Section Three

A
Background
Source of this incident 2.24 Peloponnesian War 1.56-81 Beacon fires 2.20
Grammar
A,i^v, vauc;, Zeuc; OUTOC;, EKEVVOC;, Syra, au, noAtic, ^syac; (nom., acc.)
Ellipse of ei^v Negatives
The basic pattern of the third declension and the introduction of OUTOC; are the two most vital points. It may be best to treat third-declension nouns less fully than the morphology charts suggest and work towards a table such as this:
s. pl.
m.f. n. m.f. n.
Nom. * * -eq -eiq (-eeq) -a -n (-ea)
Acc. -a -n (-ea) * -aq -eiq -a -n (-ea)
Gen. -oq -ouc; (-eoc;) -oq -ouc; (-eoq) -fflV -fflV -fflV -fflV
Dat. -i -ei -i -ei -oi(v) -eoi(v) -ai(v) -eai(v)

Lay out the empty grid in full on the board at this point, but fill in only the forms met, leaving gaps for the genitive and dative to come (Sections 8 and 9). This table covers almost all the forms met (but students doing English-Greek will need more detail).
In Section 3A-E, concentrate on 3a nouns, i.e. those ending in *, -a (-oc;, -i), -ec, -ac, (-®v, -ai(v)). (a) Emphasize the stem change from the nominative to accusative, and alert them to av^p, avSp- and similar changes; (b) point out that, quite often, a long vowel in the nominative will be short in the stem, e.g. ^i^v, ^i^ev-.
ovxoc; needs a separate table. The endings are much the same as in the definite article. A good stem mnemonic is ovx- xoux-, avx- xaux-. Those doing English- Greek will need to be told that ovxoc; o is normal Greek. Two omissions should be added here: oSe, oSi (though these are glossed in the Vocabulary at the back of GE).
^eyac;, rcoMc; are also dealt with here. If learnt in the form ^eyac; (^eya^-), rcoMc; (TCO^-), all parts are easily recognizable. (NB: rco^a, has already been learnt in Section 1.1.)
CD
The whole of Section 3 is recorded on CD 1, tracks 24-8.
Commentary
p. 30 line
9 Ta nupa: cf. pyrotechnics, pyromania etc., and note (a) the neuter plural - it is necessary to point it out here, as ^ nupa appears in Section 4; (b) the use of fire beacons for rapid communication throughout the ages, from the Trojan Wars until very recent times.
21 8n^oi may cause trouble.
Section Three B
Background
Ships and hoplites 7.34ff.
Manning triremes 7.36-8 Slaves in battle 7.19
Commentary
p. 32 line
1 av8p€^: cf. android, androgynous.
7 ^£ya<;: cf. megaphone, megalomaniac etc.
p. 33 line
19 TporcroT^pa: a leather thong attaching the oar to the thole-pin (acting as a rowlock); the rower provided his own.
27 trcnp£oiov: a cushion, possibly tallowed underneath for comfort when sliding back and forth (see Dionysos’ complaints in Frogs 221ff.). Protarkhos is an armed soldier (enipdrn;). There would have been about ten of these on the trireme, usually ‘crack’ troops, plus four archers; they fought on deck. Polos is a rower. There were three banks of oars: the 0pavirn; on the top bench had possibly the longest oar and the highest pay, the Zuyirn; was on the middle bench, and the 0ala^irn; on the lowest, with the shortest oar and the lowest rate of pay.
Section Three C
Background
Spartan history 1.24-6; 38; 40-2; 46 The legend of Sparta 9.5-8 Periclean policy in war 1.57ff.
Pericles as aTparnyo; 6.23-7
Athenian sea-power and history 1.32; 6.70ff.; 7.36
Trierarchs 6.62; 7.43-6
Commentary
p. 34 line
8 Note the idiom: in English ‘I feel fear’, but in Greek ‘fear holds me’; it, not you, is in control.
9 For the rhapsode as aTparnyo;, cf. Section IH-J.
14-15 Fears of Spartan brutality: perhaps read from Thucydides II.67.
17 ^i^v^OKo^ai: stress ^vn- root; cf. mnemonic.
22 ^KK^noia: later used for a Christian assembly, hence ecclesiastical, French eglise. It means ‘called out’.
23 Pericles’ speech: Pericles advocated sea-power, which made him popular with sailors; farmers viewed him differently - see notes on p. 42.8, p. 134.13, p. 136.3.
24 Kpaxovoi: point to the -cracy suffix in autocracy, democracy, aristocracy, plutocracy etc.
p. 36 line
29 y€ropyou explain the two elements: yn + epyov (cf. Farmer George).
38-9 Imagine the confusion when a fleet had to be launched at night; crewmen had to reach the ships from all parts of the city, by torch light. 
Section Three D
Background
KEAEUCTT^C; 7.34, 46 Competition to get ship ready 7.45-6 Houses 2.7-8, 35-7; cf. 5.21 Deme-names 5.12
Commentary
p. 37 line
1 K€A£UOT^^: from keAeu®, because he gave time (= orders) to the rowers.
1 Watch the accent on ZHTEI - cf. ZnTev.
This is a good place to review imperatives.
10 The knocking scene is based closely upon several such in Aristophanes.
p. 38 line
31 Name and deme are normal methods of identification.
Section Three E
Background
Libations 3.28 Journeys 3.32; 7.46
Commentary
p. 39 line
10 On prayers cf. p. 16.8.
12 rcaAiv: cf. palinode, palindrome. Give an example of a palindrome.
Thucydides vi.3 1 -2 (around which this section of RG is based) gives further details on preparations for putting out to sea. It makes excellent background reading.
RG has now covered the basic essentials, i.e. present active and middle, and first, second and third declension nominative and accusative nouns and adjectives. Hence this is an important point at which to ensure that these fundamental points are firmly fixed. Also review outoc; very carefully. Note that there is a full contraction table in GE p. 409.
The next Sections (4-7) are heavily loaded with new accidence and syntax: if the foundation of Sections 1-3 is really firm, then the challenge of Sections 4-7 is more easily met.
Supplementary exercises
Transformation exercises on type 3a nouns are very important, as are expansion exercises using the definite article, especially with ovxoc; and EKevvoc;, since such exercises combine type 3 nouns with type 1/2 adjectives. Be warned: ovxoc; always causes trouble!