Lexicographic entries

ἀνάκειμαι, κατάκειμαι
(Phryn. Ecl. 187, Phryn. PS 46.10–1, [Hdn.] Philet. 34)

A. Main sources

(1) Phryn. Ecl. 187: ἀνάκειται· καὶ τοῦτο ἄλλο μὲν παρ’ αὐτοῖς σημαίνει, ἀντ’ ἄλλου δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν τίθεται. ἀνάκειται μὲν γὰρ ἀνδριὰς καὶ ἀναθήματα καλῶς ἐρεῖς, ἀνάκειται δ’ ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης οὐκέτι, ἀλλὰ κεῖται.

ἀνάκειται: This [word] too has a different meaning among them (i.e. canonical authors) from the one assigned to it by the multitude. For you will correctly say ‘a statue and offerings ἀνάκειται (‘are set up’)’ and not ‘ἀνάκειται on the couch (i.e. meaning ‘s/he lies down’)’, but κεῖται (‘s/he lies’).

(2) Phryn. PS 46.10–1: ἀνακεῖσθαι· <…> τὸ κατακεῖσθαι.

The entry as transmitted contradicts A.1, since it apparently allows for ἀνακεῖσθαι in the sense ‘to lie down’ (κατακεῖσθαι). On the basis of a comparison with A.1 and A.3, de Borries proposes the following supplement: ἀνακεῖσθαι· <ἐπὶ ἀνδριάντων καὶ ἀναθημάτων>. τὸ <δὲ> κατακεῖσθαι <ἐπὶ τῶν ἑστιωμένων> (‘ἀνακεῖσθαι: <For statues and offerings, while> κατακεῖσθαι <for those who participate in a banquet>’), but this is by no means the only possible option. One might also suppose e.g.: ἀνακεῖσθαι· <οἱ μὲν πολλοί, οἱ δ’ ἀρχαῖοι> τὸ κατακεῖσθαι (‘ἀνακεῖσθαι: <The multitude> [says this], <while the ancients> [said] κατακεῖσθαι’): for a similar structure, see the immediately preceding entry, i.e. Phryn. PS 46.8–9Phryn. PS 46.8–9: ἁλίπαστα: οἱ μὲν πολλοὶ ἁπλῶς τὰ ταρίχη, οἱ δ’ ἀρχαῖοι τὰ ἁλσὶ πεπασμένα (‘ἁλίπαστα: The multitude [uses this term] simply for dried fish, whereas the ancients [used it for foods] sprinkled with salt’).

ἀνακεῖσθαι (‘to be set up’): <…> κατακεῖσθαι (‘to lie down’).

(3) [Hdn.] Philet. 34: κατακεῖσθαι ἐπὶ τῶν ἑστιωμένων, ἀνακεῖσθαι δὲ ἐπὶ εἰκόνων καὶ ἀνδριάντων. εἰπόντος γοῦν τινος ‘ἀνάπιπτε’, ὁ κωμικὸς παίζων, ‘ἀνδριάντας ἑστιᾷς’, ἔφη.

On the identity of the κωμικός and the textual problems in the quotation, see D.

[One should use] κατακεῖσθαι (‘to lie down’) with reference to those who participate in a banquet, but ἀνακεῖσθαι (‘to be set up’) with reference to images and statues. Hence, when someone said ἀνάπιπτε (‘fall back!’), the comic poet (Ar. fr. 966? But see D.) jokingly replied: ‘are you entertaining statues?’.

B. Other erudite sources

(1) Poll. 3.69–70: γυναικεραστεῖν, φροντίζειν ἐπ’ αὐτῷ, ἀλύειν, ἀλγεῖν, ἀγρυπνεῖν, τετρῶσθαι, κατειλῆφθαι, ἀνακεῖσθαί τινι. [...] γυναικεραστής, γυναιμανής. ἀλύων, ἀγρυπνῶν, φροντίζων, τετρωμένος, τετοξευμένος, κατειλημμένος, ἀνακείμενος, προσκείμενος.

To be a lover of women, to be preoccupied with it, to be restless, to suffer, to lie awake, to be tormented, to be captured, to be devoted to someone. [...] A lover of women, mad for women. Restless, sleepless, tormented, struck by an arrow, captured, devoted [to someone], dedicated [to someone].

(2) Poll. 6.9: ἐφ’ ὧν δ’ ἔστι κατακεῖσθαι, κλῖναι κλινίδες κλινίδια, σκίμποδες, ἀσκάνται, στιβάδες, ἡμικύκλια, κλιντήρια, χαμεύνια, χαμεύνη.

In addition to these [words], there is κατακεῖσθαι (‘to lie down’), couches, small beds, little beds, pallets, cots, mattresses, hemicycles, biers, small bedsteads, bedstead.

(3) Ath. Epit. 1.23b–e: ὅτι τὸ ἀναπίπτειν κυρίως ἐπὶ ψυχῆς ἐστιν, οἷον ἀθυμεῖν, ὀλιγοδρανεῖν. [...] ἀνακεῖσθαι δέ φαμεν ἐπὶ ἀνδριάντος· ὅθεν τοὺς ἐπὶ κατακειμένων χρωμένους τῇ λέξει διέσυρον. Δίφιλος· ‘ἐγὼ δ᾿ † ἕως μέν τινος ἀνεκείμην †.’ πρὸς ὃν δυσχεραίνων ὁ ἑταῖρός φησιν· ‘ἀνάκεισο’. Φιλιππίδης· ‘(A) καὶ δειπνῶν ἀεὶ | ἀνακείμενος παρ᾿ αὐτόν’. καὶ ἐπάγει· ‘(B) <…> πότερον ἀνδριάντας εἱστία;’. κατακεῖσθαι δὲ λέγεται καὶ κατακεκλίσθαι, ὡς ἐν Συμποσίοις Ξενοφῶν καὶ Πλάτων. Ἄλεξις· ‘ὥς ἐστι κατακεῖσθαι πρὸ δείπνου συμφορά· | οὔτε γὰρ ὕπνος δήπουθεν οὐδέν’ ἂν λάβοι | οὔθ’ ἃν λέγῃ τις οὐδαμῶς μάθοιμεν ἄν· | ὁ νοῦς γάρ ἐστι τῆς τραπέζης πλησίον’. ἔστι δὲ εὑρεῖν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐννοίας ταύτης σπανίως τὸ ἀνακεῖσθαι. σάτυρος παρὰ Σοφοκλεῖ τοῦτό φησιν ἐπικαιόμενος τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ· ‘ἀνακειμένῳ | μέσον εἰς τὸν αὐχέν’ εἰσαλοίμην’. Ἀριστοτέλης ἐν Τυρρηνῶν Νομίμοις· ‘οἱ δὲ Τυρρηνοὶ δειπνοῦσι μετὰ τῶν γυναικῶν ἀνακείμενοι ὑπὸ τῷ αὐτῷ ἱματίῳ’. Θεόπομπος· ‘ἐπίνομεν μετὰ ταῦτα … κατακείμενοι μαλακώτατ’ ἐπὶ τρικλινίῳ, | Τελαμῶνος οἰμώζοντες ἀλλήλοις μέλη’. Φιλωνίδης· ‘κατάκειμαι, ὡς ὁρᾶτε, δεκάπαλαι’.

The verb ἀναπίπτω is properly used of [a person’s] spirit, in the sense ‘be discouraged, fainthearted’. [...] But we use the verb ἀνάκειμαι (‘to be set up’) of statuary; as a result, those who used the word to describe people lying down were ridiculed. Diphilus (fr. 124): ‘I lay back (ἀνεκείμην, lit. ‘I was set up’) for a while’. And the man he is with is annoyed and says to him: ‘Lie back (lit. ‘be set up’)!’. Philippides (fr. 31): ‘And all the time I was eating dinner, I was lying back (ἀνακείμενος, lit. ‘I was set up’) beside him’. And he (i.e. the other character) continues: ‘Was he entertaining statues?’. The verbs κατακεῖσθαι and κατακεκλίσθαι (‘to have reclined’) are also used, as in the Symposia of Xenophon (e.g. 1.13, 15; 2.23) and Plato (e.g. 175a; 177d). Alexis (fr. 279): ‘What a disaster it is to lie down (κατακεῖσθαι) before dinner is served! Because naturally you can’t fall asleep then, and neither can we understand anything someone else might say; because our attention’s fixed on the table’. One can occasionally find the verb ἀνάκειμαι used in this sense. One of Sophocles’ (fr. 756 = C.1) satyrs is angry with Heracles and says the following: ‘I’d like to jump right on his neck as he lies (ἀνακειμένῳ) there!’. Aristotle in the Customs of the Tyrrhenians (fr. 472): ‘The Tyrrhenians dine with their wives, lying down (ἀνακείμενοι) under the same robe’. Theopompus (fr. 65): ‘After that we began drinking, lying down (κατακείμενοι) comfortably on three couches, singing laments for Telamon to one another’. Philonides (fr. 8): ‘I’ve been lying down (κατάκειμαι), as you can see, for a very long time’. (Transl. Olson 2006, 129–31, adapted).

(4) [Ammon.] 40: ἀνακεῖσθαι καὶ κατακεῖσθαι διαφέρει. ἀνάκειται μὲν γὰρ ὁ ἀνδριὰς καὶ ἡ εἰκὼν τῷδε κατὰ τιμήν, κατάκειται δὲ ὁ εὐωχούμενος.

This entry also occurs in two other anonymous synonymic lexica, i.e. Anon. Differentiae verborum 27 Palmieri (from cod. Paris. suppl. gr. 1238) and Anon. De differentia verborum 31 Palmieri (from cod. Vat. gr. 2226).

ἀνακεῖσθαι and κατακεῖσθαι are different, for the statue and the image ἀνάκειται (‘is set up’) in honour of this or that (i.e. person or deity) for worship, while the one who feasts κατάκειται (‘lies down’).

(5) [Ptol.Ascal.] Diff. 394.12–3 Heylbut: ἀνακεῖσθαι μὲν ἐπ’ ἀνδριάντων καὶ ἀναθημάτων λέγεται· κατακεῖσθαι δὲ ἐπ’ ἀνθρώπων ἐν κλίναις ὄντων.

ἀνακεῖσθαι is used of statues and offerings, while κατακεῖσθαι [is used] of people who are on couches.

(6) Phot. α 1512 (= Su. α 1899, ex Σ´´): ἀνάκειται σκώμμασιν, ἀνάκειται λοιδορίαις, ἀνάκειται πόρνοις, κύβοις, συμποσίοις· σημαίνει δὲ τὸ οἷον πρόσκειται ἰσχυρῶς.

The entry is identified by de Borries as Phryn. PS fr. *180Phryn. PS fr. *180. Cf. Lex.Vind. α 52.

He is devoted (ἀνάκειται) to jokes, he is devoted to insults, he is devoted to prostitutes, dice, banquets. It means, as it were, ‘he is strongly attached [to these things]’.

(7) Su. α 1898: ἀνακεῖσθαι· ἐπὶ ἀνδριάντων. κατακεῖσθαι δὲ καὶ κατακεκλίσθαι ἐπὶ τραπέζης. καὶ ἀνακεῖσθαι πολλάκις ἀντὶ τοῦ κατακεῖσθαι.

Cf. Su. κ 572 and [Zonar.] 199.21–3.

ἀνακεῖσθαι: For statues. κατακεῖσθαι and κατακεκλίσθαι for [people lying down] at the table. And ἀνακεῖσθαι [is] often [used] in place of κατακεῖσθαι.

(8) Eust. in Od. 1.192.5–9 Cullhed–Olson (= 1.39.11–5 Stallbaum): κεῖται γάρ, φασί, τὸ ἀνατιθέναι καθὰ καὶ τὸ ἀνακεῖσθαι ἐπὶ τοιούτων. διὸ οἱ ἐπὶ κατακειμένων λέγοντες τὸ ἀνακεῖσθαι διεσύροντο, ὡς δηλοῖ Δίφιλος ἐν τῷ ‘ἐγώ δ’ ἕως μέν τινος κατεκείμην’, πρὸς ὃν δυσχεραίνων ὁ ἀκούων ἔφη ‘ἀνάκεισο’, ὡς εἴπερ εἶπεν· ἔσο ἄψυχος ἀνδριάς. πάλιν δέ τινος εἰπόντος ‘δειπνῶν ἀεὶ ἀνακείμενος παρ’ αὐτόν’, ἐπιφέρει ὁ ἀκούσας ‘πότερον ἀνδριάντα εἱστία;’.

In relation to such things (i.e. sacred objects and treasures), there is – they say – ἀνατιθέναι (‘to set up’) as well as ἀνακεῖσθαι (‘to be set up’). Therefore, those who say ἀνακεῖσθαι with reference to people lying down (κατακειμένων) were ridiculed, as Diphilus (fr. 124 = C.5) shows in the [line]: ‘ἀνεκείμην (meaning ‘I lay back’, literally ‘I was set up’) for a while’. And the man he is with is annoyed and tells him: ‘ἀνάκεισο (‘be set up’)!’, as if to say, ‘be a lifeless statue!’. And when someone else (i.e. Philippid. fr. 31 = C.6) said: ‘And all the time I was eating dinner, I was lying back (ἀνακείμενος, lit. ‘I was set up’) beside him’, the listener continues: ‘Was he entertaining a statue?’.

(9) Georgius Lacapenus Epistulae 25.102–10: ἀνάκειται λέγεται ἐπὶ ἱερῶν, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀνατίθεται, οἷον· ἀνάκειται δῶρον Ἀπόλλωνι τὸ Ἡρακλέους τόξον. καὶ ἀνάκειται ἀνδριὰς τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ, ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἀνάθημα. ἀνάκειται καὶ τὸ ἐπίκειται ἐπὶ κλίνης. ἀνάκειται καὶ ἐπὶ συμποσίου παρὰ τῇ Θείᾳ Γραφῇ πολλάκις. κατάκειμαι ἐπὶ νοσούντων, ὅπερ δὴ καὶ κοινῶς λέγεται, ὡς καὶ Ἀριστοφάνης· ‘οἱ δὲ κατακείμενοι παρ’ αὐτῷ, πῶς δοκεῖς τὸν πλοῦτον ἠσπάζοντο;’ λέγεται καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἑστιωμένων Ἀττικῶς, ὁμοίως τῷ ἀνάκειται.

Ar. Pl. 742 actually reads ἐγκατακείμενοι, not κατακείμενοι as in Lacapenus.

ἀνάκειται is used of sacred [objects], in the sense ‘it is set up’, as in ‘Heracles’ bow is set up (i.e. dedicated) as an offering to Apollo’ and ‘a statue is set up in honour of Heracles’, from which also [comes the term] ἀνάθημα (‘offering’). ἀνάκειται also [means] ‘it is laid upon a couch’. ἀνάκειται [is] often [used] in the Holy Scripture for the banquet. κατάκειμαι [is used] of those who are ill, which in fact is also how it is commonly employed, as Aristophanes (Pl. 742–3) too [does]: ‘You can imagine those who were lying next to him, how they hugged Wealth!’. In Attic, it is also said of those who take part in a banquet, similarly to ἀνάκειται.

C. Loci classici, other relevant texts

(1) Soph. fr. 756:
ἀνακειμένῳ
μέσον εἰς τὸν αὐχέν’ εἰσαλοίμην.

I’d like to jump right on his neck as he lies there! (Transl. Olson 2006, 131).

(2) Thuc. 3.114.1: καὶ τὰ μὲν τῶν Ἀθηναίων πλέοντα ἑάλω, τὰ δὲ νῦν ἀνακείμενα ἐν τοῖς Ἀττικοῖς ἱεροῖς Δημοσθένει ἐξῃρέθησαν τριακόσιαι πανοπλίαι, καὶ ἄγων αὐτὰς κατέπλευσεν.

The portion which fell to the Athenians was captured from them on the voyage home; but the dedicatory offerings that are now set up in the Athenian temples, consisting of three hundred panoplies, were set apart as Demosthenes’ share, and were brought home by him when he returned. (Transl. Smith 1920, 203, adapted).

(3) Ar. Ach. 68–71:
καὶ δῆτ᾿ ἐτρυχόμεσθα τῶν Καϋστρίων
πεδίων ὁδοιπλανοῦντες ἐσκηνημένοι,
ἐφ᾿ ἁρμαμαξῶν μαλθακῶς κατακείμενοι,
ἀπολλύμενοι.

Αnd we truly wore ourselves out a-wayfaring through Castrian plains, under canopies, reclining softly on litters, simply perishing! (Transl. Henderson 1998, 65).

(4) Ar. Av. 636–7:
ἀλλ’ ὅσα μὲν δεῖ ῥώμῃ πράττειν, ἐπὶ ταῦτα τεταξόμεθ’ ἡμεῖς·
ὅσα δὲ γνώμῃ δεῖ βουλεύειν, ἐπὶ σοὶ τάδε πάντ’ ἀνάκειται.

But as for those things that must be carried out with brute force, we are assigned to them; whereas those that need to be planned carefully are entirely up to you.

(5) Diph. fr. 124:
(A) ἐγὼ δ᾿ ἕως τινος μὲν ἀνεκείμην. (B) <σὺ δὴ>
ἀνάκεισο.

ἕως μέν τινος codd. and Eustathius : ἕως τινὸς μὲν Meineke (1867, 11) | σὺ δὴ added by Kock, CAF vol. 2, 577.

(A) I lay back (ἀνεκείμην, lit. ‘I was set up’) for a while. (B) Then do lie back (lit. ‘be set up’)!

(6) Philippid. fr. 31:
(A) <…> καὶ δειπνῶν ἀεὶ
ἀνακείμενος παρ᾿ αὐτόν <…>
(B) <… > πότερον ἀνδριάντας εἱστία;

(A) <…> and all the time I was eating dinner, I was lying back (ἀνακείμενος, lit. ‘I was set up’) beside him. (B) <…> Was he entertaining statues? (Transl. Olson 2006, 129–31).

(7) NT Ev.Marc. 14.17–8: καὶ ὀψίας γενομένης ἔρχεται μετὰ τῶν δώδεκα. καὶ ἀνακειμένων αὐτῶν καὶ ἐσθιόντων ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν ‘ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι εἷς ἐξ ὑμῶν παραδώσει με, ὁ ἐσθίων μετ’ ἐμοῦ’.

And when evening came, he went with the twelve [disciples]. And while they were lying down and eating, Jesus said: ‘Amen, I say to you that one among you will betray me, the one who is eating with me’.

D. General commentary

Phrynichus (A.1, A.2) and the Philetaerus (A.3) discuss the correct usage of two prefixed derivatives of κεῖμαι ‘to lie’, i.e. ἀνάκειμαι and κατάκειμαι. Despite some textual difficulties in A.2 and A.3 (for which see below), it is safe to conclude that all three sources advise against the post-classical tendency to use ἀνάκειμαι in the sense of κατάκειμαι (‘to lie down’, e.g. on a couch or bed), and instead restrict its use to the meaning ‘to be set up’, in reference to statues and sacred offerings (i.e. the usage attested in canonical authors).

κατάκειμαι ‘to lie down’ (but also ‘to lie hidden’ or ‘to lie stored’, cf. LSJ s.v.) is very well attested from Homer (16x) onwards. Crucially for the Atticists, it occurs 15 times in Aristophanes (cf. e.g. C.3), 10 times in Xenophon, 23 times in Plato, and once in Demosthenes, thus constituting a verb of indisputably Attic pedigree. Compared to κατάκειμαι, ἀνάκειμαι is less frequent in the literary evidence of the classical period (first attested in Pindar 3x; then e.g. Thucydides 2x, Herodotus 6x, Aristophanes 1x, Plato 3x, Demosthenes 2x). Nonetheless, it is clear that its primary meaning in this period was ‘to be set up, to be dedicated’, in reference to statues, monuments, and offerings in temples (see e.g. C.2), as also confirmed by epigraphic evidence (cf. e.g. IG 1,3.627.1 [Athens, ca. 520 BCE]: Ἀθεναί]α̣ι ἀνάκειμαι̣, ‘I am dedicated to Athena’). Two further (less frequent) meanings of ἀνάκειμαι are attested in this period: ‘to depend on [someone], to be up to [someone]’ (cf. e.g. C.4 and Thuc. 7.71.2) and ‘to lie down’. The latter is first attested in Sophocles (C.1), in a line delivered by a satyr (cf. B.2), and becomes increasingly common in Post-classical Greek, as shown by two fragments of New Comedy, from Diphilus (C.5) and Philippides (C.6) respectively. Both fragments play precisely on the incorrect use – arguably by an uneducated speaker – of ἀνάκειμαι in the sense ‘to lie down’. Although both are lacunous to some extent, it is clear that they contain an exchange between two speakers, one of whom describes his experience at a banquet, using the verb ἀνάκειμαι to indicate that he was lying down at table. The irritated response is clearer in the case of C.6, where the second speaker asks: ‘Was [your host] entertaining statues?’, implicitly ridiculing the other for his uncouth mistake. In C.5, the response involving the imperative ἀνάκεισο (‘be set up!’) is less clear: Eustathius’ (B.8) tentative explanation – ὡς εἴπερ εἶπεν, ἔσο ἄψυχος ἀνδριάς (‘as if to say ‘be a lifeless statue!’’) – may be correct (cf. below). In view of these two fragments, in which ἀνάκειμαι in the sense ‘to lie down’ is ridiculed as a mistake, the attestation in Sophocles (C.1) may be understood as part of the satyr’s linguistic portrayal as an uncouth individual. The spread of ἀνάκειμαι with the meaning ‘to lie down’ is further confirmed by its attestations in the Septuagint (2x; cf. Muraoka 2009 s.v.) and the New Testament (15x, e.g. C.7; on the possible confusion between ἀνάκειμαι and κατάκειμαι in the manuscript transmission of the New Testament, see Kilpatrick 1966). For the documentary evidence, see e.g. BGU 1.344.1 (= TM 28256) [Arsinoites, 2nd–3rd century CE] and P.Nepheros 1.11 (= TM 33555) [Alexandria, 4th century CE]: ἐγὼ γὰρ ἡ Ταπιὰμ ἐνόσησα καὶ ἔτι ἀνάκειμαι (‘For I, Tapiam, was ill and am still lying down (i.e. to recover)’).

In light of the literary and documentary evidence, the Atticists’ position is quite straightforward: they proscribe ἀνάκειμαι in the sense ‘I lie down’ and restrict its use to contexts involving statues, monuments, and votive offerings, while prescribing κατάκειμαι in the sense ‘I lie down’. As already mentioned, the entries in Phrynichus’ Praeparatio sophistica (A.2) and in the Philetaerus (A.3) are textually problematic. A.2, in its extant form, appears to contradict the prescription attested in A.1 and A.3, in that it seems to imply that ἀνάκειμαι and κατάκειμαι are synonymous. To be sure, when Phrynichus discusses the same issue both in the Eclogue and the Praeparatio sophistica, the latter often displays a more tolerant approach (see e.g. entry κυνίδιον, κυνάριον), so this may well be one such case. Nevertheless, de Borries (1911, 46) emended the text of A.2 rather heavily (cf. the apparatus) in order to bring it into agreement with the prescription in the Eclogue (A.1). De Borries’ emendation, however, is not the only possible solution, and other, perhaps more economical, interventions may be considered. By way of example, one may speculate that the entry originally had the structure ‘X οἱ μὲν πολλοί, οἱ δ’ ἀρχαῖοι Y’ (as in the immediately preceding Phryn. PS 46.8–9Phryn. PS 46.8–9, quoted in the apparatus to A.2), and that οἱ μὲν πολλοί was omitted through saut du même au même, yielding ἀνακεῖσθαι· <οἱ δ’ ἀρχαῖοι> τὸ κατακεῖσθαι, with οἱ δ’ ἀρχαῖοι subsequently dropping out of the text as a result of epitomisationEpitome.

Regarding A.3, there is an evident issue with the comic quotation it contains: although the entry focuses on the semantic distinction between κατάκειμαι and ἀνάκειμαι, the quotation features the verb ἀναπίπτω. By comparing the Philetaerus (A.3) with Athenaeus’ epitome (B.2), it is possible to suppose that A.3 – like B.2 – originally discussed both κατάκειμαι vs. ἀνάκειμαι and ἀναπίπτω (on the Atticists’ treatment of this verb, see entry ἀναπίπτω, ἀνακλίνομαι), and that epitomisationEpitome ultimately obscured the logical connection between the comic quotation and the rest of the entry. Still, the line attributed to the unnamed κωμικός by A.3 deserves further scrutiny. Athenaeus’ epitome (B.3), after discussing the correct use of ἀναπίπτω, provides a long series of quotations illustrating the distinction between ἀνάκειμαι and κατάκειμαι, including those from the comic playwrights Diphilus (C.5) and Philippides (C.6), already discussed above. Philippides’ fragment ends in a very similar way to the anonymous comic fragment in A.3, namely with a joke about ‘entertaining statues’ (C.6: πότερον ἀνδριάντας εἱστία; ‘was [you host] entertaining statues?’, A.3: ἀνδριάντας ἑστιᾷς; ‘are you entertaining statues?’). Based on this similarity in wording, some modern scholars (cf. Dain 1954, 45) have regarded the comic fragment in A.3 as a misquotation of Philippides or, more precisely, as the result of the conflation of the fragments of both Diphilus (C.5) and Philippides (C.6), combined with an original discussion on ἀναπίπτω (on this interpretation, the Philetaerus entry, in its non-epitomised form, would have closely resembled the passage in Athenaeus, with the two possibly relying on the same erudite source). Other scholars, however, have treated the anonymous quotation in A.3 as a separate fragment: it is edited as com. adesp. 638 by Kock, CAF vol. 3, 522 and as Ar. fr. 966 by Kassel, Austin, PCG vol. 3, 430–1. The attribution to Aristophanes rests on the fact that, in another Philetaerus entry, i.e. [Hdn.] Philet. 111[Hdn.] Philet. 111, ὁ κωμικός undoubtedly refers to Aristophanes (i.e. Ar. fr. 714). Nevertheless, Kassel and Austin themselves (PCG vol. 3, 431) acknowledge that, on the basis of comparison with Athenaeus’ epitome, the Philetaerus entry on κατάκειμαι and ἀνάκειμαι should be treated with caution.

Regardless of the fragment’s attribution, it is worth discussing whether ἀνάπιπτε should be regarded as authentic or rather as a corruption of another verb (perhaps ἀνάκεισο, as in Diphilus, C.5?). In other words, one may ask whether the joke about ‘entertaining statues’ works with ἀναπίπτω as effectively as it does with ἀνάκειμαι in Philippides’ fragment. Indeed, in 5th-4th-century literary texts, ἀναπίπτω – when used literally – may mean either ‘to fall back (unintentionally)’ or ‘to lean back (intentionally)’, but the latter usage appears to be confined to specific activities like rowing and horse-riding (for a detailed discussion, see entry ἀναπίπτω, ἀνακλίνομαι). In light of this, one might imagine a situation in which speaker A erroneously uses ἀνάπιπτε with the intention of inviting speaker B to lie down; speaker B, however, interprets ἀνάπιπτε in the literal sense, ‘fall backwards!’, and retorts, ‘are you entertaining statues?’. The implied comic image would then be that of a statue stiffly falling onto the dining couch. Although the scenario is not impossible, it remains somewhat far-fetched. Given the literary and documentary evidence linking ἀνάκειμαι to statues (cf. above), it is more economical to assume that – even if the comic fragment in the Philetaerus is not a corrupt version of that of Philippides and/or Diphilus, but a different fragment – ἀνάπιπτε should still be regarded as an error, arising from some degree of conflation and clumsy epitomisation in the transmission of the lexicon.

While he conforms to the other Atticists with regard to κατάκειμαι (cf. B.2), Pollux appears to use ἀνάκειμαι preferentially in the figurative sense ‘to be devoted, dedicated’ (cf. Poll. 1.20Poll. 1.20 and B.1), a usage that A.1, A.2, and A.3 do not seem to take into account. Actually, if one accepts the attribution of Phot. α 1512 (B.6) to Phrynichus, as proposed by de Borries (i.e. Phryn. PS fr. *180), Pollux would not be isolated in accepting the metaphoricalMetaphors use of ἀνάκειμαι.

The synonymic lexica (B.4, B.5) reflect the same doctrine promoted by the Atticists, whereas Byzantine lexicographers and scholars (B.7, B.9) – clearly under the influence of the Scriptures, in which ἀνάκειμαι primarily means ‘to lie down’ – allow for the synonymy between ἀνάκειμαι and κατάκειμαι. Eustathius (B.8) does not follow this trend because his discussion of ἀνάκειμαι and κατάκειμαι relies solely on the epitome of Athenaeus’ text, in a version that appears to be slightly less abbreviated (though lacking Philippides’ name) than that of the extant epitome (B.3).

E. Byzantine and Modern Greek commentary

The Atticists’ proscription of ἀνάκειμαι in the sense ‘to lie down’ does not appear to have affected Byzantine usage, which was instead clearly influenced by the Scriptures, where ἀνάκειμαι ‘to lie down’ is very frequent. Alongside the meanings ‘to be dedicated’ and ‘to lie down’, a metaphorical sense of ἀνάκειμαι is also attested in Byzantine Greek, though with a different nuance from that found in Classical Greek: rather than ‘to depend on, to be up to’ (cf. D.), it comes to mean ‘to be underway, to be inevitable, to be owed’ (cf. Kriaras, LME s.v. ανάκειμαι). κατάκειμαι likewise remains in use throughout the Byzantine period.

In Medieval Greek, κεῖμαι is replaced by κείτομαι (cf. Κriaras, LME s.v., LBG s.v., and AGP 2, Verbal morphology, forthcoming), and consequently forms such as ανακείτομαι (that preserves the meaning ‘to depend on’, cf. Kriaras, LME s.v. and above) and κατακείτομαι (cf. Kriaras, LME s.v.) are also found. Although κείτομαι remains in use in Modern Greek, neither ανακείτομαι nor κατακείτομαι survive in the modern language.

F. Commentary on individual texts and occurrences

N/A

Bibliography

Dain, A. (1954). Le «Philétæros» attribué à Hérodien. Paris.

Henderson, J. (1998). Aristophanes. Vol. 1: Acharnians. Knights. Edited and translated by Jeffrey Henderson. Cambridge, MA.

Kilpatrick, G. D. (1966). ‘ἀνακεῖσθαι and κατακεῖσθαι in the New Testament’. The Journal of Theological Studies 17, 67–9.

Meineke, A. (1867). Analecta critica ad Athenaei Deipnosophistas. Leipzig.

Muraoka, T. (2009). A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint. Louvain, Paris, Walpole, MA.

Olson, D. S. (2006). Athenaeus. The Learned Banqueters. Vol. 1: Books 1–3.106e. Edited and translated by S. D. Olson. Cambridge, MA.

Smith, C. F. (1920). Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 2: Books 3–4. Translated by C. F. Smith. Cambridge, MA.

CITE THIS

Federica Benuzzi, 'ἀνάκειμαι, κατάκειμαι (Phryn. Ecl. 187, Phryn. PS 46.10–1, [Hdn.] Philet. 34)', in Olga Tribulato (ed.), Digital Encyclopedia of Atticism. With the assistance of E. N. Merisio.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30687/DEA/2974-8240/2026/01/034

ABSTRACT

This article provides a philological and linguistic commentary on the verbs ἀνάκειμαι and κατάκειμαι discussed in the Atticist lexica Phryn. Ecl. 187, Phryn. PS 46.10–1, and [Hdn.] Philet. 34.