Classical Readings 10.2

Translate the following sentences. Note that there is a printable version of these readings under the "printables" tab.

1. When Euripides died in 406 BC, he left behind several scripts of plays that were never performed during his lifetime. One of these is Iphigenia at Aulis. It is set at Aulis, where the collected forces of Greece are ready to sail to Troy to start the Trojan War. Agamemnon, the leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War, is called upon to sacrifice his oldest daughter to the goddess Artemis so the Greek forces can sail to Troy. The play chronicles the controversy that ensues over whether Agamemnon’s daughter, Iphigenia, should be sacrificed. Clytemnestra, Iphigenia’s mother, arrives. She meets the Greek warrior Achilles and introduces herself:

Λήδας μέν εἰμι παῖς, Κλυταιμήστρα δέ μοι ὄνομα, πόσις δέ μοὐστὶν Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ.

Euripides Iphigenia at Aulis 828

2. In another play, another member of the family arrives and introduces himself:

Ἀγαμέμνονός τε καὶ Κλυταιμήστρας τόκος, ὄνομα δ’ Ὀρέστης.

Euripides Andromache 885

3. In a lawsuit c. 323 BC about a breach of contract, a man (possibly named Darius) alleges, among other things, that the defendant has not repaid his loans:

οὔτε τὰ χρήματα ἀποδίδωσιν οὔτε τὸ ἐνέχυρον καθίστησιν εἰς τὸ ἐμφανές.

Demosthenes 56.3

4. Having just made an uneasy alliance with Seuthes II, King of Thrace, the Greeks prepare for the night:

ὥρα νυκτοφύλακας καθιστάναι καὶ σύνθημα παραδιδόναι.

Xenophon Anabasis 7.3.34

5. Aristotle is studying the problem of growth and decay and gives an example of how bodies can be susceptible to change from forces through an intermediate agent:

τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἀέρα τὸ πῦρ, ὁ δ’ ἀὴρ τὸ σῶμα θερμαίνει.

Aristotle On Generation and Corruption 327a5

6. Aristotle is preparing to analyze the parts of the bodies of animals. He discusses the theory that the physics of basic substances governed the growth and form of animals:

ὁ δ’ ἀὴρ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ὕλη τῶν σωμάτων ἐστίν.

Aristotle Parts of Animals 640b16

7. This is from an ancient collection of problems that intellectuals and philosophers tried to solve. This particular one asks why the sound of crying is shrill (ὀξύ) but laughing is a lower sound (βαρύ). In part, the explanation is:

γελῶντες θερμὸν τὸ πνεῦμα ἀφιᾶσιν, οἱ δὲ κλαίοντες…τὸ πνεῦμα ψυχρότερον ἀφιᾶσιν.

ps-Aristotle Problems 900a26-28

8. Aristotle here is trying to establish the First Principle of everything (τῶν πρώτων ἡ ἀρχή) in the cosmos. He discusses a number of earlier philosophers, all of whom reckon this Principle as corporeal (σωματική):

ὕδωρ γὰρ καὶ πῦρ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα σώματά ἐστιν.

Aristotle Metaphysics 987a5

9. Aristotle explains the distribution of power in a democracy:

οὐ γὰρ ὁ δικαστὴς οὐδ’ ὁ βουλευτὴς οὐδ’ ὁ ἐκκλησιαστὴς ἄρχων ἐστίν, ἀλλὰ τὸ δικαστήριον καὶ ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ὁ δῆμος.

Aristotle Politics 1282a35