Practice with conditions: reading

The following passage is a lightly modified selection from sections 43-48 of Lysias 1. This passage is presenting Euphiletos’ closing arguments to the jury.

Ἐρατοσθένης μὲν οὔτε συκοφαντῶν γραφάς Εὐφίλητον ἐγράψατο, οὔτε ἐκβάλλειν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἐπεχείρησεν, οὕτε ἰδίας δίκας ἐδικάζετο. Εὐφίλητος δὲ οὔτε ἐπεθύμει αὐτὸν ἀπολέσαι, οὔτε εἰ ταῦτα διαπράξαιτο, ἤλπισε ἂν χρήματα λήψεσθαι: τί ἄν οὖν βουλόμενος αὐτὸς τοιοῦτον κίνδυνον ἐκινδύνευε, εἰ μὴ τὸ μέγιστον τῶν ἀδικημάτων ἦν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἠδικημένος;

Εὐφίλητος μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἰδίαν ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ ἐνόμιζε γενέσθαι τὴν τιμωρίαν, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ἁπάσης: οἱ γὰρ τοιαῦτα πράττοντες, ὁρῶντες οἷα τὰ ἆθλα πρόκειται τῶν τοιούτων ἁμαρτημάτων, ἧττον εἰς τοὺς ἄλλους ἐξαμαρτήσονται, ἐὰν καὶ ὑμᾶς ὁρῶσι τὴν αὐτὴν γνώμην ἔχοντας. εἰ δὲ μή, πολὺ κάλλιον τοὺς μὲν κειμένους νόμους ἐξαλεῖψαι, ἑτέρους δὲ θεῖναι.

Analysis

1. Isolate each verbal expression (that is, each subject-verb idea, whether expressed with finite verb, participle or other construction like indirect statement). Place each expression on a separate line.
2. Highlight the verb in each expresion.
3. Use indentation to show the level of dependency of each expression. Main clauses should be flush left; expressions dependent on the main clause should be indented one level; when further expressions depend on subordinate expressions, they should be indented one level further than the expression they depend on.
4. Identify the type of construction for each expression. For clauses that are part of a conditional statement, identify where the clause is protasis or apodosis. For indirect speech, indicate which structure of indirect speech is being used. For participles, indicate where attributive or relative.

Translation

Using the following glosses and notes, compose an idiomatic translation in English of the passage.

Glosses and notes

• συκοφάντης, ου, ὁ “informer, swindler; someone who brings contrived lawsuits”
• ἐπιχειρέω (regular) “put one’s hand to, attempt”. Constructed with a complementary infinitive.
• ἀπόλλυμι, ἀπολῶ, ἀπώλεσα, ἀπολώλεκα or ἀπόλωλα, ἀπόλλυμαι, - active: “kill, destroy; lose” middle: “perish, die”
• ἐλπίζω (regular) “hope for, expect”. Can take indirect statement with infinitive.
• ἦν…ἠδικημένος: ἠδικημένος is the perfect passive participle of ἀδικέω. Used together with εἰμί, it has the sense of an English pluperfect: “he had been wronged” (literally, “he was in a state of having been wronged”)
• ἆθλον, ἄθλου, τό “prize of a contest”
• ἁμαρτάνω, ἁμαρτήσομαι, ἥμαρτον, ἡμάρτηκα, ἡμάρτημαι, ἡμαρτήθην “miss the mark, err”, mostly with genitive object of the error; in an absolute sense “to err, commit a wrong” with accusative object ἁμάρτημα or ἁμαρτίαν.
• ἁμάρτημα, ατος, τό “failure, fault”
• ἧττον adverbial, “less”
• πολὺ κάλλιον adverbial “better by far”
• ἐξαλείφω, ἐξαλείψω, ἐξήλειψα, ἐξαλήλιφα, ἐξαλήλιμμαι, ἐξηλείφθην “erase, wipe out”