Agamemnon 553b-554

[C. S. Bartholomew]

Nate,

This sounds like a proverb. There are no verbs.

... τίς δὲ πλὴν θεῶν
ἅπαντ' ἀπήμων τὸν δι' αἰῶνος χρόνον;

πλὴν θεῶν "except for the gods"

ἅπαντ' ... τὸν ... χρόνον "all the time"

δι' αἰῶνος "for ever" (LSJ gloss Aesch.Ag 554) the NT idiom is different εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας

ἀπήμων without distress, free from trouble, free from harm

This is pretty straight forward.

[NateD26]

Yes, I've also seen this gloss in Middle-Liddell.
Smyth notes that διά + gen. is used for uninterrupted duration of time. (1685, 1. b.)
In his translation, I only find "all his days" which I guess was enough without added
emphasis of "throughout the ages".

[Paul Derouda]

I guess it's almost a matter of taste whether you translate δι' αἰῶνος by "throughout the ages" or "throughout his life" here. LSJ's first listed definition of αἰῶν is "lifetime, life", though this passage they gloss "for ever".

Bailly's dictionnary glosses δι' αἰῶνος "toute la vie" and Loeb translates "for the whole of his lifetime".

Denniston & Page on 554: "χρόνος = time in general, αἰῶν = time in relation to a man's life, often 'lifetime'.

If we're having a vote, LSJ is in the minority here...

[NateD26]

I guess it's almost a matter of taste whether you translate δι' αἰῶνος by "throughout the ages" or "throughout his life" here. LSJ's first listed definition of αἰῶν is "lifetime, life", though this passage they gloss "for ever".

Bailly's dictionnary glosses δι' αἰῶνος "toute la vie" and Loeb translates "for the whole of his lifetime".

Denniston & Page on 554: "χρόνος = time in general, αἰῶν = time in relation to a man's life, often 'lifetime'.

If we're having a vote, LSJ is in the minority here...

I agree it's more fitting to translate it in relation to a person's lifetime.
Perhaps we have here a combination of two possible ways to represent time duration:
the accusative by itself, for a rather general "all the time", and then a more specific διά + gen.,
"throughout his life". I'm not sure whether Poetry's syntax greatly differs from Prose's but
I'd assume it's equivalent to ἅπαντ' τὸν χρόνον τὸν δι' αἰῶνος where δι' αἰῶνος serves as an attributive
which further specifies the time interval in question. Smyth then rendered it "all his days" for
a fluid translation. LSJ's "for ever" is too broad a term for what Aeschylus had actually written.

[Paul Derouda]

(...)
the ages" or "throughout his life" here. LSJ's first listed definition of αἰῶν is "lifetime, life", though this
(...)
Denniston & Page on 554: "χρόνος = time in general, αἰῶν = time in relation to a man's life, often 'lifetime'.

What happened? I sure wrote αἰών with a acute accent and not a circumflex, but that's how they are now!

[Paul Derouda]

(...)
the ages" or "throughout his life" here. LSJ's first listed definition of αἰῶν is "lifetime, life", though this
(...)
Denniston & Page on 554: "χρόνος = time in general, αἰῶν = time in relation to a man's life, often 'lifetime'.

What happened? I sure wrote αἰών with a acute accent and not a circumflex, but that's how they are now!