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Hi, Prometheus.

In the first sentence, διαλεγόμενοι is in form present participle but here stands for a temporal clause with the imperfect
ἐπεὶ διελέγοντο and then you have an imperfect verb in 3rd plural which I initially thought to be a compound verb
(κατὰ+ἵζω»καθίζω thus impf. κάθῑζον or I think more accurately καθῖζον) but it was only so in homeric ionic. in Attic,
the regular augmentation in the imperfect applies - ἐκάθιζον [Smyth §450]. corrected this mistake in the story. thanks.

The bowman and the peltast, conversing (when/while they were conversing), were sitting in the place/spot.

[I guess I shouldn’t have made these two definite; it doesn’t sound so natural]

The aorist participles here are nearly all antecedent in nature, standing in place of
the temporal clause ἐπεὶ/ἐπειδὴ + aor. = After…

62

Let me take a stab at translating this. (Beginners who find this even more difficult than I do might find it a good exercise to go through and highlight words and phrases understood, and try to decipher the text around them. Treat it like a puzzle and guess! In this way, use it as an exercise to practice the Greek you know, and only run to the dictionary–or the vocabulary in White’s FGB–as a last resort.)

The shield-bearer and the archer were sitting and talking in the field.
One said to the other, “Look, my bow is a fine and beautiful one.
I bought this bow the other day.” And the other one said, “Your bow
is no good, since my shield is finer and better than your bow”.

63

The second paragraph of Nate’s story:

For a long time they spoke in this way, when the general came
into the field. Each man said to the other “Keep quiet”, since it
was frightening and they feared he would be angry at them. A little later
they wanted (to know?) why the general (dative?) came to them (genitive?) and they asked (μειλίξει ?)
him. Finally the bowsman, having honored him (?), came over and said, “Hello, General, Sir”.
“What’s the matter?”

64

Hi, Prometheus. Thanks for posting your translations. :slight_smile:

few points:
about how to translate the participle διαλεγόμενοι see above. you’ve treated it as a verb connected with ἐκάθιζον.

in the first paragraph, οὗτος ἐκείνῳ ἔλεγεν, literally meaning “this one (the bowman) said to that one (the peltast)”
can be translated as “the latter said to the former” but yours basically has the same meaning :slight_smile:

in the second paragraph, μέχρι here means until, they had spoken this way until (at which point they stopped and
told each other to be quiet) the general entered the place.

though it is possible to treat δεινὸς ἦν as referring to the situation, I meant more so to the general himself
being fearsome and thus (it would have been better to use ὥστε) they were afraid lest he be angry with them.

δι᾿ ὀλίγου ἐβουλεύοντο τίς αὐτῶν τῷ στρατηγῷ προσχωρήσει
καὶ μειλίξει αὐτόν (or ὅστις…προσχωρήσοι…μειλίξοι)

here the medial form of βουλεύω means “deliberate with each other, consider” and can take an indirect question.
you have the question first in its original form (albeit with changed pronoun), and then, in the parenthesis you have the
oblique way of writing it with no change of meaning: a) ὄστις instead of τίς, b)since the governing verb is past tense
(they considered who would…), the verb in the subordinate clause, that is the indirect question, can be written
as the equivalent optative. if the original verb is in future indicative, we turn it to future optative (as I’ve learned,
its only use is in indirect questions/statements).

μειλίττω = to appease; med. to grow calm, be soothed.

“They deliberated on who of them would (originally ‘will’) approach the general and appease him.”

then finally, the bowman τολμήσας [LSJ. τολμάω in part. he took courage] meaning they kept deliberating until
the bowman took the initiative:
“The bowman, nerving himself (after he had nerved himself), approached the general
of his own will (ἑκών) and said…”

Again, I really appreciate your replies and hope it’s a good enough exercise for all of us.
If I’m mistaken in something, please correct me.