The reference is Chariton,
De Chaerea et Callirhoe 8.8.1-2. It is a short passage from a Hellenistic romance novel. The flow of action sort of carries the sense along.
Jordan Day wrote:Thank you very much for this little "test".
Well, this certainly did not boost my confidence any.
You're welcome. Dealing with a familiar thing in an unfamiliar way can sometimes feel disheatening. Now looking at the text again, I can notice 3 or 4 things that I understand differently now than before. Stupid things like
- Καρίας -- ἡ πόλις τοῦ Μιθριδάτου,
I think you did exceptionally well - this is an "unseen" not an aided translation.
τὰ ἑξῆς (to borrow that from the the text
) are a few notes which you might like to modify your understanding of the passage - reformulate a translation, perhaps. Anyway, when you're ready, I have a fair copy prepared and ready to post.
Here are some suggestions to improve your understanding
καταχθεὶς ἐν τῷ χωρίῳ Καλλιρρόης εἰκόνα θεασάμενος ἐν ἱερῷ ἐγὼ μὲν εἶχον ἀγαθὰς ἐλπίδας
The underlined all refer to the same person.
ἐν τῷ χωρίῳ Καλλιρρόης εἰκόνα
The girl's name is Καλλιρρόη. Does Καλλιρρόης refer back to
χωρίον (9x in the NT) = τόπος, μικρὰ χώρα, or forward to
εἰκών, do you think?
Θρῆνον ἐξέρρηξεν ἐπὶ τούτοις τὸ πλῆθος
τὸ πλῆθος = ὁ ὄχλος cf. Luke 1:10 Καὶ πᾶν
τὸ πλῆθος ἦν τοῦ λαοῦ προσευχόμενον ἔξω τῇ ὥρᾳ τοῦ θυμιάματος. πλῆθος probably refers to the sheer number of people, while ὄχλος refers to that they were densely packed together so that no one could move freely.
ἐπὶ τούτοις = ὅτε ἀκηκόασιν ταῦτα
θρῆνος = cf. Matthew 2:18
Φωνὴ ἐν Ῥαμᾶ ἠκούσθη,
θρῆνος καὶ
κλαυθμὸς καὶ
ὀδυρμὸς πολύς, Ῥαχὴλ κλαίουσα τὰ τέκνα αὐτῆς, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν παρακληθῆναι, ὅτι οὐκ εἰσίν. (All three are vocal expressions of grief, θρῆνος is probably expressed in actual words) Cf, John 16:20 Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι κλαύσετε καὶ θρηνήσετε ὑμεῖς, ὁ δὲ κόσμος χαρήσεται· ὑμεῖς δὲ λυπηθήσεσθε, ἀλλ’ ἡ λύπη ὑμῶν εἰς χαρὰν γενήσεται.
τριήρης - is actually a special type of ship (μέγα πλοῖον was just a hint) - a warship.
πωλεῖν (ἀγορά) ≠ πλεῖν (θάλασσα)
τὰ ἑξῆς = τὰ ἑπόμενα [τὰ προηγούμενα / τὰ πάλαι - τὰ παρόντα / τὰ νῦν - τὰ ἐπόμενα / τὰ μέλλοντα / τὰ ἑξῆς]
ὁ δῆμος - ὅλοι οἱ πολίται τινὸς πόλεως συνηγομένοι ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ, ἡ ἐκκλησία.
Καὶ ὃς ἔλεγεν || ‘ὁ πριάμενος ἡμᾶς, δοῦλος Μιθριδάτου, στρατηγοῦ Καρίας, ἐκέλευσε σκάπτειν ὄντας πεπεδημένους.
There are two separate parts here, but the accusative actually (logically) refers to the same people "us", but grammatically there is an (artificial) division. Καὶ ὃς ἔλεγεν uses the relative for demonstrative. The undeerlined words all refer to the same person.
σκάπτειν is more vigourous and exhausting than you imagine. Looking at the three instances in the NT will demonstrate that. Down to bedrock in Luke 6:48 ὅμοιός ἐστιν ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκοδομοῦντι οἰκίαν, ὃς ἔσκαψεν καὶ ἐβάθυνεν, καὶ ἔθηκεν θεμέλιον ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν· To make a water-course in Luke 13:8 Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς λέγει αὐτῷ, Κύριε, ἄφες αὐτὴν καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἔτος, ἕως ὅτου σκάψω περὶ αὐτήν, καὶ βάλω κόπρια· And as being thought of as "hard yakka" in Luke 16:3 Σκάπτειν οὐκ ἰσχύω.
τῶν δεσμωτῶν ... τινες - δεσμώται are people as you have indicated, but what is the opposite of a δεσμοφύλαξ - ὁ φυλάσσων τοὺς δεσμώτας. In this case they are a road-gang (chain-gang), so the English translations that we see in the book of acts, and your "the jailer of the prison" don't really work. They sort of work from the understanding that the δεσμοφύλαξ is ὁ φυλάσσων τὸ δεσμωτήριον (τὸ οἰκοδόμημα ἐν ᾧ φυλάσσονται δεσμώται). But a gaoler is not in fear of his life if someone damages the prison.
ἐγνώρισε - here is "know already, and then get some outside information (sensory input) that matches the knowledge."
ξένος - ὁ φίλος ὁ ἐνοικῶν ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τινός. You will remember that Paul asked Philemon to ἑτοίμαζέ μοι ξενίαν (a room in the house) because he hoped to come and stay. That is the sense of ξένος here, not either of the senses in the New Testament - (1) a stranger who could be a guest if you ξενοδοχεῖν them, and (2) something foreign or alien and unwelcome.
Χαιρέου θαπτομένου παρῆν - This is funny because he, the one telling the story
IS the Χαιρέας that was buried!!!
τάφος - here = κενοτάφιον because there was no body in it. With the adjective πολυτελής, it is probably a μνῆμα / μνημεῖον not a simple σῆμα. τάφος is the place (however πολυτελής or ἁπλοῦς), and putting the body into the place is ταφή.