Actually this is from White. Chapter 18.
ἔστι δὲ Κῡ?ῳ καί βασίλεια καί χω?ίον ὶσχῡ?ὸν ?πὶ ταῖς τοῦ ποταμοῦ πηγαῖς.
I understand that ?στί becomes ἔστι at the beginning of the sentence. And so this example is similar to one in given in the text.
However, White translates ἔστι as he has rather than he is/it is.
Which is considered more correct…
But it is to Cyrus both a palace and a stronghold by the source of the river.
OR
But Cyrus has both a palace and a stronghold by the source of the river.
?
The first translation suggests one thing, the second suggests two things.
The more idiomatic option–“he has” is better, although both are technically correct. This is a special use of the verb to be with the dative to express possession. Because it is idiomatic and there is an exactly parallel construction in English, it is best translated a little loosely.
another way to think of it: “esti” without an accent is usually a copula. it attaches a predicate to a subject. with an accent, however, “esti” is often “existential esti,” which asserts the existence of a previously-unmentioned subject. it is equivalent to “there is,” “il y a,” “es gibt,” and so on.
the dative of possession, which you see here, takes existential esti.
The first translation suggests one thing, the second suggests two things.
So does he have a palace plus a stronghold or does he have a palace which is also a stronghold.
The verb is singular but that does not mean that there is only one object.
The latter case makes the most sense but is there a grammatical way to know for sure?
I don’t think there is a difference in meaning between your two English sentences. The Greek does include the “both…and.” Esti is singular because of the construction, where Cyrus is actually the subject. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, I think your “He has…” translation adequately captures the meaning.
Your answers all make sense.
If I consider ἔστι to mean ‘it is to him’ and think of that as an ididsyncratic way of saying ‘he has’ I’ll be able to remember this when translating.
Wow!
I’m actualy making some good progress here.