…ου δυναμενοι δε τουτων τυχεῖν εστρατευσαν επ’ αυτους…
The above is from the fifth line of the first paragraph of exercise II of unit 28 in M. I just don’t get “τυχεῖν”! (I think the nu is the movable nu)
The answer key gives …“when they were not able to obtain this (favor) they went on a campaign against them…”
Please comment on the subject word and on the translation.
Thanks to all.
What form in English do you expect to see after not able…? It is the same in Greek. τυχεῖν doesn’t have the movable nu. The verb is τυγχάνω. Look at the definition on p 240 happen to be (+ part.); happen (of events); succeed; meet with, hit upon (+ gen.); obtain (+ gen.) anticipate, be ahead of (+ part.)
LSJ gives the meaning B. “gain oneʼs end or purpose, succeed”
Its one of those those verbs which has a range of meanings and finding the right one can be tricky.
I hope this is enough help, if not ask again. 
Was the problem that you couldn’t figure out what verb τυχεῖν was? When that happens, a good option is to use U Chicago’s logeion: https://logeion.uchicago.edu/τυχεῖν If you click through to the link, it will tell you that the verb is τυγχάνω, and if you then click through to the Morpho link, it tells you that τυχεῖν is the aorist infinitive. There are lots of cases where there’s just no way you’d ever figure out the verb from the inflected form without looking it up, either online or in a book. For example, ἐνεγκεῖν is an infinitive of φέρω.
There’s a missing acc. object here. τυχεῖν c. acc. c. gen. to get something off someone. I assume “favor” in the translation was expressed somehow in the Greek that came just before?
Ben’s suggestion that you look the answer up on logeion is a possibility when all else fails. But τυγχάνω is not an irregular verb and so you should be able to work the answer out from the principal parts given on p241. τυγχάνω, τεύξομαι, ἔτυχον, τετύχηκα, —, — From this you will that ἔτυχον is the aorist. If you look back at page 157 5. a you will Mastronarde explains how to form the aorist infinitive:
"5. Aorist Infinitives.
a. The strong aorist infinitives are formed by adding to the aorist stem (N.B.: with no augment) the active ending -ειν (i.e., the theme vowel ε + -εν) or the middle ending -εσθαι (the theme vowel ε + -σθαι) and accenting the theme vowel (producing a circumflex in the contracted active form). Accentuation of the theme vowel is a distinguishing trait of strong aorist infinitives and participles (and of some forms of the imperative: see §6 below).
active λιπεῖν, ἰδεῖν, ἀγαγεῖν, σχεῖν
middle γενέσθαι, ἀγαγέσθαι"
You will see that the strong active aorist infinitive always ends in -εῖν. You thought it might be a third person plural but even if that were possible how would that work grammatically with ου δυναμενοι.
Looking again at the definitions offered by M. on p. 240 the best is “obtain (+ gen.)” . The genitive here is τουτων, “from them”. What they were not able to obtain is explained in the previous clause “πρῶτον μὲν πέμψαντες ἀγγέλους ἐδέοντο αὐτῶν δοῦναι τῶν νεκρῶν ἀναίρεσιν”
Sorry if I was not clear in my first post I have just come back from Naples and have contracted Covid so have not been feeling well.
ps along time ago I sent you a pm but you don’t seem to have opened it.
The genitive τουτῶν here is what the subjects did not obtain, “these things” or, as the answer key apparently translates it, just “this.”
Bill
Am I misreading " c. after either case a gen. pers. may be added, obtain a thing from a person" from LSJ?
How you interpret it was my first thought and then I looked at LSJ II hit upon, light upon 2 c.
Just τυχεῖν + gen. makes sense. I had thought αὐτοὺς was referring back to the τούτων (forcing that to be a personal object), but seeing the context, it goes back to the earlier αὐτῶν. So τούτων isn’t a personal object here. Bill is right.
seneca, τυγχάνω, in the sense of “obtain,” can take a double genitive of the thing obtained and the person from whom it’s obtained, but it can stand with just a genitive complement of the thing obtained, as I think it does here. See LSJ II.2.a:
attain, obtain a thing, c. gen., πομπῆς καὶ νόστοιο Od.6.290; αἰδοῦς Thgn.253, cf. 256; [οἴκτου] A.Pr.241; ξυγγνώμης Th.7.15; τῆς ἀξίας Ar.Av.1223; of meeting with misfortunes, βίης τυχεῖν meet with, suffer violence, Hdt.9.108; τραυμάτων, κακῶν, A.Ag.866, E.Hec. 1280; δίκης, κρίσεως, Pl.Grg.472d, Phdr.249a, cf. Lg.869b: abs., have the lot or fate, ἄλλος μὲν ἀποφθίσθω ἄλλος δὲ βιώτω, ὅς κε τύχῃ Il.8.430; τὴν παρὰ Δαρείου αἰτήσας ἔτυχε μισθόν Hdt.5.23 (where τὴν is governed by αἰτήσας).
In the sentence in question, the persons from whom the right to retrieve the dead bodies was sought (not just a favor in ancient Greek warfare) are represented by the pronouns αὐτῶν/αὐτούς. τουτῶν represents the thing sought and not obtained.
LSJ II.2.b notes that τυγχάνω can also take an accusative of the thing obtained. II.2.c notes that a genitive complement of the person from whom something was obtained – whether genitive or accusative – can be added.
2 light on a thing, τύχε γάρ ἀμάθοιο βαθείης Il.5.587; > attain, obtain a thing, c. gen., > πομπῆς καὶ νόστοιο Od.6.290; αἰδοῦς Thgn.253, cf. 256; [οἴκτου] A.Pr.241; ξυγγνώμης Th.7.15; τῆς ἀξίας Ar.Av.1223; of meeting with misfortunes, βίης τυχεῖν meet with, suffer violence, Hdt.9.108; τραυμάτων, κακῶν, A.Ag.866, E.Hec. 1280; δίκης, κρίσεως, Pl.Grg.472d, Phdr.249a, cf. Lg.869b: abs., have the lot or fate, ἄλλος μὲν ἀποφθίσθω ἄλλος δὲ βιώτω, ὅς κε τύχῃ Il.8.430; τὴν παρὰ Δαρείου αἰτήσας ἔτυχε μισθόν Hdt.5.23 (where τὴν is governed by αἰτήσας).
b after Hom. > also c. acc. of neut. Adj. or Pron.> , τὰ πρόσφορα A.Ch.711, cf. Eu.30, S.OC1106, Ph.509 (lyr.), E.Med.758, Hec.51: later the acc. is used more freely, τ. ἐπίστασιν Sammelb.5235.15 (i A. D.); ὑπογραφήν BGU615.23 (ii A. D.); βοήθειαν PGoodsp.Cair.15.14 (iv A. D.); εὐκαιρίαν PSI9.1082.5 (iv A. D.); τὰ γυναίκια δεσμὸν οὐδένα βούλεται τυγχάνειν Sor.1.70b.
c. > after either case a gen. pers. may be added, obtain a thing from a person, > “ὧν δέ σου τυχεῖν ἐφίεμαι” S.Ph.1315; “σου τοῦτο τ.” Id.OC1168; or the pers. may be added with a Prep., “τ. ἐπαίνου ἔκ τινος” Id.Ant.665; “παρὰ σεῖο τ. φιλότητος” Od.15.158; “τιμίαν ἕδραν παρ᾽ ἀνδρῶν” A.Eu.856 (dub.); “αἰδοῦς ὑπό τινος” X.Cyr.1.6.10, cf. Mem.4.8.10, etc.: abs., “χρὴ πρὸς μακάρων τυγχάνοντ᾽ εὖ πασχέμεν” Pi.P.3.104.
Thanks Bill
I said earlier on that this verb can be tricky. When I feel better I will get my head round it. But thanks for the clarity of your explanation.
Wow!
Many thanks to all, you have set me straight, and given me a lot of additional information: I will reread all the replies carefully.
As for “τυχεῖν”, the basic problem was that although I am well aware that the ending εῖν indicates an infinitive, I failed to recognize it as the aorist infinitive of τυγγχανω because I have not yet memorized the table of principal parts found in the appendix of M 
, despite M’s exhortation to do so. So I looked for another possibility and I found τυχη and that took me down a rabbit hole. BTW, does anyone know of a table of principal parts that is or can be sorted in sequence of the third pp, i,e,. the aorist? That would make finding the first pp very easy.
Special note to Seneca: I have looked at your PMs and I will be replying via PM.
I think the only way to get to grips with the principal parts is to learn them as you go. So rather than look for a large table of all of them make it a goal to learn the new principal parts in each unit you tackle.
I am well aware that the ending εῖν indicates an infinitive
It actually indicates the aorist infinitive. The present infinitive is τυγχάνειν and you need to look carefully at the difference in accentuation between τυγχάνειν and τυχεῖν.
I would advise you to revise unit 19. M sets out there some of the basic patterns involved in the formation of the aorist stem. A combination of memorising principal parts and recognising these patterns is the best way of learning to recognise the forms.
To Seneca-
Thank you for your last reply. I will follow your advice.
Aorist stems are often shorter than present ones (and always more productive):
E.g. τυχεῖν/τυγχάνειν (cf. the noun τύχη)
λαχεῖν/λαγχάνειν
λαθεῖν/λανθάνειν
μαθεῖν/μανθάνειν
λαβεῖν/λαμβάνειν
ἁμαρτεῖν/ἁμαρτάνειν
πυθέσθαι/πυνθάνεσθαι
αἰσθέσθαι/αἰσθάνεσθαι
ἀφικέσθαι/ἀφικνεῖσθαι
σχεῖν/ἔχειν
γενέσθαι/γίγνεσθαι
γνῶναι/γιγνώσκειν
δοῦναι/διδόναι
θεῖναι/τιθέναι
πεσεῖν/πίπτειν
φυγεῖν/φεύγειν
βαλεῖν/βάλλειν
λιπεῖν/λείπειν
πιεῖν/πίνειν
παθεῖν/πάσχειν
τεκεῖν/τίκτειν
etc. etc.
Note the patterns.