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delator (q.v.), a public informer. According to ancient authorities, the word (derived by them from auKOV, " fig, " and 4aiveu', " to show ") meant one who informed against another for exporting See also:

FIGS

figs (which was forbidden by See also:

law) or for stealing the See also:

FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit of the sacred fig-trees, whether in See also:

time of See also:

FAMINE (Lat. fames, hunger)

famine or on any other occasion. Another old explanation was that fines and taxes were at one time paid in figs, See also:

WINE (Lat. vinum, Gr. oivos)

wine and oil, and those who collected such payments in See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind were called sycophants because they " presented," publicly handed them. over to the See also:

state. See also:

BOCKH, PHILIPP AUGUST (1785-1867)

Bockh suggested that the word signified one who laid an See also:

INFORMATION (from Lat. informare, to give shape or form to, to represent, describe)

information in reference to an See also:

OBJECT

object of trifling value, such as a fig (cf. " I See also:

don't care a fig about it "), but there seems no authority for such a use of aUKOV in See also:

Greek. According to C. Sittl (See also:

Die Gebarden der Griechen and Romer, See also:

LEIPZIG

Leipzig, 189o), the word refers to an obscene gesture of phallic significance (see also A. B. See also:

Cook in Classical See also:

REVIEW (Fr. revue, from revoir, to see again, Lat. re and videre)

Review, See also:

AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August 1907), called " showing the fig " ( faire la figue, far la See also:

FLEA (O. Eng. fleah, or flea, cognate with flee, to run away from, to take flight)

flea or le fiche), originally prophylactic in See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character. Such gesture, directed towards an inoffensive See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person, became an insult, and the word sycophant might imply one who insulted another by bringing a frivolous or malicious See also:

ACCUSATION (Lat. accusatio, accusare, to challenge to a causa, a suit or trial at law)

accusation against him. According to S.

See also:

REINACH, JOSEPH (1856- )

Reinach (Revue See also:

des etudes grecques, xix., 1906), who draws See also:

SPECIAL

special See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention to the similar formation "hierophant, " the sycophant was an See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official connected with the cult of the Phytalidae, whose eponymus Phytalus was rewarded with a fig-See also:

tree by the wandering See also:

DEMETER

Demeter in return for his hospitality. The final See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act of the cult, the " exaltation " of the fig, with which Reinach compares the " exaltation " of the See also:

EAR (common Teut.; O.E. are, Ger. Ohr, Du. oor, akin to Lat. auris, Gr. ovs)

ear of See also:

corn by the hierophant at the Eleusinian mysteries, was performed by the sycophant. Again, like the hierophant, the sycophant publicly pronounced the See also:

formula of exclusion of certain unworthy persons from the celebration of the mysteries of the fig. As the cult of the Phytalidae sank into insignificance beside the greater mysteries, the See also:

TERM

term sycophant survived in popular See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language in the sense of an informer or denouncer, whose charges deserved but little See also:

CONSIDERATION (from Lat. considerare, to look at closely, examine, generally taken to be from con-, and the base seen in sidus, sideris, a star, the word being supposed to be originally an astrological or astronomical term)

consideration. L. See also:

SHADWELL, THOMAS (c. 1642-1692)

Shadwell suggests that the real meaning is " fig-discoverer," not " fig-informer," referring to the blackmailer who discovers the " figs " (that is, the See also:

MONEY

money) of the See also:

rich See also:

man and forces him to See also:

hand it over by the See also:

THREAT

threat of bringing a criminal accusation against him. It must be remembered that any Athenian See also:

CITIZEN (a form corrupted in Eng., apparently by analogy with " denizen," from O. Fr. citeain, mod. Fr. citoyen)

citizen was at See also:

LIBERTY (Lat. libertas, from liber, free)

liberty to accuse another of a public offence, and the danger of such a See also:

PRIVILEGE

privilege being abused is sufficiently obvious. The See also:

PEOPLE

people naturally looked upon all persons of See also:

WEALTH

wealth and position with suspicion, and were ready to believe any See also:

charge brought against them. Such prosecutions also put money into the pockets of the See also:

JUDGES, THE BOOK OF

judges, and, if successful, into the public See also:

TREASURY

treasury. In many cases the accused persons, in See also:

order to avoid the indignity of a public trial, bought off their accusers, who found in this a fruitful source of See also:

revenue. Certain legal remedies, intended to prevent the abuses of the See also:

SYSTEM

system, undoubtedly existed. Persons found guilty of bringing false charges, of See also:

BLACKMAIL

blackmail, or of suborning false witnesses, were liable to criminal See also:

PROSECUTION

prosecution by the state and a See also:

FINE

fine on conviction.

Penalties were also inflicted if an accuser failed to carry the prosecution through or to obtain a fifth part of the votes. But these remedies were rather See also:

SIMPLE

simple deterrents, and instances of informers being actually brought to trial are rare. Sycophants were an inseparable See also:

ACCOMPANIMENT (i.e. that which " accompanies ")

accompaniment of the See also:

DEMOCRACY (Gr. 3np.oKparia, from S)µos, the people, i.e. the commons, and Kparos, rule)

democracy, and the profession, at least from a See also:

POLITICAL

political point of view, was not regarded as in any way dishonourable. The See also:

IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea of encouraging the citizens to assist in the detection of See also:

CRIME (Lat. crimen, accusation)

crime or See also:

TREASON (Fr. trahison, Lat. traditio)

treason against the state was commendable; it was not the use, but the abuse of the privilege that was so injurious. Allusions to the sycophants are frequent in See also:

Aristophanes and the See also:

ATTIC (i.e. "in the Attic style ")

Attic orators. The word is now generally used in the sense of a cringing flatterer of the See also:

GREAT

great. See Meier and See also:

SCHOMANN, GEORG FRIEDRICH (1793—1879)

Schomann, Der attische See also:

PROCESS

Process (ed. J. H. See also:

Lipsius, 1883-1887) ; See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article by C. R. See also:

Kennedy and H.

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