ἁσμένως

[Kurama]

This is a very brief question. I was looking at Plato, Charmides 153a. I understand the passage, but I noticed that ἁσμένως is written with a rough breathing. Why is this?

ἥκομεν τῇ προτεραίᾳ ἑσπέρας ἐκ Ποτειδαίας ἀπὸ τοῦ στρατοπέδου, οἷον δὲ διὰ χρόνου ἀφιγμένος ἁσμένως ᾖα ἐπὶ τὰς συνήθεις διατριβάς. καὶ δὴ καὶ εἰς τὴν Ταυρέου παλαίστραν τὴν καταντικρὺ τοῦ τῆς Βασίλης ἱεροῦ εἰσῆλθον, καὶ αὐτόθι κατέλαβον πάνυ πολλούς, τοὺς μὲν καὶ ἀγνῶτας ἐμοί, τοὺς δὲ πλείστους γνωρίμους.

[jeidsath]

According to Burnet’s appartus, the Clarke codex Bodleianus has that breathing (maybe due to a false (?) etymology from ἁνδάνω?). Codex Venetus has the smooth breathing. Hirschig thought that it should just be the adjective instead, ἄσμενος.

[mwh]

Yes it’s because ασμενος was taken (rightly or wrongly) to be cognate with ἡδομαι. It’s a very trivial matter.

A less trivial question is whether the adverb has displaced the adjective. I have little doubt that it has. Attic often uses adjectives where later Greek uses adverbs. In Thucydides, for example, adverbial ὕστερον has replaced the adjective in manuscripts at 1.3.3 (cf. P.Oxy.3878), 7.27.2, 2.55.2, 3.22.3, 4.87.6, and 6.3.1, and probably elsewhere.

[jeidsath]

It was fun to look up the image for P.Oxy.3878 on Google. I see that υστεροϲ is corrected to υστερον, though he doesn't cross out the ϲ. I assume that means this was compared against multiple versions at some point?

Image of P.Oxy.3878

Show

[Hylander]

A less trivial question is whether the adverb has displaced the adjective.

That would leave ἀφιγμένος ἄσμενος side by side, where the two words with the same ending (though different accentuation) have different syntactic functions:

. . . οἷον δὲ διὰ χρόνου ἀφιγμένος ἄσμενος ᾖα ἐπὶ τὰς συνήθεις διατριβάς . . .

Wouldn't that be a little confusing and, even if the reader chunks the words correctly, somewhat inelegant?