Political theory thrived in fourth-century BCE Greece. While the political writings of Plato and Aristotle are more often read and studied today, Isocrates was also an influential and respected intellectual on political thought at the time. Among Isocrates’ writings is an open letter to Nicocles, then the ruler of the island of Cyprus. The letter offers general principles for training a king. In this section, he focuses on preparing a king mentally.
At the Last Supper, a dispute about greatness:
Exercises 36.1 Please provide the comparative and superlative nominative singulars for each of the following positive adjectives. Each is formed regularly, i.e., the comparatives are formed by adding -τερος, -τερα, -τερον, and the superlatives are formed by adding -τατος, -τατη, -τατον.
Plato’s dialogue Phaedo provides an account of the last day of Socrates’ life. It begins with a man named Echecrates, a Pythagorean who has been exiled from Italy and is now in the Greek city of Phlius. He meets Phaedo and asks for information about Socrates’ final hours. Echecrates has just explained that in Phlius they have heard very little about how it all happened:
ΦΑΙΔΩΝ
Οὐδὲ τὰ περὶ τῆς δίκης ἄρα ἐπύθεσθε ὃν τρόπον ἐγένετο;
ΕΧΕΚΡΑΤΗΣ
τὸν δʼ αὖτʼ Εὐρύμαχος Πολύβου πάϊς ἀντίον ηὔδα·
ὦ γέρον, εἰ δʼ ἄγε νῦν μαντεύεο σοῖσι τέκεσσιν
οἴκαδʼ ἰών, μή πού τι κακὸν πάσχωσιν ὀπίσσω·
ταῦτα δʼ ἐγὼ σέο πολλὸν ἀμείνων μαντεύεσθαι.180
ὄρνιθες δέ τε πολλοὶ ὑπʼ αὐγὰς ἠελίοιο
φοιτῶσʼ, οὐδέ τε πάντες ἐναίσιμοι· αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς
ὤλετο τῆλʼ, ὡς καὶ σὺ καταφθίσθαι σὺν ἐκείνῳ
ὤφελες. οὐκ ἂν τόσσα θεοπροπέων ἀγόρευες,
οὐδέ κε Τηλέμαχον κεχολωμένον ὧδʼ ἀνιείης,185
σῷ οἴκῳ δῶρον ποτιδέγμενος, αἴ κε πόρῃσιν.
τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
Ἀντίνοʼ, οὔ πως ἔστι δόμων ἀέκουσαν ἀπῶσαι130
ἥ μʼ ἔτεχʼ, ἥ μʼ ἔθρεψε· πατὴρ δʼ ἐμὸς ἄλλοθι γαίης,
ζώει ὅ γʼ ἦ τέθνηκε· κακὸν δέ με πόλλʼ ἀποτίνειν
Ἰκαρίῳ, αἴ κʼ αὐτὸς ἑκὼν ἀπὸ μητέρα πέμψω.
ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ πατρὸς κακὰ πείσομαι, ἄλλα δὲ δαίμων
δώσει, ἐπεὶ μήτηρ στυγερὰς ἀρήσετʼ ἐρινῦς135
οἴκου ἀπερχομένη· νέμεσις δέ μοι ἐξ ἀνθρώπων
ἔσσεται· ὣς οὐ τοῦτον ἐγώ ποτε μῦθον ἐνίψω.
ὑμέτερος δʼ εἰ μὲν θυμὸς νεμεσίζεται αὐτῶν,
In Jerusalem, the Apostles have been arrested for preaching in Jesus’ name. At the trial, a Pharisee lawyer sounds a note of caution about executing them, and gives examples of similar cases in the past:
Exercises 35.1 Conjugate in full the following verbs in the aorist middle, including the infinitive.
Exercises 35.2 The following verb forms are all aorist active. For each:
Exercises 34.1 Conjugate in full the following verbs in the imperfect middle. Remember that there is no infinitive.
Exercises 34.2 Review the Greek Verbs: Master List of Endings chart. Download a blank version of the chart from the "printables" tab on the right.
