I am just staring Dr. Mastronarde’s Unit 30 and am getting a little ahead of myself, but something in the first of the last sentences for reading caught my eye. The sentence reads,
Note the accent. ποτε is an enclitic “at any time, ever (idiomatically reinforces a
preceding interrogative: e.g., τίς ποτε; who in the world?)” p. 145
Why is τίνι in the dative? Is it because it is the object of χρώμενοι?
Yes it is, as explained in the text: “χρώμενοι [“making use of,” + dat.]”
Also, why is περιορῶσιν in the dative?
It isn’t. It’s a third person present, the subject is οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι.
I have a question about the last half of the second too last line and the last line, " . . . καὶ διὰ τὴν τῶν πρὸς τὸν
πόλεμον ἐπιστήμην [“knowledge,” “expertise”]."
I believe that διὰ τὴν goes with ἐπιστήμην and πρὸς goes with τὸν πόλεμον. What I am wondering about is τῶν. Is it short for τῶν Ἑλλήνων?
You’re almost there. But here we have a special usage of the article: τῶν πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον is the genitive of τὰ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον, i.e. the article τὰ substantivizes the subsequent expression πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον. Depending on the context, this can mean something like “the things pertaining to war”.
The original which M. has adapted is: “θαυμάζω δὲ Λακεδαιμονίους πάντων μάλιστα, τίνι ποτὲ γνώμῃ χρώμενοι τὴν Ἑλλάδα περιορῶσιν…” Lysias 33.7. The Loeb text prints χρώμενοι an emendation by Aldus for χρωμένους in the mss.
“I cannot perceive to what idea in the world the Spartans [are] making use of when permitting Greece to be burning, since
they are not being unjustly leaders of the Greeks both because of innate virtue and because of their expertise pertaining
to war.”
“I cannot perceive to what idea in the world the Spartans [are] making use of”
The word order here is a bit odd and suggests that you think that “τίνι ποτὲ γνώμῃ” is an object of "ἀγνοῶ " when in fact it is an object of “χρώμενοι”. There is no need to replicate literally the dative in English. So something like “I don’t know making use of what idea in the world the Lacedaemonians (Spartans)…”
" when permitting Greece to be burning"
περιορῶσιν is a third person present so don’t translate it as a participle. Literally it is “(they) permit the burning of Greece”. (Todd has his doubts about the original text here and thinks “καιομένην” is implausible but let’s not worry about that).
“since they are not being unjustly leaders of the Greeks both because of innate virtue and because of their expertise pertaining to war.”
Better to use the simple present here: “since they are not unjustly leaders of the Greeks”
Well done for bringing out the structure of the Greek with καὶ…καὶ. Perhaps you need an additional “their” before innate virtue.
My aim here is not so much to “correct” your English as to make sure that the translation reflects a good understanding of the Greek. I thought it was a tricky sentence.
Just to briefly follow up on this, if seneca will forgive me. καιομένην τὴν Ἑλλάδα περιορῶσιν is literally “they overlook Greece burning.” We can take this as an indirect statement (with acc. & pple.), “they overlook that Greece is burning” or “they disregard the fact that Greece is burning" or “they turn a blind eye to the scorching of Hellas.”
τίνι ποτὲ γνώμῃ χρώμενοι lit. “using whatever judgment,” more or less “on what basis,” “why,” with a strong note of incredulity.
So e.g. “I don’t know on what grounds (lit. “using what-on-earth judgment”) the Lacedaemonians neglect that Greece is burning, when they are the leaders of the Greeks—justifiably, both because of their innate courage and because of their expertise in the arts of war.”
or a little more loosely “It’s a mystery to me what makes the Spartans take no notice of the fact that Greece is burning, when they rightly have the hegemony of the Greeks thanks both to their inborn valorousness and to their expertise in matters of war.”
I was working with Lukas’ “permit” which is one of the meanings M. gives in the vocabulary “look over; overlook; permit, look upon while doing nothing”.
Your suggestions are of course a great improvement. Especially the way you have introduced the note of incredulity. This captures well the force of the original text “θαυμάζω δὲ Λακεδαιμονίους πάντων μάλιστα…”