Sophokles Fragments

Greek Learning Greek
1

Hello there,

I’m self studying Greek via Greek: An Intensive Course and it is going rather well, only, I’m having a little trouble ascertaining the meaning of this fragment of Sophocles from the end of Unit 5 (Sorry I can’t use accents or breathings due to technological limitations, hope you can still understand!) :

14 P. σοροί τύραννοι των σοφών ξυνουσια(dative)

I take this to mean ‘Wise are tyrants who associate with the wise,’ but I don’t understand the grammatical function of the dative ξυνουσια here, nor the genitive των σοφών. Please could someone enlighten me as to the specific forms of genitive and dative that are being used here, and why they are being used. Thank you!

Also - 850 P. και τα των θεων
θνησκει, θεοί δ’ ου. (even/also the things/things of gods kill, but gods do not)

My attempt at translation here seems quite patently wrong and sounds like pure gobbledygook.

If someone could point out where I’m going wrong I would be most grateful. Also if anyone knows where I can get a Classical Greek keyboard extension for the IPad Pro I would likewise be much obliged.

Thank you.

2

I am not following you! Just at a loose end.

σοφοί τύραννοι τῶν σοφῶν ξυνουσίᾳ

So on p. 125 you were introduced to the dative of means. The example there is “by (means of) a speech.” ξυνουσία means being together with, company .

So “Tyrants are wise because (by means) of the company of wise men.”

Someone else can try the other one.

3

κὰι τὰ τῶν θεῶν θνῄσκει, θεοὶ δ’ οὔ

So the verb is “die” not “kill”.

“The things of the gods die, the gods don’t.”

4

θνήσκω, is intransitive, die, not kill. “The things of the gods die, but the gods do not.”

5

You could use typegreek. In a browser tab on your iPad you type using beta code and then copy and paste the output wherever you want.

http://www.typegreek.com/

I have found that installing a polytonic Greek keyboard on my iPad means you have to keep switching backwards and forwards and ι Κέεπ φοργεττινγ το ςωιτχ Βάκ.

If you want a third party keyboard try AGK or hoplite greek keyboard from the App Store and see which you prefer. I have installed both.

6

Perfect, thank you for clarifying these things for me! I am very much obliged.

7

I would recommend this keyboard.

It’s not hard to use, and the same site has keyboards for all kinds of alphabets and languages.

8

σοφοὶ τύραννοι τῶν σοφῶν ξυνουσίᾳ is a much-quoted verse from Sophocles’ Locrian Ajax (that’s the other Ajax, the so-called “lesser” Ajax, the two Ajaxes are often together in the Iliad). You can have fun guessing at the context. There’s a wonderful bunch of papyrus fragments of the play, in which Athena, blazing with outrage, rips into the Greeks in reaction to Ajax’ violation of Cassandra in the goddess’s temple. That’s the incident that turned Athena against the Greeks (the offense being not so much the rape but the sacrilege).
The beginning of Vergil’s Aeneid describes Ajax’ fate, or one version of it.