XXIII. ATTIC POLITENESS. The forms which this assumes are very various. Notice the following: 1. The avoidance of a blunt imperative, e.g. εi dè μὴ, Χειρίσοφος ἡγοῖτο. 2. The avoidance of a direct future. Toî ovν тραTоíμe' av'should we turn?' (i.e. shall we turn?) 3. The avoidance of a point-blank negation; the construction of où un with the conj. is an instance of this, on the theory of its being an ellipse for où déos un. (See, however, Goodwin, 89.) 4. The numerous formulæ for expressing a wish. πῶς ἄν σοι διηγησαίμην ; ἐστί μοι βουλομένῳ, εἰ γὰρ ὤφελον, βουλοίμην ἂν velim (instead of βούλομαι). ἐβουλόμην ἂν vellem. 5. Euphemisms, such as οὐ ῥᾴδιον, οὐκ ὀλίγοι, οὐ χεῖρον, for χαλεπόν, πολλοί, ἄμεινον, etc. (See Farrar, 311.) The idiom of the double comparative TaXÚτερα ἢ σοφώτερα may be referred to this, it being gently implied that there is very little of the second quality (Sheppard on Thuc. i. 21.) 6. The polite use of δέδοικα μὴ ποιεῖς,—ἐποίησας, -TETоinkas, where no doubt is really intended. This 7. The constant employment of εἰ for ὅτι is one of the strongest instances of the avoidance in Attic of direct assertion. It is most used with θαυμάζω, αἰσχύνομαι, ἀγαπάω, ἀγανακτέω. (See Clyde, 43, obs. 2.) δεινὸν ποιεῖσθαι, δεινόν ἐστι. I do not wonder that Philip prevails over you. 8. The particle Tou used in a half-questioning way, where real certainty is felt. οὔ τί που οἴει ‘you do not, I suppose, imagine ? So δήπου ‘I suppose you will grant.' 9. The polite way of expressing a superlative. ò Σωκράτης εἴπερ τις καὶ ἄλλος= more than any other man.' 10. The various responsive formula (besides the direct ναί and οὐ), e.g. πάνυ γε, καὶ μάλα, μάλιστά γε, πῶς γὰρ οὐ; πῶς (τί) οὐ μέλλω ; τί μήν;—οὐ πολλὴ ἂν ἀλογία εἴη; πολλὴ μέντοι. Το σχεδόν is used to soften a positive assertion, σχεδόν τι ταῦτα. So ἥκιστά γε, πόθεν ;= οὐδαμῶς. Any page of a Platonic dialogue will supply others. The forms for a civil refusal—κάλλιστ ̓ ἐπαινῶ 'thank you, no,' and yevvaîos el, 'you are very good,' though only found in Aristophanes, would be admissible in colloquial prose. XXIV. THE PARTICLES. The appreciation of the full force of the Greek Particles, with their many delicate shades of meaning, while it forms one great difficulty in translation into English,' is also one of the main tests of good rendering into Greek. We have but few equivalents for them. Where we emphasise in speaking by gesture or stress of the voice, and in writing by some mark of interjection, or by the aid of italics, the Greeks would employ some slight but most significant particle. (See the preceding section, 8–10.) Caution. See whether there is not some general train of thought underlying the sentence, which requires the introduction of one or more particles. Do not expect to find them represented by the exact words of the English. Particles are used as (A) Conjunctions to connect sentences. (B) Adverbs to qualify some term. A. as Conjunctions. (a) Copulative. To link sentences together, Tε and Kaí. The most usual collocation is tɛ -Kaí, both-and: aλλws Tε Kaí, both in other respects, 1 See some good remarks in Jowett's Preface to the Translation of Plato (2nd ed.); also Cope's edition of the Gorgias, pp. ix. x. and also especially. Kaí-Kaí mark off more distinctly each member, e.g. Kaì Çŵv kaì teλevτnoas (Thuc.). Kai-dé. This gives greater prominence to the second member, καὶ πάντες δ' οἱ βάρβαροι ' yes, and the natives too.' καί kal = "when" and immediately' in a second clause, καὶ ἤδη ἦν μεσημβρία, καὶ ἄνθρωποι ᾐσθάνοντο (Plato), and after temporal conjunctions it actually: ὡς δὲ ἔδοξεν, καὶ ἐχώρουν (Thuc.). = καί=as, e. g. with ὅμοιος and παραπλήσιος. Cf. perinde ac, idem ac. = Ei kai etsi, quanquam if even, although. Kai si etiamsi even if. = In the last two instances, the xal in the former case refers to the whole concessive sentence, in the latter only to the si (On the omission of kai see above, No. XVIII. Caution ii.) It sometimes=or, ὀλίγου τινὸς ἄξια καὶ οὐδενός 'little or nothing;' x¤ès κaì πρóŋv 'yesterday or the day before.' Caution. Never use κaí—Tε to link sentences. In καὶ πρὸς αὐτῷ τ ̓ ἐγένοντο καὶ εἶδον τὴν ὄψιν (Plato, Phæd. 254), тɛ goes not with the first kai, but with the second which when, as above. (b) Adversative. = Greek sentences are set one against another far more than is the case with us. Also where there is no opposition traceable in English, |