Questions on Aristotle's Ethica Nicomachea

[bedwere]

Hello,

I'm teaching myself Attic Greek and I'm currently reading the Ethica Nicomachea with parallel English text (yes, I'm cheating! ).
I have two questions:

1) 1116b15
ὅπεÏ￾ κἀπὶ Ï„á¿· á¼™Ï￾μαίῳ συνέβη.

s κἀπὶ a crasis for καὶ á¼￾πὶ or what else?

2) 1116b20
οἳ δὲ καὶ á¼￾ξ á¼€Ï￾χῆς á¼￾κινδύνευον ὡς κÏ￾είττους ὄντες

Does κÏ￾είττους actually stand for κÏ￾είττονες ? I thought that maybe the ν was dropped and οε contracted to ου.

Many thanks!

[Timo]

1) 1116b15
ὅπεÏ￾ κἀπὶ Ï„á¿· á¼™Ï￾μαίῳ συνέβη.

s κἀπὶ a crasis for καὶ á¼￾πὶ or what else?

That's correct.

2) 1116b20
οἳ δὲ καὶ á¼￾ξ á¼€Ï￾χῆς á¼￾κινδύνευον ὡς κÏ￾είττους ὄντες

Does κÏ￾είττους actually stand for κÏ￾είττονες ? I thought that maybe the ν was dropped and οε contracted to ου.

I found a nice explanation in JACT, Reading Greek, Grammar and Exercises (2.ed) p. 166:

You are right, κÏ￾είττους is an alternative form of the nom. pl. m/f of κÏ￾είττων.
This form arose from a stem ending not in -ον but -ο. So there was never a ν to drop.

κÏ￾είττους is also used as an alternative of κÏ￾είττονας (acc. pl. m/f),
and κÏ￾είττω is used instead of κÏ￾είττονα (acc. sg. m/f and nom./acc. pl. n).

These types of alternatives occur very often for comparatives ending in -(ι)ων, f. ex. ἀμείνων, μείζων, πλείων, βελτίων.

[bedwere]

Thanks! I found it also in the old edition, which I bought years ago. It's at 94 (p. 103).

[vir litterarum]

I don't think Aristotle is the best author to use as a source for teaching yourself Attic Greek. There are already aspects of his composition that indicate a transition from Attic to Koine, so you would be better off beginning with an author such as Plato.

[bedwere]

I don't think Aristotle is the best author to use as a source for teaching yourself Attic Greek. There are already aspects of his composition that indicate a transition from Attic to Koine, so you would be better off beginning with an author such as Plato.

Thanks for the tip. I'm also reading Aesop's fables. What do you think of them?

[Swth\r]

Hello,

2) 1116b20
οἳ δὲ καὶ á¼￾ξ á¼€Ï￾χῆς á¼￾κινδύνευον ὡς κÏ￾είττους ὄντες

Does κÏ￾είττους actually stand for κÏ￾είττονες ? I thought that maybe the ν was dropped and οε contracted to ου.

Many thanks!

There is a second stem: κÏ￾είττοσ- from which the forms in -ω and in -ους are derived... (after loss of σ and "συναίÏ￾εσις")