Section Nineteen A
Background
vPpi; 4.17 Dreams 3.14-16
Grammar
Herodotus' dialect Accusative of respect ov ^npi
CD
Section 19A is recorded on CD 2 track 52.
Commentary
p. 230 line
1 pera + noun + participle: a favourite idiom of Herodotus, cf. ab urbe condita.
v£^oi<;: cf. on p. 51.43. For the ideas, cross-refer also to the translation (Text p. 228.19-21). It is the antithesis of the moral approach - the god considers not the merit or otherwise of the individual, but merely how he (the god) can keep happiness as a divine monopoly (WoA 3.23-4). Cf. Zeus (Iliadxxiv.527ff.) giving no man unmixed happiness; the ‘jealous god’ idea was attacked by Plato (Phaidros 247a): o ^06voc; E^ra rov 0eiou xopov forarai.
2 oApiroxaTov: note the emphatic position.
avriKa: note the immediacy of retribution for Croesus’ proud thoughts.
oi = avrra should be carefully noted (this recurs several times here and in Homer).
£rc£oTn: the dream is almost a physical manifestation (cf. Athene, Text p. 247.21) and so ‘stands over’ the dreamer. Oneiromancy was ubiquitous in antiquity. But contrast Artabanos’ modern-sounding explanation of dreams as no more than a confused jumble of the previous day’s events and thoughts (Herodotus vii.16b).
3 ^AAOVTWV: pSAAra is used frequently in Herodotus (and elsewhere) to imply a sense of ‘fate’ or ‘destiny’.
4 8i£90apTo: perhaps ‘handicapped’; note the derivation (Sia^0e(pra). km^o^: explained by Hesychius as owe AaArav owe axovrav, viz. deaf and
dumb. Note the inherent attitude: because of his defect he was (almost) ‘a write¬off’ - the underlying feeling of Si£^0apro. Herodotus later (I.85) completes the story of this dumb son (nowhere named): an oracle predicted that his first words would be uttered on a day of sorrow. This was fulfilled when Cyrus captured Sardis. A Persian soldier was about to attack Croesus when the dumb son suddenly shouted ‘Don’t kill Croesus!’ (whom Cyrus had ordered to be captured alive), and thereafter spoke normally for the rest of his life.
4-5 o ... €T€po^: literally ‘the other by far the first of his contemporaries in all respects’.
5 Atys: a doom-laden name, very close to arn. Note also rav = ovv - this can be very confusing unless it is explained. Note also in 1ines 5-6 (a) the order of words (object - verb - indirect object - subject) and the varying emphasis it gives to each component of the sentence, while the whole still flows smoothly; (b) the extra emphasis given since the direct object of the main verb is also the direct object of the subordinate clause; cf. on p. 170.5.
6 arcoWxi: ‘that Croesus would lose him’. ai/^fl oi8np£fl: elicit this from the English note. pAn0£vxa: the first use of PaAAra in the sense of ‘hit’.
7 Aoyov £8mk€: can be worked out from a literal translation; KarappraS'naac; must be given.
ay€xai: elsewhere used of bridegroom or bride’s father ‘marrying’ a girl.
8 fM0OTa ktA.: ‘and him [acc. s. = the son] (though) being accustomed to lead the Lydians in battle, Croesus [subj.] no longer sent on missions of this sort’.
OTpaxny££iv: the first very obvious absence of contraction; mention this as an Ionic variation.
9 rcp^y^a: another Ionic variation: -n- for -a- is very common.
aKovTia: zoologists may know acontium as a cord-like organ in a sea anemone flicked out when the animal is disturbed. Even so, give the meaning ‘javelin’.
Toioi: note (a) the form of the dative plural; (b) the use of the article for a relative pronoun. These few notes on the Ionic dialect make Homer easier on first encounter.
10 Oa^a^ou;: simple ‘chamber’, not necessarily ‘bed-chamber’ (Herodotus uses this word only three times, only once as bed-chamber).
ouvvsra will have to be given.
10- 11 ^ ™ ktL: ‘lest anything hanging over him (oi) should fall on the child.’
Section Nineteen B
Background
Purification 3.33, 5.81 vopoc; 9.3; 8.32 aT^a 4.12; 6.53-8
Commentary p. 232 line
1 €/ovto; ktL: ‘(with) the child having in hand his (oi) marriage’. dniKv&£Tai: note the absence of rough breathing and of contraction.
2 f^o^vo;: probably passive in sense - ‘held by’, ‘hemmed in by’. The idea is difficult to bring across neatly in English. Because guilty of accidental homicide, the victim is limited in his participation in ordinary human activities. In that sense he is ‘held in by’ his fate but, of course, a more terrible sense is to emerge.
Phrygia: a province of Lydia, probably conquered by Croesus’ father Alyattes - although Aeschylus (Persai 770) makes the ghost of Dareios claim the conquest for Cyrus.
y£v£fl, y£v€o;: note the anaphora.
3 KaOapmou: the adjective is used here (with ‘rite’ understood), the object of EmKupsra.
4 KaOapoi;: the earliest reference to this custom seems to be in the Epic Cycle. According to Proclus (Chrestomathia ii) Achilles killed Thersites and had to be purified of blood-guilt. In Apollonios Rhodios (iv.693ff.), Kirke performs the Zeus-ordained ritual by slitting the throat of a suckling-pig, allowing the blood to pour over the hands of the guilty and praying throughout to Zeus Katharsios.
5 okoO€v: note the Ionic use of k for n in question words and indefinites. Note also that Croesus asks no questions until after the purification: it was a religious obligation to grant catharsis to any stranger. Kirke (see above) also asked no questions.
6 frcfaTio;: the suppliant presented himself to the hearth, and was under the protection of Zeus Epistios (as in Text p. 239.9-10).
£y£v€o: now the oddities of second person singular middles fall into place! a^p€To: a word very frequent in Homer (mainly as a^ape^Popal). Note absence of augment, but tense marked as past by personal ending in -ero.
7 Early kings of Phrygia were called alternately Midas and Gordius; the first Midas was the golden touch/asses’ ears Midas.
Note (a) the postponement of the name, (b) the tragic significance of Adrastos (elicit from students via a- privative, Spa(p)- from rpe%ra): he cannot escape.
8 {:^ZnZa^£vo<; will need to be given (a) because the derivation is not obvious, and (more importantly) (b) elavvra (ela-) is one very common verb not yet learnt.
9 av8pwv ... 9&rov: Phrygia was subject to Lydia (as in line 2), but clearly retained some autonomy (hence its own royal family); this accounts for ‘friend¬ship' between the families.
9 £v ^€T£pou: cf. English ‘at the doctor’s/dentist’s/Jones’s’ (abode understood).
Section Nineteen C
Commentary
p. 233 line
1 Mysian Olympos - see the map (Text p. 227).
to<; xp^a ... ^£ya: note (a) auo; peYiarov xp^pa in Sophocles’ Meleager (fr. 40l.l); (b) xp^pa is otiose, as in the Text p. 54.6 and Text p. 144 l. 13.
2 £pya: here anything that is the fruit of human labour - cultivated land, farm buildings etc.
8ia90€ip€OK€: note (a) the absence of an augment; (b) iterative forms in -ok-, as with noieeaxov (same line).
5 av: a common Ionic idiom for expressing purpose.
6 tma: note the ‘personal appearance’ idea of the dream (as at p. 230.3).
7 nai86^: note the emphatic position (and the singular: the xra^o; is ignored). 9-11 The juxtaposition of av + optative/future indicative has already been noted (see on p. 92.30).
Section Nineteen D
Background
Public eye 4.5-7 Envy 4.9-11
Persuasion and psychology 8.56ff. Power of argument 8.18
Commentary
3 T€ rcoAi^ou; ... £ti8oKi^£€iv: the whole clause is epexegetical of Ta xaAAiCTTa, hence the apparent lack of agreement in the participle: ‘the finest and noblest deeds were once ours (that we should), going to wars ... etc.’
4 arcoK^nfoa; ^i;: the usage of the aorist participle + E%® for a past tense is very common in Herodotus; many modern European languages, including Greek, form their past tenses in this way.
rcapi8wv: not here (as usually in Attic) ‘overlook’, but simply ‘notice’.
5 ‘with what eyes’: cf. the devastating irony of Oedipus Tyrannus 1371-2. ayopa: Herodotus is reading Greek customs into Lydia, cf. on p. 86.15, 17. Notice the avarcsiaov (line 9) - another Greek custom, the love of debate/argu¬ment, which is not appropriate within the context of Eastern autocracy.
8- 10 a^ip€Tai Kpoioo;: asyndeton, recurring increasingly as the tension mounts.
10 frcioTaoa: even oyi; ‘stands over’ one, cf. on p. 230.2.
11 rcpo;: ‘with a view to’, ‘in consideration of’.
12 rcapa^a^pavo^va: ‘undertakings’, ‘enterprises’ generally.
13- 14 km;: the obsolescent English ‘if perchance’ corresponds most exactly, otherwise paraphrase ‘to see if I could by some means...’
13 8iaKA^yai: ‘steal you [sc. from Fate] for my own lifetime’.
14 Cf. earlier comments (at p. 230.4) on the handicapped son as a write-off.
8 to 8£: with both pav0avsi; (as direct object) and AsAn0s as an accusative of respect.
9 9^;: exceptional students may spot that Ionic omits iota subscript... p. 236 line
20 o8ovto;: cf. orthodontist, odontograph (used in engineering for laying out gear-teeth).
Xp^v: av is regularly omitted in an apodosis with %p^; it is already virtually potential.
21 vw 8£: ‘but now, as it is’. A constant feature of tragedy, as of this story, is the almost completely accurate analysis of past events being, very reasonably, applied to the present - with appalling results. Hence the frequency of vvv Ss in Greek. Cf. Wo A 8.42.
22 £oti Tfi: Vocabulary p. 236 gives this as ‘it is the case that’, but the meaning is perhaps vaguer - cf. the very common loxixi; (cf. ecttiv ot;, Text p. 218.6-7) for ‘someone’, which would make ectti t^ mean ‘somehow’, ‘in some way’ - almost as though Croesus himself was only half-convinced.
Section Nineteen E
Background
Reciprocity in human relations 3.28-9; 4.5, 14
CD
Section 19E-F is movingly interpreted on CD 2 tracks 53-4.
Commentary
p. 237 line
I €ina^: note that emov has a variant weak aorist form ema in Attic, always used in the second person; here, Ionic weak aorist participle.
1 trco8€^a^vo<; £/w: £%ra + aorist participle for a past tense: cf. on p. 234.5.
5 £rci 5^noi 9av£woi: note (a) Env + dative ‘with a view to’, (b) ^avEraai is aorist subjunctive passive (for aorist middle), not active, as it initially appears.
toi: almost otiose immediately after as, cf. English ‘I’ll have you know that you ought... ’
6 arcoAa^rcpuv£ai: note that -e- indicates the future tense. p. 238 line
8 K€xpn^£vov: the perfect has a present sense, ‘(a man who) has met with (such bad luck)’.
9 napa accented on the first syllable = napeari.
II ... xpnoToioi: note the inherent tragic irony. Adrastos, as everyone in this story, behaves with absolute propriety, consideration and logic: the very fact that they act like this engenders the tragedy.
11- 13 Note how, as the climax approaches, the elements of the sentence have become shorter: ‘I am ready to do this, | and your son whom you order me to guard, | unharmed, | thanks to his guardian, | you may expect to return to you.’ Herodotus’ normal As^ic; eipopSvn breaks into shorter segments to build up to the climax.
Section Nineteen F
Background
Zeus’s roles 3.3, 36, 39 ^evva 3.25,35-6; 4.15; 5.67 Injustice of the gods 3.24-6 Human responsibility 4.25-7 Herodotus and history 8.41
Commentary
p. 239 line
1- 6 Notice carefully the structure and build-up of the climactic sentence: from here until ^np^v there are self-contained word-units of not more than about six
words - the narrative then reverts immediately to Herodotus’ more flowing normal style as life generally goes on, regardless of the tragedy of Atys. The devastating effectiveness of this can scarcely be brought across in English.
1 £onK6vTiZov: recall axovria (p. 230.9) and see the illustration.
2- 6 Notice the triple build-up of participles followed by two short main clauses in parataxis, the lesser before the greater. Note further the ^evvo; ... Kpo^aou emphasis at the beginning and end of the sentence (as opposed to, e.g., using proper names ‘Adrastos ... Atys’ in these places, which would lack the tragic effect); point also to the tragic irony of mentioning once again at this point Ka0ap0ei; TOV ^ovov when another ^ovo; is about to occur, the emphasis given by underlining the tragic name Adrastos, and chiasmus in two main clauses. The whole sentence is a marvel of construction.
6ff. Note (as above) how the sentence continues short-clause pattern, then from e0ee Se ri; reverts to greater flow and movement.
5 ayy€Z£wv: a future participle as shown by the single -l- and -e-. Observe how Herodotus ‘throws away’ the climax, because there was no doubt it would happen.
7 ^a//6v ti: ‘all the more’, a common usage in Herodotus.
8 tov: note (a) the definite article used as the relative pronoun again; (b) the suppression of the antecedent.
8- 10 A^a Ka0apoiov: Zeus is invoked here by three of his many epithets, as god of purification, hospitality and friendship, partly in reproach (Seivra; exalee) for allowing the tragedy to occur, and partly to summon assistance for vengeance upon the perpetrator. There is a terrible irony here: Croesus had fulfilled scrupu¬lously his obligations to Zeus under each of these headings, yet had received no mercy. Croesus, of course, does not understand the real reason for his ‘punish¬ment’ (see Text p. 230.1-2).
9 ft€rcov0ro<; : the optative may either be indefinite or in oratio obliqua after a historic main verb.
12 Note the juxtaposition of ^evvov ^ovea, both objects of their respective clauses.
£Zav0av€: the indicative is retained here, cf. evp^xoi (line 13), with no sig¬nificant change in meaning - both were causes assigned by Croesus himself and could be optative.
13 ^v/aKa ... rcoZ^imaTov: antithesis by opposite means here, the contrast¬ing words at the beginning and end of the clause (cf. on line 12).
13- 14 Again note the word order: in both clauses there is emphasis at the beginning and end. First there is the dramatic entry (nap^aav), with vexpov at the end of the clause; onia0e follows (almost out of the picture in contrast with ‘there they were’), then finally comes ^ovev;.
14- 17 Adrastos - unnamed here - dominates the sentence; once again note the construction carefully, ara; gives him dramatic prominence; notice napeSvSou, the main verb, in uncharacteristically unemphatic position and with imperfective aspect; nporevvrav as in unconditional surrender; eniKaTaa^a^ai displacing the participle for greater emphasis upon the violent word; leYrav, by zeugma, taking first a direct object then a noun clause, both emphasizing the double disaster that had befallen; and the perfect optative adding ‘permanence’; it ends quite simply - and most effectively.
p. 240 line
13 Adrastos is here, significantly, named for the first time since line 4.
14 naoav ... 8fonv: the mere admission of guilt with the offer of his life constituted all that could be required by Croesus - any more would have been vengeance, not Justice.
15 ov ov ... aiTio^: cf. Iliad m.164ff.
16 Note that here the gods are responsible because they forewarned, i.e. pre¬destined in a Calvinistic sense.
22-5 Note the climactic build-up of the last sentence, with ‘weighty’ words towards the end; the repetition of ^ovevc; (the second time not literally, but in the same transferred sense as Oedipus Tyrannus 534 (Oedipus to Kreon), Hekabe 882 (Hekabe calling Polymestor ‘my murderer’ because he murdered her son Polydoros)); note too the contrast between Adrastos’ earlier public outpouring and this calm stillness (^auxin); and above all the extraordinarily solemn dignity conveyed.
On completion of Section 19, take time to retranslate the whole section to the students: it gives an overall perspective of what may have been a struggle the first time through.
Supplementary exercises
A good way to revise vocabulary in this section is to ask students to provide Attic equivalents of many of the Ionic words, and then give their meaning, e.g. eraur® Ionic/eaur® Attic, ‘to/for himself’.
No comments:
Post a Comment