I am struggling to understand this line from Aristophanes Plutus. First of all, I do not understand the function of ἀπό here. Is it the preposition? And does σ’ stand for σε, the object of the verb ὄλλυμι? Or has it been separated from απόλλυμι? Finally, I do not understand the construction κακὸν κακῶς. Is it a cognate accusative with the addition of the adverb thrown in for good measure? If anyone can shed light on this, I would be very appreciative.
Hello again Charlie. Yes, ἀπό σ’ ὀλῶ is ἀπολῶ σε with the απο- and ὀλῶ split (“tmesis”) and the enclitic σε interposed. σε is the object, and κακόν agrees with it, and κακὸν κακῶς is a tragic idiom, adjective and adverb in mutual reinforcement.
Thank you very much.
You are correct, the verb απόλλυμι has been, in a way, split in two. Traditionally, this phenomenon is called tmesis, which means ”cutting”, although the term is actually a misnomer, because in reality it’s an old phenomenon of the language. Απο is called a preverb here and it was originally separate from the verb, much like it is when it functions as a preposition. (You can compare with English phrasal verbs such as ”come to” and ”break in”). This is phenomenon is quite common in Homer and other early Greek poetry, but not in more recent varieties like Attic (I’m actually a bit surprised that it occurs in Aristophanes, which is supposed to be quite close to the Attic vernaculat and mostly devoid of archaisms.)
κακὸν κακῶς is called figura etymologica and it’s very common in Greek. κακὸν is in the accusative so it goes with σ(ε). I don’t know the larger context, but The whole means something like ”because if you don’t tell me, I’ll do away with you worthless bum (κακον) in a horrible way(κακως)”. ”Worthless bum” being just one possible way of translating κακον; the word often implies cowardice.
(Edit: I wrote this independently of mwh)
The tmesis here is tragic parody, like κακὸν κακῶς. See Smyth 1651:
- In Attic poetry tmesis occurs chiefly when the preposition is separated from the verb by unimportant words (particles, enclitics), and is employed for the sake of emphasis or (in Euripides) as a mere ornament. Aristophanes uses tmesis only to parody the style of tragic choruses.
You need something Shakespearean to convey the effect, rather than “You worthless bum”. “Thou scurvy knave.” Something like that.
Paul, I called κακον κακως a tragic idiom. Here in Aristophanes, of course, it’s paratragic. The tmesis of ἀπό σ’ ὀλῶ is likewise paratragic, but it has rather different affinities and I think is more suggestive of Euripidean lyric, which Aristophanes delights in parodying. On the page it’s not always easy to tell one of Euripides’ highflown monodies from an Aristophanic parody of the same, except that Aristophanes’ quicksilver mutations rapidly give the game away.
Shakespearean diction is a poor substitute, it seems to me. Euripides and Aristophanes were fairly close contemporaries, and it’s their respective genres that distinguish them. Maybe Stoppard could carry it off, or someone with similar stylistic sensibility.
Thank you once again, my friends, for your very thorough responses. I see that I did well to pose the question. I find references to Smyth particularly helpful. I have not yet learned how to search for topics in the online version of his grammar. I had never heard of figura etymologica until today.
I use the physical book to find what I’m looking for in Smyth, then find the section online to post a quote and a link. It’s worth owning Smyth in book form, as well as the Intermediate L&S or the new Cambridge dictionary.
The Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek presents the material in a much clearer way than Smyth – informed by modern linguistics – and it’s better organized to bring the important points about the structure of ancient Greek into focus. But dull, ponderous, old-fashioned Smyth is much richer in detail. For example, CGCG has next to nothing to say about tmesis, other than to mention that it sometimes occurs (sec. 25.44). The two grammars are complementary and serve different purposes, but if you want to own just one grammar, I would recommend Smyth as a tool that will be useful over your entire life. It’s a κτημα ες αει.
Suprisingly, James Morwood’s Oxford Grammar of Classical Greek manages to present all of the really important facts about Greek grammar in a small, inexpensive paperback.
Searching online in Smyth and LSJ is frustrating and, at least for me, often fruitless.