The proparoxytone λύχνιον is indeed attested in Theoc. 21.36, where it nevertheless appears to have the meaning ‘lamp’ rather than ‘lampstand’. The meaning ‘lamp’ for proparoxytone λύχνιον is also attested in a 3rd-century CE papyrus (P.Thebt. 2.406.12 = TM 13558; cf. Gow 1952, 377), and this usage seems to be reflected in B.9, which explicitly distinguishes between a form λυχνίον (perhaps to be corrected to λύχνιον?) meaning λύχνος (‘lamp’) and a form λυχνεῖον meaning ‘lampstand’. While in B.4 it is thus reasonable to correct λυχνίον to λυχνεῖον rather than to λύχνιον, as suggested by Dindorf, given the interpretamentum λυχνία ‘lampstand’ offered by Hesychius, the situation is more equivocal in B.5, since the form λύχνιον is the one transmitted (note that in the fragment of Aelianus (C.7) quoted by the Suda, the form λυχνίων could derive either from λυχνίον (= λυχνεῖον) – cf. Schmid, Atticismus vol. 3, 209 – or from λύχνιον). A similar uncertainty arises in A.3 (cf. also Poll. 7.178Poll. 7.178; but see Poll. 6.103Poll. 6.103 [apparatus of A.3], where the transmitted form is λυχνία, hence λυχνεῖα). What is certain, however, is that in all three passages (A.3, B.4, and B.5) a lampstand, and not a lamp, is meant – in contrast to λύχνιον in the Theocritean passage.

λυχνία (with the alternative spellings λυχνέα and λυχνεία), rejected by Phrynichus, is likewise a nominal formation from λύχνος with the addition of -ία (in Schmid, Atticismus vol. 4, 686, this formation is described as ‘abnormal’ in both form and meaning, probably because it is built on a 2nd-declension noun rather than on an adjective, and denotes a concrete object like the noun from which it derives). The suffix -ία is highly productive throughout the history of the Greek language, and especially in the koine, where it gave rise to numerous new nouns; see Chantraine (1933, 83). In literary texts, λυχνία is attested from the Septuagint onwards (cf. e.g. C.6, Lev. 24.4, Num. 3.31); it is used by Jewish authors (cf. e.g. Ph. Quis rerum divinarum heres sit 216; Ios. AJ 3.144) and in the New Testament (cf. e.g. Ev.Matt. 5.15, Ev.Marc. 4.21, Ev.Luc. 8.16). It is also attested in Hellenistic inscriptions and papyri: cf. e.g. IG 11,2.161C.66 and 68–9 [Delos, 278 BCE], IG 12,4.348.120 [Cos, c. 300 BCE], BGU 8.1854.11 (= TM 4933) [Herakleopolites, 74–44 BCE], P.Eleph. 5.7 (= TM 5840) [281 BCE]; cf. Mayser, Gramm. vol. 1,3, 28. The word continues to occur frequently even in the Medieval period, and in Modern Greek λυχνία is still in use with the meaning ‘light bulb’ or ‘diode’; see LKN s.v.

Given the spread of λυχνία from the Hellenistic period onwards, and its numerous attestations in the Septuagint (cf. Muraoka 2009, s.v.), where the noun translates the HebrewHebrew menorah (מְנֹרָה) – the sacred seven-branched lampstand placed in the Temple of Jerusalem, one of the symbols of the Jewish religion, described in detail in LXX Ex. 25.31–9 (cf. C.6) – one may wonder whether the creation of the feminine noun in -ία, replacing the classical λυχνεῖον, was influenced by the grammatical gender of the corresponding and widespread Hebrew feminine noun. Whatever its origin, Phrynichus’ proscription of λυχνία is readily explained by the late chronology of this word, which merely serves as a synonymicSynonyms alternative to the older term λυχνεῖον, attested in the authors of Attic comedy.

E. Byzantine and Modern Greek commentary

N/A

F. Commentary on individual texts and occurrences

N/A

Bibliography

Blaydes, F. H. M. (1896). Adversaria in Comicorum Graecorum fragmenta. Vol. 2: Secundum editionem Kockianam. Halle.

Cullhed, E.; Olson, S. D. (eds.) (2023). Eustathius of Thessalonica. Commentary on the Odyssey. Vol. 2: Commentary on Rhapsodies 5–8. Leiden.

Dieu, E. (2022). Traité d’accentuation grecque. Innsbruck.

Dindorf, W. (1835). Aristophanis comoediae. Accedunt perditarum fabularum fragmenta. 3 vols. Oxford.

Gow, A. S. F. (1952). Theocritus. Edited with a Translation and Commentary. Vol. 2: Commentary, Appendix, Indexes, and Plates. Cambridge.

Franchini, E. (2020). Ferecrate. Krapataloi – Pseudherakles (frr. 85–163). Introduzione, traduzione, commento. Göttingen.

Muraoka, T. (2009). A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint. Louvain, Paris, Walpole, MA.

Rutherford, W. G. (1881). The New Phrynichus. Being a Revised Text of the Ecloga of the Grammarian Phrynichus. London.

Olson, S. D. (2012). Athenaeus. The Learned Banqueters. Vol. 8: Book 15. General Indexes. Edited and translated by S. Douglas Olson. Cambridge, MA.

Olson, S. D. (2023). Antiphanes. Agroikos – Ephesia. Introduction, Translation and Commentary. Göttingen.

Threatte, L. (1980). The Grammar of Attic Inscriptions. Vol. 1: Phonology. Berlin, New York.

CITE THIS

Elisa Nuria Merisio, 'λυχνία, λυχνεῖον (Phryn. Ecl. 288, Phryn. PS 86.21, Poll. 10.115)', in Olga Tribulato (ed.), Digital Encyclopedia of Atticism. With the assistance of E. N. Merisio.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30687/DEA/2974-8240/2025/02/004

ABSTRACT

This article provides a philological and linguistic commentary on the nouns λυχνία and λυχνεῖον discussed in the Atticist lexica Phryn. Ecl. 288, Phryn. PS 86.21, and Poll. 10.115.