οὐ τοίνυν, ἐπειδὴ τὰ μέγιστα συνδιέπραξε, τῶν ἄλλων ὠλιγώρησεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀρχὴν μὲν ταύτην ἐποιήσατο τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν. . . .
Here is one translation:
Yet, after aiding in the accomplishment of the most pressing duties,
Athens did not neglect the rest, but deemed it the first step only in a career
of beneficence. . . . (J. A. Freese )
I’ll be grateful for a grammatical commentary on ἀλλ᾽ ἀρχὴν μὲν ταύτην ἐποιήσατο, especially with regard to ταύτην, its placement, the question of attributive v. predicative, and how Freese decided to translate it in this way.
I was trying to translate the phrase as “[Athens] made this beginning”, but I like Freese’s Englishing better, without being able to justify Freese.
I need this at a Greek-for-dummies level, because pronouns and demonstratives are a weak point of mine.