Why the present?

[bingley]

From Lysias' On the Murder of Eratosthenes 8:<br /><br />[face=SPIonic] e)p' e)kfora\n ga\r au)th=| a)kolouqh/sasa h( e)mh\ gunh\ u(po\ tou/tou tou= a)nqrw/pou o)fqei=sa, xro/nw| diafqei/retai[/face]<br /><br />I think [face=SPIonic]diafqei/retai[/face] is 3rd person present indicative passive = she is ruined. But why?<br /><br />To see more of the context: http://makeashorterlink.com/?T28836F55

[Ptolemaios]

I think this is a case of historic present, highlighting a very important element in the story, without which the story wouldn't have been as it is.<br />In this case, it is the action which started the whole mess that followed.<br /><br />BTW, I'm afraid your link didn't function properly. I've had some difficulties accessing Perseus. Only the mirror site in Berlin seems to be working.<br /><br /> Eu)/xomai se e)rrw=sqai <br /><br />Ptolemaios

[Emma_85]

hey! some one else doing Lysias! we translated the murder of eratosthenes last year and one speech about a crippled begger, who didn't want to be taken off state benefits.

[bingley]

The link seems to be working now, but Perseus does go off at odd times. <br /><br />I bought The Murder of Eratosthenes because it was the first in a series of readers. Even so, I've forgotten so much it's a bit of a struggle. <br /><br />I've ordered the Greek version of Moreland and Fleischer's Latin: An Intensive Course, to help with my revision.