Being Brave in War

[majystr]

Greetings,

What would be proper epic idiom for a participial clause "being very brave in war"?

Here is my attempt "agathos per polemon eon"--polemon being an accusative of specification. Am I on the wrong track?

Thanks in advance!
K.D.G.

[chad]

hi, sorry i thought someone would have answered this by now

in Homer, after an adjective e.g. "brave" or a verb "to be brave", i think it's more natural to limit it by an infinitive rather than an accusative of respect.

e.g. [face=SPIonic]o(\j o)/x' a)/ristoj ma/xesqai/ e)stin[/face], or [face=SPIonic]o(\j a)risteu/ei ma/xesqai[/face] (compare Iliad 6.460 which uses the latter construction of Hector, but the verb's in the iterative.)

see Goodwin, Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb, s763 on limiting an adjective by an infinitive, and s767 on limiting a verb of excellence by an infinitive.

[majystr]

Very helpful. Thank you very much!

KDG