μονόφθαλμος, ἑτερόφθαλμος
(Phryn. Ecl. 107, Poll. 2.61–2, Moer. ε 46, [Hdn.] Philet. 279)

D. General commentary

Atticist lexica attest to the ancient debate over whether the possessive compounds μονόφθαλμος and ἑτερόφθαλμος (both meaning ‘one-eyed’) were synonymsSynonyms, and which of the two was more correct. Phrynichus (A.1) prescribes ἑτερόφθαλμος against μονόφθαλμος (see also B.5, attributed to Orus by Alpers), additionally listing μονόμματος as another possibility, but in reference to a Cyclops (on this restriction, see below). In its typical binary structure, Moeris’ lexicon (A.3) instead explicitly assigns ἑτερόφθαλμος to the Ἀττικοί and μονόφθαλμος to the Ἕλληνες. Indeed, while ἑτερόφθαλμος is first attested in an irreproachable Attic authority such as Demosthenes (C.1), μονόφθαλμος, which is first attested in Herodotus (C.2, as noted by Pollux, A.2; see also Hdt. 4.13.1, 4.27.1, and 4.32.1, always in reference to one-eyed ἔθνη), never appears in Attic texts. Herodotus applies the epithet to the Arimaspians, a mythical race about whom he obtained information from Aristeas of Proconnesus (on this figure, and Herodotus’ use of his poem, Arimaspea, see Bolton 1962, esp. 64 on Hdt. 3.116; West 2004).

As concerns the third synonym, μονόμματος, evidence of its use in Attic Greek is limited to a possible occurrence in Aeschylus (fr. 434a, Μονόμματοι, cited by Str. 7.3.6, referencing Hecat. FGrHist 1 T 13) and a similarly contextless occurrence in Cratinus (C.3), quoted by Phrynichus (A.1). This word, a compound formed from ὄμμα ‘eye’ – a more poetic lexeme than ὀφθαλμός (see DELG s.v. ὄπωπα) – may well have been a poeticPoetic language coinage, originally belonging to the high register (and thus, one might speculate, mocked by Cratinus). μονόμματος is rare and is mostly used as an ethnonym (see Megasth. FGrHist 715 F 27b = Str. 15.1.57) or as an epithet for peoples (see Str. 1.2.10, Philostr. VS 2.584.6–10, quoting a joke by Aristides), i.e. as a synonym for μονόφθαλμος (see below). Kassel and Austin (PCG vol. 4, ad Cratin. fr. 156) collect all the ancient erudite sources dealing with this word.

While certainly guided by attestations in canonical Attic authors, Phrynichus’ and Moeris’ preference for ἑτερόφθαλμος over μονόφθαλμος was likely also motivated by a concern for semantic precision – even if this concern is not made explicit in their prescriptions. Other ancient scholars discussed the appropriate usage of the two compounds, as shown by the synonymic-differentiating doctrine first found in Pollux (A.2) and Herennius Philo (B.1), according to which ἑτερόφθαλμος denotes a person who has accidentally lost an eye (see also B.4), while μονόφθαλμος applies to beings who are naturally one-eyed – as stated by Pollux (A.2) and Thom.Mag. 124.8–10 (see B.1, apparatus) – or who have been one-eyed since birth, as in the Philetaerus (A.4), where the reference is to Philip II of Macedonia (on the historical tradition concerning Philip’s wounds, dating back to Demosthenes, Oration 18, see Swift Riginos 1994, especially 106–14 on the eye).

In light of this semantic debate, it is highly probable that, in the Eclogue (A.1), Phrynichus is implicitly challenging the misuse of μονόφθαλμος to describe someone who became one-eyed by accident (see García Díaz 2019). It is almost certain that Greek speakers in Phrynichus’ time used μονόφθαλμος in this sense, since, from the Hellenistic age onwards, Antigonus I Monophthalmos had provided an authoritative example of applying the term to someone who had lost one eye accidentally (this perhaps happened to Antigonus in the siege of Perinthus in 340 BCE: see Billows 1990, 27–9). The diffusion of this usage in spoken Post-classical Greek can also be confirmed by the famous evangelical maxim καλόν σοί ἐστιν μονόφθαλμον εἰς τὴν ζωὴν εἰσελθεῖν, ἢ δύο ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὴν γέενναν τοῦ πυρός, ‘It is better for you to enter life one-eyed than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire’ (NT Ev.Matt. 18.9, almost identically repeated in Ev.Marc. 9.47 except for the variant εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ, ‘to enter the reign of God’, and the omission of τοῦ πυρός; on this evangelical use of μονόφθαλμος, see García Díaz 2019).

It is difficult to determine whether the distinction proposed by ancient scholars reflects a genuine semantic difference between the two compounds or is instead a retrospective inference based on their earliest occurrences in classical sources – where ἑτερόφθαλμος indeed refers to individuals who have lost an eye (see Arist. Met. 1023a, Pr. 958a, Rhet. 1365b, Rhet. 1411a), while μονόφθαλμος is used for ἔθνη, i.e. people who have been one-eyed from birth (see e.g. C.2 and Scylax of Caryanda FGrHist 709 F 7b). While this distribution is observed in some post-classical prose texts (see e.g. Str. 2.1.9 on μονόφθαλμοι peoples, Luc. VH 1.3.11 and DMar. 1.1.7, both on the μονόφθαλμοι Cyclopes), there is also evidence of increasing confusion between the two words. Thus, in addition to the above-mentioned cases of μονόφθαλμος referring to one-eyed individuals, there are also instances of ἑτερόφθαλμος being used to describe one-eyed men who likened themselves to a Cyclops, for whom μονόφθαλμος might therefore have been a more fitting term: see Plutarch (De liberis educandis 11b), where it refers to Antigonus I (despite his epithet μονόφθαλμος: see also Ael. VH 12.43.11), and D.L. 9.112.7, in reference to the philosopher Timon of Phlius. Porphyry, commenting on Od. 9.520, then explicitly applies ἑτερόφθαλμος to Polyphemus.

The entry in Hesychius (B.3), which equates ἑτερόφθαλμος with μονόφθαλμος, may also indicate that the two words had become synonymous, leading to the former’s disappearance (only μονόφθαλμος survives in Standard Modern Greek). This evolution may be connected to the fact that ἕτεροςἕτερος itself became increasingly uncommon in late Greek due to the expansion of ἄλλος (originally meaning ‘other of several, another’) to also denote ‘other of two’. As a result, ἕτερος gradually became restricted to high-register texts in Medieval Greek and eventually disappeared in Standard Modern Greek, surviving only in fixed expressions and archaising usage (see CGMEMG vol. 2, 1165). This would explain the continued emphasis on the explanation of ἑτερόφθαλμος: see Eustathius (B.6) and Pseudo-Zonaras (B.7). In conclusion, the Atticists were clearly opposed to the perceived misuse of μονόφθαλμος instead of ἑτερόφθαλμος. In formulating this rule, they relied on the authority of classical authors such as Demosthenes and Herodotus.

In passing, it is worth mentioning that other lexica also record alternative explanations of ἑτερόφθαλμος. One lexicographical strand, represented by Harpocration (B.2), along with Phot. ε 2085 and Su. ε 3295 (from Σʹʹ), derives from the occurrence of the word in Demosthenes’ Against Timocrates (C.1) the fanciful explanation that ἑτερόφθαλμος was a title for lawgivers in Locri. Another lexicographical strand interprets ἑτερόφθαλμος as referring to a cross-eyed person: see Pseudo-Zonaras (B.7), where στραβός is paired with the hapax ἀλλοθεώρης. The scientific explanation for this phenomenon was already offered in [Arist.] Pr. 958a (τοιαύτη μὲν τῷ ἑτεροφθάλμῳ γίνεται, ὥστε δύο φαίνεσθαι, ‘Such [vision] (i.e. strabismus) occurs in the one-eyed person, so that [what is seen] appears double’).

E. Byzantine and Modern Greek commentary

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F. Commentary on individual texts and occurrences

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