__This is from Medea ll. 475 ff. I am not sure I understand this expression. The text is in The Intellectual Revolution. The note in the book says: “Medeia speaks as a self-consciously articulate orator.” Not terribly helpful, I must say. My Greek is still in its infancy. I need to know what things mean. I don’t like to look at the translations because I don’t think that helps me learn to read. All I can surmise from the dictionaries is “from the first things, the first.” So, would that mean “first things first” or “let’s start from the beginning.”? How do I become a more independent reader? How can I get the meaning when I don’t find a gloss in the lexicon? Do I need to learn to make educated guesses?
ἐκ τῶν δὲ πρώτων πρῶτον ἄρξομαι λέγειν:
ἔσωσά σ᾽, ὡς ἴσασιν Ἑλλήνων ὅσοι
ταὐτὸν συνεισέβησαν Ἀργῷον σκάφος,
πεμφθέντα ταύρων πυρπνόων ἐπιστάτην
ζεύγλαισι καὶ σπεροῦντα θανάσιμον γύην
480δράκοντά θ᾽, ὃς πάγχρυσον ἀμπέχων δέρος
σπείραις ἔσῳζε πολυπλόκοις ἄυπνος ὤν,
κτείνασ᾽ ἀνέσχον σοὶ φάος σωτήριον.
Hello Charlie, I won’t argue with you about this, but I will tell you how I use translations.
When I cannot find a meaning for a sentence, after dictionary work, etc., I look at a translation.
Step by step, I compare each Greek word with the translation. Nearly always this reveals my difficulty. I have overlooked a secondary dictionary meaning. Or, I parsed a Greek word incorrectly. Or, I encountered an unexpected idiom. Or, I failed to spot an agreement of two words, and so on.
As I work, I take written notes so that in subsequent readings I will have a self-made commentary.
Besides that I try to re-study the difficult passage two or three times.
Specifically, πρῶτον goes with ἄρξομαι λέγειν, and it appears that you’re trying to fit it to ἐκ τῶν πρώτων, which won’t work.
Generally, if you’re having trouble with Euripides, maybe an easier author would be easier? Plato was pretty understandable by the time I could make much sense of Euripides on the rocks, and even now I probably only get 80% of his lines before I start to sweat.
For notes for Medea at a basic level, you could try Bayfield in the “Elementary Classics” series. Better than anything else I know of for a beginner. For this line, you are given the following gloss: ‘ἐκ τῶν πρώτων “from the beginning”’, in addition to a cliff notes summary of the action.
Thank you for sharing your method, hlawson. So, if I take πρῶτον as a substantive, a neuter singular , then it functions as an adverb meaning “first of all.” Then, the ἐκ τῶν δὲ πρώτων is not at all difficult. I could translate it literally as “from the first things” or, more idiomatically “from the beginning.” So, then I get “I shall begin to speak first from the beginning,” or, more naturally. “I shall begin my argument right from the beginning.”
I hope you’ll let me off the hook, Charlie. Since posting, I’ve come down with covid, and I’m not fit for close work.
I am terribly sorry to hear that. I wish you a speedy recovery.
Hi Charlie
I looked at Mastronarde he says that it is a common rhetorical ploy to claim to tell the whole story from the beginning. So Medea begins with “τα πρωτα” “our first interactions”.
I think that when you read texts which call for some cultural information not always obviously encoded in the text a commentary can be very helpful.
The dangers inherent in rhetoric are well illustrated in Greek Tragedy especially by Euripides. Medea is as your commentary says is " a self-consciously articulate orator." Admittedly this might not seem like a helpful comment but it does alert you to the possibility that what follows might not be as straightforward as it might appear. Not does it help if you are looking for grammatical help. Steadman’s commentaries are usually very helpful on the more basic level https://geoffreysteadman.com/euripides-medea/
Medea is often the first tragedy studied in school and university so it is a good place to start.
Best wishes to Hugh for a speedy recovery too.
It is a stock rhetorical device. Did it come across as a bit hammy, I wonder? Off the top of my head:
Apology 18α
πρῶτον μὲν οὖν δίκαιός εἰμι ἀπολογήσασθαι, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, πρὸς τὰ πρῶτά μου ψευδῆ κατηγορημένα καὶ τοὺς πρώτους κατηγόρους…
Andocides π. τ. μ. 8
κράτιστον οὖν μοι εἶναι δοκεῖ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑμᾶς διδάσκειν πάντα τὰ γενόμενα καὶ παραλιπεῖν μηδέν.
Lysias I.5
ἐγὼ τοίνυν ἐξἀρχῆς ὑμῖν ἅπαντα ἐπιδείξω τὰ ἐμαυτοῦ πράγματα…
Well parodied in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland:
‘Begin at the beginning, the King said, very gravely, and go on till you come to the end: then stop.’
Thank you both very kindly. I am finding Textkit of inestimable value. I have, indeed, been looking at Steadman and he has been quite helpful. It is interesting to note that he takes exception to those who accuse him of spoon feeding his students by doing all the dictionary work for them. I don’t know what to make of that charge. I suppose there is some truth to it. I find that I learn a lot by reading the whole entry in the lexicon.
It is a stock rhetorical device. Did it come across as a bit hammy, I wonder?
A striking feature of Medea is how she is in control of every dialogue she has with the other main characters in the play (Creon and Jason) manipulating them so that she achieves her goals. One can speculate on the reaction of the (original) audience but I doubt anyone saw this line it as “hammy”. It is possible that they were completely horrified by this woman (who is also a foreigner and a witch) who acts like a man (while of course being played by a man). But this takes us away from the original post.
Charlie, terms like “spoon feeding” seem to belong more to the realm of morality than language learning. It’s as if there is something morally right about doing things “the hard way”. Some students will simply use Steadman’s vocabulary and not look things up in a dictionary others like you enjoy looking at a full entry. Now that we have so many opportunities to look things up electronically its not that time consuming to consult several dictionaries. But its very convenient to have a list of words at the bottom of the text too! Use whatever resources you find helpful in reading, except of course… No let’s not go there! 
I may be wrong, but it seems to me that Steadman’s editions are intended for intermediate students rather than beginners. If so, then they probably already were in the habit of doing dictionary searches before using these editions. Even if they weren’t, they can still do so even if they use such editions. I use his editions, and still consult dictionaries (electronically, nowadays). As I have had to learn Latin without a teacher, having such helps as his make the classical authors so much more accessible and useable sooner.
I’m still more at home with Latin on the level of the Vulgate, and Greek on the level of the New Testament, but am slowly getting into Classical Latin (Ovid) and Attic (Plato) as well as other Koine authors (Lucian of Samosata, some non-literary papyri). I am sure that I’m not the only autodidact who has benefitted from such editions. While we’re on the topic, let me heartily recommend the editions from Faenum Publishing, http://www.faenumpublishing.com/, which take the same basic approach as Steadman’s, but include some additional authors and works. I’m using their edition of Lucian’s Dialogues of the Gods by Hayes and Nimis, and I’m finding it very helpful. Not only do they offer vocabulary help, but also grammar help, and discussion of sentence structure when pertinent.
As Keith Toda, Latin teacher and blogger on Latin teaching/learning points out, classical texts are more difficult for beginning and intermediate students than some are willing to admit, and we should do what we can to clear obstacles and help retain motivation despite the difficulties and work required to succeed and enjoy the classics. See his work and ideas at https://todallycomprehensiblelatin.blogspot.com/.