Attikos app parsing of καταλῦσαι

Greek Learning Greek
1

Thucydides 1.82 [6] ἐγκλήματα μὲν γὰρ καὶ πόλεων καὶ ἰδιωτῶν οἷόν τε καταλῦσαι:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0199%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D82

Attikos app parses καταλῦσαι as aorist infinitive. The Perseus parse looks like this:

καταλῦσαι verb 3rd sg aor opt act no user votes 17%
καταλῦσαι † verb aor inf act no user votes 74%
καταλῦσαι verb 2nd sg aor imperat mid no user votes 9%

Should καταλῦσαι be read as aorist, optative, active? I couldn’t find a grammatical rationale for the infinitive in this case. But I also have some trouble with the active voice in this verb here.

2

Hi Hugh,

I think final opt. -αι would count as long, making ῦ impossible.

Check out the first paragraph on p. 286 in Mastronarde where he talks about accentuation of the optative. :slight_smile:

HTH

3

Many thanks to truks for calling my attention to the accentuation. Here is the sentence again:

Thucydides 1.82 [6] ἐγκλήματα μὲν γὰρ καὶ πόλεων καὶ ἰδιωτῶν οἷόν τε καταλῦσαι:

I overlooked or forgot the meaning of this idiom: οἷόν τε.

Cameron notes that it can mean “it is possible”. Hence, καταλῦσαι should be read as an infinitive complement. That resolves the difficulty.

4

I was going to post 1.80 yesterday, but didn’t get to it:

καὶ διὰ ταχέων οἷόν τε ἐφ’ ἕκαστα ἐλθεῖν

5

Well said, Joel. And to reinforce the point, here is a snip from Middle Liddell. I hope the line breaks I inserted make the reading easier.

III. [select] οἷος with inf. implies Fitness or Ability to do,

οἷος ἔην τελέσαι ἔργον τε ἔπος τε so ready was he to make good both deed and word, Od.;

οἷος ἔην βουλευέμεν ἠδὲ μάχεσθαι so good both at counsel and in fight, Od.;

τὸ πρᾶγμα μέγα καὶ μὴ οἷον νεωτέρῳ βουλεύσασθαι the matter is great and not such as for a young man to advise upon, Thuc.;

without an inf., ὁ δ᾽ οἷός ἐστιν οἰκουρὸς μόνον fit only [to be] a house-dog, Ar.

  1. [select] but this sense is commonly expressed by οἷός τε, c. inf., fit or able to do,

λέγειν οἷός τε κἀγώ id=Ar.;

οἷός τε ἦν πείθειν Dem.:

freq. in neut. sg. and pl., οἷόν τε ἐστί and οἷά τε ἐστί, οἷόν τε γίγνεται it is possible, Hdt.,

attic; without inf., οἷόν τε ἐστίν it is possible, οὐχ οἷόν τε ἐστίν it cannot be, Ar.;

with a Sup., καλὸν ὡς οἷόν τε μάλιστα as beautiful as is possible, Plat.;

ὡς οἷόν τε διὰ βραχυτάτων id=Plat.