Accentuation Alcestis

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seneca2008
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Accentuation Alcestis

Post by seneca2008 »

I am reading Alcestis and encountered the following line which might be of interest as there have been a few posts recently about the peculiarities of accents:

ἀλλ᾽ οὖν ἐκεῖσε προσδόκα μ᾽, ὅταν θάνω,
καὶ δῶμ᾽ ἑτοίμαζ᾽, ὡς συνοικήσουσά μοι.
Persuade tibi hoc sic esse, ut scribo: quaedam tempora eripiuntur nobis, quaedam subducuntur, quaedam effluunt. Turpissima tamen est iactura, quae per neglegentiam fit. Et si volueris attendere, maxima pars vitae elabitur male agentibus, magna nihil agentibus, tota vita aliud agentibus.

Hylander
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Re: Accentuation Alcestis

Post by Hylander »

Isn't this just an example of the rule that when an enclitic follows a proparoxytone word (accent on antepenult), the last syllable of the proparoxytone takes an additional, acute, accent?
Bill Walderman

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seneca2008
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Re: Accentuation Alcestis

Post by seneca2008 »

Yes it is, see Probert 287. But this always foxed me when I started learning Greek. I thought others less expert than you might be confused and it was worth a post.
Persuade tibi hoc sic esse, ut scribo: quaedam tempora eripiuntur nobis, quaedam subducuntur, quaedam effluunt. Turpissima tamen est iactura, quae per neglegentiam fit. Et si volueris attendere, maxima pars vitae elabitur male agentibus, magna nihil agentibus, tota vita aliud agentibus.

Hylander
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Re: Accentuation Alcestis

Post by Hylander »

Well, you could see a good example of my so-called "expertise" in the "contracted vs. uncontracted" thread, if you read it before I edited it when mwh called me to account.
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seneca2008
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Re: Accentuation Alcestis

Post by seneca2008 »

Even Homer nods.
Persuade tibi hoc sic esse, ut scribo: quaedam tempora eripiuntur nobis, quaedam subducuntur, quaedam effluunt. Turpissima tamen est iactura, quae per neglegentiam fit. Et si volueris attendere, maxima pars vitae elabitur male agentibus, magna nihil agentibus, tota vita aliud agentibus.

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Re: Accentuation Alcestis

Post by mwh »

Hylander can be excessively modest at times. He knew very well what he meant to write. His expertise is not in question.

With personal pronouns, an editor often has to decide whether it’s enclitic or not. E.g. (just looking at the Alcestis) οὔκουν δοκεῖ σοι τήνδε μοι δοῦναι χάριν;
δοκεῖ σοι or δοκεῖ σοὶ, τήνδε μοι or τήνδ’ ἐμοὶ?

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Re: Accentuation Alcestis

Post by mwh »

A better example: Eurip. Hippolytus 1409 (Hipp.'s deathbed reconciliation with his father Theseus):
στένω σε μᾶλλον ἢ ’μὲ τῆς ἁμαρτίας. (“I grieve for you more than for myself over your mistake.”)

Here σε should surely be σὲ, emphatic.

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