δὲ, οὐκ and ἀλλὰ (Athenaze, Dikaiopolis I)

Greek Learning Greek
1

οἰκεῖ δὲ ὁ Δικαιόπολις οὐκ ἐν ταῖς Ἀθήναις ἀλλὰ ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς

Hi everyone!
In this sentence, what is the usage of δὲ? Does it mean “and” in this case? When translating this sentence, can we just omit it?

I have looked into Logeion and I found out that it is usually accompanied by μέν. It gives an example from Thucydides:

τὴν νῦν μὲν Βοιωτίαν, πρότερον δὲ Καδμηίδα γῆν καλουμένην

Perseus 1910 English translation gives:

τὴν νῦν μὲν Βοιωτίαν, πρότερον δὲ Καδμηίδα γῆν καλουμένην



Sixty years after the capture of Ilium the modern Boeotians were driven out of Arne by the Thessalians, and settled in the present Boeotia, the former Cadmeis; though there was a division of them there before, some of whom joined the expedition to Ilium. Twenty years later the Dorians and the Heraclids became masters of Peloponnese; so that much had to be done

I don’t know which part corresponds to the above quote of Logion.

Can you give me some examples using μέν and δὲ? Preferably with translation?

For οὐκ, can I say that it is a an adverb of negation similar to “not”? If it is an adverb, then it is uninflected, am I right?

Is ἀλλὰ in this case a conjunction?

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Hi Isidia,

All the questions you ask can be easily answered by consulting a Greek lexicon. I don’t think you can make much progress in your studies without one.

LSJ is the best known lexicon in English. It’s available as an Android app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.greektext.lexicon

Mark

3

Rather than looking things up in a lexicon be guided by your text book. δὲ Is introduced in Athenaze very early on as “and, but” it is never the first word in a sentence. It simply serves on its own to connect a sentence to a previous one. Often you can omit it in your translation as in English we generally don’t link sentences in this way.

μέν and δὲ Is a way of connecting two thoughts in a sentence where some antithesis is intended. Often Greek sees antithesis where this would be strained in English. Think of it as “on the one hand … but on the other” but you shouldn’t translate it like that. Only ever translate it if there is a real contrast which you would normally highlight in idiomatic English.

See 2a of the second edition of Athenaze.

4

For οὐκ, can I say that it is a an adverb of negation similar to “not”? If it is an adverb, then it is uninflected, am I right?

Is ἀλλὰ in this case a conjunction

Yes to both but again all this is explained in the vocabularies of Athenaze. You do not need to look things up in a dictionary at this stage.

5

Actually, I have used this vocabulary section of Athenaze, second edition. I saw its definition but became more curious about its use. Athenaze, in the first lesson, does not introduce its part of speech. There are also a few grammatical concepts that are not introduced in this first lesson. For example:

ταῖς Ἀθήναις

I don’t which case is Ἀθήναις , but it is different from Ἀθηναῖός, which means Athenian (Dikaiopolis)

6

Things are introduced gradually in textbooks so the learner does not get overwhelmed. Especially in the first lesson!

It is good to be curious but you will find all the answers in your text book. Try not to be diverted from the main task of learning the things Athenaze expects you to learn.

ταῖς Ἀθήναις Is the dative plural and it is a noun Athens, not the adjective Athenian. You will see that it is glossed in 1A with εν as a prepositional phrase in Athens.

Try to accept that Athenaze is teaching you to walk rather than run.

Good luck.

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I will take your advice very seriously while learning Athenaze. Thank you for your input.