Cyrop 4.5.25

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ducky123
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Cyrop 4.5.25

Post by ducky123 »

Hi everyone
In a rather amusing episode Cyrus is attempting to pamper a Median messenger in order to dissuade and delay him from returning to his king along with the rest of the Median army. Referring to the messenger, Cyrus says to the Hyrkanian king:

καὶ διαλέγου δὲ αὐτῷ ὁπόσα ἐλπὶς γενέσθαι ἀγαθὰ πᾶσι τοῖς φίλοις, ἂν ταῦτ᾽ εὖ γένηται

I don’t understand the construction ὁπόσα ἐλπὶς γενέσθαι ἀγαθὰ, specifically what ἐλπὶς (nom.fem) is doing here, alongside the (copulative) infinitive and ὁπόσα ἀγαθὰ (presumably acc.neut.plu).

mwh
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Re: Cyrop 4.5.25

Post by mwh »

We can supply εστι with ελπίς. He’s to tell him how many goodies he can expect (ελπίς) there to be if it goes well.

ducky123
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Re: Cyrop 4.5.25

Post by ducky123 »

Ok thanks, so in clunky English

go through with him the many good things there is hope (for) to come about, should things turn out well.

mwh
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Re: Cyrop 4.5.25

Post by mwh »

That’s it, except that διαλέγου is not just “go through” with him (διέρχου) but “discuss" with him—it’s to be framed as a conversation—and ὁπόσα is actually “how many" good things, an indirect question.

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jeidsath
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Re: Cyrop 4.5.25

Post by jeidsath »

I don't think that διαλέγεσθαι is like interloqui. In a lot of the LSJ examples, the δια- sure looks like it points to an external object under discussion (items being "gone through"), not the person being conversed with.
“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

mwh
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Re: Cyrop 4.5.25

Post by mwh »

The “external object”—what the conversation is to be about—is ὁπόσα ἐλπὶς γενέσθαι ἀγαθὰ πᾶσι τοῖς φίλοις, ἂν ταῦτ᾽ εὖ γένηται. That’s what’s to be discussed with him (αυτῷ). I thought I’d made all that clear. There’s nothing problematic about it.

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