ὁλοσφύρατος, σφυρήλατος, ὁλόσφυρος
(Phryn. Ecl. 175)

D. General commentary

In the Eclogue (A.1), Phrynichus rejects the compound adjective ὁλοσφύρατος (‘wrought with the hammer’, hence ‘made of solid beaten metal’), prescribing instead σφυρήλατος and ὁλόσφυρος (on the plausibility of the latter prescription, see below).

The former term prescribed by Phrynichus, σφυρήλατος, is a passive compound adjective in -τος, in which the first component, the noun σφῦρα (‘hammer’), has an instrumental function with respect to the second component, the verbal adjective ἐλατός, from the verb ἐλάω/ἐλαύνω (on adjectives in -τος, see Chantraine 1933, 302–9, and on their discussion in Atticist lexica, see AGP vol. 2, Nominal morphology, forthcoming; on this category of compounds, see Tribulato 2015, 100). From the meaning ‘wrought with the hammer’, the adjective is often used, also metaphorically, with the meaning ‘solid’; it originally referred to metal sheets hammered down and fastened with nails to cover an underlying wooden statue, as opposed to hollow statues cast in metal (cf. Hsch. σ 2937 (vg³A⁸): *σφυρήλατος· σφύραις ἐληλα[σ]μένος, οὐ χωνευτός, ‘σφυρήλατος: [It means] wrought with hammers, not molten’); see Hampe (1966, 444–5). Of the three adjectives listed in the entry of Phrynichus’ Eclogue, σφυρήλατος is the most common in Greek. It is first attested in Pindar (fr. 207.2) and Aeschylus (C.1, Sept. 818), and later in Herodotus (7.70.1) and Plato (C.2), as well as in various authors of the Hellenistic period. Atticising writers also show a preference for it over the other forms: see e.g. Plu. De garrulitate 511b.5, Arr. An. 6.29.5.8, Aristid. 2.156 Lenz–Behr (= 45.49.7 Dindorf).

The compound adjective ὁλόσφυρος (literally ‘all hammered’, from ὅλος and σφῦρα), is apparently suggested by Phrynichus as an alternative to σφυρήλατος. It may denote a solid metal object wrought with the hammer – a technique different from that originally indicated by σφυρήλατος (see above) – although Phrynichus appears to treat the two terms as synonyms; see Blümner (1887, 242 n. 1). The word is first attested in Alcidamas (C.3) and later in Artemidorus (C.7), but is used much more rarely in subsequent centuries. It is, however, attested in Hesychius’ (B.1) and Photius’ (B.2) lexica, where it is glossed with the synonym ὁλοσφύρατος.

Finally, the proscribed compound adjective ὁλοσφύρατος appears to be a kind of hybrid formed in more recent times from the two previously mentioned compounds; like σφυρήλατος, it is a passive compound adjective in -τος. Two possible formation processes may be envisaged: either the compound was created from the adjective ὅλος and the verbal adjective *σφυρατός, which can be traced back to the unattested verb *σφυράω ‘to hammer’ (see Lobeck 1820, 206), or from the adjective ὅλος and the noun σφῦρα, with the addition of the suffix -τος (see Chantraine 1933, 305). Fewer than twenty occurrences of ὁλοσφύρατος are recorded in the TLG; it is attested as early as the Septuagint (C.4), then in Josephus (C.5; notice that in Ap. 2.119 Josephus uses σφυρήλατος instead), and in an epigram by Lucillius (AP 11.174.3 = 64.3 Floridi). In the above works, the compound is transmitted in the form ὁλοσφύρητος, with Ionic vocalism; since in Phrynichus’ Eclogue (A.1) the adjective has the form ὁλοσφύρατος (cf. also B.1, B.2), it can be assumed that the lexicographer had in mind another occurrence of the term in a different work – although ὀλοσφύρατος in A.1 could also be a scribal error for ὀλοσφύρητος, subsequently perpetuated in later lexicographical works. Be that as it may, it is noteworthy that the compound with -ā- vocalism (the long vowel in both Greek and Latin may be explained by analogyAnalogy with Latin adjectives in -ātus) is also attested in a passage from Pliny’s Natural History (C.6), where it is applied to the solid golden statue in the temple of the goddess Anaitis in Armenia.

The proscription of ὁλοσφύρατος by Phrynichus can primarily be explained by the recent formation of the compound, which is only attested from the Hellenistic period and never used by canonical authors. A further, related reason may lie in its ‘irregular’ construction, if we accept that its second component derives from the fabricated verb *σφυράω. More problematic, however, is the lexicographer’s approval of ὁλόσφυρος as an alternative to σφυρήλατος. Already de Pauw (see Lobeck 1820, 203) had expressed strong doubts that Phrynichus could have regarded ὁλόσφυρος (literally ‘all hammer’) as correct, and suggested instead emending the text to ὁλοσφυρήλατος, a further compound attested as a varia lectio in C.5 (see apparatus; however, ὁλοσφυρήλατος itself may have arisen from a copyist’s error for ὁλοσφύρητος, due to his greater familiarity with σφυρήλατος). Rutherford (1881, 286) instead omits the entire sequence ἢ ὁλόσφυρον from the text (see A.1, apparatus). The compound ὁλόσφυρος, though rare, is nonetheless already attested in Alcidamas (C.3; see also C.7, where the varia lectio σφυρήλατοι is also transmitted), and glossed with ὁλοσφύρατος by Hesychius (B.1) and Photius (B.2). The adjective thus had its own tradition in the Greek literary language, and it cannot be excluded that Phrynichus considered it a second-best alternative. Moreover, although ὅλοςὅλος come to prevail over πᾶς in compound formation only from the Hellenistic period onwards (see DELG s.v. ὅλος), other adjectives with ὅλος as a first component and a second non-suffixed component (i.e. bahuvrihi) are attested as early as the classical period: cf. ὁλόφωνος ‘full-voiced’ (Cratin. fr. 279), ὁλοσίδηρος ‘all-iron’ (Antiph. fr. 215), ὁλόχρυσος ‘of solid gold’ (Antiph. fr. 223.5). The use of such adjectives by canonical authors – for instance ὁλόφωνος in Cratinus – may therefore have influenced Phrynichus’ judgement on ὁλόσφυρος as well.

E. Byzantine and Modern Greek commentary

Whereas ὁλοσφύρατος/ὁλοσφύρητος does not appear to have any literary attestations beyond the late antique period (being rarely attested only in lexicographical sources), σφυρήλατος and ὁλόσφυρος continued to be used into the Byzantine age. Regarding σφυρήλατος, which remained the more common form, cf. e.g. Michael Psellus Epistulae 63.282a.5, Anna Comnene Alexiad 13.12.6, Tzetzes H. 7.143.499; regarding ὁλόσφυρος, cf. e.g. Nicetas of Byzantium Confutatio falsi libri, quem scripsit Mohamedes Arabs 2.1.15 and Euthymius Zigabenus Panoplia dogmatica ad Alexium Comnenum MPG 130.28.1341.25, where it is used to translate an Islamic epithet for God. σφυρήλατος is still employed in Modern Greek to indicate a metal worked by forging; see LKN s.v.

F. Commentary on individual texts and occurrences

N/A