Lexicographic entries

κόβαλος
(Antiatt. κ 7)

A. Main sources

(1) Antiatt. κ 7: κόβαλος· ὁ σκιραφώδης καὶ ἀηδής. Ἀριστοφάνης Βατράχοις.

σκιραφώδης Dindorf (accepted by Valente) : σκιραπώδης cod. | ἀηδής Cavarzeran (personal communication) : ἀειδής cod. and Valente.

κόβαλος: The swindling and the odious [man]. Aristophanes in Frogs (1015 = C.10).

B. Other erudite sources

(1) Suet. Blasph. 153–6 (6.27–8): κόβαλος καὶ κόπις καὶ κόβακτρος καὶ βωμολόχος καὶ βώμαξ· ὁ φλύαρος.

κόβαλος and κόπις and κόβακτρος and βωμολόχος and βώμαξ: The babbler.

(2) Harp. κ 67 (~ Lex.Rhet. 272.21–3; Phot. κ 849, 851; Su. κ 1896): κοβαλεία· Δείναρχος ἐν τῇ Κατὰ Πυθέου εἰσαγγελίᾳ. κοβαλεία ἐλέγετο ἡ προσποιητὴ μετ’ ἀπάτης παιδιὰ καὶ κόβαλος ὁ ταύτῃ χρώμενος. ἔοικε δὲ συνώνυμον τῷ βωμολόχῳ· Φιλόχορος βʹ Ἀτθίδος ‘οὐ γὰρ, ὥσπερ ἔνιοι λέγουσι, βωμολόχον τινὰ καὶ κόβαλον γίνεσθαι νομιστέον τὸν Διόνυσον’. Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ ἐν ηʹ ζῴων ἱστορίας τὸν ὦτόν φησι κόβαλον καὶ μιμητὴν ὄντα ἀντορχούμενον ἁλίσκεσθαι.

κοβαλεία: Dinarchus in the accusation Against Pytheas (Din. 6 fr. 9 Conomis = C.14). A joke made under false pretence with the intention of cheating was called κοβαλεία, and κόβαλος [was] the one who used it. It seems to be a synonym of ‘ribald’: Philochorus, in the second book of the Atthis (FGrHist 328 F 6 = C.15), ‘Indeed, Dionysus should not be regarded – as some say – to be a ribald and a κόβαλος’. And Aristotle in the eighth book of History of animals (HA 597b 23 = C.13) says that the eared owl, being a κόβαλος and an imitator, is caught as it mimics the dancing [of the bird-catcher before it].

(3) [Hdn.] Epim. 70.10–1: κόπις, ὁ λάλος· κοπὶς, τὸ κοπίδιον, καὶ κλίνεται κοπίδος.

κόπις: The babbler. κοπίς [instead indicates] the small κόπος, and it inflects κοπίδος.

(4) Hsch. κ 3177: κόβαλος· πανοῦργος. κακοῦργος. στωμύλος, λάλος, ἀφ’ οὗ καὶ ὁ κομψός. ἔνιοι μάταιος. ἄλλοι κροταφιστής, ἄσωτος, τωθαστής, ἀπατεών. κακόλαλος.

κόβαλος: Scoundrel, thief, chatterbox, babbler. From this comes κομψός as well. Some [interpret it as] foolish. Other as ‘the one who strikes on the temples’, desperate, scoffer, rogue, slanderer.

(5) Phryn. PS fr. *116 (Σ^b α 748 = Phot. α 782, ex Σ′′′) ἀκόλαστον καὶ ὑβριστὸν πρᾶγμα· Ἀττικῶς συντέθειται, διττὴν δὲ ἔχει τὴν θεωρίαν· μίαν μὲν ὅτι ἐχρήσατο τῷ ὑβριστὸν ἀντὶ τοῦ ὑβριστικοῦ, ὅμοιον ὂν τῷ τύπῳ τοῖς τοιοῖσδε τῶν ὑπερθετικῶν βέλτιστον, κάλλιστον, κράτιστον καὶ τοῖς ὁμοίοις· ἑτέραν δὲ διότι συμπέπλεκται τὸ ὑβριστὸν τῷ ἀκολάστῳ. Πλάτων δὲ ἐχρήσατο ἐν Πεισάνδρῳ λέγων· ‘γυνὴ γάρ, ἢν μὲν αὐτὴν | ἀεὶ κολάζῃς, ἐστὶ πάντων κτημάτων κράτιστον· | ἐὰν δὲ ἀνῇς, ὑβριστόν <ἐστι> χρῆμα καὶ ἀκόλαστον’. Φερεκράτης δὲ τῷ κόβαλον συμπλέξας τὸ ὑβριστὸν εἶπεν· ‘ὑβριστὸν ἔργον καὶ κόβαλον εἰργάσω’. συγγραφικαὶ δὲ αἱ συνθῆκαι.

ἀκόλαστον καὶ ὑβριστὸν πρᾶγμα (‘an undisciplined and insolent thing’): [‘Insolent’] is used according to good Attic, but there are two different views. One [is] that ‘insolent’ (ὑβριστός) was used in the sense of ὑβριστικός, being similar in its mode of formation to the following superlatives: βέλτιστος, κάλλιστος, κράτιστος, and the like. The other [view is that it is spelled ὑβριστός] because it is paired with ἀκόλαστος (‘licentious’). Plato Comicus used it in the Pisander (fr. 105), saying: ‘for a woman, although you always chastise her, is always the best of all your possessions. And if you let her free, she is an insolent and undisciplined thing’. But Pherecrates (fr. 173 = C.3) paired ὑβριστός with ‘deceitful’ (κόβαλος), saying: ‘you did an insolent and deceitful thing’. These expressions are appropriate to written language.

(6) Et.Gen. ΑΒ s.v. κόβαλος (~ Et.Gud. 332.3–8; EM 524.30–1; Su. κ 1897; [Zonar.] 1227.6–9; ~ schol. rec. Ar. Pl. 279g): κόβαλος· ὁ λῃστής. ἀπὸ τῆς κοπίδος κοπιβαλὸς τις ὤν. ὅθεν καὶ τὸ κοβαλεύειν καταχρηστικῶς εἴρηται τὸ μεταφέρειν τὰ ἀλλότρια μισθοῦ κατ’ ὀλίγον. ἄλλοι δὲ ὧν ἐστὶν Ὤρος κόβαλα λέγουσιν τὰ κατεστωμυλμένα καὶ κοβάλους τοὺς λάλους ἀπὸ τοῦ κόψαι πεποιημένης τῆς λέξεως. ὅθεν καὶ κόπιν καλοῦσιν τὸν λάλον. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ κομψόν. ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ δὲ καὶ δημοκόπος, ᾧ κυνηγεσίων μὲν ἢ παλαίστρας ἢ ἱππικῆς οὐ δὲ ἀκαρῆ μέλει. μέλει δὲ εἰς τὰ κυβεῖα ἰέναι καὶ ὀρτυγοκοπεῖν καὶ μεθύσκεσθαι μετὰ ἄλλων κοβάλων καὶ τὰ πατρῶα ἐξωρχημένων. καὶ ἄλλως. ‘ὧν οὗτος οὐδ’ ἄν μαθητὴς εἶναι δύναιτο τῶν κοβαλευμάτων’.

κόβαλος: The robber. From κόπις, being a κοπιβαλός. From this, by a misuse of language, the act of moving other people’s luggage for a small price is called κοβαλεύειν. Others – among whom is Orus – say that κόβαλα are the things blabbed out and that κόβαλοι are the babblers, since the word derives from κόπτω (‘to hit’). Hence, they call the babbler κόπις as well. Similarly, too, κομψός (‘subtle’). From the same word (comes) δημοκόπος also, [the one] who does not care at all about hunts, wrestling, or horsemanship, but who does care about going to the gaming-houses, playing the game of quail-striking, getting drunk with the other κόβαλοι, and dancing away his patrimony. And alternatively: ‘among those, he could not be a student of the κοβαλεύματα’.

(7) Et.Gen. AB s.v. κόπις (= Et.Gud. 337.55–338.2; EM 529.25–30; ~ schol. rec. Ar. Pl. 279g): κόπις, σύντομος, ὀξὺς τῷ λόγῳ ἤγουν λάλος, ἔνθεν καὶ ὁ δημοκόπος καὶ κόβαλος, καὶ τὰ κατεστωμυλμένα κόβαλα λέγονται· καὶ τὰς τῶν λόγων τέχνας κοπίδας ἔλεγον· ‘μὴ τὸν Πυθαγόραν εὑρόμενον τῶν ἀληθινῶν κοπίδων’· Εὐριπίδης· ‘πως, πρὶν ὁ ποικιλόφρων κόπις ἡδυλόγος δημοχαριστής’.

κόβαλος A : κόβαλλος B | τὰ κατεστωλμυμένα (sic) κόβαλα B : κατεστωμυλημένος κόβαλοι A | μὴ τὸν … κοπίδων omitted in B | εὑρόμενον τῶν is my correction (see B.8, with apparatus) : εὕρομεν ὄντων A | πως A : πῶς B.

κόπις: Concise, sharp with words, or rather babbler, and from this [come] δημοκόπος and κόβαλος, and they call the things blabbed out κόβαλα. And they used to call rhetorical skills κοπίδες: ‘[so that it even appears] that Pythagoras was not the one who discovered the true κοπίδες’ (Timae. FGrHist 566 F 132 = C.16). Euripides: ‘almost, until that shifty κόπις, that sweet-voiced mob-pleaser’ (Hec. 131 = C.2).

(8) Schol. Eur. Hec. 131: ὁ λάλος. ὅθεν καὶ κόβαλος, ὁ κομψός· ‘καὶ μὴν κόβαλά γὰρ ἐστὶν ὡς καὶ σοὶ δοκεῖ’. κοπίδας τε τὰς τῶν λόγων τέχνας ἄλλοι τε καὶ ὁ Τίμαιος οὕτως γράφων· ‘ὥστε καὶ φαίνεσθαι μὴ τὸν Πυθαγόραν εὑράμενον τῶν ἀληθινῶν κοπίδων μηδὲ τὸν ὑφ’ Ἡρακλείτου κατηγορούμενον, ἀλλ’ αὐτὸν <τὸν> Ἡράκλειτον εἶναι τὸν ἀλαζονευόμενον’. τὰ περίεργα γὰρ τῶν λόγων καὶ τὰ κατεστωμυλμένα κόβαλα ἔλεγον, ὡς Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν Βατράχοις ‘κόβαλά γ’ ἐστὶν, ὡς καὶ σοὶ δοκεῖ’. (MV)

After the first καὶ, <δημοκόπος καὶ> Schwartz | after τέχνας, <ἔλεγον> Schwartz | εὑράμενον τῶν codd. : εὑρετὴν ὄντα Wilamowitz (1927, 277; accepted also by Reinhardt 1928) : εὑρ<ετὴν γεν>όμενον Jacoby.

[κόπις is] the babbler. From this comes κόβαλος too, the subtle. ‘And, indeed, those are deceptions, as you know too!’ (Ar. Ra. 104 = C.9). Others [called] rhetorical skills κοπίδες, as did Timaeus (FGrHist 566 F 132 = C.16), who writes as follows: ‘so that it even appears that Pythagoras was not the one who discovered the true κοπίδες, nor the one who was accused by Heraclitus, but that Heraclitus himself was the one making false pretensions’. Indeed, they called κόβαλα the circumlocutions and the things blabbed out, as Aristophanes [did] in Frogs (Ra. 104 = C.9): ‘those are deceptions, and you know it!’.

(9) Schol. Ar. Eq. 270b: ἐκκοβαλικεύεται: λῃστεύει· κόβαλοι γὰρ οἱ μετὰ ξύλου λῃσταί· τοὺς αὐτοὺς καὶ κορυνηφόρους καλοῦσιν. οἱ δὲ κόβαλον τὴν μετὰ ἀπάτης παιδιάν. (VEΓΘVatLh)

ἐκκοβαλικεύεται: He steals. For κόβαλοι are thieves with wooden [clubs]. They also call them ‘club-bearers’. Some [say that] κόβαλος is a joke [made] with deceit.

(10) Schol. Ar. Eq. 270c: ἐκκοβαλικεύεται· κόβαλα γὰρ καλοῦσι τὰ ἀπατήματα καὶ πανουργεύματα. ἐκκοβαλικεύεται δὲ ἀντὶ τοῦ λῃστεύει. κόβαλοι γὰρ οἱ λῃσταί· τοὺς αὐτοὺς καὶ κορυνηφόρους καλοῦσιν. οἱ δὲ κόβαλον τὴν μετὰ ἀπάτης παιδείαν. (M)

κορυνηφόρους is my correction (see B.9) : κυρηφόρους cod.

ἐκκοβαλικεύεται: They call frauds and tricks κόβαλα. ἐκκοβαλικεύεται in the sense of ‘he steals’. Indeed, thieves are κόβαλοι. They call them also ‘club-bearers’. Some [say that] κόβαλον is a joke [made] with deceit.

(11) Schol. Ar. Eq. 331a: κοβαλικεύμασι· τῷ κολακεύειν καὶ πρὸς χάριν δημηγορεῖν. (VEΓ²Γ³ΘΜ)

κοβαλικεύμασι (‘with κοβαλικεύματα’): By flattering and making speeches to ingratiate [themselves with the public].

(12) Schol. Ar. Eq. 331b: τῇ κακοτεχνίᾳ καὶ θρασύτητι καὶ ἀναισχυντίᾳ καὶ δολιότητι. (VELh)

[κοβαλικεύμασι] (‘with κοβαλικεύματα’): With malpractice and baldness and shamelessness and trickery.

(13) Schol. Ar. Eq. 417: πανουργεύματα, σοφίσματα, κλέμματα. (EΓ³Lh)

[κόβαλα]: Tricks, artifices, frauds.

(14) Schol. Ar. Eq. 450: κόβαλος εἶ· προειρήκαμεν ὅτι τοὺς μετὰ ξύλου λῃστὰς οὕτως ἐκάλουν οἱ παλαιοί. (VEΓ³Lh)

κόβαλος εἶ (‘You are a κόβαλος’): We had already said that the ancient authors named robbers [armed] with a wooden [club] thus.

(15) Schol. Ar. Ra. 104b–a: ἦ μὴν (M) κόβαλά (ΜEBarb) γ’ ἐστιν· (ΜBarb) ἀντὶ τοῦ (R) 'κακοῦργα καὶ ἀνελεύθερα' (RVEΘBarb[Ald]). Δίδυμος κατεστωμυλμένα ἀπατητικά καὶ <…> κακοβούλους τοὺς κοβάλους (VMEΘBarb[Ald]).

κατεστωμυλμένα, ἀπατητικά (with interpunction) codd. and editors | καὶ <…> κακοβούλους is my hypothesis (e.g. καὶ <κοβάλους τοὺς λάλους. οἱ δὲ> κακοβούλους. See B.6 κόβαλα λέγουσιν τὰ κατεστωλμυμένα καὶ κοβάλους τοὺς λάλους and D.).

ἦ μὴν κόβαλά γ’ ἐστιν (‘those are κόβαλα!’): Instead of ‘malicious and mean words’. Didymus (fr. 260) [says that it means] ‘fraudulent words blabbed out’ and <…> [that] κόβαλοι are bad advisers.

(16) Schol. rec. Ar. Pl. 279f: κόβαλόν φησιν τὸν εἰς ἐξαπάτην χρώμενον παιδιᾷ προσποιήτῳ. (Rs)

He calls κόβαλος the one who uses a joke made under false pretence with the intention of deceit.

C. Loci classici, other relevant texts

(1) Timocr. fr. 727.1–7 PMG:
ἀλλ᾽ εἰ τύ γε Παυσανίαν ἢ καὶ τύ γε Ξάνθιππον αἰνεῖς,
ἢ τύ γε Λευτυχίδαν, ἐγὼ δ᾽ Ἀριστείδαν ἐπαινέω
ἄνδρ᾽ ἱερᾶν ἀπ᾽ Ἀθανᾶν
ἐλθεῖν ἕνα λῶιστον, ἐπεὶ Θεμιστοκλῆν ἤχθαρε Λατώ,
ψεύσταν ἄδικον προδόταν, ὃς Τιμοκρέοντα ξεῖνον ἐόντα
ἀργυρίοισι κοβαλικοῖσι πεισθεὶς οὐ κατᾶγεν
πατρίδ᾽ Ἰαλυσὸν εἴσ<ω>.

Well, if you praise Pausanias or if you praise Xanthippus, or if you praise Leotychidas, I commend Aristides, the very best man to have come from holy Athens, since Leto hated Themistocles, a liar, a crook, a traitor, who was bribed with knavish silver not to bring home Timocreon, his guest-friend, to his native Ialysos. (Transl. Tsagalis 2020).

(2) Eur. Hec. 130–5:
σπουδαὶ δὲ λόγων κατατεινομένων
ἦσαν ἴσαι πως, πρὶν ὁ ποικιλόφρων
κόπις ἡδυλόγος δημοχαριστὴς
Λαερτιάδης πείθει στρατιὰν
μὴ τὸν ἄριστον Δαναῶν πάντων
δούλων σφαγίων οὕνεκ’ ἀπωθεῖν.

The effort of the vehement speeches was almost equal until that shifty deceiver (κόπις), that sweet-voiced mob-pleaser, son of Laertes, persuaded the army not to set aside the best of all the Danaids for the sacrifice of a slave.

(3) Pherecr. fr. 173:
ὑβριστὸν ἔργον καὶ κόβαλον ἠργάσω.

You did an insolent and deceitful (κόβαλος) deed (cf. B.5).

(4) Ar. Eq. 269–70:
ὡς δ’ ἀλαζών, ὡς δὲ μάσθλης· εἶδες οἷ’ ὑπέρχεται
ὡσπερεὶ γέροντας ἡμᾶς κἀκκοβαλικεύεται.

What a swindler! What a devious scoundrel! Did you see how he fawns over us and tries to deceive us (ἐκκοβαλικεύεται) as if we were old men?

(5) Ar. Eq. 328–32:
ἀλλ’ ἐφάνη γὰρ ἀνὴρ ἕτερος πολὺ
σοῦ μιαρώτερος, ὥστε με χαίρειν,
ὅς σε παύσει καὶ πάρεισι, δῆλός ἐστιν αὐτόθεν,
πανουργίᾳ τε καὶ θράσει
καὶ κοβαλικεύμασιν.

But another man appeared, to my joy, who is much more abominable than you, a man who will make you shut up and who surpasses you – it is already clear – in dishonesty, insolence, and deceitful tricks (κοβαλικεύματα).

(6) Ar. Eq. 417–20:
καὶ νὴ Δί’ ἄλλα γ’ ἐστί μου κόβαλα παιδὸς ὄντος.
ἐξηπάτων γὰρ τοὺς μαγείρους ἂν λέγων τοιαυτί·
‘σκέψασθε, παῖδες· οὐχ ὁρᾶθ’; ὥρα νέα, χελιδών’.
οἱ δ’ ἔβλεπον, κἀγὼ ’ν τοσούτῳ τῶν κρεῶν ἔκλεπτον.

And, by Zeus, when I was a child I had other tricks too. For I would beguile the cooks, saying this: ‘Look, fellows, can’t you see? A new spring, [there’s] a swallow!’. They would look and, in the meantime, I would steal some meat.

(7) Ar. Eq. 450:
κόβαλος εἶ.

You’re a trickster!

(8) Ar. Eq. 632–8:
κἄγωγ’ ὅτε δὴ ’γνων ἐνδεχομένην τοὺς λόγους
καὶ τοῖς φενακισμοῖσιν ἐξαπατωμένην,
‘ἄγε δὴ Σκίταλοι καὶ Φένακες’, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ,
‘Βερέσχεθοί τε καὶ Κόβαλοι καὶ Μόθων,
ἀγορά τ’ ἐν ᾗ παῖς ὢν ἐπαιδεύθην ἐγώ,
νῦν μοι θράσος καὶ γλῶσσαν εὔπορον δότε
φωνήν τ’ ἀναιδῆ’.

And I myself – when I saw that [the council] was giving ear those words and was being deceived by those quackeries – I said: ‘Come, o Demons of lewdness, o Impostors, o Powers of Folly, o Deceivers and Impudents, o marketplace, where I was educated as a child, now give me boldness, and an ingenious tongue and a shameless voice!’.

(9) Ar. Ra. 104:
ἦ μὴν κόβαλά γ’ ἐστίν, ὡς καὶ σοὶ δοκεῖ.

Those are deceptions, and you know it!

(10) Ar. Ra. 1013–5:
σκέψαι τοίνυν οἵους αὐτοὺς παρ’ ἐμοῦ παρεδέξατο πρῶτον,
εἰ γενναίους καὶ τετραπήχεις, καὶ μὴ διαδρασιπολίτας,
μηδ’ ἀγοραίους μηδὲ κοβάλους, ὥσπερ νῦν, μηδὲ πανούργους.

Now, consider what sort of [people] he received from me in the first place, if they were noble and tall and not citizens who evade all public duties, neither vulgar nor deceivers – as [they are] now – nor crooks.

(11) Ar. Pl. 279–83:
διαρραγείης, ὡς μόθων εἶ καὶ φύσει κόβαλος,
ὅστις φενακίζεις, φράσαι δ’ οὔπω τέτληκας ἡμῖν,
οἳ πολλὰ μοχθήσαντες, οὐκ οὔσης σχολῆς, προθύμως
δεῦρ’ ἤλθομεν, πολλῶν θύμων ῥίζας διεκπερῶντες.

May you be torn apart! For you are impudent and deceitful by nature. You cheat, and you don’t have the courage to speak to us, who work hard and yet came here right away, passing through many fields of thyme, despite not having any leisure.

(12) Phryn.Com. fr. 4: κόβαλός τε εἶναι ἐλέγετο καὶ πτωχαλαζών, ὡς Φρύνιχος ἐν Ἐφιάλτῃ. (cf. schol. Ar. Av. 1297–9)

(Midias) was said to be a deceiver and a braggart beggar, as Phrynichus [says] in the Ephialtes.

(13) Arist. HA 597b 21–4: ὁ δ’ ὦτος ὅμοιος ταῖς γλαυξὶ καὶ περὶ τὰ ὦτα πτερύγια ἔχων· ἔνιοι δ’ αὐτὸν νυκτικόρακα καλοῦσιν. ἔστι δὲ κόβαλος καὶ μιμητής, καὶ ἀντορχούμενος ἁλίσκεται, περιελθόντος θατέρου τῶν θηρευτῶν, καθάπερ ἡ γλαύξ.

The eared owl is similar to little owls and has feathers around the ears. Some call it ‘night-raven’. It is a deceiver and an imitator, and it is caught as it mimics the dance [made by the bird-catcher in front of it], while the other of the two bird-catchers comes up behind it [and catches it].

(14) Din. 6 fr. 9 Conomis = Harp. κ 67 re. κοβαλεία (B.2).

(15) Philoch. FGrHist 328 F 6: οὐ γὰρ, ὥσπερ ἔνιοι λέγουσι, βωμολόχον τινὰ καὶ κόβαλον γίνεσθαι νομιστέον τὸν Διόνυσον.

Indeed, Dionysus should not be regarded – as some say – as a ribald and a deceiver.

(16) Timae. FGrHist 566 F 132: ὥστε καὶ φαίνεσθαι μὴ τὸν Πυθαγόραν εὑρ<ετὴν γεν>όμενον τῶν ἀληθινῶν κοπίδων μηδὲ τὸν ὑφ᾽ ῾Ηρακλείτου κατηγορούμενον, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸν <τὸν> ῾Ηράκλειτον εἶναι τὸν ἀλαζονευόμενον.

So that it even appears that Pythagoras was not the inventor of the true ‘cleavers’, and nor [was] the one who was accused by Heraclitus; rather, [it seems] that Heraclitus himself was the one making false pretensions (cf. B.7, B.8).

D. General commentary

The adjective κόβαλος (‘deceptive’) is included in the Antiatticist but is absent from the more purist lexica of Phrynichus, Pollux, and Moeris, who apparently did not deem the term acceptable as ‘good Attic’. The word is likely of pre-Greek origin (see EDG, 727–8; DELG, 550 thinks of a Thraco-Phrygian descent). Björck (1950, 46–7 and 258–9) – criticising an earlier proposal by Grégoire (1938, 287–8) who posited a connection between κόβαλος and Latin caballus (see alsoGEW, 889 and DELG, 550) – believed that the term came from DoricDoric, originally meaning ‘porter’ (there are no attestations of κόβαλος in this sense, but κοβαλεύωκοβαλεύω does mean ‘to carry other people’s belongings for a small payment’; see the documentary papyri of the Roman era listed below and the discussion in Fiori 2022, 164) and that it was then absorbed into Attic and used with the more vulgar meaning of ‘swindler’ (this process is attested for other words of Doric origin; see also Willi 2003, 233; Tsagalis 2020, 245). It is possible that κόβαλος was not included in the lexica of stricter Atticists precisely because – given its alpha impurum – it was perceived as non-Attic.

Attestations of κόβαλος and its derivatives in the 5th century BCE appear exclusively in comedyComedy, a fact that reinforces the idea that they belonged to colloquial languageColloquial language. In Pherecrates (C.3, see too B.5, with discussion in Fiori 2022, 163–4), κόβαλος describes a deceitful action (ὑβριστὸν ἔργον καὶ κόβαλον ἠργάσω), while Aristophanes uses it with reference to people (C.7, C.10, and C.11; cf. Phrynichus Comicus in C.12), in the neuter plural to indicate deceits (C.6, C.9), and in the masculine plural as a personification of the ‘demons of deception’ (C.8). There is only one occurrence earlier than Attic comedy: the adjective κοβαλικός in a fragment of Timocreon of Ialysos, preserved by Plutarch (C.1): yet, κοβαλικοῖσι is not actually the reading transmitted by the manuscripts but a very likely emendation by Bergk (see Tsagalis 2020, 234), which is supported also by the presence, again in Aristophanes, of two more words derived from κόβαλος with the suffix -ικ-, i.e. κοβαλίκευμακοβαλίκευμα (C.5) and ἐκκοβαλικεύομαιἐκκοβαλικεύομαι (C.4), both attested only in Aristophanes, in the related scholia, and in the Suda. Furthermore, some lexicographical sources (Hsch. α 4752, Phot. α 1765, and Su. α 2182, [Zonar.] 170.5) preserve a compound ἀνδροκόβαλος (glossed with κακοῦργος and πανοῦργος), which is almost surely ancient and of comic origin (com. adesp. fr. *274).

In the 4th century, κόβαλος occurs in Aristotle, as part of a description of the owl known as ὦτος (C.13), and in Philochorus with reference to Dionysus (C.15), while – according to Harpocration (B.2 = C.14) – Dinarchus wrote κοβαλεία (see below). The noun κοβάλευμα is found only a handful of times: once in a quotation of unknown provenance in the entry of the Etymologicum Genuinum that is dedicated to κόβαλος (B.6: ὧν οὗτος οὐδ’ ἄν μαθητὴς εἶναι δύναιτο τῶν κοβαλευμάτων) and twice as the interpretation of the obscure κόβακτρα/κόβατρα in Hesychius (κ 3176) and Photius (κ 852, see also B.1). The verb κοβαλεύωκοβαλεύω, in contrast, is attested in several documentary papyriPapyri from the 1st century CE onwards, where it indicates the act of transporting something upon payment (see P.Lond. 1.131 [= TM 20004, Hermopolites, 78 CE], where it occurs four times, P.Yadin 1.22 [= TM 23502, Maoza, area of Petra, 130 CE], P.Cair. Goodspeed 30 [= TM 10308, Karanis, after 192 CE], CPR 6.31 [= TM 45273, Pesla or Hermopolis, end of the 3rd century CE], and P.Michael. 29 [= TM 33536, Panopolites, 4th century CE]). The verb is completely absent from literary texts and is found, outside of documentary papyri, only in some lexicographical entries (B.6, τὸ κοβαλεύειν καταχρηστικῶς εἴρηται τὸ μεταφέρειν τὰ ἀλλότρια μισθοῦ κατ’ ὀλίγον; but [Zonar.] 1247.15 gives the analogical interpretation λῃστεύω, πανουργεύω). Finally, P.Lond. 3.965 (= TM 22752, unknown provenance, after 260 CE) preserves the only extant occurrence of κοβαλισμόςκοβαλισμός in the sense of ‘transport’.

The earliest known discussion of the adjective κόβαλος goes back to Didymus’Didymus commentary on Aristophanes’ Frogs (B.15). Here, the grammarian explains the neuter plural κόβαλα as ‘fraudulent words blabbed out’ (κατεστωμυλμένα ἀπατητικά). While ἀπατητικά is rather plain language (see below), the verb καταστωμύλλομαικαταστωμύλλομαι is even rarer than κόβαλος and its derivatives: it is found just twice in Aristophanes (Th. 461 and Ra. 1160) and subsequently only in Eusebius (PE 14.5.14.3), Michael Choniates (Orationes 1.2.45.15, 1.3.87.31 Lampros), and Theodorus Hexapterygus (Progymnasmata 6.37 Hörandner). Despite pertaining to Ra. 104 (C.9), Didymus’ interpretation probably relies on the only Aristophanic passage that gives a clear example of what κόβαλα actually are, i.e. Eq. 417–20 (C.6), where the Sausage-Seller recalls the way in which, as a child, he would deceive the cooks (ἐξηπάτων) by telling them to look at a swallow allegedly flying in the sky in order to steal meat from them in the meantime. Three other texts preserve Didymus’ explanation of κόβαλα as κατεστωμυλμένα without mentioning the grammarian’s name: two entries in the Etymologicum Genuinum and the lexica that depend on it (B.6, B.7) and a scholium to Euripides’ Hecuba (B.8). B.6 derives Didymus’ interpretation from the Atticist lexicon compiled by OrusOrus in the 5th century CE (ἄλλοι δὲ, ὧν καὶ Ὦρος ἐστι, κόβαλα λέγουσι τὰ κατεστωμυλμένα), while B.7 does not name any source. The third occurrence of κατεστωμυλμένα as gloss for κόβαλα appears in a scholium to the passage from the parodos of Euripides’ Hecuba, where the Chorus – recounting the events that led to the decision to sacrifice Polyxena – disdainfully refers to Odysseus as ὁ ποικιλόφρων | κόπις ἡδυλόγος δημοχαριστὴς | Λαερτιάδης (C.2).

In all three texts, Didymus’ exegesis is quoted anonymously and in conjunction with a discussion of κόπιςκόπις, a substantive deriving from κόπτω (see EDG 748–9) that is associated with κόβαλος already in the Περὶ βλασφμιῶν (B.1). The paroxytone term κόπις has very few attestations outside scholia, lexica, and grammatical works (see Euripides, C.2, and Lycophron [763, 1464]), while the oxytone κοπίςκοπίς is widely attested and indicates some kind of cleaver (see B.3). In all likelihood, the meaning ‘babbler’ is a consequence of the meaning of κοπίς as ‘tool for κόπτειν’. Indeed, it is not hard to imagine that a cleaver – used to chop materials in small pieces with repeated, monotonous motions – could at some point have come to symbolise a person characterised by the tendency to drone in a boring manner. Indeed, the verb κόπτωκόπτω can itself mean ‘to tire out’, ‘to weary’ a listener (see LSJ s.v.), as is made clear by the joke in Men. Sam. 292–4: κατακόπτεις γέ με | εἰ λανθάνει σε, φίλτατ’, εἰς περικόμματα, | οὐχ ὡς ἔτυχεν (‘in case you hadn’t noticed, you’re grinding me up … into mincemeat, and not accidentally!’. See also Poll. 6.119–20Poll. 6.119–20 λάλος […] κόπτων τὰ ὦτα [‘babbler … tiring out the ears’] and Hsch. ω 481Hsch. ω 481 ὠτοκοπεῖ· κεφαλαργεῖ, ἐνοχλεῖ λαλῶν [‘he tires out the ears: he causes a headache, he annoys through chatting’]). The replacement of the non-recessive accentAccent (κοπίς, ‘cleaver’) with a recessive accent (κόπις, ‘babbler’) might reflect the phenomenon observed for many adjectives employed as personal names, such as φαιδρός and Φαῖδρος, κοινός and Κοῖνος (for a comprehensive discussion of the matter, see Probert 2006, 298–300). Orus, in B.6, presents both κόβαλος and κόπις as deriving from κόπτωκόπτω (κοβάλους τοὺς λάλους ἀπὸ τοῦ κόψαι πεποιημένης τῆς λέξεως. ὅθεν καὶ κόπιν καλοῦσιν τὸν λάλον), while B.8 does not clarify the nature of the relationship between the two words. A different and rather obscure etymology – this time with κόβαλος deriving from κόπις – is preserved at the beginning of B.6 (κόβαλος· ὁ λῃστής. ἀπὸ τῆς κοπίδος κοπιβαλὸς τις ὤν).

Two further ancient sources attempt to provide an etymology of κόβαλος that does not involve κόπις: a scholium to Knights (B.11), which seems to imply a connection between κοβαλίκευμα and κολακεύω, and B.15, right after Didymus’ κατεστωμυλμένα ἀπατητικά, where κόβαλος is linked to κακόβουλος (‘ill-advised’, ‘foolish’ or ‘giving bad advice’, see LSJ s.v.). This second etymology does not appear to fit with the meaning of κόβαλα proposed by Didymus, hence the suggestion (see above in the critical apparatus to B.15) that the Aristophanic scholium preserves a strongly epitomised version of Didymus’ interpretation, which likely also involved an explanation of κόβαλος as λάλος (see B.6 κόβαλα λέγουσιν τὰ κατεστωμυλμένα καὶ κοβάλους τοὺς λάλους ἀπὸ τοῦ κόψαι πεποιημένης τῆς λέξεως. ὅθεν καὶ κόπιν καλοῦσιν τὸν λάλον. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ κομψόν and B.4 στωμύλος, λάλος, ἀφ’ οὗ καὶ ὁ κομψός). The etymologic entry B.7 and the Euripidean scholium B.8 have one further element in common, namely their reference to the use of the plural κοπίδες (literally, ‘cleavers’) to indicate rhetorical devices, corroborated by a quotation from the historian Timaeus (C.16). The fact that Timaeus’ fragment is directly followed, in B.7, by Eur. Hec. 131Eur. Hec. 131 is a clear sign that the entry is ultimately an excerpt from a commentary on Euripides’ Hecuba, an excerpt that also constitutes the first part of B.8. That this scholium in turn results from the juxtaposition of two sources is made evident by the repetition of Ra. 104Ar. Ra. 104 at both the beginning and end of the scholium. The second part of B.8, containing Didymus’ exegesis of κόβαλα (τὰ περίεργα γὰρ τῶν λόγων καὶ τὰ κατεστωμυλμένα κόβαλα ἔλεγον, ὡς Ἀριστοφάνης ἐν Βατράχοις ‘κόβαλά γ’ ἐστὶν, ὡς καὶ σοὶ δοκεῖ’), was probably derived by the scholiast from a lemmatised source (possibly through the Comic Vocabulary). The first part of B.8, however, with its passing reference to Ra. 104Ar. Ra. 104 and the extended quotation from Timaeus, might be ascribed to the grammarian himself: indeed, it has long been hypothesised that the core of the scholiastic corpus on Euripides stems from Didymean material (see Wilamowitz 1907, 160–1; Barrett 1964, 48; Merro 2008, 37–40; Cavarzeran 2016, 6; Mastronarde 2017, 9–14). Moreover, the use of historians is a distinctive feature of Didymus’ exegesis (see e.g. Montana 2020). In other words, the Euripidean scholium B.8 might consist of an excerpt from Didymus’ commentary on Hecuba – in which he discusses κόπις, κόβαλος/κόβαλα (making reference to Ra. 104), and κοπίδες (quoting Timaeus) – followed by the same exegesis of κόβαλα, derived by the scholiast from a lexicon. It was probably from the Didymean commentary on Hecuba that Orus drew the interpretation of κόβαλα as κατεστωμυλμένα (preserved under his name in B.6), rather than the commentary on Frogs (see Alpers 1981, 115).

The link between κόβαλος (and its derivatives) and the semantic field of ἀπάτηἀπάτη – already attested in Didymus (B.15, κόβαλα ... ἀπατητικά) – is found in several other erudite texts also. Harpocration’s definition of κοβαλείακοβαλεία (B.2) – a word that occurs in a lost oration by Dinarchus – as ἡ προσποιητὴ μετ’ ἀπάτης παιδιά (‘a joke made under false pretence with the intention of deceit’) might again reflect the scene of Knights (C.6). Moreover, the presence of quotations from Philochorus (C.15) and the Historia animalium (C.13) may suggest that Harpocration’s source was a Didymean commentary on Dinarchus. Similar wording to that of B.2 is found also in the Aristophanic scholia B.9, B.10 (οἱ δὲ κόβαλον τὴν μετὰ ἀπάτης παιδιάν/παιδείαν), and B.16 (κόβαλόν φησιν τὸν εἰς ἐξαπάτην χρώμενον παιδιᾷ προσποιήτῳ). The interpretation of κόβαλος given by the Antiatticist (ὁ σκιραφώδης καὶ ἀηδής, on the latter see below) in part highlights the aspect of ‘deception’, insofar as it pairs the term with the otherwise unattested (and conjecturally restored) σκιραφώδης, an adjective derived from σκίραφος (‘dice-box’, but also ‘trick’, ‘deceit’, according to Suet. Lud. 1.44–6). In all likelihood, the exegetic sequence is similar to that observed in Didymus’ exegesis (B.15) since the Antiatticist glosses κόβαλος first with another rare word of comic provenance and then with a simpler term: in the form preserved by the manuscript, this second equivalent of κόβαλος is ἀειδής (‘formless’, ‘unsightly’), which does not fit particularly well either with σκιραφώδης or with the passage of Frogs which the Antiatticist refers to at the end of the entry (C.10). There, κόβαλος is grouped with other adjectives denoting negative characteristics of the Athenians, specifically διαδρασιπολίται (‘citizens who evade all public duties’), ἀγοραῖοι (‘vulgar’), and πανοῦργοι (‘crooks’): an original reading ἀηδής (‘odious’, suggested to me by Jacopo Cavarzeran) can be considered almost certain.

E. Byzantine and Modern Greek commentary

The verb κοβαλεύωκοβαλεύω, indicating the act of transporting something upon payment (see above), remains in use in documentary papyri up to the 7th century CE (see P. Oxy. 16.2042 [= TM 35617, 5th century CE], P. Mich. 11.624 [= TM 37323, unknown provenance, 6th century CE], P. Oxy. 1.146 [= TM 20787, 555 CE], P. Oxy. 16.1910 [= TM 37879, 6th–7th century CE], and P. Got. 29 [= TM 36148, Arsinoites, 7th century CE]) and is widely attested in Byzantine literary texts, albeit in the form κουβαλέω (see LBG s.v.). The substantive κουβαλητήριον (‘chest for transporting goods’) is attested in the 14th century (see Acta Monasterii Chilandar 30.66 Giros–Kravari–Zivojinovic and LBG s.v.). There are also instances of the verbal form κουβαλίζω (see Kriaras, LME s.v. κουβαλώ; LBG s.v. κουβαλίζω) in texts from the Byzantine era (see Anonymi Historia Imperatorum 2339 Iadevaia; Capita legis agrariae 1.9.2 Ashburner) and up to the 18th century (see Callinicus Patriarcha Narratio brevis 13.1528 Tselikas; Ioannes Manthus, De Moreae calamitate 308 Legrand). The neuter κουβάλισμα is found in the 14th century (Andronicus Palaeologus Callimachus et Chrysorrhoe 2343 Pichard, see LBG s.v.), while κουβάλημα – spelled κουβάνημα – occurs in the 18th century (Caesarius Dapontes Bellum inter Imperium Ottomanicum Russicum et Germanicum 17.6.59 Legrand). The adjectives κουβαλητός, ‘transported’ (see Kriaras, LME s.v.), and ἀκουβάλητος, ‘that which cannot be transported’ (see ILNE s.v.), as well as the adverb ἀκουβάλητα (see ILNE s.v.), are also attested. The verb κουβαλώ/κουβαλάω 'to carry' is still in common use in Modern Greek and have a low-register, rather negative colouring. The same is true for the metaphorical κουβαλιέμαι 'I visit when I am not invited, I saddle myself to those present', from the literal meaning 'I am carried' (I thank Ioanna Manolessou for this comment).

F. Commentary on individual texts and occurrences

N/A

Bibliography

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CITE THIS

Federica Benuzzi, 'κόβαλος (Antiatt. κ 7)', in Olga Tribulato (ed.), Digital Encyclopedia of Atticism. With the assistance of E. N. Merisio.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30687/DEA/2021/01/007