Comic relief – Erleichterung im Streit um die Etymologie von gr. κῶμος

Abstract

The study presents additional evidence that Gr. κῶμος is related to Ved. śáṃsa-, reflecting a protoform PIE *k̑ómso-. This is clear from the use of Gr. κῶμος in the works of Pindar. In Pindar κῶμος is closely associated with the verb δέκομαι, especially its stem δεξ-, whence the archaic prayerlike δέξαι: In verbal phrases with δέκομαι as the head and a poetological substantive as an object, only κῶμος is to be found, although Pindar usually switches among poetological terms almost indiscriminately. This odd behaviour is to be interpreted as an archaism: Since there is no doubt that the root PIE *dek̑- is often used in reciprocal contexts (cf. Ved. dāś-), it is not far fetched that the same applies to Gr. κῶμος and that a shared sphere of usage, namely in PIE ritual, is the source for the restriction of δέκομαι to κῶμος in Pindar. Beyond these etymological insights, the study, in corroborating a hypothesis from Bremer 2008 on the hymnic foundations of the Pindaric epinicians, also sheds some light on the origins of many Greek literary genres – epic, choral and monodic lyric, tragedy, comedy – which can be more or less directly deduced from the term κῶμος, i. e. ultimately from Indo-European ritual poetry.