Having trouble understanding the use of αὐτὸ…τοῦτό and χαλεπὸν here. Steadman’s notes say "αὐτὸ…ἀμαθία: ignorance is harmful in respect to this very thing (namely)…; acc. of respect followed by τὸ…δοκεῖν
I understand that but what I don’t understand is why χαλεπὸν seems to modify αὐτὸ…τοῦτό instead of ἀμαυία.
There’s also another sentence:
αἰτία δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ τούτων ἡ γένεσις.
Loeb: “Again, the reason for this is his birth…”
Steadman: “αἰτία…τούτων: reason these things as well; objective gen.” (I think he means “reason for these things as well”)
Τhat makes sense too but I don’t understand the use of αὐτῷ here. I tried making dative of possession work but couldn’t.
χαλεπὸν ἀμαθία: the predicate is ἐστὶ χαλεπόν, and its being neuter rather than feminine makes it more abstract, as if to say “Ignorance is a tough thing” (a harmful thing). αὐτὸ τοῦτο I read as acc. of respect with χαλεπόν, “tough in just this respect.” So while they’re both neuter, χαλεπόν is nominative, while αὐτὸ τοῦτο is accusative.
Then τὸ (μὴ ὄντα καλὸν κἀγαθὸν μηδὲ φρόνιμον) δοκεῖν αὑτῷ εἶναι ἱκανόν is an articular infinitive in apposition to αὐτὸ τοῦτο, clarifying what makes it a problem: the fact that it seems to him to be sufficient. μὴ ὄντα καλὸν κἀγαθὸν μηδὲ φρόνιμον is accusative (“not being καλὸς κἀγαθὸς nor a thinker"), but then αὐτῷ shifts him into the dative after δοκεῖν.
The other sentence, αἰτία δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ τούτων ἡ γένεσις, is less complex: “his birth is also the reason for this,” lit. “the birth (is) (the) reason for these things too for him.” αὐτῷ is one of those datives that just serve to get him into the sentence, a “dative of interest.”