Pl. Ap. 30b1-2

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NateD26
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Pl. Ap. 30b1-2

Post by NateD26 »


μήτε σωμάτων ἐπιμελεῖσθαι μήτε χρημάτων πρότερον μηδὲ οὕτω σφόδρα
ὡς τῆς ψυχῆς ὅπως ὡς ἀρίστη ἔσται


How do the underline words fit in this sentence?
"[persuading you, whether young or old,] to neither take care of your body nor your money first,
nor yet so much,..., so that it (your conscious-self) will be as best as possible."

It seems that he meant to use a negative result clause, "nor yet so much that your conscious-self becomes as bad as can be",
but changed to positive result clause while speaking.
Nate.

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IreneY
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Re: Pl. Ap. 30b1-2

Post by IreneY »

Hey there! Stupid fake nails make it hard to type so my apologies for the brevity

μήτε σωμάτων ἐπιμελεῖσθαι Don't take care either of your body
μήτε χρημάτων or money
πρότερον (either) before/prior to
μηδὲ οὕτω σφόδρα nor as strongly
ὡς τῆς ψυχῆς as your soul
ὅπως ὡς ἀρίστη ἔσται so that it (your soul) will be the best

Don't give attention either to your body or (your) money prior to or as diligently as your soul so that it (the soul) will become the best possible.

You shouldn't take care of your body and your money before (you take care of) your soul or as diligently as (you take care of) your soul

NateD26
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Re: Pl. Ap. 30b1-2

Post by NateD26 »

Thanks, Ireney. I understand now that πρότερον + gen. [without an implied inf.] is the same as
the more frequent πρότερον ἢ + ind./ inf. here (LSJ A.IV).

But ὡς got in the way because of οὕτω, so it is with implied inf. and the gen. is due to the verb.
Nate.

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