Are ἀνά-κειμαι and κατά-κειμαι synonyms?

Semantic Range, Lexicography, and other approaches to word meaning - in general, or for particular words.
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Jonathan Robie
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Are ἀνά-κειμαι and κατά-κειμαι synonyms?

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Are ἀνά-κειμαι and κατά-κειμαι synonyms? Do the prefixes indicate any shade of difference in meaning? If they are synonyms in the Hellenistic period, was there a time that they had distinct meanings?
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
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Barry Hofstetter
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Re: Are ἀνά-κειμαι and κατά-κειμαι synonyms?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

LSJ wrote:κατάκειμαι, Ep. 3 pl. κατακείαται Il.24.527: Ion. plpf. κατεκέατο Hdt.7.229; subj. -κέωμαι Pl.Smp.213b, Cypr. part. ka-ta-ki-me-na κατακιμένα Kafizin270 (sense 3, 225/18 B.C.):—Pass., only in pres. and impf. with fut. Med. -κείσομαι:—lie down, μῆλα τὰ δὴ κατάκειτʼ ἐσφαγμένα Od.10.532; ἐπὶ πλευρὰς κ. Il.24.10; νέκυς κ. Tyrt.11.19; ἐφʼ ἁρμαμαξῶν μαλθακῶς κατακείμενοι Ar.Ach.70.
b. lie in a grave, IG10(2).1.352 (Thessalonica, iv A.D.), SEG29.310 (Corinth, A.D. 529), ἐνθάδε κατάκιτε .. TAM4(1).353.
2. lie hid, ἐν λόχμῃ .. κατέκειτο μέγας σῦς Od.19.439; θάμνῳ ὑπʼ ἀμφικόμῳ κατακείμενος Il.17.677.
3. lie stored up, δοιοὶ γάρ τε πίθοι κατακείαται ἐν Διὸς οὔδει Il.24.527; τό γʼ ἐν οἴκῳ κατακείμενον ἀνέρα κήδει Hes.Op.364: metaph., ἄλγεα .. ἐν θυμῷ κ. Il.24.523.
b. to be deposited, of deeds in a registry, POxy.1040.32 (iii A.D.), etc.
4. lie sick, keep one’s bed, Hdt.7.229, Ev.Marc.1.30, etc.; lie in bed, Ar.Ec.313; ἐφʼ ὃ κατέκειτο Ev.Luc.5.25.
5. lodge, reside, Hp.Epid.1.26.ε ́, 3.1.γ ́, al.
6. to be idle, X.An.3.1.14; of things, lie neglected, καθεύδειν ἐᾶν ἐν τῇ γῇ κατακείμενα τὰ τείχη Pl.Lg.778d.
7. recline at meals, πῖνε, κατάκεισο Ar.Ach.985, cf. Hdt.3.121, Pl.Smp.185d, Ev.Marc.14.3.
8. of land, lie sloping to the sea, πρῶνες ἔξοχοι -κεινται Pi.N.4.52.
9. ἀρετᾷ κατάκειται πᾶσαν ὀργάν is expended in every impulse on .., Id.I.1.41.
10. to be given in pledge, Inscr.Cret.4.47.1, 10, al. (Gortyn, v B.C.); cf. κατατίθημι I 4 b.
Liddell, H. G., Scott, R., Jones, H. S., & McKenzie, R. (1996). A Greek-English lexicon (p. 893). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Compare:

LSJ wrote:ἀνάκειμαι, poet. ἄγκειμαι, serving as Pass. to ἀνατίθημι, to be laid up as a votive offering in the temple, to be dedicated, κρητῆρές οἱ .. ἓξ χρύσεοι ἀνακέαται Hdt.1.14; ἀ. ἐν ἱρῷ Id.2.135; πρὸς τοῖς ἱεροῖς Lys.10.28: metaph., αἶνος Ὀλυμπιονίκαις ἄγκειται Pi.O.11(10).8, cf. 13.36; λόγος τῷ θεῷ ἀ. Pl.Smp.197e; ἐν οὐρανῷ παράδειγμα ἀ. R.592b; χρύσεοί κʼ ἄεκείμεθα Theoc.10.33.
b. to be set up as a statue in public, Σόλων ἀνάκειται παράδειγμα D.19.251, cf. IG14.1389 i 8, cf. Lycurg.51.
2. to be ascribed or offered, αἱ πράξεις ἀ. τινι Plu.Lyc.1; ἡ ἡγεμονία ἀ. τινι Id.Arist.15; ἐς τοὺς ἀστέρας τοὺς ἑπτὰ .. τὰς ἡμέρας ἀνακεῖσθαι D.C.37.18, cf. Polem.Cyn.15.
II. πᾶν or πάντα ἁνάκειται ἔς τινα everything is referred to a person, depends on his will, Hdt.1.97, 3.31: so c. dat. pers., πάντων ἀνακειμένων τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις ἐς τὰς ναῦς since they had their whole fortunes defending on their ships, Th.7.71; ἐπὶ σοὶ τάδε πάντʼ ἀνάκειται Ar.Av.638; ἅπαντα .. ἐπὶ τῇ τύχῃ μᾶλλον ἀ. ἢ τῇ προνοία Antipho 5.6; of persons, σοὶ ἀνακείμεσθα E.Ba.934.
b. w. εἰς, to be assigned or given over to, εἰς θάντον ἦν ἀνακείμενα τοῖς ἀογήσασι J.AJ17.6.5, λιμὸς εἰς ὑστάτην ἀνακείμενος ἀναισχυντίαν 18.1.1, εἰς τὸ σωφρονεῖν ἀνέκειτο ἡ ἐπιτήδευσις τοῦ βίου 18.3.4; so w. ἐπί, τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ θανεῖν ἀνακειμένην ἐπιστολήν 18.8.9, D.C.37.18; also w. dat., to be assigned to, Plu.Arist.15, Lyc.1.
2. to be put aside, ταῦτα ἀνακείσθω Them.in Ph.29.20.
III. lie at table, recline, S.Fr.756, Philippid.30, Arist.Cat.6b12, Fr.607, Diph.40 Mein. (om. Kock), Plb.13.6.8, Ev.Matt.9.10, al.; cf. Phryn.191.
b. to be laid up by sickness, PMich.XI 624.27 (vi A.D.).
Liddell, H. G., Scott, R., Jones, H. S., & McKenzie, R. (1996). A Greek-English lexicon (p. 107). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

So they are practical synonyms in part of the semantic range, but otherwise differ quite a bit.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
Jonathan Robie
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Re: Are ἀνά-κειμαι and κατά-κειμαι synonyms?

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Barry Hofstetter wrote: April 29th, 2019, 11:56 pmSo they are practical synonyms in part of the semantic range, but otherwise differ quite a bit.
Yes, I was thinking mostly about ἀνάκειμαι and κατάκειμαι in the context of dining. Invoking my inner root fallacy, I was wondering if there might be a subtle distinction analogous to "sit down" and "sit up" in English, which are both things you can do at the dinner table.

And yes, I know this very speculative, and probably hard to prove one way or another. It's just something I'm wondering ... and wishing there were clear evidence either way.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
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Daniel Semler
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Re: Are ἀνά-κειμαι and κατά-κειμαι synonyms?

Post by Daniel Semler »

You're not the only one who wanted to look at it this way. I did a quick search through a few a texts and there are plenty of examples in the NT and Josephus. J has 24 ἀνάκειμαι and 16 κατάκειμαι. There are 14 and 12 respectively in the NT. So you would have to work through and see if you could detect any such nuances. I ran away and continued reading about Chromium, but it would be a good exercise for me one day.

Thx
D
Barry Hofstetter
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Re: Are ἀνά-κειμαι and κατά-κειμαι synonyms?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

I personally can't see any distinction, but maybe someone else can. To me, it looks like the difference between "burn up" and "burn down," not "sit up" and "sit down."
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
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