βιωτικός
(Phryn. Ecl. 331)

A. Main sources

(1) Phryn. Ecl. 331: βιωτικόν· ἀηδὴς ἡ λέξις· λέγε οὖν χρήσιμον ἐν τῷ βίῳ.

ἀηδής codd. VxWB : ἀειδής Nu. and T.

βιωτικόν (‘pertaining to life’): The word is disagreeable; say, therefore, χρήσιμον ἐν τῷ βίῳ (‘useful for life’).

B. Other erudite sources

(1) [Hdn.] Epim. 215.14–8: τὰ παρὰ τὸ βίος διὰ τοῦ ο μικροῦ γράφονται· οἷον· βιοτή· βιοτεύω. ὅσα δὲ ἐκ τοῦ βιῶ, βιώσω μέλλοντος, διὰ τοῦ ω μεγάλου γράφονται· οἷον· βιωτός, ὁ βιώσιμος· ἀβίωτος· μακροβίωτος· βιωτικός· χειροβίωτος· καὶ τὰ ὅμοια τούτοις.

The [words] derived from the [noun] βίος (‘life’) are written with ο, such as βιοτή (‘life, means of living’), βιοτεύω (‘to live’). The [words that derive] instead from the [verb] βιῶ (‘to live’), [whose] future tense is βιώσω (‘I will live’), are written with ω, such as βιωτός (‘to be lived, ‘worth living’), βιώσιμος (‘which/who is likely to live’), ἀβίωτος (‘not to be lived, intolerable’), μακροβίωτος (‘long lived’), βιωτικός (‘pertaining to life’), χειροβίωτος (‘living by handiwork’), and [words] like these.

(2) Su. α 50: ἀβίωτος· ὁ πολυβίωτος, μακροβίωτος, βιωτικός· πλὴν τοῦ βίοτος, βιοτὴ καὶ βιοτεύω ῥῆμα.

ἀβίωτος (‘not to be lived, intolerable’); πολυβίωτος (‘well-to-do’), μακροβίωτος (‘long lived’), βιωτικός (‘pertaining to life’). [All these words are written with ω] except for βίοτος (‘life, means of living’), βιοτή (‘life, means of living’) and the verb βιοτεύω (‘to live’), [which are written with ο].

C. Loci classici, other relevant texts

(1) Arist. HA 616b.25–7: αἰγώλιος δ’ ἐστὶ νυκτινόμος καὶ ἡμέρας ὀλιγάκις φαίνεται, καὶ οἰκεῖ καὶ οὗτος πέτρας καὶ σπήλυγγας· ἔστι γὰρ δίθαλλος, τὴν δὲ διάνοιαν βιωτικὸς καὶ εὐμήχανος.

The small owl feeds at night and rarely appears by day; and this bird also dwells in rocks and caves, for it thrives in two ways, and in intelligence it is good at finding a living and is resourceful. (Transl. Balme 1991, 283, with modifications).