Chapter 1, section 17 - Text
Xenophon, Oeconomicus Chapter 1 wrote:περὶ δούλων μοι, ἔφη ὁ Σωκράτης, ἐπιχειρεῖς, ὦ Κριτόβουλε, διαλέγεσθαι; οὐ μὰ Δί᾽, ἔφη, οὐκ ἔγωγε, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάνυ εὐπατριδῶν ἐνίων γε δοκούντων εἶναι, οὓς ἐγὼ ὁρῶ τοὺς μὲν πολεμικάς, τοὺς δὲ καὶ εἰρηνικὰς ἐπιστήμας ἔχοντας, ταύτας δὲ οὐκ ἐθέλοντας ἐργάζεσθαι, ὡς μὲν ἐγὼ οἶμαι, δι᾽ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὅτι δεσπότας οὐκ ἔχουσιν.
Hints: Look at these if you need to
ἐπιχειρέω: This verb can take an infinitive and when it does it may mean endeavor or attempt to do.
διαλέγεσθαι: This word likely means “to have a conversation” or “ to argue” here. It may take a dative of person.
οὐ μὰ Δί᾽: a strong negation οὐ μὰ is a strong negation and it is sometimes followed by an accusative of a deity/thing being appealed to. In this case, Zeus/Jupiter.
οὐκ ἔγωγε: ἔγωγε is an intensive form of ἔγω. This phrase may be understood as having an implied “be” verb. “I am not.”
καὶ πάνυ: This phrase may mean something like “certainly.”
εὐπατριδῶν: Men with noble fathers. Maybe something like “noblemen” would be appropriate. I struggled with why this was a genitive, but then I realized that Kritoboulus was responding to the initial prepositional phrase “περὶ δούλων.” “No, I am not [talking about slaves] but [περί] noblemen.”
ἐνίων: “some”
γε: I am not completely certain about this. I believe it is intensifying “ἐνίων.” I have decided to bring this out by italicizing “ἐνίων.” The glosses “at least” or “at any rate” may also be appropriate.
δοκούντων: I believe this refers back to “εὐπατριδῶν.” It is capable of taking an infinitive. Here it may mean something like "they are reputed."
τοὺς πολεμικάς: “men who are skilled in war”
τοὺς εἰρηνικὰς: “men who are peaceful.”
ὁρῶ τοὺς ἔχοντας ἐπιστήμας μὲν τοὺς πολεμικάς δὲ καὶ τοὺς εἰρηνικὰς: Maybe seeing the text in this arrangement would help if you get stuck. Pay attention to the μὲν... δὲ structure. It appears to me that there are two different categories of people who are in view each with different skills.
οἶμαι: “I think, suppose, or believe.” The phrase this verb is part of is a parenthetical expression.
δι᾽ αὐτὸ τοῦτο: I understand this as “for this reason.”
δεσπότας: “lords” or “masters”