THE CLASSICAL REVIEW

8. The Peloponnesian War. . . . Pericles: Thuc. ii. 65.

[Campaign in the north-east]. Brasidas : Thuc. iv. 78-81.
[The Episode of Sphacteria]. Cleon : Thuc. iv. 27-41.
[The Sicilian Expedition]. . Alcibiades : Thuc. vi. 9-18.
9. The Spartan Supremacy . . . Lysander: Plutarch, Selections.
10. The Theban Supremacy . . . . Epaminondas, in Plutarch's Life of Pelopidas-
11. Philip of Macedon Demosthenes Philippics, Selections.
12. Alexander the Great Arrian vii. 8-11, 24-30.

While claiming that such a scheme satisfies teacher must be allowed considerable latitude
the contentions elaborated above, it is not in the treatment of his subject. The scheme
intended to be exhaustive or inelastic. Does is merely intended to illustrate the practi-
not the teaching of history demand free cability of a continuous reading of Greek
-exercise of individuality as much as or even History based upon the biographical method
more than any other subject? Interest on —an attempt to strike the mean between a
the part of the teacher is the only guarantee cumbersome volume and inadequate treat-
for the interest of his pupils : and to display ment of the subject.
this interest in the most convincing fashion the WALTER S. HETT.

CYKOCJJANTHC.

THE origin of the term crvKo^dmjs is one ' Hence we should not dismiss as wholly
•of the small but unsolved problems of incredible the view of those who say' what
-classical philology. It was indeed regarded Istros said.3 And the same view is recorded
as something of a puzzle even in the fourth by sundry other grammarians and lexiko-
•century B.C. For Alexis in his comedy The graphers.4 (2) Philomnestos in his work
JPoet wrote: On the Rhodian festival of the Sminthia
advanced a second explanation : ' The word
The namefig-showeris not rightly used
<TVKo$[Link])s is derived from the fact that in
Of scoundrels. No, thefirstpart fig- should be
those days fines and taxes took the form of
The mark of a man both innocent and sweet.
figs, wine, and oil, on the proceeds of which
But this sweet innocent is nowadays
the state conducted its affairs. Those who
Tacked on to a scoundrel, and we wonder
1 demanded these payments in kind and
why.
handed them over to the state (twr^aivovra^)
Three different answers to the riddle they called, as it appears, o-iuco^avras, choos-
•were propounded by the learned in ancient ing for the purpose the most trustworthy of
•times. (1) Istros, the pupil of Kallimachos, the citizens.'5 (3) Suidas has yet another
who published his Attika about the year view: ' When a famine arose in Attica,
200 B.C., stated in it that dried figs were not certain persons plucked the figs that were
exported from Attica but retained for home sacred to the gods. Afterwards, on the
-consumption and that, when many smugglers return of plenty, others accused them. So
were informed against (eve^avi^ovro), those this was the origin of the word <rvKo<j>[Link]$.'6
who denounced them to the dikasts were 3
Plut. v. Sol. 24.
•dubbed o-uKo^avTat.2 Plutarch a propos of a 4
Et. mag. 733, 42 ff. s.v. irvKofavria, Et. Gud.
law of Solon, which forbade the exporting of 514, 22 ff. s.v. avKofyavTeiv, Suid. s.v. avKotpavreiv,
-any Attic produce except oil and threatened Phot. lex. s.v. vvKOQavTciv, Bekk. anecd. 304. 30 ff.
the offender with the archon's curse, remarks: s.v. avKoipavrtiv, schol. Ar. Plut. 31, Eust. Od. 1495,
16 f.
1 6
Alex. ap. Athen. 74 E-F=Meineke F.C.G. iii. Philomn. ap. Athen. 74E = Muller F.H.G. iv.
.468 f. 477-
5 6
Istr. ap. Athen. 74 E=MUller F.H.G. i. 423. Suid. s.v. avKopdvTris.
 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW
Suidas' notion appears elsewherex and might even the uncompounded ^avnys was ever
be brought into connexion with known used to denote 'an informer.'17
religious usage. For figs are associated with The view put forward by Mr. Lancelot
a variety of deities and festivals, e.g. Deme- Shadwell, viz. ' that the word properly meant
ter,2 Zeus %vKa<rio<s3 or Mei\i'xto;,4 Dionysos a fig-shewer, i.e. one who brings figs to light:
5vK«aT»js,5 2i>Km;s6 or MetXt^ios,7 Hermes,8 by shaking the tree. . . and then, metaph.
Priapos," the Horai,10 Helios,11 and again one who makes rich men yield up their fruit
the Plynteria,12 the Thargelia,13 the Braur- by false accusations and other vile arts' 1 8
onia,14 the Hyakinthia.16 gives a more natural sense to -^>dvnj%, but
But the rock on which all these ancient seems somewhat fanciful and far-fetched, and
derivations make shipwreck is the analogy of is hardly established by the occasional juxta-
the word upo^am^, which goes far towards position of o-««u and o-uKo^avrS.19
proving that the second element in the But, failing these explanations, in what
compound meant not 'one who shows up direction are we to look ? Just a century has
or informs against' but simply ' one who gone by since J. F. Boissonade complained
shows or exhibits.' The same consideration, De Sycophantis omnia ferejam sunt oaupata,20'
among others, will not let us argue from and it may be thought presumptuous at this
Theokritos' UVKIVOI avSpts16 or the like to time of day to hazard another guess about so-
o-vKo<f>[Link])s in the sense of ' a worthless trite a topic. Still, the key pf comparative
informer.' Indeed it is doubtful whether folk-lore has already fitted so many rusty
1
Schol. Ar. Plut. 31, Philemon s.v. avxas (cited
locks that it seems worth while to give it a
by Boissonade on Philostr. her. p. 320). turn.
2
There was at Athens a suburb called 'Uph 2i/«>), One of the commonest prophylactic gest-
where Demeter first bestowed a fig-tree on the hero
Phytalos. The fruit of this tree was believed to be ures all round the northern shores of the
the earliest example of cultivated fruit and was named
riynropla (?) or r)yr)Tpia (?) or riyrrrplas (sic), presum-
ably because a cake of it called fiyrrrripia was carried
in the procession of the Plynteria (Paus. I. 37. 2,
Philostr. v. soph. 2. 20. 3, Athen. 74 D r\yrrrop'ia,
Et. mag. 418, 49 ff. s.v. r)yrrropla, Eust. Od. 1399,
29 ff. riyfirpia, ib. 1964, II ff. riyrrrplas, Hesych. and
Phot. lex. s.v. r)yr)Tripla, Hesych. s.v. it pa, Phot. lex.
s.v. iepa avKr). See also W. Judeich Topographie
von Athen Munchen 1905 p. 164).
s
Eust. Od. 1572, 56 f. Cp. the myth of Zeus and
the Titan Sweeps (Steph. Byz. s.v. Svxai, Athen.
78 A - B ) .
4
Roscher Lex. Myth. ii. 2558 ff., cp. Athen. 78 c
[Link]\ixa = (TvKa.
5
Hesych. sj>. Swccarijs. Dionysos discovered the
fig-tree (Sosib. ap. Athen. 78 c, Et. mag. 455, 30).
See further Hesych. s.v. @vavlSas- d AI6VV<TOS rrapa
'PoMois. rovs <TVKIVOVS tp&KrjTas.
6
Athen. 78 c a Laconian cult, cp. S. Wide a. b.
Lakonische Kulte p. 166 ft. a. Egyptian, b. Neapolitan.
7
Athen. 78 c a Naxian cult.
8 FIG. 1 ft).
Hesych., Phot, and Suid. s.v. GVKOV 4$' 'Ep/ip.
9
Theocr. ep. 4. 2, Anth. Plan. 240. 1 ff.
Philippos, 241. I ff. Argentarius, Hor. Sat. 1. 8. 1 ff. Mediterranean and the Levant was and is the-
10
Ar. pax n64ff. thrusting of the thumb between the first and
11
12
Lyd. de ost. 45, cp. Plut. symp. 4. 2. I, 5. 9. second fingers of the closed hand.21 The two
Supra n. 3. amulets in the adjoining cut (fig. 1) are from.
13
A. .Mommsen Feste der Stadt Athen2 Leipzig
17
1898 p. 468 ff. See Steph. Thes. s.v. <parrr)s.
14 18
Mommsen ib. p. 458 f. L. and S. s.v. <TVKO(pdvTr)s.
15 19
M. P. Nilsson Griechische Feste Leipzig 1906 Ib.
20
p. 129 ff. Boissonade's ed. of Philostr. her. Paris 1806-
11
Theocr. 10. 45 with schol. Cp. Zenob. 3. 44, p. 320.
Macar. 7. 82 f., 88. 'a O. Jahn ' Uber den Aberglauben des bosen.
 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW
my collection and represent the said gesture, (fig. 2^).2 I add, for purposes of comparison,
one in blue Egyptian porcelain, the other in a series of specimens both ancient and
Neapolitan coral. Greek and Roman exam- modern now preserved in the British Museum
ples in ivory, bronze, silver, glass, coral, and (fig. 3).3 The gesture, as Th. Echtermeyer
was the first to point out,4 is described by
Ovid as a protection against ghosts :
signaque dat digitis medio cum pollice iunctis,
occurrat tacito ne leuis umbra sibi.6
The modern Greeks have recourse to it if
any one stares too hard at a child.6 The
modern Italians use it to avert the evil eye.7
In Somerset, Yorkshire, etc. it serves as a
a. b. protection against witchcraft.8 And, speak-
a. from Tyndaris. b. from Kertsch. ing generally, we may assert that it is apotro-
F I G . 2. paeic or prophylactic in character.
Now this gesture is regularly called 'the
precious stone have been elsewhere published, fig.' The French say faire la figue in the
e.g. an ivory hand from Tyndaris (fig. 2a) J or sense of ' mepriser, braver, se moquer.'9
a bronze hand from a grave at Kertsch The Italians say farle ficheP The Spaniards,

F I G . 3 (f).
Reading from the left:—
1. Small with silver mount (no information). 4. Silver mount (no information).
2. Xanten (castra vetera), from Houben Collection. 5. Xanten, as No. 2.
3. Coral (no information). 6. Openwork (no information).

Blicks bei den Alten' in the Berichte iiber die I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. R. A. Smith.
4
Verhandlungen der koniglich sdchsischen Gesellschaft Th. Echtermeyer Proben aus eitier Abhandlung
der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig. Philologisch- iiber Namen und symbolische Bedeutung der Finger
historische Classe. 1855 p. 80 f.( C. Sittl Die bei den Griechen und RSmern Halle 1835 p. 32 f.
6
Gebarden der Griechen und Rbmer Leipzig 1890 Ov./ast. 5. 433 f.
6
pp. 102 f., 123, F. T. Elworthy The Evil Eye C. Sittl op. cit. p. 123.
7
London 1895 p. 255 ff. Id. ib.
1
Reproduced from O. Jahn op. cit. pi. 4, 9, p. 81, » F. T. Elworthy op. cit. p. 256.
9
cp. C. Sittl op. cit. p. 123 fig. 7. E. Littre Dictionnaire de la langue francaise
a
Reproduced from O. Jahn op. cit. pi. 5, 2, p. 41 Paris 1863 i. 2. 1669a.
10
n. 44 c, p. 81 n. 221, cp. Daremberg-Saglio Diet, Th. Echtermeyer op. cit. p. 32, F. T. Elworthy
ant. i. 257 fig. 310, Baumeister Denkm. i. 76 fig. 76. op. cit. p. 257 n. 404 ff., G. Korting Lateinisch-
1 romanisches Worterbuch Paderborn 1901 no. 3730.
For the photograph from which this cut is taken
136 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW
1
hacer la higa. The Portuguese, dar huma lastly (TvKo<f>avreiv u itself. One is disposed to
figa? The German einem die Feigen weisen ejaculate with Demosthenes 15 irovrjpov, wopW
has the same force.3 And similar phrases 'AOrjvaloi, irovypov 6 crvKO<f>[Link])'i KOI TravTa\60tv
are cited from Bohemia and Poland.4 I /3d([Link] KOX <j>[Link]
suggest, then, that the Greek o~uKo<i>[Link]
ARTHUR BERNARD COOK.
meant at first ' one who shows the fig,' i.e.
one who makes with his hand the sign known
as ' the fig.' To do this before a person or
P.S—I regret that I have not been able
thing was to imply that h? or it was an evil
to consult S. Reinach ' Sycophantes' in the
to be averted by superstitious means. Hence
Revue des ittudes grecques xix. 335 ff. The
<rvKo<t>avrelv with an accusative case would
brief summary in the Berliner philologische
connote an insulting assumption that the
Wochenschrift April 27, 1907, says: ' Fiihrt
object of the verb was bad, and might be
nach Zuriickweisung der friineren Erklarung-
rendered ' to slander grossly' or ' t o misre-
en das Wort nach Analogie von u^o^iin/s
present in an outrageous fashion'—the sense
auf den alten Kult der Phytaliden in der
that it commonly bears in extant literature.
Upa <rvKtj zuriick. Der Sykophant hatte auch,
The gesture in question had undoubtedly gleich dem Hierophantem in Eleiisis, alle
a phallic significance.5 And so had the Frevler und Verdachtigen von der Kultfeier
whole group of words denoting figs: cp. auszuschliessen und wurde so im Laufe der
ficus? ficosus,7 ficetum* marisca,9 O-SKOV,10 Zeit zum Typus des boswilligen Anklagers.'
OTWO},11 (TVKIVOS, onwcofetJ',12 (TVKiiSrji,13 a n d —A. B. C.
1J
1
G. Korting id., cp. V. A. Huber Skizzen aus . Schol. Theocr. 5. 114, where Ahrens reads
Spanien Gottingen 1828-1833 p. 263. irvxita <pi)<rlv for the vulg. auxdZi] ipiatv: schol.
2
C. Sittl op. cit. p. 103. Ambros. 222 (k.) has avKi&ii) ipriaiv.
3 14
Th. Echtermeyerq*. cit. p. 32, F. FlUgel Deutsch- Plat. com. and Menand. ap. Suid. s.v. aviut-
englisches Wb'rterbuch Brunswick 1894 s.v. 'Feige.' (pavreif and ap. St. mag. 733, 48 ff. s.v. (rvKO<payria.
4 18
C. Sittl op. cit. p. 103 n. 6. Dem. de or. 242.
6 16
See O. Jahn op. cit. p. 80 f., C. Sittl op. cit. Since the foregoing article was completed I have
p. 102 f., £.. Littre op. cit. p. 1669a, G. Korting seen that C. Sittl, after indicating the phallic character
op. cit. no. 3730. of die Feige, remarks in a foot-note {op. cit. p. 103
6
Mart. ep. 1. 65. 4, 4. 52. 2, C.l.L. iv. 1820. n. 1) : ' Es miisste denn sein, dass avKofivrris
7
Mart. ep. 7. 71. I ff., carm. Priap. 41. 4, 50. 2. eigentlich i$piarri)s bedeutete.' This in part an-
8
Mart. ep. 12. 33. 2. ticipates my conclusions.
9
Juv. 2. 13, Mart. ep. 12. 96. 10. Parallels, more or less close, to the history of the
10
Ar. pax 1350 with schol., Anth. Plan. 240. 7 f. word <ruKo<pavTeiv might be made out in the case of
Philippos, 241. 5 Argentarius. KaTaSaKTv\i(eiv, <TKtfiaAl(eiv, ffKiv0apl(eiv, and the
11
Archil, ap. Athen. 594 D, Ar. eccl. 707 (if. like.
12
Stratt. ap. Athen. 592 D, Hesych. s.v. <rvici£fi.

SOPH. ELECTR. 724.

«r«Ta 8' Ainavos dvSpos ao-ro//.oi ), and ran straight on. Mean-
ir5)\oi ySia fjilpovcriv, IK 8' viro(TTpo<f)ijs, while, one of the two Libyan chariots had
€KTOV tfiSoflOV T 1)^7] SpO/J-OV, swept round the goal in a wider circle, on
O\OK. the Aenian's right. The Aenian's horses
dashed head-foremost into the Libyan's
The explanation given of the accident team, striking it on the left side.' This
in Jebb's edition is as follows. 'Just as explanation is open to several objections.
he (the Aenian) was passing the goal, his To begin with, it would have been almost,
horses bolted. Hence he could not work if not quite, impossible for the second chariot
them quite round into the track. They to have gained so much during the turn
turned out of the left-ward curve (ef as to present its left side to the bolting team.