Eine etymologische Beobachtung zu πτωχός bei Herennios Philon. Zur Ergänzung unserer Wörterbücher

Abstract

In his synonymicon Περὶ ὁμοίων καὶ διαφόρων λέξεων the grammarian Herennius Philo (1st/2nd century AD) points out a possible Homeric etymology at ρ 220/227 concerning πτωχός and πτώσσειν. While the linguistic link between both words is still accepted in modern scientific etymology, the Homeric evidence Herennius records has not been taken into account by modern etymological dictionaries of Greek so far. The combination of ρ 220 and 227 has what it takes to become the locus classicus for considering a πτωχός a πτώσσων. In addition the context of the cited passage of the Odyssey helps to clarify the notion of a ‘beggar’ as both ‘a poor and hungry vagrant’ and deduced from that ‘a lazy non-worker’.