Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4

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Stephen Hughes
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Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4, Section 1 wrote:ἀλλὰ πάσας μὲν τί σε δεῖ ἐπιδεικνύναι, ὦ Σώκρατες; ἔφη ὁ Κριτόβουλος: οὔτε γὰρ κτήσασθαι πασῶν τῶν τεχνῶν ἐργάτας ῥᾴδιον οἵους δεῖ, οὔτε ἔμπειρον γενέσθαι αὐτῶν οἷόν τε, ἀλλ᾽ αἳ δοκοῦσι κάλλισται τῶν ἐπιστημῶν καὶ ἐμοὶ πρέποι ἂν μάλιστα ἐπιμελομένῳ, ταύτας μοι καὶ αὐτὰς ἐπιδείκνυε καὶ τοὺς πράττοντας αὐτάς, καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὅ τι δύνασαι συνωφέλει εἰς ταῦτα διδάσκων.
Hints:
τί - (this question is seemingly almost) why ... ?
ἀλλὰ πάσας μὲν τί σε δεῖ ἐπιδεικνύναι - this is an illogical statement, perhaps humour or some other feeling might be involved.
ἐπιδεικνύναι - take one as an example / specimen (to explain a set)
οὔτε γὰρ κτήσασθαι πασῶν τῶν τεχνῶν ἐργάτας ῥᾴδιον οἵους δεῖ - one first reading - when looking for sentence structure - there seem to be two contradictory ideas in this statement. It seems to be partially from κτήσασθαι - to acquire (an infinitive)
ῥᾴδιόν ἐστι - it is easy, (+inf.)
δεῖ it is necessary (+inf.).
οἵους - a relative pronoun with ἐργάτας, it is accusative with δεῖ, and there is an understood second κτήσασθαι following it.
ἔμπειρον - experienced (balanced with αὐτῶν over the γενέσθαι)
οἷόν τε - it is possible
δοκοῦσι - they seem
κάλλισται τῶν ἐπιστημῶν - most noble of the sciences
ἐμοὶ πρέποι ἂν μάλιστα ἐπιμελομένῳ - πρέπει it is suitable for ... to .... (+dat.pers. and inf.) here the infinitive is unexpressed
ἐπιμελομένῳ - to one (me) cultivating / being engaged in (ἐπιμελεῖσθαι is the infinitive)
ταύτας - i.e. the best and personally most suitable
αὐτὸς ... διδάσκων - second person singular
συνωφέλει - imperative
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Stephen Hughes
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Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4, Section 2 wrote: ἀλλὰ καλῶς, ἔφη, λέγεις, ὦ Κριτόβουλε. καὶ γὰρ αἵ γε βαναυσικαὶ καλούμεναι καὶ ἐπίρρητοί εἰσι καὶ εἰκότως μέντοι πάνυ ἀδοξοῦνται πρὸς τῶν πόλεων. καταλυμαίνονται γὰρ τὰ σώματα τῶν τε ἐργαζομένων καὶ τῶν ἐπιμελομένων, ἀναγκάζουσαι καθῆσθαι καὶ σκιατραφεῖσθαι, ἔνιαι δὲ καὶ πρὸς πῦρ ἡμερεύειν. τῶν δὲ σωμάτων θηλυνομένων καὶ αἱ ψυχαὶ πολὺ ἀρρωστότεραι γίγνονται.
Hints:
βαναυσικαὶ - of or for artisans: “τέχνη β.” handicraft
ἐπίρρητοί - exclaimed against, infamous
εἰκότως μέντοι πάνυ - adv., partic., adv.
εἰκότως - quite rightly, in a suitable fashion
μέντοι - to be sure
ἀδοξοῦνται - to be held in no esteem, be in ill repute
πρὸς τῶν πόλεων - (+gen.) in the eyes of
καταλυμαίνονται - referring to the τέχναι themselves
ἀναγκάζουσαι - active participle - force, compel, mostly c. acc. pers. et inf. The infinitives are there, but the accusatives need to be supplied from the τὰ σώματα τῶν τε ἐργαζομένων καὶ τῶν ἐπιμελομένων, i.e. τοὺς τε ἐργαζομένους καὶ τοὺς ἐπιμελομένους αὐτῶν, which is you wanted to write it out would be written in this sentence simply as αὐτοὺς.
καθῆσθαι - to remain seated
σκιατραφεῖσθαι - keep themselves in the shade, shun heat and labour
ἔνιαι δὲ καὶ πρὸς πῦρ ἡμερεύειν - the full idea of this could be expressed like ἔνιαι βαναυσικαὶ τέχναι καὶ πρὸς πῦρ ἡμερεύειν ἀναγκάζονται τοὺς τε ἐργαζομένους καὶ τοὺς ἐπιμελομένους αὐτῶν. or the like.
ἔνιαι - some Note: This acts as an adjective with the plural noun in the same case, not with a partitive genitive.
ἡμερεύειν - to spend the day
τῶν δὲ σωμάτων θηλυνομένων καὶ αἱ ψυχαὶ πολὺ ἀρρωστότεραι γίγνονται. - as their bodies grow soft, and even more so, their souls grow weak. Greek does not use the periphrastic construction "become (weak)-er", it uses a single verb, or the positive "become weak" (with the γίγνονται itself supplying the time-based comparison that we take from the comparative "weaker" in English) . The genitive here could be absolute, but in that case τῶν δὲ σωμάτων θηλυνομένων καὶ αἱ ψυχαὶ ἄρρωσται γίγνονται. would suffice. Adding the comparative -ότεραι (which syntactically takes a genitive of what it is compared to) wouldn't affect the fact that the softening of the bodies does occur. The addition of the adverbial πολύ makes the comparison even greater. [An extended discussion on this point is available in the thread 2 Cor. 8:22 / 1Pt. 1:7 - πολὺ σπουδαιότερον / τιμιώτερον]
θηλυνομένων - become womanly, become soft
πολὺ ἀρρωστότεραι - the adverb intensifies the comparative force. cf.LSJ πολύς III.2.c.
ἄρρωστος - weak, without strength, sick(ly)
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Stephen Hughes
Posts: 3323
Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4, Section 3 wrote: καὶ ἀσχολίας δὲ μάλιστα ἔχουσι καὶ φίλων καὶ πόλεως συνεπιμελεῖσθαι αἱ βαναυσικαὶ καλούμεναι. ὥστε οἱ τοιοῦτοι δοκοῦσι κακοὶ καὶ φίλοις χρῆσθαι καὶ ταῖς πατρίσιν ἀλεξητῆρες εἶναι. καὶ ἐν ἐνίαις μὲν τῶν πόλεων, μάλιστα δὲ ἐν ταῖς εὐπολέμοις δοκούσαις εἶναι, οὐδ᾽ ἔξεστι τῶν πολιτῶν οὐδενὶ βαναυσικὰς τέχνας ἐργάζεσθαι.
Hints:
ἔχειν - this is the "regular" ἔχειν (+acc.), not ἔχειν (+acc. et inf.) "to refrain from".
ἀσχολίας - (+inf. of the thing that that there is no opportunity to do) lack of free time (to).
συνεπιμελεῖσθαι - join in taking care of or attending to (+gen. of the thing to which care is given).
καὶ φίλων καὶ πόλεως συνεπιμελεῖσθαι - for paying attention to both the city and one's friends.
αἱ βαναυσικαὶ καλούμεναι - understand τέχναι - "the arts which are called handicrafts" - this is the subject of ἔχουσι.
πατρίσιν - this is not πατράσιν from πατήρ, but rather from πατρίς, -ίδος, ἡ fatherland.
ἀλεξητῆρες - an ἀλεξητήρ is one who keeps (danger / perils) away from something.
ἐνίαις - some, a number of.
εὐπολέμοις - feminine (common) adjective - good at war - dative after ἐν.
δοκούσαις - who are reputed to be - dative after ἐν.
δὲ ... δὲ ... - using the two of these makes it clear that both of the clauses that follow them follow on from καὶ ἐν ἐνίαις μὲν τῶν πόλεων, rather than that one follows on from the other.
ἔξεστι - (+dat. of person et inf. of what is allowable) - it is allowable for ... to ....
τῶν πολιτῶν οὐδενὶ - for even one of the citizens.
ἐργάζεσθαι - to have as a profession, to be employed in.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Stephen Hughes
Posts: 3323
Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4, Section 4 - Text and hints

Now Socrates proposes that they consider the Persian Emperor as an example.
Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4, Section 4 wrote: ἡμῖν δὲ δὴ ποίαις συμβουλεύεις, ὦ Σώκρατες, χρῆσθαι; ἆρ᾽, ἔφη ὁ Σωκράτης, μὴ αἰσχυνθῶμεν τὸν Περσῶν βασιλέα μιμήσασθαι; ἐκεῖνον γάρ φασιν ἐν τοῖς καλλίστοις τε καὶ ἀναγκαιοτάτοις ἡγούμενον εἶναι ἐπιμελήμασι γεωργίαν τε καὶ τὴν πολεμικὴν τέχνην τούτων ἀμφοτέρων ἰσχυρῶς ἐπιμελεῖσθαι. καὶ ὁ Κριτόβουλος ἀκούσας ταῦτα εἶπε:
Hints:
ἡμῖν - dative with συμβουλεύεις
ποίαις - dative with χρῆσθαι
ἆρ᾽ - particle at the beginning of a question
μὴ αἰσχυνθῶμεν τὸν Περσῶν βασιλέα μιμήσασθαι; - a question introduced by a negative particle
αἰσχυνθῶμεν - passive subjunctive (+inf.) to be ashamed to do something.
μιμήσασθαι - to imitate
ἐκεῖνον ... ἡγούμενον - syntactically with φασιν not μιμήσασθαι
ἐπιμελήμασι - this is the other side of the balance in the phrase τοῖς καλλίστοις τε καὶ ἀναγκαιοτάτοις ἡγούμενον εἶναι ἐπιμελήμασι - matters of concern
γεωργίαν τε καὶ τὴν πολεμικὴν τέχνην - note the (lack of) agreement of τέχνην
τούτων ἀμφοτέρων - feminine form of the pronoun
ἰσχυρῶς - exceedingly, strongly
ἐπιμελεῖσθαι - after φασιν
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Stephen Hughes
Posts: 3323
Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4, Section 5 - Text and hints

Socrates starts to explain the military arrangements that the Persian Emperor requires of his governors.
Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4, Section 5 wrote: καὶ τοῦτο, ἔφη, πιστεύεις, ὦ Σώκρατες, βασιλέα τὸν Περσῶν γεωργίας τι συνεπιμελεῖσθαι; ὧδ᾽ ἄν, ἔφη ὁ Σωκράτης, ἐπισκοποῦντες, ὦ Κριτόβουλε, ἴσως ἂν καταμάθοιμεν εἴ τι συνεπιμελεῖται. τῶν μὲν γὰρ πολεμικῶν ἔργων ὁμολογοῦμεν αὐτὸν ἰσχυρῶς ἐπιμελεῖσθαι, ὅτι ἐξ ὁπόσωνπερ ἐθνῶν λαμβάνει <τι>, τέταχε τῷ ἄρχοντι ἑκάστῳ εἰς ὁπόσους δεῖ διδόναι τροφὴν ἱππέας καὶ τοξότας καὶ σφενδονήτας καὶ γερροφόρους, οἵτινες τῶν τε ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἀρχομένων ἱκανοὶ ἔσονται κρατεῖν καὶ ἂν πολέμιοι ἐπίωσιν,
Hint:
συνεπιμελεῖσθαι - (+gen. of the thing cared for / about) - join in taking care of or attending to
ἐπισκοποῦντες - observe, consider
ἴσως - perhaps
καταμάθοιμεν - learn; understand;
ὁμολογοῦμεν - the agreement is between the speakers in this dialogue themselves, not between them and the Persian Emperor.
ἰσχυρῶς - exceedingly, strongly
ὁπόσωνπερ - ὁπόσος - as much as, as many as
τέταχε - τεταχέναι perfect form of τάσσειν - (+dat. of person and inf. of the thing ordered) to have set as an order, to have made a standing order
διδόναι τροφὴν - to provide provisions
εἰς ὁπόσους δεῖ ... ἱππέας κτλ. - for as many cavalrymen etc. as are required.
ἱππέας - cavalrymen
τοξότας - archers
σφενδονήτας - slingers
γερροφόρους - troops that used wicker shields
οἵτινες ... ἱκανοὶ ἔσονται - this picks up the εἰς ὁπόσους of the previous lines - as much as are necessary, who will be sufficient to ...
οἵτινες - whosoever, any one who
ἱκανοὶ - sufficient - (+inf. of the thing they are sufficient to do)
τῶν ... ἀρχομένων - passive participle - in the genitive with a verb of ruling or controlling - of those rulled
ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ - showing the agent who affects a passive verb - by him
κρατεῖν - to maintain control of (+gen. of the people controlled)
πολέμιοι - enemies, an enemy force
ἐπίωσιν - come against, attack, (+dat. if the place attacked needed to be spelt out, but it is not used here)
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Stephen Hughes
Posts: 3323
Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4, Section 6 - Text and hints

Socrates continues to describe the Persian Emperor's defence strategy, talking about the maintenance and inspection of the armed forces.
Xenophon, Oeconomicus, Chapter 4, Section 6 wrote: ἀρήξουσι τῇ χώρᾳ, χωρὶς δὲ τούτων φύλακας ἐν ταῖς ἀκροπόλεσι τρέφει: καὶ τὴν μὲν τροφὴν τοῖς φρουροῖς δίδωσιν ὁ ἄρχων ᾧ τοῦτο προστέτακται, βασιλεὺς δὲ κατ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸν ἐξέτασιν ποιεῖται τῶν μισθοφόρων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων οἷς ὡπλίσθαι προστέτακται, καὶ πάντας ἅμα συνάγων πλὴν τοὺς ἐν ταῖς ἀκροπόλεσιν ἔνθα δὴ ὁ σύλλογος καλεῖται: καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀμφὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ οἴκησιν αὐτὸς ἐφορᾷ, τοὺς δὲ πρόσω ἀποικοῦντας πιστοὺς πέμπει ἐπισκοπεῖν:
Hint:
ἀρήξουσι τῇ χώρᾳ - this phrase follows on from the καὶ ἂν πολέμιοι ἐπίωσιν "if enemy troops should attack the city" at the end of the previous section - the section break here is arbitrary.
ἀρήξουσι - (+dat.) - aid or succour in war
χωρὶς - (+gen.) - apart from, besides
φύλακας - garrisons - often in the plural
ἀκρόπολις - citadel
τρέφει - (+acc.) - maintain
φρουροῖς - dative with δίδωσιν - watcher, guard
προστέτακται - perfect passive of προστάσσειν - to place or post at a place - προστάσσειν in the active voice is (+acc. of the person +dat. of the thing / place assigned to), but here in the passive - the passive voice slightly depersonalises (impersonalises) the situation - the perfect voice connotates that the order is one that is given once and doesn't need to be repeated each year - like a "standing order".
τοῦτο - nominative as the subject of the middle verb προστέτακται - τοῦτο refers to the immediately preceding action: τὸ τὴν μὲν τροφὴν τοῖς φρουροῖς διδόναι. That is to say the the τοῦτο is a summarised articular infinitive encapsulating the action and expressing it in a nominal-like role in the sentence.
καὶ τὴν μὲν τροφὴν τοῖς φρουροῖς δίδωσιν ὁ ἄρχων ᾧ τοῦτο προστέτακται - expressing this the other way it would be ὁ μὲν ἄρχων δίδωσιν καὶ τὴν τοῖς φρουροῖς τροφὴν ὂ προστέτακται αὐτῷ, or the like which also picks up on an understood articular infinitive.
κατ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸν - a set phrase - every year, year by year
ἐξέτασιν - inspection
ποιεῖται - middle voice = personally, for his own eyes - carries out
οἱ μισθοφόροι - mercenaries - genitive following the noun ἐξέτασιν - one way of thinking of that is that objective genitive carries the verbal force cognate to the noun and applies it to the noun in the accusative ἐξήτασεν τοὺς μισθοφόρους.
οἷς ὡπλίσθαι προστέτακται - cf. the note above, but here - προστάσσειν appears to be used in the pattern of (+dat. of the person who is commanded and +inf, of the thing they are told to do). - in the active that would be ὁ βασιλεὺς προστέταχε αὐτοῖς ὡπλίσθαι or the like - the middle construction depersonalises (impersonalises) or takes away the immediacy of the commanding / appointing here. - in using the middle the infinitive becomes nominative "to whom being under arms was appointed / ordered".
ὡπλίσθαι - to be equipped, armed, trained and exercised
καὶ πάντας ἅμα συνάγων ... ἔνθα δὴ cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:17, 5:10 and the discussions on it Pleonastic started by Scott Lawson, and Best Greek NT Commentaries taken up by Evan Blackmore.
ἔνθα - there
ὁ σύλλογος - "A Muster of Forces" - this is the name of the place
πλὴν - (+acc.) - apart from, with the exception of
καὶ τοὺς μὲν ..., τοὺς δὲ ... - the basic structure is composed of this μὲν ..., δὲ ...
τοὺς μὲν ἀμφὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ οἴκησιν - this is accusative with the verb ἐφορᾷ - to supply an accusative participle to go with the article, we could posit προστεταγμένους or οἰκοῦντας to inhabit, or perhaps more specifically ἐπιδημοῦντας "live at home" or if they were there more temporarily stationed στρατοπεδεύοντας.
ἀμφὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ οἴκησιν - "nearby his residenz" (as the Germans say).
αὐτὸς - here αὐτὸς is put into contradistinction with someone who works on his behalf.
ἐφορᾷ - inspect, look at
τοὺς δὲ πρόσω ἀποικοῦντας - being away from home is stressed by the addition of πρόσω "far".
πιστοὺς πέμπει ἐπισκοπεῖν - the two elements here are balanced over the verb πέμπει - the construction is πέμπει (+acc. of the person sent and + inf. of what they were sent to do).
πιστοὺς - trusted men
ἐπισκοπεῖν - inspect, review. This is a specific use of the word. - ἐπισκοπεῖν τὰς τάξεις "inspect the ranks", ἐπισκοπεῖν τὰ ὅπλα "inspect the arms".
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
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