Plato, R. 346 e1-2

Greek Learning Greek
1

-Ἆρ’ οὖν οὐδ’ ὠφελεῖ τότε, ὅταν προῖκα ἐργάζηται;
-Οἶμαι ἔγωγε.

Is there a way to tell without knowing the context whether the answer expressed by the second line is “yes, it does [ὠφελεῖ]” or “no, it doesn’t [ὠφελεῖ]”?

2

positive

3

Thanks, I did get this from the context. My question is whether it is possible to tell this without knowing the context, and if so, how exactly.

4

The ἆρ’ οὐ in the question anticipates a positive reply (“Isn’t it the case…?”). The answer confirms (as ἐγώ often does; οὐκ ἐγώ for the negative) and qualifies (“yes, I, at least ἔγωγε, think so”). This is clear without any context.

With other types of replies, there can be more ambiguity. For example, the particle combination μὲν οὖν can be used positively (ἐρεῖς τοῦτο; πάνυ μὲν οὖν. Will you say it? You bet I will) or negatively, often to make a correction (ἔλεγε τοῦτο. ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν. He used to say this. No, it was I).

5

OIC. Thanks a lot!

6

Well, I think that the following is genuinely ambiguous, and that he is responding to the thought, not necessarily to the last statement.

ἢ οὐδέν ἐστι τοῦτο;
ΚΡ. Οἶμαι ἔγωγε, ὦ Σώκρατες.



ΣΩ. Καλῶς λέγεις. οὐκοῦν καὶ τἆλλα, ὦ Κρίτων, οὕτως, ἵνα μὴ πάντα διΐωμεν, καὶ δὴ καὶ περὶ τῶν δικαίων καὶ
ἀδίκων καὶ αἰσχρῶν καὶ καλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν, περὶ ὧν νῦν ἡ βουλὴ ἡμῖν ἐστιν, πότερον τῇ τῶν πολλῶν δόξῃ δεῖ ἡμᾶς ἕπεσθαι καὶ φοβεῖσθαι αὐτὴν ἢ τῇ τοῦ ἑνός, εἴ τίς ἐστιν ἐπαΐων, ὃν δεῖ καὶ αἰσχύνεσθαι καὶ φοβεῖσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ σύμπαντας τοὺς ἄλλους; ᾧ εἰ μὴ ἀκολουθήσομεν, διαφθεροῦμεν ἐκεῖνο καὶ λωβησόμεθα, ὃ τῷ μὲν δικαίῳ βέλτιον ἐγίγνετο τῷ δὲ ἀδίκῳ ἀπώλλυτο. ἢ οὐδέν ἐστι τοῦτο;
ΚΡ. Οἶμαι ἔγωγε, ὦ Σώκρατες.

I read that ἢ οὐδέν as the same as Socrates’ "ἢ οὐδέν λέγω;"or “ἢ οὐδέν εἶπον;” that he likes to put at the end of statements, the same as his gentle “ἴσως δὲ οὐδὲν λέγω.” But maybe I’m wrong and it must be something stronger, like “is this not so?” here. It clearly draws a strong contradiction in the following:

ἢ οὐδέν σοι δοκῶ λέγειν, ἀλλὰ λανθάνω καὶ ἐμαυτὸν οἰόμενός τινος ὥσπερ ἴχνους ἐφάπτεσθαι τῆς Ὁμήρου δόξης περὶ ὀνομάτων ὀρθότητος;

ΕΡΜ. Μὰ Δί᾿ οὐ σύ γε, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖς, ἀλλὰ ἴσως του ἐφάπτει.

Here is another οἶμαι ἔγωγε that I could see going the other way, had Euthyphro not clarified himself (and I assume is why he does clarify himself):

ΣΩ. Κεχαρισμένον ἄρα ἐστίν, ὦ Εὐθύφρων, τὸ ὅσιον, ἀλλ’ οὐχὶ ὠφέλιμον οὐδὲ φίλον τοῖς θεοῖς;
ΕΥΘ. Οἶμαι ἔγωγε πάντων γε μάλιστα φίλον.