Greek Forms of Address: From Herodotus to Lucian

358 Pages·1996·14.174 MB·English

by  Eleanor Dickey

OXFORD CLASSICAL MONOGRAPHS
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The aim of the Oxford Classical Monographs series (which replaces the
Oxford Classical and Philosophical Monographs) is to publish books based
on the best theses on Greek and Latin literature, ancient history, and ancient
philosophy examined by the Faculty Board ofLiterae Humaniores.
Greek Forms of Address
FromH erodotusto L ucian
ELEANOR DICKEY
CLARENDON PRESS · OXFORD
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© Eleanor Dickey 1996
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ISBN 0-19-815054-7
Dedicated to the people who inspired me to write this work and
did not live to see its completion
Thomas Atherton Dickey
Louise Dickey Davison
John Miller Dickey

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am extremely grateful to all the people who gave their time and
energy to help me with this project. Very few books are written without
assistance, but the need for help is particularly critical in the case of
one's first book, and I am and shall always remain greatly indebted to
the people who generously left their own research long enough to
make mine possible. Chief among these is the supervisor of my
doctoral dissertation, Anna Morpurgo Davies, who displayed
extraordinary insight, patience, and kindness in guiding the growth of
the work over five years. Donald Russell was kind enough to oversee
the revisions necessary to turn the dissertation into a book, giving me
the benefit not only ofhis immense knowledge of Greek literature, but
also of a meticulous examination of my manuscript and prompt
response to pleas for help. My gratitude to both of these scholars is
truly too great to be expressed.
The examiners of my D. Phil. thesis, Peter Parsons and James
Adams, devoted remarkable care and attention to the work and pro
vided invaluable corrections and additions. Mabel Lang, Richard
Hamilton, and Niall Livingstone were each kind enough to read drafts
of the dissertation and give me the benefit of their excellent advice,
which saved me from a number of hideous errors and greatly enriched
the final version. Thanks are also due to Lesley Brown and to the
examiners of my M. Phil. thesis, Laetitia Edwards and Adrian Hollis,
for their helpful suggestions, and to Stephen Halliwell, Mark Golden,
and Alan Sommerstein for allowing me to read their work before
publication. I am also indebted to Mary Rhoads and Julia Paulman for
assistance with proof-reading, and to all of my native speaker inform
ants, especially Andromache Padis Despotou.
I would also like to thank the Marshall Aid Commemoration
Commission for providing the financial support which brought me to
Oxford, and Merton College for a research fellowship that allowed me
to complete this project under ideal conditions.
vii

CONTENTS
List of Tables
Abbreviations ΧΗ
1 Introduction
Some Background τὸ Sociolinguistic Work on Address
1.1
1.2 Address and its Analysis
1.2.1 Definitions
1.2.2 Factors affecting rules of address
1.2.3 Variation in address rules
1.2.4 Lexical versus address meaning
1.2.5 Register
1.2.6 Reciprocity
1.2.7 Politeness
1.2.8 Address change
1.2.9 Addresses and social structure
1.3 Previous Work on Greek Addresses
1.4. The Scope of this Survey and the Nature of the Data
1.4.1 Choice of texts
1.4.2 Method of data collection and choice of addresses
1.4.3 Nature and size of the corpus
1.4.4 Limits of discussion
1.4.5 Organization
1.4.6 Conclusion
2 Sociolinguistics and Written Texts
2.1 Nature and Validity of the Spoken/Written Distinction
2.2 The Question of Conversational Language
2.3 Problems of Methodology
2.4 Our Access to Conversational Greek
3 Forms of Address
2.1 Names
3.1.1 Address by first name
ix
Contents
3.1.2 Variations of first names
3.1.3 Patronymics
3.1.4 Roman names
1.2 Kinship and Age Terms
3.2.1 Terms for younger addressees
1.2.2 Terms for older addressees
3.2.3 Terms for same-generation addressees
3.2.4 Conclusion
Titles
33
3.3.1 Βασιλεῦ
3.3.2 Δέσποτα
33.3 Βασίλεια, βασίλισσα, and δέσποινα
3-3-4 Other Greek titles
3.3.5 Roman titles
3.3.6 Conclusion
3-4 Terms of Affection and Esteem
3.4.1 The meaning of friendship terms in Plato
2.4.2 Socrates
3.4.3 Later Greek
3.4.4 Conclusion
3.4.5 Uses of individual terms
5.4.8 Plurals
Indefinite Addresses and ξένε
3-5
3.5.1 ξένε
3.5.2 Ἄνθρωπε
3-5-3 Obras
3.5.4 Τὰν and μέλε
3.5.5 Conclusion
Terms of Pity
Insults
3.7.1 Classical insults
3.7.2, Post-classical insults
Ethnics
3-9 Occupational and Group Addresses
3.10 Generic Terms for Non-Humans
4 Other Aspects of Address Usage
4.1 Address Frequency
4.2 Position of Addresses within the Sentence
4.3 The Use of ὦ with Vocatives
Χ