προκρίνειν in the construction +acc +gen +ἐν c. dat.

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ἑκηβόλος
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προκρίνειν in the construction +acc +gen +ἐν c. dat.

Post by ἑκηβόλος »

This question is about the workings of the language.
Plato, Apology wrote:οἳ ἐμοὶ δοκοῦσιν αἰσχύνην τῇ πόλει περιάπτειν, ὥστ᾽ ἄν τινα καὶ τῶν ξένων [35b] ὑπολαβεῖν ὅτι οἱ διαφέροντες Ἀθηναίων εἰς ἀρετήν, οὓς αὐτοὶ ἑαυτῶν ἔν τε ταῖς ἀρχαῖς καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις τιμαῖς προκρίνουσιν, οὗτοι γυναικῶν οὐδὲν διαφέρουσιν.
Translation by Harold North Fowler (1966) LCL wrote:men whom they themselves honor with offices and other marks of esteem,
Besides the reciprocal pronoun being "fudged" in this translation of Fowler's, there is a "gap" in the meaning needed for rendering into English here. The four possibilities may be:
● does the verb προκρίνειν have the ability to imply a resulting change "they are moved by preference to", or
● does the preposition imply the action needed to get the offices, "in (the assignment of) or
● the nouns are able prompt us to imagine the verbs "in giving", or
● is this just an idiomatic expression (the sum of the parts is greater than the whole that parts alone suggest in a readily understood way)?
Different translators may take either of those assumptions into their thinking when rendering the Greek in English, but how us the Greek working here?

The question arises while reading
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, 1.1.4 wrote:καὶ γὰρ τοὺς πρεσβυτάτους ταῖς ἡλικίαις ἅπαντες τῶν νεωτέρων προκρίνουσιν ἐν ταῖς συμβουλίαις διὰ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ χρόνου περιγεγενημένην αὐτοῖς ἐμπειρίαν:
"when (seeking) advice(s)"
τί δὲ ἀγαθὸν τῇ πομφόλυγι συνεστώσῃ ἢ κακὸν διαλυθείσῃ;

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jeidsath
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Re: προκρίνειν in the construction +acc +gen +ἐν c. dat.

Post by jeidsath »

Here's a similar usage of ἐν from Aristotle:

οἱ μὲν οὖν εἰς ὄνειδος ἄγοντες αὐτὸ φιλαύτους καλοῦσι τοὺς ἑαυτοῖς ἀπονέμοντας τὸ πλεῖον ἐν χρήμασι καὶ τιμαῖς καὶ ἡδοναῖς ταῖς σωματικαῖς.
“One might get one’s Greek from the very lips of Homer and Plato." "In which case they would certainly plough you for the Little-go. The German scholars have improved Greek so much.”

Joel Eidsath -- jeidsath@gmail.com

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