στρηνιάω
(Antiatt. σ 6, Phryn. Ecl. 358)

D. General commentary

Two entries in the Antiatticist lexicon (A.1) and in Phrynichus’ Eclogue (A.2) deal with the verb στρηνιάω (‘to run riot’, ‘to go wild’), the latter with a clear proscriptive purpose, advocating the use of the verb τρυφάω instead.

στρηνιάω is a denominative verbDenominative verbs, apparently derived from the noun στρῆνοςστρῆνος (‘insolence’, ‘wantonness’), formed by the addition of the suffixSuffixes -ιάω. This suffix, denoting a state of physical or mental illness (e.g. ναυτίαω ‘to suffer from seasickness’, μανίαω ‘to be mad, rave’), or emotional or behavioural states (e.g. ἀγωνιάω ‘to be distressed’, ἀγριάω ‘to be savage’), was originally specific to technical language; however, Aristophanes’ extensive use of verbs ending in -ιάω shows that, by the 5th century BCE, such formations had already entered common usage; see Willi (2003, 84–5). Interestingly, the noun στρῆνος and the related adjective στρηνής (‘harsh’, ‘rough’), normally employed in the neutral adverbial form στρηνές in reference to sounds – and from which, according to Orion’s testimony (B.1), some ancient grammarians believed the verb στρηνιάω to be derived – are both attested later than στρηνιάω itself. More precisely, στρῆνος does not occur before Lycophron’s Alexandra (438) and the Septuagint (4Re. 19.28), while στρηνής appears for the first time in Apoll.Rh. 2.323. It should be noted that the presence of the adjective at the beginning of the hexameter cited by Orion (B.1) is not chronologically significant, as the Iliadic verse apparently underlying the citation (Il. 23.688) has δεινός instead of στρηνής. On the contrary, the compound adjective στρηνόφωνος (‘rough-voiced’; Call.Com. fr. 37) and the simplex στρηνόςστρηνός (‘rough, harsh’; Nicostr.Com. fr. 38) are already attested in 5th- and 4th-century comedy. This lexical distribution suggests that στρηνής and στρῆνος may be secondary formations. In any case, the etymology of the root remains unclear: it has traditionally been connected with the Latin strēnuus (‘active’, ‘vigorous’), although the semantic relationship between the roots in the two languages is not obvious; see DELG s.v. στρηνής, EDG s.v. στρηνές.

The verb στρηνιάω is first attested in Middle Comedy (C.1, C.2), then in New Comedy (C.3), and in a fragment of a satyr drama by Lycophron (fr. 2.2). In all these occurrences – excluding Diphilus’ fragment (C.3), whose context is lost – the verb is associated with intemperate behaviour following an excessively abundant meal; cf. Olson (2023, 314–5) and De Martin (2025, 227–8). The verb is subsequently attested mainly in lexicographical texts, either as a lemma or as an interpretamentum, where it is variously connected with unconventional or arrogant behaviour, contrary to the norms of civilised living and often linked to excessive wealth, as is typical of comedy, which is likely the source behind loci such as B.2, Hsch. σ 641 ~ schol. Luc. Lex. 21 (= 202.5–7 Rabe): σιληπορδεῖν· σιληπορδῆσαι, στρηνιᾶν, ἁβρύνεσθαι, θρύπτεσθαι, χλιδᾶν, ‘σιληπορδεῖν (‘to be farting like a silen’; Sophr. fr. 163): To fart like a silen, στρηνιᾶν, to be extravagant, to grow conceited, to live in luxury’ (transl. Olson 2023, 315); Σ υ 79 (= Phot. υ 125 ~ Su. υ 321): ὑπερμαζᾷ· ὑπερτρυφᾷ, πλουτεῖ, στρηνιᾷ, ‘ὑπερμαζᾷ (‘he’s had too much barley-cake’): He’s living a life of excessive luxury, he’s rich, στρηνιᾷ’ (transl. Olson 2023, 315). With this meaning, the verb also appears in the New Testament (C.4, Apoc. 18.9; in 1Ep.Ti. 5.11 the compound καταστρηνιάω is also attested: νεωτέρας δὲ χήρας παραιτοῦ· ὅταν γὰρ καταστρηνιάσωσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, γαμεῖν θέλουσιν, ‘Send away the younger widows: for when they behave wantonly towards Christ, they wish to marry (again)’), and in some private letters from the imperial period preserved on papyrus: cf. e.g. P.Meyer 20.23–4 (= TM 31286) [Antinoupolis, 200–250 CE]: μ̣ὴ στρηνιάτω Λουκιᾶς, ἀλλὰ ἐργαζέσθω (‘Let Lukias not go wild, but work’); SB 12.11148.12–3 (= TM 25069) [provenance unknown, 1st–2nd c. CE]: […] καὶ μὴ αὐτὸ̣ν ἀφῇς στρην̣ιᾶν̣, ‘and do not allow him to indulge in the good life’. In P.Rainer Cent. 72.22–3 (= TM 30085) [Hermoupolis, end of 3rd c. CE], the verb is constructed with ὅτι, and it appears to mean ‘to be amazed’: ἐστρηνιωσα (l. ἐστρηνίασα) δὲ ὅτι τοιαύ[τη]ν ἡ̣λ̣ικίαν γέγ̣ο̣νεν, ‘Ι was amazed that he had reached such an age’.

An etymological tradition dating back to Orion (B.1), in addition to mentioning the derivation from στρηνής accepted by modern etymology – despite the later attestations of the adjective (see above) – proposes an alternative paretymology, according to which the verb would derive from στερέω τὰς ἡνίας, ‘to take away the reins’ (not unlike the true etymology of Italian scatenarsi, literally ‘to unchain oneself’, i.e. ‘to go wild’). This image refers to animals – in particular horses, cattle, etc. – and is then applied metaphorically to humans. Its use in relation to animals is found in a private letter from the 3rd century CE (P.Oxy. 36.2783.23–6 = TM 30385: οἱ δὲ ταμροι (l. ταῦροι) σου οἱ κατάρατοι στρηνιῶσι καὶ πολλὰ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν προηλθα (l. προῆλθον) χάρ̣ιν σοῦ, ‘Your blasted bulls are running wild and I have appeared in court several times because of them’; transl. Trapp 2003, 53), and perhaps also in a corrupted entry of Hesychius’ lexicon (σ 1764: †στερηναῖα· ὁδός· ἢ Ἱπποκόον τί†· ἡ πολεμία, καὶ στερητικὴ τῶν πάντων. †οἷον στερνοτύπη καὶ στερναία†· ἢ ἀπειθής, ἀπὸ τῶν στρηνιώντων ἵππων, ‘†στερηναῖα (?): Way, or an Ἱπποκόον (?)†: The adverse [way?], the worst of all. †Such as στερνοτύπη and στερναία†. Or disobedient, [deriving] from horses running wild (στρηνιώντων)’).

The verb στρηνιάω, as is clear from its earliest attestations in comedy to its use in private letters from the imperial period, belongs to the colloquial register. The fact that literary attestations do not predate Middle Comedy justifies Phrynichus’ proscription of it; the Eclogue’s entry (A.2), included in the second book of the lexicon, may be interpreted as a reaction to the evaluation of the term reported in the Antiatticist lexicon (A.1) – see Latte (1915, 378–82); Valente (2015, 52–3) – which instead seems to accept its use. The wording of the Antiatticist entry, possibly affected by a process of epitomisationEpitome, implicitly argues for the admissibility of the verb, while its focus is rather on the meaning of στρηνίαω, identified as that peculiar to ‘everyday language’; for the use of βίοςβίος in this sense, cf. Antiatt. γ 30Antiatt. γ 30 and see Meineke, FCG vol. 4, 429; Valente (2015, 49). The Antiatticist supports the use of the verb by citing its attestation in Diphilus (C.3), a poet of New Comedy whose representatives are the target of Phrynichus’ entry. As noted above, the verb is already attested in Middle Comedy; in this regard, Lobeck suggested that Δίφιλος is a corruption of Σώφιλος (see A.1, apparatus). Also noteworthy is the oscillation between νέας and μέσης in the manuscript tradition of Phrynichus’ Eclogue (A.2, apparatus).

Whatever Phrynichus’ comic targets may be in this particular entry, the lexicographer clearly rejects the verb because it is not attested in the authors of his canon, which is limited to the major representatives of Old Comedy (see Tribulato 2024), while the Antiatticist appears to promote its use precisely on the basis of its attestation in the works of more recent comic playwrights. The verb that Phrynichus proposes as an alternative, τρυφάω (‘to live luxuriously’), is well attested in the Attic language of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, and in some cases it is indeed used with a meaning equivalent to that of στρηνιάω (cf. LSJ s.v. τρυφάω, II).

E. Byzantine and Modern Greek commentary

Besides the references in lexica and in works that cite the passages from Revelation and the First Epistle to Timothy quoted above (cf. e.g. Oecum. Apoc. 193.18, Arethas Apoc. 728.11, John of Damascus Commentarii in epistulas Pauli MPG 95.1012, Euthymius Zigabenus Commentarius in Pauli epistulam ad Timotheum I 5.11), in the Byzantine period (κατα)στρηνιάω is used only rarely and mainly in low-register texts (cf. e.g. Callinic.Mon. V.Hyp. 2.10, Digenis Akritis cod. G 4.1062 [here in the form στρηνιάζω], Apoph.Patr.Al. Νέον Μητερικόν 42.45, Carmina Graeca Medii Aevi Βίος καὶ πολιτεία δοκιμωτάτου καὶ σοφωτάτου γέροντος 606 Wagner), confirming its colloquial character. During the Byzantine period, new nominal formations based on the verb στρηνιάω are also attested: στρηνίασις ‘arrogance’ (Isaacius Syrus Orationes ascetici 22.3; Euthymius Zigabenus Commentarius in Pauli epistulam ad Timotheum I 5.11), στρηνίασμα ‘arrogance’, ‘revelry’ (Theodorus Studites Μεγάλη κατήχησις 77.538.5), στρηνιασμός ‘arrogance’, ‘wildness’ (e.g. Isaacius Syrus Orationes ascetici 73.51, Theodorus Studites Μεγάλη κατήχησις 55.391.19–20). The verb has survived in various Modern Greek dialects: particularly in Cypriot στρηνώ and στρηνάζω, meaning ‘to desire ardently’ (but the neuter noun στρηνίασμαν retains the meaning ‘licentiousness’, ‘debauchery’); in the Greek dialect of Cargese (Corsica), as στρηνάω, meaning ‘to hurry’; and in Apulian στρηνάτζω, στρηνέω, which are used with the same meaning as the Ancient Greek verb; see Andriotis (1974 s.v. στρηνιώ).

F. Commentary on individual texts and occurrences

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