thumb|Archaic inscription (, "to the king") on ceramic fragment, here shown upside down; a warrior bearing a spear and mounted on a horse is also depicted.
(Greek: ; from earlier , ) is an ancient Greek word for "tribal chief, lord (military) leader". It is one of the two Greek titles traditionally translated as "king", the other being basileus, and is inherited from Mycenaean Greece. It is notably used in Homeric Greek, e.g. for Agamemnon. The feminine form is anassa, "queen" (, from wánassa, itself from *wánakt-ja).
Homeric anax
Etymology
The word anax derives from the stem wanakt- (nominative , genitive ), and appears in Mycenaean Greek written in Linear B script as , , (later , ánassa). The digamma was pronounced and was dropped very early on, even before the adoption of the Phoenician alphabet, by eastern Greek dialects (e.g. Ionic Greek); other dialects retained the digamma until well after the classical era.
The Greek title has been compared to Sanskrit ', a word for "merchant", but in the Rigveda once used as a title of Indra in Rig Veda 5.45.6. The word could then be from Proto-Indo-European , roughly "bringer of spoils" (compare the etymology of lord, "bread guardian"). However, Robert Beekes argues there is no convincing IE etymology and the term is probably from the pre-Greek substrate.
References
The word anax in the Iliad refers to Agamemnon (, , i.e. "leader of men") and to Priam, high kings who exercise overlordship over other, presumably lesser, kings. This possible hierarchy of one anax exercising power over several local "basileis" probably hints to a proto-feudal political organization of Aegean civilizations. The Linear B adjective , (), "of [the household of] the king, royal", and the Greek word , , "royal [dwelling], palace" are derived from . Anax is also a ceremonial epithet of the god Zeus ("Zeus Anax") in his capacity as overlord of the Universe, including the rest of the gods. The meaning of basileus as "king" in Classical Greece is due to a shift in terminology during the Greek Dark Ages. In Mycenaean times, a appears to be a lower-ranking official (in one instance a chief of a professional guild), while in Homer, anax is already an archaic title, most suited to legendary heroes and gods rather than for contemporary kings.
The word is found as an element in such names as Hipponax ("king of horses"), Anaxagoras ("king of the agora"), Pleistoanax ("king of the multitude"), Anaximander ("king of the estate"), Anaximenes ("enduring king"), Astyanax ("high king", "overlord of the city"), Anaktoria ("royal [woman]"), Iphiánassa ("mighty queen"), and many others. The archaic plural ánakes (ἄνακες, "Kings") was a common reference to the Dioskouroi, whose temple was usually called the Anakeion () and their yearly religious festival the Anákeia ().
The words ánax and ánassa are occasionally used in Modern Greek as a deferential to royalty, whereas the word anáktoro[n] and its derivatives are commonly used with regard to palaces.
Mycenaean wánax
thumb|[[Death masks of Mycenae|Mycenaean death mask of an unknown person, initially claimed to be Agamemnon. Such a mask may have been for a wanax.]]
During the Mediterranean Bronze Age, Mycenaean society was characterized by the creation of palaces and walled settlements. The wánax in Mycenaean social hierarchy is generally accepted to function as a king, though with various roles which also stretch outside of administrative function. The term "wánax" is believed to have eventually transformed into the Homeric term "anax", having fallen out of use with the collapse of Mycenaean civilization during the Late Bronze Age Collapse. The Greek term for kingship would transfer to basileus, which is believed to have been a subservient title in Mycenaean times akin for chieftains and local leaders.
Roles
The origin role of the wánax may be from warrior roots of migrating Indo-Europeans as a leadership role, eventually leading to the notion of kingship and the formal position and role of the wánax in Mycenaean times. The wánax during Mycenaean times was at the apex of Mycenaean society, presiding over a centralized state administration with a strong hierarchical organization; a common formula in the Bronze Age Mediterranean and Near East. This is hierarchically likened to a king, and as such much of the duties of the wánax were related to duties of administration, warfare, diplomacy, economics and religion.
Administrative participation
Administratively, Mycenaean political divisions broadly unfolded into a hierarchical division of wánax (king) with a broader structure which existed around the wánax in the form of Mycenaean palatial authority and administration. Some of these hierarchical positions under the wánax included the lawagetas (he who leads the people, a meaning which remains unclear), varying positions of which the meanings remain unknown (hektai, collectors of commodity and flock), scribes, mayors, vice-mayors, and varying styles of overseer. The term "basileus" is also familiar to the Mycenaean hierarchy as a local chieftain or leader, and would later come to replace wánax as the term for king after the collapse of Mycenaean civilization. or more practically manage the state of the wánax more effectively. Mycenaean administrative artefacts include tablets which carry inscriptions from a scribal body, among which are tablets of purely administrative work (accounting for state supplies of resources), which would have been designed to support the wánax and state administration, and to be supported by a state administration.
Warfare
Fortifications dominate the Mycenaean world, with such structures being erected across the Bronze Age, but particularly during the Late Bronze Age Collapse (where the necessity for such fortifications intensified), before the end of Mycenaean civilization. Being prolific builders of fortifications, wánaxes actively engaged in warlike campaigning in and around their states, though evidence for their direct participation is minimal. Evidence from Pylos suggests that the wánax was in possession of weapons specifically indicated as royal. These craftsmen came in a variety of roles, from practical purposes to commodity production, Additionally, the royal designation is applied not only to craftsmen within the economy, but to storehouses of jars believed to contain olive oil; indicating the presence of royal products which were circulated within Mycenaean civilization and beyond.