κρεμάθρα, κρεμάστρα
(Moer. κ 67, [Hdn.] Philet. 158, Phryn. PS 19.8–11)

D. General commentary

Moeris (A.1) and the Philetaerus (A.2) compare the alternative forms κρεμάθρα and κρεμάστρα (‘hanging device’, see below). Although these lemmas might be perceived as betraying a superficial interest in word formation and suffixation, parallels from other sources suggest that Moeris and the Philetaerus likely attributed the formal difference between the two words to a phonetic change, as we shall see below. These lemmas may, therefore, testify to the Atticist interest in those phonetic changes that were deemed typical of Attic. Both Moeris and Philemon prescribe κρεμάθρα as the Attic form rather than κρεμάστρα, likely based on Aristophanes’ authoritative testimony: indeed, the form κρεμάθρα has only two literary occurrences prior to the 7th century CE, Ar. Nu. 218 (C.1) and Arist. Rh. 1412a.14 (C.2). Meanwhile, κρεμάστρα is only attested in Thphr. HP 3.16.4 (C.3) before the 9th century CE, excluding documentary and grammatical sources (see below). Phrynichus’ entry on ἀποβάθρα (A.3) also seems to imply a positive evaluation of κρεμάθρα.

κρεμάθρα derives from the root *kremh₂- (‘to hang’) + suffix -θρο-/-θρᾱ, whose origin is debated: according to Chantraine (1933, 372), it is formed by means of the ‘élargissement’ -dh- and the suffix -r-, while Ruiz Abad (2015) believes that it is an allomorph of -τρον/-τρᾱ. -θρᾱ was productive in Ancient Greek and survives in Modern Greek; -θρο-, by contrast, suffered as a result of the competition of -τρον and -τήριον (see Chantraine 1933, 374). -θρᾱ formed nouns that indicate instruments, devices, and places (see Chantraine 1933, 373; Ruiz Abad 2015, 97–9). As for κρεμάστρα, it may be formed with the suffix -τρα added onto the stem of the aorist κρεμάσαι (see Chantraine 1933, 334).

It is not easy to grasp the precise meaning of κρεμάθρα/κρεμάστρα. According to the ancient interpretation, the κρεμάθρα on which Socrates is sitting in C.1 is likely a ‘bar such as hens perch on’ (see Dover 1968, 126). Several lines thereafter (Nu. 226), however, this κρεμάθρα is referred to as ταρρός, a word that has a variety of concrete meanings (see, recently, van Beek 2022, 388–9) and can refer to ‘almost anything […] which is composed of units parallel and close together’, in the words of Dover (1968, 126), according to whom ‘it seems most likely that Socrates is sitting comfortably in a sling formed by attaching a rope from each corner of a four-cornered mat to the hook on the end of a rope’. In Arist. Rh. 1412a.14, κρεμάθρα (varia lectio κρεμάστρα) is said to be the same as the anchor, with the difference that the former holds an object from above and the latter from below (see Rapp 2002, 912–3, who states that ‘the concept of κρεμάθρα raises some difficulties’). As for κρεμάστρα, in its sole literary occurrence prior to the 9th century CE (Thphr. HP 3.16.4) it denotes the hanging peduncle of the strawberry tree and is ‘no doubt a popular metaphor’, according to Strömberg (1937, 116), who parallels Ar. Nu. 218 κρεμάθρα and credits it with the meaning ‘hanging basket’: this is hardly the case, however, if our above observation regarding Aristophanes’ testimony is correct. Nevertheless, it appears that κρεμάθρα/κρεμάστρα functioned as a hyperonym indicating anything that hangs, a ‘hanging device’: as such, it could assume several concrete meanings in various technical vocabulariesTechnical language, as later occurrences also attest (see Hippiatrica 27.2 and 28.10 [9th century CE], in which it denotes a hanging support for medical purposes. A form κρεμαστήρκρεμαστήρ is also attested: it can mean ‘suspender’, ‘vasa deferentia’, and ‘stalk [by which a grape-cluster hangs]’, according to LSJ s.v.). In any case, κρεμάστρα must also have been used to denote everyday objects, as documentary sources attest: see O.Krok. 2.178.11 (= TM 704463) [98–117 CE], where a κρεμάστρα<ν> is mentioned alongside storage jars, a key, and a door, and O.Did. 451.10 (= TM 145012) [176–210 CE] ἔτ̣ι̣ βλέβων (i.e., βλέπων) ἐν τῇ κρεμάστρᾳ τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἄρτους, ‘still seeing my loaves of bread in the hanging basket’ (in this last occurrence, κρεμάστρα must refer to a suspended basket that protected food against humidity and foraging animals).

Atticist sources took κρεμάθρα to be a variant of κρεμάστρα by way of linguistic change/phonetic modification: see B.1 and B.2, the latter explicitly presenting the change of -στ- into -θ- as a typical Attic feature (see also Epim.Hom. α 271, α 292). In this respect, Pierson (1759, 242) proposed a comparison with Moer. κ 51Moer. κ 51: κοροπλάθοι Ἀττικοί· κοροπλάσται Ἕλληνες (‘Users of Attic [say] κοροπλάθοι [‘imagemakers’]; users of Greek [say] κοροπλάσται’).

Regarding the evaluations made by Moeris (A.1) and the Philetaerus (A.2), they likely share the same source, although in other entries, one of the two gives more detailed or even contradictory information relative to the other (see Hansen 1998, 52–4). Furthermore, the fact that Moeris attributes κρεμάστρα to the ‘users of Greek’ is in itself ambiguous: such a label might denote the learned written koine of Moeris’ own times (see Maidhof 1912, 319–38), but one cannot exclude the possibility that here it is only intended to distinguish an unmarked form with respect to the Attic form (see entries αὐτοσχεδιάζειν, ἥκειν, λαμβάνειν; κάκη, κακία; and Moeris, Ἀττικιστής). On the other hand, the Philetaerus assigns κρεμάστρα to the ‘contemporary speakers’ (οἱ νῦν), a label that also occurs in [Hdn.] Philet. 104[Hdn.] Philet. 104, 118[Hdn.] Philet. 118, 128[Hdn.] Philet. 128, 152[Hdn.] Philet. 152, 153[Hdn.] Philet. 153, 169[Hdn.] Philet. 169, 184[Hdn.] Philet. 184, 187[Hdn.] Philet. 187, 198[Hdn.] Philet. 198, 210[Hdn.] Philet. 210, 215[Hdn.] Philet. 215, 216[Hdn.] Philet. 216, 226[Hdn.] Philet. 226, 277[Hdn.] Philet. 277, 278[Hdn.] Philet. 278, and 292[Hdn.] Philet. 292 (cf. also 40[Hdn.] Philet. 40, 92[Hdn.] Philet. 92, 194[Hdn.] Philet. 194, 217[Hdn.] Philet. 217, and 218[Hdn.] Philet. 218) and apparently serves a contrastive function, introducing a contemporary equivalent of an obsolete but authoritative word regarded as Attic (as is sometimes the case in Pollux: see Matthaios 2013, 82–9; in any case, this would not exclude the possibility that the Philetaerus used οἱ νῦν in an intrinsically deprecatory way). On account of the attestations of the words treated in such entries, Dain (1954, 14–5) dates the preserved version of the Philetaerus to between the 3rd and the 5th centuries CE and envisions a 2nd-century CE Atticist author (see also [Herodian], Φιλέταιρος (Philetaerus)). Admittedly, Dain’s evaluation warrants an up-to-date investigation which goes beyond our present purpose. However, the diachronic indications given by the Philetaerus are often reliable, albeit roughly, and the data on κρεμάστρα assembled above do not contradict such a picture.

E. Byzantine and Modern Greek commentary

Although traces of the ancient suffix -θρα survive in the still-productive Modern Greek -ήθρα (see Chantraine 1933, 374; LKN s.v. -ήθρα), only the form κρεμάστρα is still attested. In Medieval Greek, it can mean ‘gibbet’ and ‘protrusion on the exterior wall of a house’ (see Kriaras, LME s.v.), while in Modern Greek it means ‘hanger’ or ‘coatrack’ (see LKN s.v.).

F. Commentary on individual texts and occurrences

N/A