Hi all
ὡς μὲν οὐκ ἰσχυρότερον καὶ πολυχρονιώτερον ψυχὴ σώματος, οὐ συγχωρῶ τῇ Σιμμίου ἀντιλήψει
I’m just trying to understand why the two comparative adjectives are not agreeing with the noun ψυχὴ. Even after referring to Smyth (926 as a starting point) I can’t see any explanation other than maybe an omitted word like χρῆμα (or τι) being used as the predicate noun and the adjectives being attributive to this. i.e. ‘the soul is something stronger and longer lasting than the body’. I think this is the second example I’ve come across of this ‘apparent disagreement’ between noun and adjective in the Phaedo.
Hello again Neil, Yes I’d say that’s a fair explanation. The neuter is less particular in its reference than grammatical agreement would be, and there’s no need for τι with the neuter predicative adjective if the sense is clear without it.
At 85e for instance τι was used: … ὡς ἡ μὲν ἁρμονία ἀόρατον καὶ ἀσώματον καὶ πάγκαλόν τι καὶ θεῖόν ἐστιν ἐν τῇ ἡρμοσμένῃ λύρᾳ
but as we read further we find e.g.
…. καὶ οὐδέν τι μᾶλλον τούτου ἕνεκα ἄνθρωπός ἐστιν ἱματίου φαυλότερον οὐδ᾽ ἀσθενέστερον (87d)
and
… ὡς ἡ μὲν ψυχὴ πολυχρόνιόν ἐστι, τὸ δὲ σῶμα ἀσθενέστερον καὶ ὀλιγοχρονιώτερον.
Thanks one and all. I’m using Geoffrey Steadman’s commentary but as there was no reference to this point of grammar I thought i might be missing something obvious. It’s nice to know i’m capable of a modicum of initiative
Indeed, I realize that there is no verb present. The reason I asked the question is because I thought that some applicable verbs might be implied, even though not explicitly given. If we thought of ψυχή and σῶμα as of some ‘static categories’ with certain characteristics, then my previous comment would make no sense: the comparatives would be adjectival. But what if we look at them as being compared to each other in terms of their manifestation and duration?.. (It would be something like, '… ψυχή (manifests itself) more strongly and (lasts) longer than σῶμα …).
Actually, when I first read the passage, the first impression I had was that the form of the two comparatives is adverbial. (The comparative of the adverb coincides with the neuter singular comparative of the adjective).
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. It’s true that a comparative adverb takes the same form as the adjective, but in this passage these -τερον forms are unmistakably adjectival. The implied verb is εστιν.
