Thucydides 1.55: ἐτύγχανον . . .ὄντες

[hlawson38]

Context: After a sea battle, the Corinthians are dealing with Corcyraean prisoners. Some, being slaves, were sold. However, a smaller group of prisoners received special treatment, in order that Corinth might use them later as Quislings in Corcyrea.

ἐτύγχανον δὲ καὶ δυνάμει αὐτῶν οἱ πλείους πρῶτοι ὄντες τῆς πόλεως.

ἐτύγχανον. . . ὄντες: idiom, Englished as "It happened that . . . they were

δυνάμει: "with respect to political influence" [back in Corcyraea]

*αὐτῶν οἱ πλείους πρῶτοι ὄντες:
"of the prisoners [ αὐτῶν] the greater part [ οἱ πλείους ] were [ ὄντες] among the most influential [πρῶτοι]".

*To form this understanding, i studied the LCL translation, and then stepped through the phrase word-by-word . I often stumble on phrases of this kind (in Greek and Latin) when I don't see how the inflected words fit together to produce a meaning. I wonder if this difficulty fades slowly with practice. Or, is there a more systematic way to learn this more quickly?

I'll add that I was pretty sure that I had a vague general meaning, that "these prisoners were VIPs back in Corcyraea". But I didn't see the relations among the Greek words.

[jeidsath]

It was transparent to me, for whatever that's worth. My belief is that people get better at assembling sentences in their heads the more time they spend...assembling sentences in their heads (especially in situations where they are already confident of vocabulary and general sense). For me it helps to re-read a lot. New information seems to pop out as my Greek level improves.

[hlawson38]

It was transparent to me, for whatever that's worth. My belief is that people get better at assembling sentences in their heads the more time they spend...assembling sentences in their heads (especially in situations where they are already confident of vocabulary and general sense). For me it helps to re-read a lot. New information seems to pop out as my Greek level improves.

Thanks for the report of your experience, Joel. That's very helpful. I just re-read Thucydides 1.55. I did go easier.

[Hylander]

Hugh, just a small point. The island community is Corcyra (in English); the inhabitants are Corcyraeans. (Thucydides calls the island Κέρκυρα, but apparently it was also known in Greek as Κόρκυρα. LSJ says that the manuscripts of Herodotus and Thucydides and early Attic inscriptions call the island Κέρκυρα, but later Attic inscriptions and Corcyrean coinage call it Κόρκυρα.)

[hlawson38]

Hugh, just a small point. The island community is Corcyra (in English); the inhabitants are Corcyraeans. (Thucydides calls the island Κέρκυρα, but apparently it was also known in Greek as Κόρκυρα. LSJ says that the manuscripts of Herodotus and Thucydides and early Attic inscriptions call the island Κέρκυρα, but later Attic inscriptions and Corcyrean coinage call it Κόρκυρα.)

Very helpful Bill. I was spelling it very casually, never quite sure. I'll go over your post several times and get it down!

It's one of those things like siege and seize and Philippines.