Here's the text:
‘ἀλλ᾽ ἔστιν ὁ θεὸς, χρὴ φάναι, καὶ ἔστι κατ᾽ οὐδένα χρόνον ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τὸν ἀκίνητον καὶ ἄχρονον καὶ ἀνέγκλιτον καὶ οὗ πρότερον οὐδέν ἐστιν οὐδ᾽ ὕστερον
I'm specifically drawing a blank with the function of kata in 'κατ᾽ οὐδένα χρόνον ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τὸν ἀκίνητον.' I'm thinking it is being used in the sense of LSJ B. VIII - "periphrastically with abstract Subst," but I feel like I'm missing something. Is he basically saying, "There is no time but the immovable age"?
Help with a Plutarch translation
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Please quote the Greek text you are discussing directly in your post if it is reasonably short - do not ask people to look it up. This is not a beginner's forum, competence in Greek is assumed.
Please quote the Greek text you are discussing directly in your post if it is reasonably short - do not ask people to look it up. This is not a beginner's forum, competence in Greek is assumed.
Re: Help with a Plutarch translation
He's speaking about the existence of God in terms of temporal duration; he is saying that God exists not in terms of any particular point in time but in terms of timeless and changeless eternity, with no temporal priority or posteriority.refe wrote:Here's the text:
‘ἀλλ᾽ ἔστιν ὁ θεὸς, χρὴ φάναι, καὶ ἔστι κατ᾽ οὐδένα χρόνον ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τὸν ἀκίνητον καὶ ἄχρονον καὶ ἀνέγκλιτον καὶ οὗ πρότερον οὐδέν ἐστιν οὐδ᾽ ὕστερον
I'm specifically drawing a blank with the function of kata in 'κατ᾽ οὐδένα χρόνον ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τὸν ἀκίνητον.' I'm thinking it is being used in the sense of LSJ B. VIII - "periphrastically with abstract Subst," but I feel like I'm missing something. Is he basically saying, "There is no time but the immovable age"?
I'd say that the sense of κατὰ here is "with respect to" or "with regard to" or "in terms of." He's attempting to answer the question, "How does God exist in terms of the passage of time?"
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Re: Help with a Plutarch translation
Perfect, thanks - I knew that my reading was not fitting the context, so your reply is very helpful.