I wonder how to translate this sentence:
“Λύκου δέρμα μεγάλου περιέτεινε τῷ σώματι”
The subject is a person above, and I cannot understand the role of “δέρμα”
Δέρμα is in the accusative case (same form as the nominative case since this is a neuter noun). We’d probably translate it to “a skin” in English. So the whole noun phrase would be something like “A large wolf skin”.
well I know that, but it seems not to be the object of the verb.
I guess it means that “He stretched a large wolf skin tightly to wrap his body.” But in the translation, we need two verbs. Or “He wrapped his body tightly by a large wolf skin.” But thus “skin” should be in dative and “body” should be in accusative.
I interpreted the verb as “stretched around” like you, and “τῷ σώματι” as being a locative use of the dative case. It seems like sometimes “περί” governs the dative to express a locative sense, and since it is a compound verb, “τῷ σώματι” is behaving like it is part of a prepositional phrase with “περί”.
I found a case of περί governing the dative case here:
You mean “ἔτεινε λύκου δέρμα μεγάλου περὶ τῷ σώματι”?
Yeah, essentially. Reflecting on this now, a similar thing happens in Swedish, where prepositions can affix to the front of verbs in some cases.
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The first usage cited by the LSJ is exactly the same as here:
π. τούτοισι (sc. τοῖσι νομεῦσι) διφθέρας Hdt. 1.194
Accusative direct object around something in dative, as you would expect with περί + dat. for clothing.
There is no need for two verbs or “tight”
For the separation of the verb and preposition in Homeric Greek (but not in Attic or Koine) see “tmesis” (τμῆσις)
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Hah thanks, I always wondered what tmesis meant. So it never occurs in Attic?
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Smyth 1650 and following talk about the exceptions.
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Excellent, thanks Joel.
“the skin of a large wolf”