THE FIRST GREEK BOOK
BY JOHN WILLIAMS WHITE, PH.D, LL.D., LITT.D.
Professor Of Ancient Greek At Harvard University
This Revision Copyright ©2012 by Shawn Irwin



Lesson XIII - The Art Of Reading

S121. In reading an inflected language such as Greek, the knowledge of three things are absolutely necessary: first, of words; secondly of forms; thirdly of constructions.

S122. The acquisition of this knowledge is gradual. The pupil should commit thoroughly to memory he meaning of each new word as it occurs; he should learn the forms of the different cases, tenses and numbers so accurately, the first time the paradigms occur, as to be able instantly to recognize these forms thereafter at sight; and as he reads, he should carefully note the laws of construction, especially those with differ from the corresponding constructions in Latin and English.

S123. Directions For Reading.

1. Read each sentence aloud in the original. Pronounce each word distinctly. In reading,
a. Observe sharply the forms of the words, so as to become at once aware of their grammatical relations.
b. Make the utmost effort of memory to recall the meanings of the words already met.
c. Follow the Greek order strictly in arriving at the thought. Observe carefully the order of the
words and the marks of punctuation.

2. If the thought expressed in the sentence is not perfectly clear, repeat the whole process.

3. Translate the sentence into simple idiomatic English.

S124. Vocabulary.
ἀρχή, ης, ἡ, rule, providence, satrapy.
Δᾱρεῖος, ου, ὁ, Darius II.
δεινός, ή, όν, terrible, skillful.
ἰσχῡρός, ά, όν, strong, χωρίον ἰσχῡρόν, stronghold.
Περσικός, ή, όν, (compare Πέρσης), Persian.
σατράπης, ου, ὁ, satrap, viceroy.
ὑιός, οῦ, ὁ, son.
ὥστε, conjunctive adverb, so as, so that, wherefore.


Reading Lesson
S125. The Parentage, Race, and Power of Cyrus the younger.
Κῦρος, ὁ τοῦ Δᾱρείου ὑιός, Πέρσης ἦν καλὸς καὶ ἀγαθός. σατράπην δὲ αὐτὸν
ἐποίησεν ὁ Δᾱρεῖος τῆς Λῡδίᾱς καὶ τῆς Φρυγίᾱς καὶ τῆς Καππαδοκίᾱς.
χωρία δὲ ἰσχῡρὰ εἶχεν ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ ὁ Κῦρος καὶ πλοῖα μακρὰ ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ, καὶ
στρατιῶται δὲ
αυτῷ ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ ἦσαν ἀγαθοί, ὁπλῖται Ἑλληνικοὶ καὶ πελτασταὶ καὶ
τοξόται Περσικοί.
Τισσαφέρνης δὲ, ὁ τῆς Κᾱρίᾱς σατράπης, τῷ Κύρῳ πολέμιος ἦν, τότε δὲ οὔτε
ἐστράτευεν ἐπ' αὐτὸν οὔτε διήρπαζε τὴν χώρᾱν. Κῦρος γὰρ στρατηγὸς ἐν πολέμῳ
δεινὸς ἦν, υἱὸς δὲ τοῦ Δᾱρείου˙ ὥστε φόβον εἶχεν ὁ Τισσαφέρνης πρὸς Κῦρον.

Notes.
αὐτόν him, accusative.
ἐποίησεν made from ποιέω, future, ποιήσω, aorist, εποίησα.
Λῡδίᾱς, Lydian
καὶ στρατιῶται δὲ - καί in the sense of also.
αὐτῷ to him dative
στρατιῶται αὐτῷ ἦσαν is equivalent to στρατιώτας εἶχε, soldiers he had. For the dative, see the rule of syntax in 862.
For the appositives ὁπλῖται, πελτασταί, τοξόται, see the rule of syntax in 804.
ἐπ' αὐτόν: a case of elision (16).

Cyrus was the son of Darius, was a persian brave and handsome. Darius made him satrap of
Lydia, Phrygia and Cappadocia. A stronghold he had in the satrapy, along with ship on the
sea, and soldiers good he had, hoplites Hellenic, peltasts and bowmen Persian. Tissaphernes,
satrap of Caria, was an enemy to Cyrus then, but did not march against him nor plunder his
satrapy. Cyrus was a soldier skillful in war, the son of Darius, so Tissaphernes was fearful of
Cyrus.

See the route on the map.



End Of Chapter

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This Revision Copyright ©2012 by Shawn Irwin