Античная древность и средние века (Oct 2018)
Some observations on Constantine Manasses’ compound epithets
Abstract
Constantine Manasses’ versified Chronicle abounds in compound epithets built according to the same model: 2 simple stems from adjectives belonging to the 2nd (often contracted) declension, the 2nd stem is, as a rule, monosyllable. There are tens of epithets sharing common 2nd stem. Yet, the impression of uniformity is misleading. Among seemingly similar adjectives can be distinguished: 1. words borrowed by Manasses from the poetic tradition, 2. neologisms coined by the poet according to the existing model, and 3. words of ambiguous provenance. The article deals with the question of how Manasses himself viewed this limitless creation of new lexemes and speculates on the status of borrowings from rare sources against the backdrop of Manasses’ ability to produce on his own virtually indistinguishable epithets.
