Política de calidad

ὑπὸ παντὶ λίθῳ σκορπίον, ὦ ἑταῖρε, φυλάσσεο (Beware, comrade, of a scorpion under every stone)

—Praxilla, fragment 4 Second Declension. We are not quite finished with the first declension (its masculine subgroup remains to be discussed in Lesson 9), but we are going to put it aside temporarily and devote the next two chapters to the second declension. Nouns in this declension can be divided into two groups:

masculines and neuters. The masculines are covered in this lesson, the neuters in Lesson 8. You will be glad to learn that the second declension has fewer complications than the first.

All second-declension masculines have the same set of endings; there are no variations caused by features of the Attic dialect. The endings resemble those of the first declension, but with ο, not ᾱ or η, as the stem-vowel. Here are two typical ο-stem masculine nouns:

Second-Declension Masculine Nouns

Singular (“human being”) (“river”) Endings Nominative ἄνθρωπος ποταμός -ος Genitive ἀνθρώπου ποταμοῦ -ου

Dative ἀνθρώπῳ ποταμῷ -ῳ

Accusative ἄνθρωπον ποταμόν -ον

Vocative ἄνθρωπε ποταμέ -ε

Plural

Nominative ἄνθρωποι ποταμοί -οι Genitive ἀνθρώπων ποταμῶν -ων Dative ἀνθρώποις ποταμοῖς -οις Accusative ἀνθρώπους ποταμούς -ους Vocative ἄνθρωποι ποταμοί -οι

Notice that the accent is persistent, remaining above the same letters as in the nominative case unless a long ultima forces it to move (e.g., ἄνθρωπος but ἀνθρώπου).

Just as in the first declension, the singular and plural endings of the genitive 42.

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and dative, if accented, have a circumflex. Unlike first-declension nouns, however, second-declension nouns do not invariably put a circumflex above the genitive plural ending; instead the accent remains, if it can, in its preferred position. The reason for this is that the -ων of first declension still reflects its origin as a contraction (-ων) while the -ων (originally -όων) of second declension does not.

In first-declension feminine nouns the nominative singular and vocative singular are identical; in second-declension masculine nouns they are not (e.g., nominative ἄνθρωπος but vocative ἄνθρωπε). (As noted in §29 of Lesson 4, the nominative plural and vocative plural will always be identical.)

The masculine forms of the definite article look very much like the endings of second-declension masculine nouns: no accent. As with the feminine forms of the article, there is no vocative case.

Gender. Occasionally a noun will have ο-stem endings but be feminine instead of masculine. Its unusual gender will be shown, not by the form of the word itself, but by the form of the words that modify it (e.g., a definite article or an adjective). In ὁ λόγος and ἡ ὁδός, for example, the articles reveal that λόγος is masculine, while ὁδός is feminine.

To complicate matters further, some second-declension nouns are variable in their gender: they may be either masculine or feminine—often with a major difference in meaning: ὁ ἄνθρωπος (“man”), ἡ ἄνθρωπος (“woman”);

ὁ θεός (“god”), ἡ θεός (“goddess”—a synonym for θε). Such words are called “epicene” and are said to have common gender. In a vocabulary list an epicene noun will always be accompanied by two definite articles (ὁ, ἡ).

Dative of Means & Dative of Manner. A noun in the dative case may indicate the means or the instrument by which something is done (e.g., σπεύδομεν τῇ ὁδῷ, “we are hastening by means of the road”; βλάπτεις τὸν ἵππον λίθοις, “you are hurting the horse with stones”). It may also show the manner or the way in which something is done (e.g., παιδεύω χαρᾷ,

“I teach with joy” or “I teach joyfully”). The dative of means is usually translated with the preposition with or by; the dative of manner is usually translated with the preposition with or with an adverb formed from the noun and ending in -ly. In Greek no preposition is required for either the dative of means or the dative of manner.

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Lesson 7 • 39 Vocabulary

χαίρω, χαιρήσω be happy; (+ dative) rejoice (in), take delight (in) Like ἐθέλω and μέλλω, χαίρω forms its future by adding both η and σ to its present stem. The imperatives χαῖρε and χαίρετε are frequently used as greetings (“be happy!”—i.e., “hello!”) or as parting words (“be happy!”—

i.e., “farewell!”).

ἀδελφή, -ῆς, ἡ sister

ἀδελφός, -οῦ, ὁ brother (voc. sg. ἄδελφε has recessive accent;

voc. pl. ἀδελφοί is regular) [cf. Philadelphia]

ἄνθρωπος, -ου, ὁ, ἡ (masc.) human being, person, man, mankind, humankind; (fem.) woman, womankind [cf.

anthropology, philanthropic]

ὁ ἄνθρωπος in its generic sense (“mankind” or “humankind”) can, and usually does, include both men and women; ἡ ἄνθρωπος in its generic sense (“womankind”) never includes men. Likewise οἱ ἄνθρωποι means either “men” or “people,” whereas αἱ ἄνθρωποι means “women” ex-clusively. In the vocative the word often has a harsh ring; e.g., ἀκούεις, ἄνθρωπε; (“are you listening, man?”).

θεός, -οῦ, ὁ, ἡ (masc.) god; (fem.) goddess (voc. sg. θεός or θεέ) [cf. theology, atheist]

During the Classical age the gods were invoked using the vocative plural (θεοί); the vocative singular, either θεός or θεέ, does not begin to be used until the period of Koine Greek.

ἵππος, -ου, ὁ, ἡ (masc.) horse; (fem.) mare [cf. hippodrome,

Philip]

λίθος, -ου, ὁ stone [cf. paleolithic, monolith]

λπη, -ης, ἡ pain, grief

ὁδός, -οῦ, ἡ way, path, road, journey [cf. exodus, method]

ποταµός, -οῦ, ὁ river [cf. hippopotamus, Mesopotamia]

χαρ, -ᾶς, ἡ joy, delight

ἀπό (ἀπ’, ἀφ’) (preposition + genitive) away from (ἀπ’ before smooth breathing, ἀφ’ before rough breathing) [cf.

apocalypse, apogee, apology]

Unlike ἐκ, which indicates movement from the interior of one region into another, ἀπό indicates movement that begins at the edge of a place: “The fish are jumping out of (ἐκ) the river.” “The horse is galloping away from (ἀπό) the river.”

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Exercises

Greek-to-English Sentences

1. μὴ μέλλετε πέμπειν τς θεραπαίνᾱς ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ.

2. ἐπεὶ οὐκέτι ἀκούει, μηκέτι γράφε τῇ ἀδελφῇ τὴν ἐπιστολήν.

3. οἱ θεοὶ ἔχουσιν ἀλλάττειν καὶ τς ὥρᾱς καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους.

4. τοῖς λίθοις, ὦ ἄδελφε, μέλλεις βλάψειν τς οἰκίᾱς;

5. ἀκούετε, ὦ θεοί· φυλάττετε τς κόρᾱς καὶ ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ.

6. κελεύσω τὸν ἵππον σπεύδειν ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀγορν.

7. χαῖρε, ὦ δέσποινα, τῇ μοίρᾱͅ· ἡ θεὸς χαρς πέμψει εἰς τὴν οἰκίᾱν.

8. ὥρᾱ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς τοῖς ἵπποις πάλιν σπεύδειν εἰς τὴν χώρᾱν.

9. θῡόντων χαρᾷ τῷ θεῷ καὶ διωκόντων τὴν λπην ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκιῶν.

10. κλέπτεις, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, λίθους ἐκ τῆς ἀγορᾶς; ἐθέλεις βλάπτειν τς ὁδούς;

English-to-Greek Sentences

1. Hello, brothers! Are you no longer taking delight in your journey?

2. Stones cannot harm a god, but a god can hurt a human being.

3. Listen, man! Send your sisters away from the house!

4. O gods, is grief once again going to chase joy out of the land?

5. When we shall command, let the horse hasten joyfully into the river.

Reading

Fleeting Joys and Fleeing Fish (Aesop’s Fable 13)

Ἁλιεῖς τὴν σαγήνην ἕλκουσιν ἐν τῷ ποταμῷ. ἐπειδὴ μέλλουσι σχήσειν πολλοὺς ἰχθῦς, χαίρουσι καὶ ὀρχοῦνται. ἀλλ’

ἐπεὶ εἰς τὴν σαγήνην βλέπουσιν, οὐχ ὥρᾱ χαίρειν· ἔχουσι λίθους, οὐκ ἰχθῦς. οὐκέτι χαίρουσιν· οὐκέτι ὀρχοῦνται ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ. ἀλλ’

ἡ ἐμπειρίᾱ παιδεύσει τοὺς ἁλιεῖς. οἱ θεοὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις χαρς πέμπουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ λπᾱς. ἡ λπη ἀδελφὴ τῆς χαρᾶς ἐστιν.

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Lesson 7 • 41 Vocabulary Help for the Reading

ἁλιεῖς (line 1) fishermen (nominative plural of ἁλιεύς, a third-declension masculine noun)

σαγήνην (line 1) from σαγήνη, -ης, ἡ: net (for fishing) ἕλκουσιν (line 1) from ἕλκω, ἕλξω: drag

πολλοὺς ἰχθῦς (line 2) many fish (accusative plural of ἰχθς, a third- declension masculine noun, modified by an adjective)

ὀρχοῦνται (line 2) they dance (third-person plural present middle indicative of ὀρχέομαι, a deponent verb—to be explained later) βλέπουσιν (line 3) from βλέπω, βλέψομαι: look

ἐµπειρίᾱ (line 5) from ἐμπειρίᾱ, -ᾱς, ἡ: experience

ἐστιν (line 6) is (third-person singular present indicative of the verb “be”; it has no accent because it is an enclitic—to be explained later)

Η

Lesson 8

Second Declension