Lesson 7a: Second paragraph

Translation paragraph 2

For Odysseus sails against troy with Agamemnon and the Achaeans. And so for ten [long] years they fight around troy and in the end take the city. So [then] Odysseus tells his companions to embark in their ships and they sail away from troy homewards bound. And on their way they suffer many terrible [hardships]. For often they undergo storms, often they fall into other very grave dangers.

Words and expressions

ἐπὶ τὴν Τροίαν πλεῖ

against whom? - him (accusative form) So:
ἐπὶ τὸν λύκον ὁρμᾶται
ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἀθηναίους πορεύονται
πλεῖ he sails. This verb is contract only when  ε meets ε  (check)
ἆρα πλεῖς;  οὐχί, οὐ πλέω
ποῖ πλεῖτε;  πλέομεν εἰς τὴν Κρήτην
πλέουσι ταχέως ἐν μεγάλαις ναυσὶ ἐπὶ Τροίαν
ἐν νὦ ἔχω πλεῖν καὶ ἐγὼ εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν, βούλομαι γὰρ θεωρεῖν τὴ̀ν Τροίαν.
 

δέκα μὲν οὖν ἔτη μάχονται

How long for? Accusative case forms:
πολὺν χρόνον πονοῦμεν
ἕξ νύκτες οὐ καθεύδει
πέντε ἡμέρας πλέουσιν
ἱκανὸν χρόνον μένω ἐν τῇ πόλει long enough to see all the sights
 

περὶ Τροίᾱν μάχονται  all around, round takes accusative form endings when it means: movement around

Contrast this with
a story about (genitive)
μῦθός τις περὶ Τροίᾱς
μῦθός τις περὶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων about the Athenians
μῦθός τις περὶ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν    about Athens
μῦθός τις περὶ τοῦ Μίνωος
μῦθός τις περὶ λύκου τε καὶ κυνός
  Note  
They stood (had gathered) around
περὶ τὸν Μινώταυρον ἐν τῇ γῇ κείμενον
And then told
τὸν περὶ τοῦ Μινωταύρου μῦθον
Change of form denotes change of meaning. Think of concrete examples for using both forms: (Of course no one expects you to come up with long sentences in Greek, just situations where you would use either one or the other form and just use that form according to the specific meaning under the specified conditions.
       all around the house, fields
       tell about the house
       standing around a slain wolf
       tell the story of said wolf
You must get to feel the difference in meaning according to the form used. Once you feel it you'll never forget again. Just learning the rule isn't good enough, you need practice to make structures yours for life, not just remember them long enough to pass a test.
 

τέλος δὲ τὴν πόλιν αἱροῦσιν

and finally they take, conquer the town
Compare:
λαμβάνω τὸ ἄροτρον I take, take and hold
λαμβάνομαι τῆς ὑδρίας 
I grab hold of it (to smash over sb's head maybe)
αἱρέω I take, take away, take through defeat; I grasp (also intellectually)
Actually, this is over-simplifying things. In a way, all three are interchangeable, so only context will tell us which will render our intention (or the author's) best. We just have to try and be flexible as far as interpretation of people's words is concerned. Don't take everything you hear or read too literally, keep your eyes and ears and brain wide open at all times. We are all only human and as such both subjective and fallible. Make up your own mind, form your own judgement. But also be ready to revise your first opinion and acknowledge your mistake, if proven wrong.
 

τοὺς ἑταίρους κελεύει εἰς τὰς ναῦς εἰσβαίνειν

he orders them to embark in their ships.
For the different forms taken by ships look here.
Some more actions involving ships or boats:
ἐκ τῶν νεὼν ἐκβαίνουσιν
πρὸς τὰς ναῦς σπεύδουσιν
ἐν ταῖς ναυσὶ μένουσιν.
On to κελεύει αὐτούς  he orders them, tells them to....
ὁ πατὴρ κελεύει τὸν υἱὸν πονεῖν
ὁ δεσπότης κελεύει τὸν δοῦλον σπεύδειν
ὁ Φίλιππος κελεύει τὸν κύνα διώκειν τὸν λαγών
 

So to order someone to do something is no different in Greek than in English:

I order	someone	to do something
κελεύω	τινὰ	ποιεῖν τι

 

χειμῶνας ὑπέχουσιν

ὑπό under
ἔχω I hold, I have, but also:
πῶς ἒχεις; How are you?
καλῶς ἔχω I'm fine.
And: χειμῶνα ὑπέχω I'm under a storm, I suffer a storm
storms and winds and draught and hail etc. all:
ὑπέχω nasty conditions
 

εἰς ἄλλους κινδύνους μεγίστους ἐμπίπτουσιν

We had ἐμπίπτειν followed by dative in the sense of: to attack, fall upon someone or something (dog upon wolf in lesson 5). So here we could have:
κινδύνοις ἐμπίπτουσιν like τοῖς μήλοις ἐμπίπτει 
but taking it in the more literal sense of: to fall into something, like a well, a whirlpool, a trap, we'd use ἐμπίπτειν εἰς + accusative forms.
εἰς φρέαρ the fox into a well (fable)
εἰς δίνην (Odysseus and companions, nearly)
we can also apply it to: fall into a danger in general, and say:
εἰς κίνδυνον ἐμπίπτειν
 

μέγιστος , μεγίστη , μέγιστον very big, enormous, very important

μέγας λίθος        μέγιστος λίθος 
μέγαν δένδρον   μέγιστον δένδρον 
μεγάλη οἰκία       μεγίστη οἰκία
Think of very big things (like in English, no article), τὰ πάντα μέγιστά ἐστιν : a very big farm, garden, stone....., very big mountains, ships....
Think of the biggest things (using the article, like in English), τὰ μέγιστα πάντων: the biggest fool, the most important god....
Who was  ὁ μέγιστος θεὸς ὁ τῶν Ἑλλήνων;