Lesson 3

Lesson 3 (μάθημα γ΄)

Reading (τὸ ἀνάγνωσμα)

Μενέλαος· ναὶ, γύναι,
ταῦτὰ πάντα
κατὰ μοῖραν εἶπες. ἤδη μὲν ἔγνων
βουλὴν καὶ νόον πολλῶν ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων, πολλὴν δ᾽ ἐπελήλυθα γαῖαν.
ἀλλ᾽ οὐδέποτε εἶδον ὀφθαλμοῖς τοιαύτην καρδίαν φίλην οἷα Ὀδυσσεῖ
ἦν καὶ τοιοῦτον ἄνδρα καρτερὸν οἷος Ὀδυσσεύς, ἐπεὶ ἐν ξεστῷ ἵππῳ
πάντες ἄριστοι Ἀργείων ἐνῆμεν φέροντες φόνον Τρῶσι.

Ἑλένη· ἔπειτε ἦλθον καὶ βαδίζουσα τρὶς περὶ
κοῖλον λόχον ὠνόμαζον ἀρίστους Δαναῶν ὀνομαστὶ ἐίσκουσα πάντων
Ἀργείων γυναιξί φωνὴν.

Μενέλαος· αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ
καὶ Τυδεΐδης καὶ δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς ἥμενοι ἐν μέσοις ἀκούσαμεν ὡς
ἐβόησας. ἐγὼ μὲν καὶ Τυδεΐδης ἐν νῷ ἔσχομεν ἢ ἐξέρχεσθαι ἢ ἔνδοθεν
ὑπακούειν. ἀλλ᾽ Ὀδυσεὺς ἡμᾶς κατἐσχε καὶ ἔσωσε πάντας Ἀχαιούς.

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Notes (τὰ βοηθήματα)

οὗτος, αὕτη,
τοῦτο: these words are demonstrative pronouns (αἱ
δεικτικαὶ ἀντωνυμίαι) which correspond to “this” or “that” in
English. Like definite articles and all nominals they change to
reflect the number, case, and gender of the nouns, to which they
refer. You will see that they are related to the definite
articles. (In fact, the definite articles were demonstrative
pronouns during an earlier phase in the evolution of the Greek
language, and they still serve that function in Homeric Greek.)
This is the first of three systems of demonstrative pronouns. Two
are built upon the foundation of the definite articles. The
masculine and neuter forms (with the exception of the masculine
nominative singular and plural) consist of του- followed by the
definite article. The feminine forms add ταυ-. (The vowel of the
prefix corresponds to the vowel of the system.) The accent shifts
back to the initial syllable.

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν:
these are forms of one of the most common adjectives (actually
overall the 25th most common word in the language). It means
“each” in the singular and “all” in the plural and appears in a
number of words that are familiar to you, for example, “panorama,”
“pantheism,” and “panacea.” The forms of the feminine follow the
alpha (or first) system of declension. The masculine and neuter,
however, follow a new system, the third or consonant declension.

εἶπες: in
the previous reading you encountered εἰπέ (“speak” or
“say”), the second person singular imperative of the verb λέγειν
(“to speak”). That form of the imperative calls for a brief
introduction to Ancient Greek verbs. Like English, Ancient Greek
featured a present tense (ἐνεστῶς χρόνος) and a simple past
(ἀόριστος χρόνος). Ancient Greek grammarians used the adjective ἀόριστος,
which means “without boundaries or limits” or “indefinite,” to
describe that tense. Today, we use the transliterated term
“aorist” instead of “simple,” because “simple” does not fully
describe what that tense conveys. The aorist describes an activity
that took place one specific time in the past. Linguists
refer to that feature as “aspect.” Here is an example. In English,
the sentence “I walked” would work in response to the questions,
“How did you go to school last year?” and “How did you get to
school today? In other words, “I walked” could mean “I walked
(repeatedly, that is, every day or most days throughout last
academic year).” It could also mean “I walked (just today).”
Speakers of Ancient Greek would use the imperfect tense to
describe repeated action in the past and the aorist tense to
describe a single action. Strangely, for some English speakers,
the ancient Greeks used imperative forms of the aorist, even
though the imperative calls for an action in the future, because
of the aorist’s aspect. Another example from English will
illustrate the difference. Consider the sentence, “Look both ways
before crossing the street.” This sentence would be appropriate
for both, “Look both ways before crossing the street (everytime
you want to cross)” and “Look both ways before you cross (this
particular street at this particular time).” Ancient Greek
speakers would use the present imperative for the former and the
aorist for the latter, because it refers to a single, specific
event.

English speakers form the simple past
in two ways. For some verbs we form the past tense by adding -ed,
-t, or -d. (Grammarians refer to these as weak verbs.) An example
is “walk”: “I walk” in the present and “I walked” in the past
tense. For others, the strong verbs, we change a vowel to indicate
the past: “I speak” in the present and “I spoke” in the past
tense. Similarly, in Ancient Greek, the some verbs, the first or
sigmatic aorist, a σ added to the stem indicates the past
tense. For others, second aorists, the stem undergoes a change.
Below are the present and past forms of two verbs that mean
basically “to walk” in English. You will see that they have the
same stem (βα-) but one belongs to the group of sigmatic aorists
and the other, the second aorists.

Present Tense (ἐνεστῶς χρόνος)

Past (Aorist) Tense (ἀόριστος χρόνος)

You will note that verbs in both
English and Ancient Greek require the combination of elements to
express the number, person, and tense. In English “walk” could be
a noun or a verb. We have to add “I” to “walk” to signal that it
is a verb and indicate that it is first person singular.
Similarly, in Ancient Greek we add -ω on the stem βαδιζ-.
In English we add the element at the beginning or before the verb,
and in Ancient Greek at the end. In the next lesson, we will
discuss the quintessential nature of the Ancient Greek verb and
the way various elements encode the five characteristics of verbs:
number, person, tense, voice, and mood.

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Vocabulary

※ Green background color indicates core vocabulary.

Nouns (τὰ ὀνόματα)	Definition	Dict.	Gram.
γυνή, γυναικός ἡ	woman, wife γύναι wife (vocative)	LSJ	285
μοῖρα, μοίρας ἡ	lot, portion –> that which is right,   κατὰ μοῖραν according to what is right, correctly	LSJ	216
βουλή, βουλῆς ἡ	will, plan, determination τὴν βουλήν the will (accusative, singular, feminine)	LSJ	216
νόος (νοῦς), νοῦ ὁ	mind (τὸν) νόον the mind (accusative, singular, masculine)	LSJ	231
ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός ὁ	land (τῶν) ἀνδρῶν of the men (genitive, plural, masculine)	LSJ	262
ἥρως, ἥρωος ὁ	an epic warrior (τῶν) ἡρώων of epic warriors (genitive, masculine, plural)	LSJ	262
πόλιν	city ἡ πόλις the city (nominative) τὴν πόλιν the city (accusative)	LSJ	231
τέκνον	child τὸ τέκνον the child τὰ τέκνα the children	LSJ	231
χώρα	land, area, region ἡ χώρα the land ἐν τῇ χώμᾳ in the land	LSJ	216

 

Pronouns (αἱ ἀντωνυμίαι)	Definition	Dict.	Gram.
ἐμοί	me, to me, for me μοι (shortened form) to me		325
ὅ	which (neuter, singular, accusative, i.e., as an object; referring to τὸ ὄνομα)		325
σέ	you (accusative, singular)		334
ἄλλοι	others οἱ ἄλλοι the others (masculine)		325
οἵ	who (masculine, plural, nominative; referring to οἱ ἄλλοι)		325
σοῦ	your, of you (masculine, singular, genitive)		325
ἐγώ	I		325
σύ	you (singular, as a subject)		334
ἐμοῦ	of me, my		325

 

Adjectives (τὰ ἐπίθετα ὀνόματα)	Definition	Dict.	Gram.
Ἀχαιός	Achaean ὀ Ἀχαιός the Achaean (singular, masculine) ἡ Ἀχαιά the Achaean (singular, feminine) τὸ Ἀχαιόν the Achaean (singular, neuter) οἱ Ἀχαιοί the Achaeans (plural, masculine)	LSJ	287
πολύς, πολλή, πολύ	much (singular), many (plural) πολλῶν of many (plural, genitve, masculine, feminine, or neuter to agree with and modify ἀνδρῶν) πολλήν much (= great) (singular, accusative, feminine to agree with and modify γαῖαν)	LSJ	311

 

Verbs (τὰ ῥήματα)	Definition	Dict.	Gram.
εἶπες	(you) (singular) spoke or said (past tense).	LSJ	383
ἔγνων	(I) came to know ἔγνω he, she, or it came to know ἔγνως you (singular) came to know ἔγνωμεν we came to know ἔγνωσαν they came to know	LSJ	681
καλοῦσι	(they) call	LSJ	385
περιοικοῦσι	(they) live around	LSJ	385

 

Adverbs (τὰ ἐπιρρήματα)	Definition	Dict.	Gram.
ἤδη	already, by this time	LSJ

 

Conjunctions (οἱ σύνδεσμοι)	Definition	Dict.	Gram.
καί	and	LSJ	2868

 

Prepositions (αἱ προθέσεις)	Definition	Dict.	Gram.
κατά	throughout, according to	LSJ	1690

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Readings from the Odyssey (τὰ βοηθήματα ἐκ
Ὀδυσσείας)

Ὁμήρου Ὀδύσσεια Ραψωδία η’

[550] εἴπ᾽
ὄνομ᾽ ὅττι σε κεῖθι κάλεον μήτηρ
τε πατήρ τε
ἄλλοι θ᾽ οἳ κατὰ ἄστυ καὶ οἳ περιναιετάουσιν.
οὐ μὲν γάρ τις πάμπαν ἀνώνυμός ἐστ᾽ ἀνθρώπων,
οὐ κακὸς οὐδὲ μὲν ἐσθλός, ἐπὴν τὰ πρῶτα γένηται,
ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ πᾶσι τίθενται, ἐπεί κε τέκωσι, τοκῆες.
εἰπὲ δέ μοι γαῖάν τε· τεὴν δῆμόν τε πόλιν τε
ὄφρα σε τῇ πέμπωσι τιτυσκόμεναι φρεσὶ νῆες

Speak (the) name, which mother and
father call you there
and others: throughout the town and who dwell around,
because no one of human beings is entirely nameless
neither bad nor noble, when they first come to be,
but parents set (names) upon all, when they give birth.
Tell me (the) land and your people and city
so that ships might send you there navigating with their minds.

Ὁμήρου Ὀδύσσεια Ραψωδία θ’

εἴμ᾽ Ὀδυσεὺς
Λαερτιάδης, ὃς
πᾶσι δόλοισιν
[20] ἀνθρώποισι μέλω, καί μευ κλέος οὐρανὸν
ἵκει.
ναιετάω δ᾽ Ἰθάκην ἐυδείελον· ἐν δ᾽
ὄρος αὐτῇ
Νήριτον εἰνοσίφυλλον, ἀριπρεπές· ἀμφὶ δὲ νῆσοι
πολλαὶ ναιετάουσι μάλα σχεδὸν ἀλλήλῃσι,
Δουλίχιόν τε Σάμη τε καὶ ὑλήεσσα Ζάκυνθος.

I am Odysseus, the son of Laertes, who
because of tricks
am known to all people, and my fame reaches heaven.
I inhabit Itaka easily-seen-from-afar. On it is a mountain,
Neriton, with quaking leaves, conspicuous; around sit
many islands very close to each other:
Doulikhion and Same and forested Zakunthos.