3rd Paragraph

Translation

So father and son wait a short while at the door. Then the slave came out and said: "Come on in, for my master is willing to receive you." And so father leading his son inside saw the doctor sitting in his courtyard. And so, having come up he said: "Greetings. I am Dikaiopolis from Cholleidae and I bring my boy to you; for something terrible happened to him. He has become blind." And the doctor: "Come here, child. What happened to you? How did you become blind?" And so Dikaiopolis told the doctor everything, and he [=the doctor] examines the boy's eyes for a long time. Finally: "As for me, I can't help him. For his eyes are not diseased at all. And therefore men can't help, but for the gods all is possible. You must therefore take the boy to Epidaurus and pray to Asclepius, if perhaps he is willing to heal him." And Dikaiopolis [moans]: "Alas, for how can I, being poor, go to Epidaurus." But the doctor [retorts]: "Your business, man. Good-bye."

ὁ ἰατρός οὐ δύναται, ἀλλὰ οἱ θεοὶ δύνανται

ὠφελεῖν τὸν παῖδα
ἰᾶσθαι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ
We've seen "possible" in lesson 3:
οὐ δυνατόν ἐστιν αἴρειν τὸν λίθον, οὕτω μέγαν ὄντα.
So we could say: It isn't possible for the doctor to be of assistance:
οὐ δυνατόν ἐστι τῷ ἰατρῷ ὠφελεῖν
And: For the gods all is possible:
τοῖς θεοῖς τὰ πάντα δυνατά (ἐστίν).
A dynamo can produce electricity when activated, a dynamic person can and does generate a lot of activity, the δυνάμις (=power) of Athens was quite considerable in her time.

δύναμαι is possibility AND ability, not only physical: I can do that, I am capable of all sorts of things
ἔξεστί μοι only means 'I may, I'm allowed to, I'm given the possibility':

ὁ παῖς δύναται τρέχειν, παίζειν, πηδᾶν he is quite capable of running, playing, jumping (the Cyclops in lesson 7b ἀναπηδᾶ jumps up, ὁτε τὸ ρόπαλον εἰς τὸν ἕνα ὀφθαλμὸν εἰσελαύνεται when the stake is pushed into his one and only eye.
ὁ παῖς, τυφλὸς ὤν, πταίει. οὔκουν (therefore not) ἔξεστι τῷ παιδί, τυφλῷ όντι, τρέχειν, πηδᾶν....
τῷ Δικαιοπόλει πενητί ὄντι οὐ δυνατόν ἐστιν OR οὐκ ἔξεστιν ἐν νηὶ πορεύεσθαι (stowaways are not allowed)

ὠφέλιμος means "useful".

So ὠφελεῖν means: to be useful, to be of use rather than
to help generally which is βοηθεῖν or συλλαμβάνειν
βοήθει μοι περαίνειν τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον. Help me finish this job
οὐδὲν ὤφελεῖ. It's no use! Nothing works. We can't do it.

ἰᾶσθαι is 'to heal, to cure'.

And that's what a ἰατρός is supposed to do.

ὁ πατὴρ τὸν παῖδα τυφλὸν ὄντα εἰς τοῦ ἰατροῦ κομίζει.

father takes him, goes with him is κομίζει αὐτόν
leads him, shows him the way is ἡγεῖται αὐτῷ

Answer these questions about the text (in English)

τί ἔφη ὁ δοῦλος ἐξελθών;
ὁ Δικαιόπολις, προσελθὼν τῷ ἰατρῷ, τί ἔφη;
τί ἔφη ὁ ἰατρὸς ὁρῶν τὸν Φίλιππον;
σκόψας or ἰδὼν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τί ἔφη;
εἰπών (having had his say), τί ἐποίησε; (what did he do?)

Some more practice with δύναμαι and ἔξεστι
Answer:

δύνασαι ἄμαξαν ἐλαύνειν;
ἔξεστί σοι ἅμαξαν ἐλαύνειν μετὰ τὸ πολλὺ πίνειν;
δύνασθε ὁρᾶν τὸν ἥλιον νῦν;
ἆρ' ἔξεστι ὁρᾶν τὸν ἥλιον; (look straight at it, that is, without protection)
διὰ τί οὐ δύναται ὁ Φίλιππος πεζῆ ἰέναι εἰς τὴν Ἐπίδαυρον;
πῶς δύνανται οἱ ἄνθρωποι πορεύεσθαι εἰς τὴν Ἐπίδαυρον;
ἆρ' ἔξεστι ὁρᾶν τῆς Νίκης εἴδωλον ἐν τῆ Ἀμερίκῃ;
ἆρ' ἔξεστι ὑμῖν ὁρᾶν τοῦτο τὸ εἴδωλον νῦν;
διὰ τί οὐκ ἔξεστι τῷ Δικαιοπόλιδι ἐν νηὶ ἰέναι;