ἀναπίπτω, ἀνακλίνομαι
(Phryn. Ecl. 186, Antiatt. α 8)

D. General commentary

Phrynichus (A.1; followed by Thomas Magister) criticises the use of ἀναπίπτω (‘to fall back’) as a synonymSynonyms of ἀνακλίνομαι (‘to lean back’) and instead promotes its use in the metaphoricalMetaphors sense ‘to be disheartened’. The Antiatticist (A.2) takes the opposite stance, presenting the form ἀνέπεσεν (‘s/he fell back’) as a synonym of ἀνεκλίθη (‘s/he leaned back’). The debate concerning the correct meaning of ἀναπίπτω is reflected in a passage from Athenaeus’ epitome (B.1) as well as in the Synagoge tradition (B.3, B.4). Moreover, in both Athenaeus (B.1, here presented in abbreviated form) and the Philetaerus (B.2), the problem of the correct meaning of ἀναπίπτω is intertwined with that of the different semantic nuances of ἀνάκειμαι (‘to be set up’, in reference to statues) and κατάκειμαι (‘to lie down’, said of people attending a banquet), on which see entry ἀνάκειμαι, κατάκειμαι.

The earliest literary attestation of ἀναπίπτω is found in a Pindaric ode (I. 4.47 = 3/4.65 Snell–Maehler), where it bears the literal meaning ‘to fall on one’s back’, with the prefix ἀνα- conveying the idea of the supine position resulting from the fall, since ‘ἀνά in composition means properly up, over’ (Cooper 1998, 1248). The verb then appears in 5th- and 4th-century drama and prose, where it is mostly employed in the same literal sense, ‘to fall (on one’s) back’ (attested once each in Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Plato). In this period, the verb also acquires a technical sense, indicating the movement of ‘leaning back’ performed either by the rower before pushing the row forward – as in Cratinus (C.2; on which see Olson, Seaberg 2018, 92–3), Timotheus (fr. 15.2.9–10), and Xenophon (C.3) – or by the charioteer/horseman while reining in the horses – as in Plato (Phdr. 254e.2) and Xenophon (Eq.Mag. 3.14; Eq. 8.7). The metaphorical meaning ‘to be discouraged’ first appears in Demosthenes (19.224), while a second occurrence in the same author attests a further metaphorical sense, ‘to fall through’, in reference to a dismissed proposal (D. 21.163). The only occurrence of the verb in Thucydides (C.1) is ambiguous, since the meaning may be either literal (‘to fall back’, in the sense ‘to give the least ground’; thus Bonitz 1854, 612–4, Smith 1919, 117, and LSJ s.v. ἀναπίπτω, Α.2) or metaphorical (‘to be discouraged’, as in Demosthenes and as Athenaeus appears to understand, cf. B.1; thus also Gomme 1945, 230). The Philetaerus (B.2) preserves an anonymous comic fragment that appears to revolve precisely on the incorrect use of ἀναπίπτω in reference to a person reclining at a banquet (see Bagordo 2018, 184–5). The attribution of this fragment to Aristophanes (fr. 966) rests on the fact that, in another Philetaerus entry, i.e. [Hdn.] Philet. 111, ὁ κωμικός undoubtedly refers to Aristophanes (i.e. Ar. fr. 714). Still, Kassel and Austin themselves (PCG vol. 3, 431) advise caution. Moreover, the form ἀνάπιπτε (‘fall back!’) in the fragment is not beyond suspicion and may result from corruption in the text of the Philetaerus (on the fragment’s attribution and textual problems, see further entry ἀνάκειμαι, κατάκειμαι). In view of this, it is best to exclude this attestation of ἀναπίπτω from the present survey.

In Post-classical Greek, the use of ἀναπίπτω in the meaning ‘to lean back, to lie down’ becomes more widespread: it is already found in Alexis (C.4, also quoted by the same Athenaeus passage, B.1) arguably with an erotic allusion (cf. Arnott 1996, 789 and Stama 2016, 498–9), and becomes standard in the koine, as shown by the Septuagint, where the verb consistently means ‘to lie down’, whether to rest, to eat or – as arguably already in Alexis – to have intercourse (cf. Muraoka 2009 s.v.; similarly in the 12 New Testament occurrences, the verb refers either to Jesus sitting down to eat or speak or to the crowd sitting down to listen). The meaning ‘to lie down’ is also the only one attested for ἀναπίπτω in Diodorus Siculus (whereas Polybius employs the verb once in the technical sense relating to rowers, cf. Plb. 1.21.2).

In documentary texts, two attestations are found of the middle ἀναπίπτομαι and the active ἀναπίπτει in UPZ 1.78.4–5 (= TM 3469) [Memphis, after 160 BCE], both in the sense ‘to lie down’, as well as one occurrence of προαναπίπτων, meaning ‘reclining before another (at a banquet)’ in P.Mich. 5.243.7 (= TM 12084) [Arsinoites, 14–37 CE]. In the imperial period, the form συναναπεσεῖν ‘to lie down together, to have intercourse’ occurs three times in lead curse tablets from the Athenian agora (SEG 35.219.7 and 17; SEG 35.221.14 [ca. 250 CE]).

Overall, the diffusion in Post-classical Greek of ἀναπίπτω as a verb of movement indicating the act of lying down seems to be at odds with the majority of verbs in ἀνα-, in which the preverb typically has a metaphorical, non-spatial sense (see Cooper 1998, 1249; Bortone 2010, 120, and below). As regards the figurative meaning ‘to be discouraged’, first attested in Demosthenes (and perhaps also in Thucydides, cf. above), it is subsequently found several times in post-classical prose (e.g. Plb. 4.51.8: ταῖς ὁρμαῖς ἀνέπεσον, ‘they were discouraged in their efforts’; Philo 8x vs. 2x in the meaning ‘to fall to the ground’ and 1x in the meaning ‘to lie down’), especially in the expression τὴν ψυχὴν/τῇ ψυχῇ ἀναπίπτειν (lit. ‘to be discouraged in the soul’), for which see Polybius (1x), Philo of Alexandria (2x), and Josephus (5x).

Phrynichus’ proscription (A.1) of the meaning ‘to lean back, to lie down’ for ἀναπίπτω is accompanied by the explanation of the correct usage of the verb, i.e. in the figurative sense ‘to be discouraged’, which Phrynichus may have derived from Demosthenes (cf. above) or even from Thucydides (C.1), if he interpreted that attestation in the same way as Athenaeus (B.1) (cf. above). Clearly, Phrynichus’ entry aims to criticise the meaning that ἀναπίπτω had acquired in Post-classical Greek, while prescribing a more refined semantic nuance with a reputable classical antecedent. Still, further elements may have been contributed to Phrynichus’ proscription of the use of ἀναπίπτω as a synonym of ἀνακλίνομαι. First, as mentioned above, in classical literature the literal meaning ‘to fall (on one’s) back’ is mostly poeticPoetic language (after Pindar, it occurs in tragedy and once in Plato), whereas in prose (Xenophon, Plato) and comedy (Cratinus) the verb denotes more specific actions linked to rowing and horseback/chariot riding. Therefore, Phrynichus may have rejected, at the same time, both the literal meaning attested in tragedy and the technical one found in Cratinus, Xenophon, and Plato, thus promoting only the figurative meaning ‘to be discouraged’, precisely because, in his view, it was entirely detached from any earlier literal or technical acceptation. A second factor may have to do with the verb’s composition. The prefix ἀνα- retains a clear spatial connotation only in a minority of the verbs in which it occurs, while in most cases it has a metaphorical meaning (e.g. ‘anew’, ‘recurrently’, ‘completely’; for an overview, see Cooper 1998, 1248–59; Bortone 2010, 120). Phrynichus, who appears to have paid particular attention to verbs in ἀνα- (more than 30 entries in the Praeparatio sophistica alone; cf. entries ἀνάκειμαι, κατάκειμαι; ἀναρριχάομαι; ἀνατοιχέω, διατοιχέω, and ἀνέκραγον), was likely aware of this distribution, which may therefore have played a role in his preference for an exclusively metaphorical meaning of ἀναπίπτω.

Unsurprisingly, the Antiatticist (A.2) takes the opposite view and allows for the use of ἀναπίπτω as a synonym of ἀνακλίνομαι. Although the entry does not include a literary reference in support of this equivalence, it is plausible that the passage from Alexis (C.4) constituted the implied locus classicus, or was even originally quoted explicitly by the Antiatticist. Indeed, on purely numerical grounds, with 41 mentions, Alexis is one of the most frequently cited authors in the entire lexicon; it is thus reasonable to suppose that an explicit reference to him featured in a less epitomised version of this entry.

Pollux aligns with Phrynichus, in that he appears to conceive of ἀναπίπτω only in the metaphorical sense ‘to be disheartened’, ‘to be indolent’; indeed, the verb occurs in lists of terms denoting negative qualities of either people (soldiers at Poll. 1.158Poll. 1.158, commanders at Poll. 1.179Poll. 1.179, men in general at Poll. 3.122Poll. 3.122) or animals (dogs at Poll. 5.63Poll. 5.63).

Despite Phrynichus’ prescription, pagan authors of the imperial period employ ἀναπίπτω both in the metaphorical sense (Plutarch 3x, Cassius Dio 1x) and in the literal sense (Plutarch 1x, Lucian 1x). Christian authors, on the other hand, follow the Scriptures in using ἀναπίπτω predominantly in the sense ‘to lie down’.

E. Byzantine and Modern Greek commentary

Both the literal and the metaphorical meanings of ἀναπίπτω survive into Byzantine Greek: authors such as Photius and Eustathius employ the verb in both senses. Still, the sense ‘to be discouraged’ is clearly characteristic of high-register texts (e.g. Arethas 2x, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus 3x, Anna Comnene 28x). The prescriptions in the Byzantine lexica (cf. B.3, B.4, B.5, B.6) confirm that the metaphorical meaning, originally promoted by Phrynichus, remained the one considered more refined at the time.

Eustathius’ Capture of Thessaloniki (96.27) preserves the otherwise unattested noun ἀναπεσᾶς, clearly a derivative of the literal sense of ἀναπίπτω (‘to lie down’), but of uncertain meaning (it is translated as ‘dormiglione’ in Kyriakidis 1961, 97, ‘sluggard’ in Melville Jones 1988, 97, and ‘Schlafmütze’ in LBG s.v.).

ἀναπίπτω has no continuation in Modern Greek.

F. Commentary on individual texts and occurrences

N/A