Lexicographic entries

ἄθρους, ἀθρόους
(Moer. α 33)

A. Main sources

(1) Moer. α 33: ἄθρους Ἀττικοί· ἀθρόους Ἕλληνες.

This is the text of cod. C, printed by Hansen. Cod. V has ἄθρους· ἄθροος : cod. E has ἄθροι· ἀθρόοι : cod. D¹ has ἄθρους· ἀθρόως. See F.1.

Users of Attic [employ] ἄθρους (‘in groups, together’, acc. masc. plur.), users of Greek [employ] ἀθρόους.

B. Other erudite sources

(1) Philemo (Laur.) 356: ἄθροος· ὡς ἄγριος.

ἄθροος: [Trisyllabic?] like ἄγριος.

(2) Orio 28.18–20: ἀθρόως, παροξυτόνως ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀθροίζειν· ἄθροος δὲ οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦ αἰφνιδίου κατὰ στέρησιν τοῦ θρο· ‘οὐ γὰρ πᾶν ἦεν ὁμὸς θρόος, οὐδ’ ἴα γῆρυς’.

ἀθρόως codd. : ἀθρόος Larcher (ap. Sturz 1820, 28) | ἀθροίζειν· ἄθροος δὲ οὐκ ἐπὶ codd. : ἀθροίζειν· προπαροξυτόνως δέ, ἐπὶ Larcher | τοῦ θρο codd. : τοῦ α, θρόος Larcher.

ἀθρόως has paroxytone accent when it refers to ‘gathering’, but ἄθροος [does not], when it means ‘sudden’, by absence of θρο (i.e., of θρόος ‘noise’?): ‘For there was not a common speech nor a single voice’ (Hom. Il. 4.437).

(3) Phlp. Dif.Accent.A. α 4: ἄθροος· ὁ ἀτάραχος προπαροξύνεται, ἀθρόος· ὁ συνηθροισμένος παροξύνεται.

Cf. Phlp. Dif.Accent.B. α 24, Phlp. Dif.Accent.C. α 25, Phlp. Dif.Accent.D. α 14, Phlp. Dif.Accent.E. α 19.

ἄθροος ‘quiet’ has proparoxytone accent, ἀθρόος ‘gathered together’ has paroxytone accent.

(4) Phot. α 482 (= Su. α 758, ex Σʹʹ, Orus fr. B 5): ἀθρόους· καὶ ἄθρους λέγουσι δισυλλάβως.

ἀθρόους: They also say ἄθρους with two syllables.

(5) Epim.Hom. α 100 (= Et.Gud. 33.7–10, EM α 386): ἀθρόοι· ὄνομα. ἄθροος καὶ ἁθρόος διαφέρει· ἄθροος γὰρ προπαροξυτόνως σημαίνει τὸν αἰφνίδιον· παροξυτόνως δὲ σημαίνει τὸ συνηθροισμένον, καὶ Ὅμηρος· ‘ἡμεῖς δ’ ἁθρόοι ὧδε’ ἀντὶ τοῦ συνηθροισμένοι. δασύνεται· τὸ ἀθροιστικὸν α δασύνεται.

ἀθρόοι: Adjective. ἄθροος and ἁθρόος are different: for ἄθροος with proparoxytone accent means ‘sudden’, but with paroxytone accent it means ‘gathered together’, and Homer (Il. 2.439 = C.1) [says] ‘we together (ἁθρόοι) in this way’ with the meaning of ‘gathered together’. It has a rough breathing, [because] the copulative α has rough breathing.

(6) [Arcad.] 164.1–4: τὰ εἰς ΠΛΟΟΣ ἐντελῆ τῶν εἰς ΠΛΟΥΣ ληγόντων ἁπλᾶ ὄντα παροξύνονται· διπλόος, τριπλόος, ἁπλόος. τὸ δὲ πρωτόπλοος καὶ ἁλίπλοος προπαροξύνεται, ὅτι μὴ ἁπλᾶ. τὸ δὲ ἀθρόος παροξύτονον τὸ ἅμα σημαίνει· τὸ δὲ προπαροξύτονον τὸ ἄφωνον.

ἀθρόος codd. M^pc, O : ἄθροος codd. M^ac : ἁθρόος cod. Vindob. hist. gr. 10 (= B.7, see Roussou 2018, 426). Cf. Hdn. GG 3,1.126.25-6, 127.12–3, 121.21.

[Words] ending in ΠΛΟΟΣ which comprise the unaltered forms of [words] ending in ΠΛΟΥΣ are paroxytone when they are uncompounded: διπλόος (‘double’), τριπλόος (‘triple’), ἁπλόος (‘simple’). But πρωτόπλοος (‘sailing first’) and ἁλίπλοος (‘sailing on the sea’) are proparoxytone, because they are not uncompounded. But ἀθρόος which is paroxytone means ‘together’, while the proparoxytone [form means] ‘voiceless’. (Transl. Roussou 2018, 16, adapted).

(7) Cod. Vindob. hist. gr. 10 (= Hdn. pp. 15–6 Hunger [1967]): τὸ δὲ ἁθρόος παροξύνειν χρὴ καὶ δασύνειν τὸ α, ὅταν ἔμφασις εἴη τἀληθοῦς, καίπερ ἐναντιωμένων τῶν συμφώνων τῷ δασεῖ.

But on ἁθρόος one should put a paroxytone accent and aspiration on the α, if it has a positive meaning (i.e., if the α is not privative?), even though the consonants are in contrast with the rough breathing (i.e., one would expect dissimilation of the aspirates).

(8) Schol. (Hdn.) Il. 12.391a1 (= Hdn. Περὶ καθολικῆς προσῳδίας GG 3,2.83.20–3): πᾶν γὰρ φωνῆεν πρὸ δασέος καὶ τοῦ Ρ ψιλοῦται, ἴθρις, Ὄτρυς, ἄχρις, ἀφρός, ὄφρα, ὑπεσταλμένου τοῦ ἅθρους πρὸς διάφορον σημαινόμενον. πρόδηλον δὲ κἀκ τῆς συναλιφῆς ὅτι ψιλοῦται. ‘ἡ δ’ οὔτ’ ἀθρῆσαι δύνατο’. (A)

Every vowel before an aspirated [letter] and ρ has a smooth breathing, [like] ἴθρις (‘eunuch’), Ὄθρυς (‘Othrys’), ἄχρις (‘as far as’), ἀφρός (‘foam’), ὄφρα (‘until’), apart from ἅθρους to signal the different meaning. It is also clear from the elision that it is unaspirated: ‘but she could not look (οὔτ' ἀθρῆσαι) [at her]’ (Hom. Od. 19.478).

(9) Schol. (Hdn.) Hom. Il. 14.38c: ἀθρόοι· Ἀρίσταρχος δασύνει (AT), φάσκων ὅτι ἀρχὴ πλήθους ὁ τρεῖς ἀριθμός. εἰσὶ δὲ οἱ ἐψίλωσαν. ἄμεινον δὲ πείθεσθαι τῷ Ἀριστάρχῳ. (A)

ἀθρόοι: Aristarchus uses a rough breathing, stating that the beginning of plurality is the number three. However, there are also some who use a smooth breathing. But it is better to follow Aristarchus.

(10) Schol. (Hdn.) Hom. Od. 1.27d: ἁθρόοι· δασυντέον (E²HH¹O) τὸ α, καὶ πρὸ τέλους ἡ ὀξεῖα, ἐπειδὴ σημαίνει τὸ ὁμοῦ. (H¹O)

ἁθρόοι: The α should have a rough breathing, and the acute accent should [be] on the penultimate [syllable], because it means ‘together’.

(11) Schol. (Hdn.) Hom. Od. 3.34e: ἀθρόοι· τὸ ἄθροοι Ἀρίσταρχος ὡς ἄχροοι τῇ προσῳδίᾳ ἀναγιγνώσκει. (HM^a)

Lentz (1863, 367) restored ἁθρόοι Ἀρίσταρχος, <τινὲς δὲ τὸ ἄθροοι> ὡς ἄχροοι τῇ προσῳδίᾳ ἀναγιγνώσκουσι, but Pontani notes that Aristarchus perhaps had in mind ἄθροοι ‘sudden’.

ἀθρόοι: Aristarchus reads ἄθροοι, like ἄχροοι (‘colourless’), for what concerns prosody.

(12) Schol. Ar. Ach. 26a (= Su. α 762): ἅθροοι καταρρέοντες· ἀντὶ τοῦ ὁμοῦ. προπαροξύνειν δὲ δεῖ τὸ ὄνομα καὶ δασύνειν τὴν πρώτην συλλαβὴν Ἀττικῶς. καταρρέοντες δὲ ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀθρόως ἐπερχόμενοι. ἡ μεταφορὰ ἀπὸ τῶν ποταμίων ῥευμάτων. καὶ Ὅμηρος· ‘τὰ δ’ ἐπέρρεεν ἔθνεα πεζῶν’. (REΓ)

ἅθροοι καταρρέοντες (‘streaming down all together’): [It stands] for ‘together’. This word should have proparoxytone accent and aspiration on the first syllable in Attic. καταρρέοντες [stands] for ‘coming forward at once’. The metaphor [comes] from river currents. And Homer (Il. 11.724) [says]: ‘the hosts of foot-soldiers came flowing (ἐπέρρεεν)’.

(13) Eust. in Il. 1.383.24–5: ἔστι δὲ τὸ ἀθρόοι ἀντὶ τοῦ ὁμοῦ, ὅπερ ἐδάσυνον οἱ Ἀττικοί, ὡς ἀλλαχοῦ ῥηθήσεται.

ἀθρόοι [here] means ‘together’; users of Attic put a rough breathing on it, as will be said elsewhere.

(14) Eust. in Il. 3.574.12–3: τὸ δὲ ἀθρόοι δασύνει Ἀρίσταρχος, καὶ εἴρηται περὶ τούτου ἐν τῇ τῆς Ὀδυσσείας ἀρχῇ.

But Aristarchus uses a rough breathing on ἀθρόοι, and this is discussed in the beginning of (the commentary on) the Odyssey (B.15).

(15) Eust. in Od. 1.13.15–33: ὅτι τὸ ἀθρόοι καὶ ἀθρόα καὶ ἀθρόον πρὸς διάφορον σημασίαν διαφόρως οἱ Ἀττικοὶ ἐπνευμάτιζον, ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ αἰφνιδίου ψιλοῦντες αὐτὸ διὰ τὴν τοῦ α στέρησιν, οἱονεὶ τὸ δίχα θροῦ τουτέστι θορύβου, ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ ὁμοῦ δασύνοντες διὰ τὴν ἄθροισιν· ἁθρόον γὰρ τὸ ἅμα θρῷ, ἤτοι θορύβῳ, ἢ τὸ ἅμα θορόν, ἤγουν πηδῆσαν. τὸ δὲ ἀθροιστικὸν α δασύνεται· τὸ γοῦν ‘ἁθρόοι ἦσαν’ καὶ ‘ἁθρόα πάντ’ ἀπέτισεν’ ἐδασύνετο Ἀττικῶς τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ διὰ τὴν ἀθροιστικὴν σημασίαν. οἱ δὲ νῦν, ὅπως ἂν ἔχοι, ψιλοῦσιν αὐτὰ διὰ τὸ πρὸ δασέος κεῖσθαι τὸ α […]. ἐν δὲ ῥητορικοῖς λεξικοῖς φέρεται καὶ ταῦτα· ἐκ τοῦ ἁθρόος γίνεται ἅθρους, οἷον ‘ἅθρους ἐπελθὼν ὁ στρατηγός’, ἤγουν σὺν ὅλῳ τῷ στρατεύματι, καὶ Ἀριστοφάνης· ‘ἑστῶτας ὥσπερ τοὺς ὀρεωκόμους ἅθρους’. τοῦτο δὲ ὁ Ἀσκαλωνίτης ἀξιοῖ περισπᾶν ἀτόπως, ἐπεί, φησίν, ἡ διαίρεσίς ἐστιν ἁθρόος, ἡ δὲ χρῆσις παροξύνει· καὶ ζήτει πῶς ἀτόπως. δασύνεται δέ, φησίν, Ἀττικῶς τὸ ἅθρους καθὰ καὶ τὸ ἁθρεῖν, ὅ ἐστι περισκοπεῖν καὶ μετ’ ἐπιτάσεως ὁρᾶν. παρὰ δὲ τοῖς παλαιοῖς καὶ τὸ ἅθυρμα, φασί, δασύνεται, ὡς καὶ ἕνος ὁ ἐνιαυτός, ὅθεν ἄφενος ὁ ἀπὸ ἐνιαυσίων γεννημάτων πλοῦτος καὶ τὸ ἕννη δὲ καὶ νέα δασεῖαν τότε εἶχε, καὶ ἡ ἁμίς καὶ ἡ ἅμαξα, ὅθεν καὶ τὸ καθημαξευμένως, ὥς φησιν Αἴλιος Διονύσιος, καὶ θἀμάξιον τὸ ἁμάξιον· χαίρουσι γάρ, φησί, τῇ δασείᾳ οἱ Ἀττικοί. ὅτι δὲ τὸ Ὁμηρικῶς εἰπεῖν ἁθρόοι πρὸς δήλωσιν διαφόρου σημασίας παροξύνεται, δηλοῖ ὁ παραδοὺς ὡς ἄθροος μὲν ὁ ἀθόρυβος προπαροξύνεται, ἁθρόος δὲ ὁ συνηθροισμένος παροξύνεται.

ἀτόπως : Erbse (1950, 100) integrated ‹αὐτὸ οὐκ› ἀτόπως. Cf. Ael.Dion. α 45–7, α 98, α 199, ε 36.

Users of Attic employed different breathings in ἀθρόοι, ἀθρόα, and ἀθρόον to denote different things, using a smooth breathing for the [meaning] ‘sudden’ because of the privative nature of the α, in the sense of ‘without θρόος’, that is, ‘without noise’, but using a rough breathing for the [meaning] ‘together’, in the sense of ‘gathering’. For ἁθρόον [means] ἅμα θρῷ, that is, ‘with noise’, or ἅμα θορόν, that is, ‘leaping’. And the copulative α has a rough breathing. Therefore, ‘they were close together’ (Hom. Od. 1.26–7) and ‘all has been paid for together’ (Hom. Od. 1.42) had a rough breathing in Attic by this rationale, because of the copulative meaning. Be that as it may, today’s [writers] use them with a smooth breathing since the α occurs before an aspirate […]. The Rhetorical Lexica also transmit the following: ἅθρους is formed from ἁθρόος, as in (com. adesp. fr. 200) ‘the general arrived in assembled force (ἅθρους)’, that is, with the whole army, and Aristophanes (fr. 642) [says] ‘standing in a crowd like muleteers’. But [Ptolemy] of Ascalon (p. 61 Baege) believes that it has perispomenon accent unnaturally, because, he claims, the uncontracted form is ἁθρόος. But in common usage it is paroxytone: he also investigates the reason why this is unnatural. He claims that ἅθρους is aspirated in Attic like also ἁθρεῖν, that is, ‘to examine and observe intensely’, and they say the ancients aspirated also ἅθυρμα (‘toy’) and ἕνος ‘year’, whence ἄφενος (‘wealth’) derives, the income from the affairs of one year, and ἕννη δὲ καὶ νέα (‘the old and new [moon]’) was aspirated back then, and ἁμίς (‘chamber pot’) and ἅμαξα (‘wagon’), whence καθημαξευμένως (‘in a trite way’), as Aelius Dionysius says, and θἀμάξιον, that is τὸ ἁμάξιον (‘the little wagon’): for users of Attic, he says, take pleasure in aspiration. That the Homeric expression ἁθρόοι has paroxytone accent in order to show a different meaning, is evident from the author who relates that ἄθροος ‘noiseless’ has proparoxytone accent, but ἁθρόος ‘pressed together’ is paroxytone. (Transl. based on Cullhed 2016, 59–61, modified).

(16) Eust. in Od. 1.100.23–38: οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὸ ἀθρόος· διατὶ μὴ ἐξ ὀξείας καὶ βαρείας ἀθροῦς γέγονε περισπασθέν, ὡς διπλόος διπλοῦς, ἀλλὰ ἄθρους; […] περὶ δέ γε τοῦ ἀθρόος προείρηται μὲν ἐν τῇ α ῥαψῳδίᾳ, ἔστι δὲ καὶ νῦν εἰπεῖν ὡς οὐκ εὐλόγως παροξυνθὲν ἐν τῇ ἁπλότητι – ὤφειλε γὰρ ὡς ἄλλως σύνθετον παροξύνεσθαι – εἰκότως μετὰ τὴν κράσιν βαρύνεται, ὡς τὸ χειμάρρους, ἵνα ᾖ ὡς χειμάρροος χειμάρρους, οὕτως ἄθροος ἄθρους. καὶ ἀπολάβῃ ἐν γοῦν τῇ συναιρέσει τὴν ὀφειλομένην ὀξεῖαν τῇ ἀρχούσῃ πρὸ συναιρέσεως.

The same [applies to] ἀθρόος: why, since it [derives] from an acute [syllable] plus a grave, did it not become ἀθροῦς with a circumflex, like διπλόος [becomes] διπλοῦς (‘double’), but ἄθρους? […] As for ἀθρόος, this word has previously been addressed in Book 1but now it can be also added that, being not rightly paroxytone in the non-contracted form (for it ought to have been paroxytone if it was a compound), it is rightly barytone after the crasis such as χειμάρρους (‘winter-stream’) is, in the sense that just as” χειμάρροος [becomes] χειμάρρους, so does ἄθροος [becomes] ἄθρους. Hence, at least in the contracted form it adopts the acute on the first syllable that was due even before the contraction. (Transl. based on Cullhed 2016, 439–41, modified).

(17) Thom.Mag. 9.8–11: ἄθροος Ἀττικοί, οὐκ ἄθρους· ἄθρους δέ, ὁ μὴ θόρυβον ποιῶν, δόκιμον. Λουκιανὸς ἐν δευτέρῳ τῶν ἀληθινῶν· ‘βοὴ σύμμικτος ἠκούετο ἄθρους καὶ [οὐ] θορυβώδης’. καὶ ἀντίξοος, οὐκ ἀντίξους.

Users of Attic [employ] ἄθροος, not ἄθρους: but ἄθρους, [in the sense] ‘he who does not make noise’, [is] approved. Lucian in the second [book] of the True Stories (Luc. VH 2.5 = C.11) [says]: ‘a confused sound could be heard ἄθρους, and [not] a noisy one’. And [one should say] ἀντίξοος (‘opposed’), not ἀντίξους.

(18) Anon. Περὶ προσῳδίας 30: ἀθρόως⋅ παροξύνεται. ἄθροος δὲ τὸ κατὰ στέρησιν τοῦ θροῦ τρίτην ἐκ τέλους ποιεῖ τὴν ὀξεῖαν.

ἀθρόως: It has paroxytone accent. But the ἄθροος [derived] by privation of θρόος (‘noise’) has an acute accent on the third-to-last syllable.

(19) Tryph. Περὶ πνευμάτων 6: τὸ Α προτασσόμενον τοῦ Θ ψιλοῦται <καὶ βραχύνεται>, οἷον· †ἄθρεια, ἀθήρα, ἄθροισμα· τοῦτο δὲ οἱ Ἀττικοὶ δασύνουσι διὰ τὸ τῆς διαλέκτου ἴδιον, οὐ διὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν· ὅθεν ἡμάρτηται τὸ ἀθάνατος μηκυνόμενον· τὸ γὰρ ἆθλον συνῄρηται ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄεθλον.

<καὶ βραχύνεται> was added by Sandri (2022, 131) due to the following discussion of ἀθάνατος | †ἄθρεια is transmitted by cod. P : other codd. have ἀθρόα, perhaps correctly according to Sandri (2022, 131) | γὰρ cod. : the anonymous referee suggests emending it to δὲ.

Α before Θ has a smooth breathing <and is short>, like †ἄθρεια, ἀθήρα (‘porridge’), ἄθροισμα (‘gathering’): but users of Attic employ a rough breathing on this [word] according to a dialectal peculiarity, not according to analogy; for this reason, ἀθάνατος (‘immortal’) with long α is wrong; ἆθλον (‘prize’) is contracted from ἄεθλον.

C. Loci classici, other relevant texts

(1) Hom. Il. 2.439–40:
ἡμεῖς δ᾽ ἀθρόοι ὧδε κατὰ στρατὸν εὐρὺν Ἀχαιῶν
ἴομεν ὄφρα κε θᾶσσον ἐγείρομεν ὀξὺν Ἄρηα.

Let us go together through the broad camp of the Achaeans, so that we may the more quickly stir up keen Ares. (Transl. Murray 1924, 43, modified).

(2) Hom. Il. 14.37–8:
τῶ ῥ’ οἵ γ’ ὀψείοντες ἀυτῆς καὶ πολέμοιο
ἔγχει ἐρειδόμενοι κίον ἁθρόοι.

Therefore, they were moving together, leaning each on his spear, to look upon the war and the combat.

(3) Hom. Od. 1.26–7:
ἔνθ᾽ ὅ γ᾽ ἐτέρπετο δαιτὶ παρήμενος· οἱ δὲ δὴ ἄλλοι
Ζηνὸς ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν Ὀλυμπίου ἁθρόοι ἦσαν.

There he was taking his joy, sitting at the feast; but the other gods were gathered together in the halls of Olympian Zeus. (Transl. Murray 1919, 15).

(4) Hom. Od. 1.42–3:
ὣς ἔφαθ᾽ Ἑρμείας, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ φρένας Αἰγίσθοιο
πεῖθ᾽ ἀγαθὰ φρονέων· νῦν δ᾽ ἁθρόα πάντ᾽ ἀπέτισεν.

Hermes spoke, but for all his good intent he did not prevail upon the heart of Aegisthus; and now he has paid the full price for it all. (Transl. Murray 1919, 15).

(5) Com. adesp. fr. 200 = Eust. in Od. 1.13.15–33 re. ἅθρους (B.15).

(6) Ar. Ach. 24–6:
εἶτα δ᾿ ὠστιοῦνται πῶς δοκεῖς
ἐλθόντες ἀλλήλοισι περὶ πρώτου ξύλου,
ἁθρόοι καταρρέοντες.

Then, when they come you can’t imagine how they’ll jostle with each other for the front bench, streaming down all together.

(7) Ar. fr. 642 = Eust. in Od. 1.13.15–33 re. ἅθρους (B.15).

(8) Eub. fr. 8:
ἕτεροι δὲ †θεοῖσι† συμπεπλεγμένοι
μετὰ Καράβου σύνεισιν, ὃς μόνος βροτῶν
δύναται καταπιεῖν ἐκ ζεόντων λοπαδίων
ἅθρους τεμαχίτας, ὥστ’ ἐνεῖναι μηδὲ ἕν.

Cod. A has ἅθρους : codd. CE have ἀθρόους : Dindorf corrected it to ἁδροὺς.

Others entangled with †gods† are accompanying me, along with Carabus, the only mortal capable of gulping down whole slabs of fish out of boiling-hot casserole-dishes, leaving them empty. (Transl. Olson 2008, 49, modified).

(9) D. 27.35: τούτου τοίνυν ὃ μὲν οὐχ ἅθρουν ἐλήφθη, σχεδόν εἰσιν ἑβδομήκοντα μναῖ καὶ ἑπτά, ἡ πρόσοδος ἡ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνδραπόδων, ὃ δ᾿ εὐθὺς ἔλαβον οὗτοι, μικροῦ δέοντα τέτταρα τάλαντα.

Of this [sum], then, there are nearly seventy-seven minae, the income from the slaves, which were not received all at once, and a little less than four talents, which they received immediately.

(10) Hyp. Eux. 43: τοὺς δὲ συκοφαντουμένους τῶν πολιτῶν ὑπό τινων ἢ καθ᾿ ἕνα ἢ ἅθρους οὐ προΐεται ἀλλὰ βοηθεῖ.

And it (the Athenian people) does not forsake those citizens who are blackmailed by others, either individually or as a group, but it helps them.

(11) Luc. VH 2.5: καὶ μὴν καὶ βοὴ σύμμικτος ἠκούετο ἄθρους, οὐ θορυβώδης, ἀλλ᾿ οἵα γένοιτ᾿ ἂν ἐν συμποσίῳ, τῶν μὲν αὐλούντων, τῶν δὲ ἐπαινούντων, ἐνίων δὲ κροτούντων πρὸς αὐλὸν ἢ κιθάραν.

ἠκούετο : Thom.Mag. (B.17) has ἐφέρετο | ἄθρους is transmitted by the codd. of family γ and Thom.Mag. : codd. of family β omit the word | The codd. have ἐπαινούντων : Rohde corrected it to ἐπᾳδόντων.

And a confused sound could be heard incessantly, not a noisy one, but such as that is made in a drinking-party, when some people play the flute, others sing praises, and some clap their hands to the flute or the lyre.

D. General commentary

An entry in the Atticist lexicon of Moeris (A.1) prescribes ἄθρους as the correct Attic acc. masc. plur. of the adjective meaning ‘gathered together’, while uncontracted ἀθρόους is labelled as Hellenic. Philemon (B.1), on the other hand, states that ἄθροος should follow the model of ἄγριος, i.e., having three syllables (as a result of not being contracted) and paroxytone accent. Assuming that Moeris’ text is correct as transmitted (but see F.1), this is amongst several instances where Philemon disagrees with Moeris on the matter of vowel contraction (see entry χρύσεος, χάλκεος, φοινίκεος). An entry in the lexicon of Thomas Magister (B.17), depending either on Philemon or Moeris (see F.1), offers a fuller explanation of the same doctrine, adding a distinction between uncontracted ἄθροος ‘gathered together’ and contracted ἄθρους ‘noiseless’, supporting the latter with a quotation from Lucian (C.11). A similar – yet not identical – distinction to the one discussed by Thomas Magister is prescribed in several other sources, and may hark back to Hellenistic scholarship, as shall be discussed below. A later lexicographical source (B.4, identified by Alpers as a fragment of Orus) takes a less prescriptive stance, merely mentioning the existence of both variants.

Indeed, the formal variation in this adjective was extensively discussed by ancient scholarship. Its etymology is obscure: while the initial ἁ- is probably the copulative prefixPrefixes (*sm̥-), the second member remains unclear. Risch (1937, 177) compared it to ἀλλόθροος ‘speaking a foreign language’, from the root *dʰreu- of θρέομαι ‘to cry aloud’, θρόος ‘call, voice’, but what is semantically more likely is the connection with the root *dʰer- ‘to hold’, which, albeit with a different semantic development, may lie behind the verbs ἀθρέω ‘to look at, observe’ and Hsch. ε 3057 ἐνθρεῖν· φυλάσσειν ‘to guard’ (see Sowa 2016, 305–6, assuming that the first member of ἀ-θρέω is the copulative prefix *sm̥-, and Van Beek 2018, 60–2, proposing that it reflects the local particle *ad-). The formal variation in this adjective presents two separate problems. First, the initial alpha may be aspirated or unaspirated. If it goes back to the copulative prefix, as befits the meaning of the adjective, then it should have had an aspiration which would have been subject to loss by Grassmann’s Law, owing to the aspirated stop in the following syllable. Nonetheless, the aspiration could have been restored since a sociative-copulative meaning was evident to speakers. Second, the accentuation of the uncontracted form oscillates between paroxytone and proparoxytone, and that of the contracted form between perispomenon and paroxytone. Since compoundCompounds adjectives other than the multiplicatives in -πλοῦς (see entry ἁπλᾶ, διπλᾶ, τριπλᾶ) tended to acquire a recessive accent (e.g., Ionic δορυσσόος ‘brandishing the spear’ > Attic δορύσσους; see Dieu 2022, 386–7), the relationship between uncontracted ἁ/ἀθρόος and contracted ἅ/ἄθρους is unsurprising; but ἁ/ἀθροῦς, on the one hand, and ἅ/ἄθροος, on the other, are likewise attested. It is possible that ἀθροῦς resisted the aforementioned accent retraction in compound contract adjectives precisely because speakers were unsure about its compound nature, its second member being synchronically opaque.

It should be noted, however, that this adjective typically remained uncontracted not only in non-Attic literature (including Homer, where it occurs 23x: see e.g. C.1, C.2, C.3, C.4), but also in Attic literary texts (see K–B vol. 1, 402; Vessella 2018, 131–2), as well as in epigraphic ones (see Threatte 1996, 286), differently from the adjectives in -εος (see entry χρύσεος, χάλκεος, φοινίκεος) and in -πλόος (see entry ἁπλᾶ, διπλᾶ, τριπλᾶ). While contracted ἄθρουν and ἄθρους are occasionally found in comedy (C.7, C.8: but see C.5, C.6) and oratory (C.9, C.10), they are evidently exceptional. Theophrastus, in whose text both variants can be found, anticipates the trend of the Hellenistic and early imperial age, when the frequency of the contracted forms slightly increases (see also Mayser, Gramm. vol. 1,2, 54 on Ptolemaic papyri), although in authors such as Polybius, Diodorus, Strabo, Josephus, and Plutarch it is still limited to ἄθρουν and ἄθρους, while in the rest of the paradigm only the uncontracted forms are found. Moreover, even for these forms, contraction is never the only option, as the same authors also employ their uncontracted counterparts. It is likely not accidental, then, that Moeris’ lemma (A.1) – if the text transmitted by cod. C is correct – is concerned with the accusativeAccusative plural, which is one of those forms that could appear contracted in Hellenistic and imperial prose, but also had a pedigree harking back to Old Comedy. In the end, however, by preferring the uncontracted forms Philemon’s prescription is closer than Moeris’ to actual Attic usage. Indeed, Gammage (2018, 144) remarks that the ‘use of the contracted form might be considered a hyper-Atticism enforced by analogy with other -οος words that were regularly contracted in Attic’, rather than a proper Attic trait. Accordingly, Atticising authors use the contracted forms very sparingly: in addition to the single example in Lucian (C.11), only Dio Chrysostom has three occurrences of ἄθρουν (against 9 uncontracted ones).

Arguably, because contraction was such a marginal phenomenon for this word, it does not feature widely in ancient scholarly discussion, which instead concentrates on the problems of initial aspiration and accentuation. On the one hand, a doctrine transmitted by several erudite sources distinguishes paroxytone ἁ/ἀθρόος in the meaningSemantics ‘together’ from proparoxytone ἄθροος in the meaning ‘noiseless’ or ‘sudden’. This doctrine is found in the epitomes of Herodian’s Περὶ καθολικῆς προσῳδίας (B.6, B.7 – but note that latter may in fact contain fragments of the Περὶ καθολικῆς προσῳδίας, rather than an epitome, according to Grusková, Wilson 2023) and in other works that may depend on Herodian (B.3), but also in an anonymous treatise (B.18) that, as recently argued by Sandri (2023), could be based on Trypho’s Περὶ Ἀττικῆς προσῳδίας, on which Herodian himself depended for matters of Attic accentuation. A badly corrupted entry in the lexicon of Orion apparently transmits a similar doctrine (B.2). According to the testimony of Eustathius (B.15), the accentuation of the contracted form was discussed by Ptolemy of Ascalon, who pleaded for ἁθροῦς against the more common reading ἅθρους, while the latter was apparently defended by Aelius Dionysius (see F.2).

Grammarians also discussed the initial aspiration of this word. Ancient scholarship correctly observed that an initial vowel typically had a smooth breathing if it was followed by an aspirated stop (see the passages quoted by Probert 2015, 929–30 n. 14), and ἁθρόος was noted as an exception to this rule (see B.7, B.8). The aspiration was explained as an Attic peculiarity (it is, for instance, the norm in Aristophanes: see Bagordo 2016, 185–6 on C.7, also mentioning Ach. 26 = C.6, Nu. 965, V. 1334, Pax 1006, Av. 529, Ec. 384), in line with the general notion that this dialect had a special fondness for initial aspiration, especially on α (see Vessella 2018, 103), but also as a means to distinguish the copulative alpha in this word from the privative one in the (alleged) ἄθροος ‘noiseless’/‘sudden’. The rule that ἁθρόος should have a rough breathing (even in the Homeric text) owing to its sociative meaning is explicitly attributed to Aristarchus in a Homeric scholium (B.9) and in Eustathius’ commentary (B.14). A similar prescription is also found in an anonymous treatise (B.19) identified by Sandri (2022) as an epitome of Trypho’s Περὶ πνευμάτων. Since Trypho was ‘a scholarly ‘grandchild’ of Aristarchus’ (Dickey 2007, 84), it is possible that his doctrines on the prosody of ἁθρόος, including both aspiration and accentuation, were based on Aristarchus’ scholarship (puzzlingly, in another scholium [B.11], Aristarchus is said to have prescribed ἄθροοι). In fact, already La Roche (1866, 181), based on the Homeric scholia, Eustathius, and the Etymologica, concluded with surety that Aristarchus and Herodian wrote ἁθρόος with rough breathing and paroxytone accent. By contrast with this widespread position, the doctrine expounded by Philemon and Thomas Magister (that the difference between the adjective meaning ‘together’ and the one meaning ‘noiseless’ was between an uncontracted proparoxytone form and a contracted paroxytone one) appears quite isolated, although a scholium to Aristophanes (B.12) also states that ‘together’ is proparoxytone (and aspirated) in Attic.

E. Byzantine and Modern Greek commentary

In Roman and Byzantine papyriPapyri ἀθρόος remains ‘normally uncontracted both in the adjective and the adverb’ (Gignac 1981, 121), suggesting that the contracted forms occasionally appearing in Attic and the koine were unable to oust the uncontracted ones. Consequently, in the medieval period, ἀθρόος did not undergo the shift to the simple thematic declension like other contract adjectives (see entries χρύσεος, χάλκεος, φοινίκεος and ἁπλᾶ, διπλᾶ, τριπλᾶ), as proved also by the adverbial forms ἀθρόον, ἀθρόως (Kriaras, LME s.vv.). Modern Greek still has αθρόος ‘numerous’ and adverbial αθρόα ‘massively’: it is noteworthy that, by contrast with the general trend of contract adjectives, this one preserved its uncontracted form to this day.

F. Commentary on individual texts and occurrences

(1) Moer. α 33 (A.1)

While Hansen (1998, 73) elects to print the text as transmitted cod. C, it is worth observing that the manuscript tradition presents a wider variety of readings than what results from Hansen’s apparatus. In fact, codd. V, E, and D¹ (although not cod. F, as mistakenly attested by Hansen) all report different readings. Given that Moeris’ tradition is bipartite, with C representing one branch and V, E, D¹ the other, it may not be excluded, as kindly suggested by the anonymous referee, that the correct reading is ἄθρους Ἀττικοί· ἄθροος Ἕλληνες, making this a prescription on the nom. sing., in line with Philemon (B.1) and Thomas Magister (B.17, who may depend on Moeris himself for this entry: note that Thomas based himself on hyparchetype τ, which probably had the same text as V), rather than one on the acc. plur., in line with Photius (B.4). Moreover, since Moeris would be the only Atticist to label the contract form as Attic, one may wonder whether the original text read ἄθροος Ἀττικοί· ἄθρους Ἕλληνες (or ἅθροος Ἀττικοί· ἅθρους Ἕλληνες).

(2) Eust. in Od. 1.13.15–33 (B.15)

In this long passage from the commentary on the Odyssey, Eustathius discusses the formal variants of ἁ/ἀθρόος, summarising the views of some earlier scholars about breathings and accents. The first section explains the difference between ἁθρόος ‘together’, which in Attic should have a rough breathing owing to its copulative meaning, and ἄθροος ‘sudden’. The observation that οἱ νῦννῦν do not aspirate the former thanks to the following aspirated consonant (followed by two further examples of minimal pairs distinguished by initial aspiration in Attic, αὕω/αὔω and εἵργω/εἴργω) cannot refer to the contemporaries of Eustathius (Medieval Greek having long lost aspiration altogether), but must go back to one of his sources that contrasted classical Attic with later usage. This should therefore be regarded as an orthographicOrthography, rather than orthoepic, comment. In the commentary on the Iliad, Eustathius reports Aristarchus’ prescription of the rough breathing in ἁθρόος as Attic (B.13, B.14); the latter passage – doubtlessly depending on B.9 – also refers to a fuller discussion in the Odyssey comment that is, in fact, the one offered here. The following section turns to the accentuation of the contracted form before returning to aspiration with a list of other words that have a rough breathing in old Attic. Erbse identified the source of this discussion in the Atticist lexicon of Aelius Dionysius, based not only on the direct mention of his name, but also on the expression ἐν δὲ ῥητορικοῖς λεξικοῖς, which in Eustathius usually alludes to either Aelius Dionysius or Pausanias (Erbse 1950, 17; on the use of Aelius Dionysius by Eustathius, see Montana 2018). Consequently, he identified several distinct parts of this passage as separate fragments of Aelius Dionysius’ lexicon (α 45–7Ael.Dion. α 45–7, α 98Ael.Dion. α 98, α 199Ael.Dion. α 199, ε 36Ael.Dion. ε 36). The other scholar mentioned by name is Ptolemy of AscalonPtolemy of Ascalon, who is quoted for his views on the accentuation of the contracted form of the adjective: he is reported as having defended ἁθροῦς as the regular outcome of ἁθρόος, although Eustathius (or his source) labels this accentuation as ‘unnatural’ (ἀτόπως: Erbse integrated a negation before this adverb, probably because the outcome -όος > -οῦς, even if it is rejected, is in fact the expected one) and observes that in common usage (χρῆσις) the contracted form is paroxytone (it should be noted that, further on in the commentary (B.16), Eustathius himself admits that the accentuation of ἁθρόος is irregular and assumes that the word must have shifted to ἅθροος before contraction to ἅθρους). According to Erbse, the quotation of Ptolemy was embedded in the lemma of Aelius Dionysius (α 46)Ael.Dion. α 46, who opposed his views and quoted two comic verses (one adespoton and one attributed to Aristophanes) in support of contracted and paroxytone ἅθρους. As Baege (1882, 61) observes, Ptolemy was the only scholar who disputed the accentuation of the contracted form. Finally, Eustathius discusses the accent of the uncontracted form, relying on an unnamed authority to assert the distinction between paroxytone ‘together’ and proparoxytone ‘noiseless’.

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CITE THIS

Roberto Batisti, 'ἄθρους, ἀθρόους (Moer. α 33)', in Olga Tribulato (ed.), Digital Encyclopedia of Atticism. With the assistance of E. N. Merisio.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30687/DEA/2974-8240/2024/01/030