Lesson 7a: Fourth paragraph
Translation paragraph 4
So after a short while they arrive at the island. Near the sea they see a big cave and many sheep and many goats. And so Odysseus says to his companions: "You wait by the ship. but I intend to go into the cave." And so he orders 12 of his companions to follow him. And the others remain by the ship. When they arrive in (= get into) the cavern they don't find any person inside. And so his companions: "Oh Odysseus, they say, no man is inside. Drive therefore the sheep and also the goats to the ship and sail away as quickly as possible."
Words and expressions
- ἐγγὺς τῆς θαλάττης near [in the vicinity of] the sea
All of the following take genitive case forms, so get your ears tuned: 
πόρρω (= μακρὰν ἀπὸ) τῆς θαλάττης far away from
ἐγγὺς τῆς θαλάττης, near (in the vicinity of)
ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης, out of
ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάττης , away from
πρὸ τῆς θαλάττης , in front of
ὄπισθεν τῆς θαλάττης, behind (at the back of)
Oops, that doesn't make much sense, better:
πέρᾱν τῆς θαλάττης, the other side of, beyond
διὰ τῆς θαλάττης, across
All away from, out of etc. Instead of sea, use house, theatre, farm, field, town .....
Now contrast with:
ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ νήες καὶ ἰχθύες ships and fish
ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ / ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάττης a thick film of oil
ὑπὸ τῇ θαλάττῃ / ὑπὸ τῆς θαλάττης volcanoes, metal ores, reserves of oil
πρὸς τῇ θαλάττῃ beaches, ports, settlements
In other words, position in or on or under or at, next to, by the side of (usually, but not always) require dative case forms, away from, out of and across always require genitive.
And what about the following:
σπεύδομεν πρὸς τὴν θάλατταν
ἐπείτα δὲ εἰσβαίνομεν εἰς τὴν θάλατταν
Movement towards or into requires accusative case forms.
So would you please go over these carefully, imagining situations in which people, things, flying saucers, whatever, are or do whatever it takes:
drown in the sea, set up tent near the sea, come rushing out of the sea (a shark after you, or an elderly, not very pretty mermaid/man..), prefer to live far, far away from the sea or near it etc.
I can type till my fingers drop off giving good advice, what's the use if you don't take it? You will only remember forms if you use them. Eventually all but the correct form should sound ridiculous. Stop thinking dative, genitive, accusative but rather get a feeling for the forms: this is correct, not because it is dative, but because this sounds like position. It happens to be called dative by grammarians, but the Greeks used the form in real life to denote position long long before the word dative was coined. καὶ τὰ λοιπά
- ἐν νῶ ἔχω εἰς τὸ ἄντρον εἰσιέναι
Revise ἐν νῶ ἔχω, Chapter 4a
ἰέναι is the infinitive, i.e. the base form, the to do form of ἔρχομαι I come, I go
ἡ Μυρρίνη ἐν νῶ ἔχει βαδίζειν πρὸς τὴν κρήνην
ἐγὼ ἐν νῶ ἔχω πονεῖν ἐν τῷ κήπῳ
because the weeds are threatening to take over
I intend + preposition + case-form + compound action ἐν νῶ ἔχω εἰς τὸ ἄντρον εἰσιέναι ἐκ τοῦ ἄντρου ἐξιέναι ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄντρου ἀπιέναι οἴκαδε ἐπανιέναι πρὸς τὸ ἄντρον προσιέναι
κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον (in the same way):
ἐθέλω ἰέναι εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας
βούλομαι ἐξιέναι, οὐ βούλομαι ἐνδον μένειν (stay inside, no thank you)
καιρός ἐστιν ἐπανιέναι (time to go back)
Practice the forms as if you meant them, don't just play parrot!
- οὐδένα ἄνθρωπον εὑρίσκουσιν ἔνδον
- they don't find any person inside
εὑρίσκω ἄνθρωπόν τινα I find somebody
οὐχ εὑρίσκω οὐδένα
οὐδείς ἐστιν ἔνδον, πάντες εἰσὶν ἔξω
οὐδεμία κόρη ἐθέλει φέρειν ὐδρίας μεγάλας
τί λέγεις, ὦ φίλε ; - ἐγώ; οὐδέν. What? - Nothing!
And οὐδὲν λέγεις, 'you say nothing' usually means "you talk nonsense",sort of the same as φλυαρεῖς.
- ὡς τάχιστα
- What do you want to do as quickly as possible? finish the book, sell your car before it gives up the ghost, pull all of your money out before your bank goes bust, put the darling little puppy outside before there's a mishap.....
We've had ταχέως so now we can add ὡς τάχιστα and tell Xanthias to get rid of those stones not just
ταχέως but really ὡς τάχιστα
ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁρῶσι τὸν λύκον , φεύγουσιν ὡς τάχιστα
ὁ παῖς βλέπει the chocolate καὶ λαμβάνεται ὡς τάχιστα gets it for himself before anybody else has a chance
School is out and
οἱ παίδες ἐκ τοῦ διδασκαλείου ἐκβαίνουσιν ὡς τάχιστα.
- δώδεκα οὖν τῶν ἑταίρων κελεύει ἑαυτῷ ἕπεσθαι
- See Reflexive Pronouns pages72/73 (p. 101 in 2nd edition)
Try exercise 7c, remembering all the while to imagine what the sentences portray:
If it says the sow gets up and shakes of her piglets, you've got to see the big one dropping little ones all over the place as she lifts herself .
If you don't actively intervene, interact in the learning process, you might just as well go and aimlessly watch TV, any old program. You won't learn anything, but at least you won't tire yourself needlessly.
And since I mentioned pig, in Greek that is ὁ or ἡ σῦς, συός. Its little Latin cousin being called: sus, suis. So the above mentioned lumbering pig will be, in Greek:
ἡ μὲν σῦς ἐπαίρει ἑαυτήν
οἱ δὲ μικροὶ σύες ἐπαίρουσιν ἑαυτοὺς καὶ ἕπονται αὐτῇ
that is ἕπονται τῇ μητρί follow the vanishing provider of delights.