Herodotus 4.81, grammar question

Greek Learning Greek
1

πλῆθος δὲ τὸ Σκυθέων οὐκ οἷος τε ἐγενόμην ἀτρεκέως πυθέσθαι, ἀλλὰ διαφόρους λόγους περὶ τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ ἤκουον· καὶ γὰρ κάρτα πολλοὺς εἶναι σφέας καὶ ὀλίγους ὡς Σκύθας εἶναι.

Why doesn’t πλῆθος have the article? Why not τὸ πλῆθος δὲ τὸ Σκυθέων?

Thanks!

2

πλῆθος δὲ τὸ Σκυθέων

Isnt Σκυθέων genitive plural?

3

Certainly, but this is what Herodotus wrote. I suppose there’s no genitive plural article agreeing with Σκυθέων because he’s not referring to any Scythians in particular but Scythians in general. τό must obviously agree with πλῆθος, but it’s not the typical case like ἡ γυνή ἡ τοῦ ἀνδρός, where the article is repeated.

But yes, I could ask just as well: why not τὸ πλῆθος δὲ τὸ τῶν Σκυθέων?

4

τὸ πλῆθος would be the majority of Scythians. Without the article, it just means “a great number.”

5

I would read the τὸ as a relative pronoun. As regards the number that (is) of (the) Scythians. The problem with Joel’s reading is that it does not account for the “τὸ”.

6

Isn’t it just something normal although infrequent?

Cfr. Smyth

  1. A word or group of words standing between the article and its noun, or immediately after the article if the noun, with or without the article, precedes, is an attributive. Thus, ὁ σοφὸς ἀνήρ, ὁ ἀνὴρ ὁ σοφός, or ἀνὴρ ὁ σοφός (cp. 1168).

  2. (3) Least often, the noun takes no article before it, when it would have none if the attributive were dropped: ἀνὴρ ὁ σοφός the wise man (lit. a man, I mean the wise one). Thus, ““μάχαις ταῖς πλείοσι” in the greater number of battles” T. 7.11, σύνειμι μὲν θεοῖς, σύνειμι δὲ ἀνθρώποις τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς I associate with gods, I associate with good men X. M. 2.1.32. In this arrangement the attributive is added by way of explanation; as in the last example: with men, the good (I mean).

7

I think that (3) comes down to the way I read it.

Also this looks like a direct parallel:

  1. The genitive of a substantive limiting the meaning of another substantive may take any one of four positions:—

N. 1.—A substantive with no article is sometimes followed by the article and the attributive genitive: ἐπὶ σκηνὴν ἰόντες τὴν Ξενοφῶντος going to the ten[t] (namely, that) of Xenophon X. A. 6.4.19. Cp. 1159.

8

Thanks!