definite article with names

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Yvonne
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definite article with names

Post by Yvonne »

Hello, I have a very basic question. I'm not actually learning Greek, I'm just using Perseus to do some research and I've come across a Greek usage that I want to check.

What does it mean when the definite article is used with a name? Specifically, I was looking for instances of the name *)/arghn (Argen) and found two different usages. One was the name for one of the kyklopes, along with Brontes and Steropes. The other was for a nymph that is always paired with Opis. I was actually researching the latter as a companion of Artemis.

What I noticed was that when *)/arghn was used to name the male kyklopes, it didn't have an article. But for the nymph, the phrase was always: kai tên Argên te kai tên Ôpin (Herodotus 4.35.1)

In the case of Arge and Opis, are this really titles? Thanks for any help.

-Yvonne Rathbone

Skylax
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Post by Skylax »

Hello !
Humbert (Syntaxe grecque, § 65) says that the article indicates some familiarity with the person, or some special interest. Without article, the expression is more formal. The article appears also when it is about a character of the story told : καὶ εἶπεν ὁ σωκράτης "And Socrates (about which we are talking) said:..."

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