Lexicographic entries

χάραξ
(Phryn. Ecl. 40, Phryn. PS 125.1–2, Poll. 1.162, Moer. χ 23)

A. Main sources

(1) Phryn. Ecl. 40: ἡ χάραξ ἐρεῖς θηλυκῶς τὸ τῆς ἀμπέλου στήριγμα, οὐ κατὰ τὸ ἀρρενικόν.

You will call the support of the vine ἡ χάραξ, in the feminine, not in the masculine.

(2) Phryn. PS 125.1–2: χάραξ· θηλυκῶς ἐπὶ τοῦ τῆς ἀμπέλου στηρίγματος. τὸ μέντοι χαράκωμα ἀρρενικῶς, ὁ χάραξ.

χάραξ: [It is used] in the feminine [meaning] the support of the vine. Yet, [when it means] the palisade [it is used] in the masculine, ὁ χάραξ.

(3) Poll. 1.162: παραφυλακτέον δὲ ὅτι οἱ μὲν περὶ τοῖς στρατοπέδοις χάρακες ἀρρενικῶς λέγονται, αἱ δὲ πρὸς ταῖς ἀμπέλοις θηλυκῶς.

It is important to note that the χάρακες surrounding the camps are used in the masculine, while those supporting the vines [are used] in the feminine.

(4) Moer. χ 23: χάραξ ἡ μὲν πρὸς ταῖς ἀμπέλοις θηλυκῶς· ὁ δὲ ἐν τοῖς στρατοπέδοις ἀρρενικῶς.

χάραξ [meaning] the [stake] supporting the vines [is used] in the feminine. That [which is found] in the camps [is used] in the masculine.

B. Other erudite sources

(1) [Ammon.] 509: χάραξ θηλυκῶς μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν τῇ ἀμπέλῳ παραδεσμουμένων· ἀρσενικῶς δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις περιπηγνυμένων, ἀφ’ ὧν λέγουσι ‘χαρακώσαντες’ ἀντὶ τοῦ περιφράξαντες καὶ ‘χαρακώματα’ τὰ περιφράγματα.

Cf. Et.Gud. 561.7–10.

χάραξ [is used] in the feminine [meaning the stakes] bound to the vine; [it is used] instead in the masculine [meaning the stakes] which in war make up entrenchments all around, from which they say χαρακώσαντες (‘fortifying’) instead of περιφράξαντες and [they call] the περιφράγματα (‘entrenched places’) χαρακώματα.

(2) Su. χ 96: χάραξ· ἀρσενικῶς τὸ στρατόπεδον. ὅτι ‘οἱ Ἕλληνες τοῦτον ἡγοῦνται χάρακα ἄριστον, ὃς ἂν ἔχῃ πλείστας ἐκφύσεις καὶ μεγάλας πέριξ τοῦ πρέμνου· παρὰ δὲ Ῥωμαίοις δύο κεραίας ἢ τρεῖς ἔχουσιν οἱ χάρακες’. Δημόστρατος †Δημοποίητα· ‘οἱ μὲν προσέφερον τὸν χάρακα πρὸς τὴν ἄκραν’. θηλυκῶς δέ, ὁ τῆς ἀμπέλου. ‘ἐξηπάτησεν ἡ χάραξ τὴν ἄμπελον’.

Δημόστρατος codd. : Νικόστρατος Toup in Küster, Gaisford (1834, 3878) : Τιμόστρατος Meineke (FCG vol. 1, 500); cf. C.6 | Δημοποίητα codd. : Δημοποιήτῳ Küster in Küster, Gaisford (1834, 3878).

χάραξ: In the masculine [it means] the camp. [Such as in] ‘the Greeks consider this an excellent stake [the one] which has many stout offshoots all round the main stem, while the stakes of the Romans have but two or three lateral prongs’ (cf. Plb. 18.18.6 = C.5). Demostratus (?) in The Naturalised Citizen (cf. Timostr. fr. 2 = C.6): ‘They moved the entrenched camp (τὸν χάρακα) to the highest point’. In the feminine, [it means] instead the vine [stake]. ‘The stake (ἡ χάραξ) has played the vine for a fool’ (Ar. V. 1291 = C.2).

(3) Eust. in Od. 1.19.2–6 (= 1.90.12–6 Cullhed–Olson; cf. Ael.Dion. χ 5): Αἴλιος δὲ Διονύσιος παρασημειούμενός τινα ὅπως κατὰ γένη προφέρονται, φησὶν οὕτω. […] καὶ ἡ χάραξ τὸ τῆς ἀμπέλου ὑπόστημα. ὁ μέντοι χάραξ ἀρσενικῶς, τὸ χαράκωμα τοῦ στρατοπέδου.

Aelius Dionysius, noting in passing how certain words are used with [different] grammatical genders, says the following. […] and ἡ χάραξ, meaning ‘a vine prop’, whereas masculine ὁ χάραξ means ‘a battle entrenchment’. (Transl. Cullhed–Olson 2022, 91, slightly modified).

(4) [Zonar.] 1840.15–1841.6: χάρακα. περίφραγμα τειχομαχίας, ἑλεπόλεις. καὶ χάραξ τὰ σιδήρια τὰ τεμνόμενα καὶ χαρασσόμενα, ὅθεν καὶ χάρακας καλοῦμεν τοὺς ὀξυνομένους καλάμους ἢ τὰ ξύλα. διαφέρει δὲ ὁ χάραξ καὶ ἡ χάραξ. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀρσενικὸν δηλοῖ τὸ στρατόπεδον, ἢ τείχισμά τι καὶ περίφραγμα. ὡς Δημοσθένης καὶ Μένανδρος· ‘πολλοὶ γὰρ ἐκλελοιπότες τὸν χάρακα τὰς κώμας ἐπόρθουν’. θηλυκὸν δὲ τὸ τῆς ἀμπέλου. οἷον. ‘ἐξηπάτησεν ἡ χάραξ τὴν ἄμπελον’.

Cf. EM 806.40–3.

χάραξ: [It means] entrenchment [during] a siege, engines for a siege. And χάραξ [also means] the iron tools that are cut and sharpened, whence we also call pointed reeds and pieces of wood χάρακες. ὁ χάραξ (masc.) and ἡ χάραξ (fem.) are different. The [noun] in the masculine denotes the camp, or a wall and an entrenchment. As Demosthenes (cf. 18.87 = C.3) and Menander (Asp. 30–1 = C.4) [say]: ‘Many were out of camp, looting the villages’. In the feminine, [it means] instead the vine [stake], as in ‘the stake’s played the vine for a fool’ (Ar. V. 1291 = C.2).

(5) Thom.Mag. 393.16–8: ἡ χάραξ ἐπὶ ἀμπέλου, ὡς ἡ παροιμία ‘ἡ χάραξ τὴν ἄμπελον ἐλυμήνατο’ ἐπὶ τῶν καθ’ ἑαυτῶν εἰσαγόντων βοηθούς· ὁ χάραξ ἐπὶ στρατοπέδου.

ἡ χάραξ (in the feminine) [is used] for the vine [stake], as in the proverb ‘the stake has outraged the vine’, concerning people who have set their rescuers against themselves; ὁ χάραξ (in the masculine) [is used] for the camp.

(6) Schol. (vet. Tr.) Ar. V. 1201a: Ἐργασίωνος· γεωργοῦ. θηλυκῶς δὲ (RVΓAld) τὰς χάρακας (Lh) ἐπὶ τῶν ἀμπέλων (.) (RVΓLhAld) ἡ χάραξ (ΓAld), ἀρσενικῶς δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν πρὸς πολιορκίαν. (VΓLhAld) (cf. C.1)

Ἐργασίωνος (gen. sing.): A farmer. χάρακες [is used] in the feminine [meaning] the vine [stakes]. ἡ χάραξ (in the feminine), while in the masculine [it is used] for the [entrenchment] in a siege.

C. Loci classici, other relevant texts

(1) Ar. V. 1200–1:
ἐκεῖν᾿ ἐκεῖν᾿ ἀνδρειότατόν γε τῶν ἐμῶν,
ὅτ᾿ Ἐργασίωνος τὰς χάρακας ὑφειλόμην.

I know, I know! The bravest of my exploits: the time I swiped Ergasion’s vine stakes. (Transl. Henderson 1998, 375, slightly modified).

(2) Ar. V. 1290–1:
ταῦτα κατιδὼν ὑπό τι μικρὸν ἐπιθήκισα·
εἶτα νῦν ἐξηπάτησεν ἡ χάραξ τὴν ἄμπελον.

I saw all this and pulled a little monkey business; and today the stake’s played the vine for a fool. (Transl. Henderson 1998, 387).

(3) D. 18.87: ὁρῶν δ’ ὅτι σίτῳ πάντων ἀνθρώπων πλείστῳ χρώμεθα ἐπεισάκτῳ, βουλόμενος τῆς σιτοπομπίας κύριος γενέσθαι, παρελθὼν ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης Βυζαντίους συμμάχους ὄντας αὑτῷ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἠξίου συμπολεμεῖν τὸν πρὸς ὑμᾶς πόλεμον, ὡς δ’ οὐκ ἤθελον οὐδ’ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἔφασαν τὴν συμμαχίαν πεποιῆσθαι, λέγοντες ἀληθῆ, χάρακα βαλόμενος πρὸς τῇ πόλει καὶ μηχανήματ’ ἐπιστήσας ἐπολιόρκει.

And observing that we consume more imported corn than any other nation, he proposed to get control of the carrying trade in corn. He advanced towards Thrace, and the first thing he did was to claim the help of the Byzantines as his allies in the war against you. When they refused, declaring with entire truth that the terms of alliance included no such obligation, he set up a stockade against their city, planted artillery, and began a siege. (Transl. Vince, Vince 1926, 73).

(4) Men. Asp. 30–3:
πολλοὶ γὰρ ἐκλελοιπότες
τὸν χάρακα τὰς κώμας ἐπόρθουν, τοὺς ἀγροὺς
ἔκοπτον, αἰχμάλωτ’ ἐπώλουν, χρήματα
ἕκαστος εἶχε πόλλ’ ἀπελθών.

Many were out of camp, looting the villages, destroying crops, selling their booty. Everyone came back with loads of money. (Transl. Arnott 1979, 17).

(5) Plb. 18.18.6–7: οἱ μὲν γὰρ Ἕλληνες τοῦτον ἡγοῦνται χάρακα βέλτιστον, ὃς ἂν ἔχῃ πλείστας ἐκφύσεις καὶ μεγίστας πέριξ τοῦ πρέμνου, παρὰ δὲ Ῥωμαίοις δύο κεραίας ἢ τρεῖς ἔχουσιν οἱ χάρακες, ὁ δὲ πλείστας τέτταρας.

For the Greeks consider this an excellent stake [the one] which has many stout offshoots all round the main stem, while the stakes of the Romans have but two or three, or at the most four straight lateral prongs. (Transl. Paton, Walbank, Habicht 2012, 143, modified).

(6) Timostr. fr. 2:
οἱ μὲν προσέφερον τὸν χάρακα πρὸς τὴν ἄκραν.

They moved the entrenched camp to the highest point.

D. General commentary

Some entries in the Atticist lexica (Phrynichus’ Eclogue, A.1, and Praeparatio sophistica, A.2, Pollux’s Onomasticon, A.3, and Moeris’ lexicon, A.4) deal with the noun χάραξ, focusing on its grammatical gender in relation to its semantic use: they state that in the feminine the noun means ‘vine stake’, whereas in the masculine it means ‘pale’ in a palisade, a ‘palisade’ itself, or an ‘entrenched camp’.

The noun χάραξ is a technical term from which the denominative verb χαράσσωχαράσσω (‘to sharpen’, ‘to whet’, ‘to furnish with teeth’) derives. The etymology of χάραξ and its relationship to other languages is uncertain: χάραξ and χαράσσω may be etymologically related to the adjective κάρχαρος (‘jagged’), given the semantic affinity between them (see Blanc 1994). The noun has several meanings: besides the two discussed in the Atticist lexica, it also denotes ‘cutting’, especially of an olive tree, a species of sea fish (Sargus), and a kind of bandage. See DELG, DGE s.v. From a lexical point of view, it is worth noting the existence of another Greek noun in -ακ-, already attested in Homer, which denotes the vine stake, i.e. κάμαξ. The noun is also characterised by a fluctuation in grammatical gender: ‘vine stake’ is the first attested meaning among its feminine occurrences (see Hom. Il. 18.563; [Hes.] Sc. 299), while in the masculine it has different meanings: see e.g. Aesch. fr. 171 (κάμακες πεύκης οἱ πυρίφλεκτοι, ‘poles/shafts of pine blazing with fire’, i.e. torches), Leon. AP 6.131.2 (ἀμφίβολοι κάμακες, ‘double-pointed spears’), Phal. AP 6.165.4 (θύρσου χλοερὸν κωνοφόρου κάμακα, ‘green shaft of a thyrsus surmounted by a pine-cone’); cf. also Et.Gud. 296.55–297.2 (~ EM 487.39–48, [Zonar.] 1146.18–1147.4). Also because of the phonetic similarity, κάμαξ may have influenced the gender of χάραξ when used in the sense shared by both nouns (note that some lexicographical sources use one as an interpretamentum of the other: Paus.Gr. χ 6, Σ κ 62 (= Phot. κ 141 ~ Su. κ 274, [Zonar.] 1143.4)).

Later grammatical and lexicographical sources again discuss the two different meanings of χάραξ on the basis of grammatical gender (see B.), citing some loci classici that are completely absent from Atticist sources, probably due to a progressive epitomising process of these lexica. A comic passage often quoted in the grammatical sources to illustrate the meaning ‘vine stake’ of the feminine noun is Ar. V. 1291 ἐξηπάτησεν ἡ χάραξ τὴν ἄμπελον (C.2), literally ‘the stake has deceived the vine’, i.e. ‘by pulling back from their agreement, allowing the vine to fall’ (Biles, Olson 2015, 458, ad loc.); see B.2, B.4, B.5. The expression became proverbial to describe a situation in which someone is beguiled by his helper.

The discussion of the masculine and the feminine forms of the noun χάραξ is one of several examples where Atticist lexicographers (as well as other erudite sources) discuss cases of gender change, in this case related to a semantic issue; see AGP vol. 2, Morphology, forthcoming and entries βάτος, βῶλος, λάγυνος, ὄμφαξ, ὕσπληξ and φάρυγξ. The fact that most Atticist lexica discuss χάραξ in the same way and with a similar phrasing may indicate a common derivation of these entries from Aelius Dionysius’ lexicon, where the grammatical gender and the meaning of the noun are discussed, as Eustathius testifies (cf. B.3).

E. Byzantine and Modern Greek commentary

N/A

F. Commentary on individual texts and occurrences

N/A

Bibliography

Arnott, W. G. (1979). Menander. Vol. 1: Aspis. Georgos. Dis Exapaton. Dyskolos. Encheiridion. Epitrepontes. Edited and translated by W. G. Arnott. Cambridge, MA.

Biles, Z. P.; Olson, S. D. (2015). Aristophanes. Wasps. Oxford.

Blanc, A. (1994). ‘Χάραξ, χαράσσω et κάρχαρος. Homophonie radicale ou parenté étymologique?’. REG 107, 686-693.

Henderson, J. (1998). Aristophanes. Vol. 2: Clouds. Wasps. Peace. Edited and translated by Jeffrey Henderson. Cambridge, MA.

Küster, L.; Gaisford, T. (1834). Suidae lexicon. Vol. 2. Oxford.

Paton, W. R.; Walbank, F. W.; Habicht, C. (2012). Polybius. The Histories. Vol. 5: Books 16–27. Translated by W. R. Paton. Revised by F. W. Walbank and Christian Habicht. Cambridge, MA.

Vince, C. A.; Vince, J. H. (1926). Demosthenes. Orations. Vol. 2: Orations 18–19. De Corona. De Falsa Legatione. Translated by C. A. Vince, J. H. Vince. Cambridge, MA.

CITE THIS

Elisa Nuria Merisio, 'χάραξ (Phryn. Ecl. 40, Phryn. PS 125.1–2, Poll. 1.162, Moer. χ 23)', in Olga Tribulato (ed.), Digital Encyclopedia of Atticism. With the assistance of E. N. Merisio.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30687/DEA/2974-8240/2024/03/028

ABSTRACT

This article provides a philological and linguistic commentary on the noun χάραξ, discussed in the Atticist lexica Phryn. Ecl. 40, Phryn. PS 125.1–2, Poll. 1.162, Moer. χ 23.