THE DATIVE DEPENDENT ON A SINGLE WORD
DATIVE AS DIRECT COMPLEMENT OF VERBS
[*] 1460. The dative may be used as the sole complement of many verbs that are usually transitive in English. Such are
[*] 1461. (I)
To benefit, help,
injure, please,
displease, be friendly or
hostile,
blame,
be angry, threaten,
envy.
““
βοηθεῖν τοῖσιν ἠδικημένοις”
to help the wronged”
E. I. A. 79, ““
οὐκ ἂν ἠνώχλει νῦν ἡμῖν”
he would not now be troubling us”
D. 3.5,
<*>ντὶ τοῦ συνεργεῖν ἑαυτοῖς τὰ συμφέροντα ἐπηρεάζουσιν ἀλλήλοις instead of coöperating for their mutual interests, they revile one another X. M. 3.5.16, ““
εἰ τοῖς πλέοτιν ἀρέσκοντές ἐσμεν, τοῖσδ᾽ ἂν μόνοις οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἀπαρέσκοιμεν”
if we are pleasing to the majority, it would not be right if we should displease them alone”
T. 1.38, ““
εὐνοεῖν τοῖς κακόνοις”
to be friendly to the ill-intentioned”
X. C. 8.2.1, ““
ἐμοὶ ὀργίζονται”
they are angry at me”
P. A. 23c, ““
τῷ Θηρα_μένει ἠπείλουν”
they threatened Theramenes”
T. 8.92, ““
οὐ φθονῶν τοῖς πλουτοῦσιν”
not cherishing envy against the rich”
X. A. 1.9.19.
[*] 1462. Some verbs of benefiting and injuring take the accusative (
ὠφελεῖν, βλάπτειν, 1591 a);
μι_σεῖν τινα hate some one.
λυ_σιτελεῖν, συμφέρειν be of advantage take the dative.
[*] 1463. (II)
To meet, approach,
yield.
““
ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀπήντησαν αὐτοῖς οἱ στρατηγοί”
but when the generals met them”
X. A. 2.3.17, ““
περιτυγχάνει Φιλοκράτει”
he meets Philocrates”
X. H. 4.8.24, ““
ποίοις οὐ χρὴ θηρίοις πελάζειν”
what wild beasts one must not approach”
X. C. 1.4.7,
σὺ δ᾽ εἶκ᾽ ἀνάγκῃ καὶ θεοῖσι μὴ μάχου yield to necessity and war not with heaven E. fr. 716. On the genitive with verbs of approaching, see
1353.
[*] 1464. (III)
To obey, serve,
pardon,
trust,
advise,
command, etc.
““
τοῖς νόμοις πείθου”
obey the laws”
I. 1.16, ““
τῷ ὑ_μετέρῳ ξυμφόρῳ ὑπακούειν”
to be subservient to your interests”
T. 5.98, ““
ἂ_ν μηδεμιᾷ δουλεύῃς τῶν ἡδονῶν”
if you are the slave of no pleasure”
I. 2.29, ““
ἐπίστευον αὐτῷ αἱ πόλεις”
the cities trusted him”
X. A. 1.9.8,
στρατηγῷ στρατιώταις παραινοῦντι a general advising his men P. Ion 540 d, ““
τῷ Μυ_σῷ ἐσήμηνε φεύγειν”
he ordered the Mysian to flee”
X. A. 5.2.30, ““
τῷ Κλεάρχῳ ἐβόα_ ἄγειν”
he shouted to Clearchus to lead”
X. A. 1.8.12.
[*] 1465.
κελεύειν command (strictly
impel) may be followed in Attic by the accusative and (usually) the infinitive; in Hom. by the dative either alone or with the infinitive. Many verbs of commanding (
παραγγέλλειν, διακελεύεσθαι) take in Attic the accusative, not the dative, when used with the infinitive (
1996 N.).
ὑπακούειν (and
ἀκούειν =
obey) may take the genitive (
1366).
[*] 1466. (IV)
To be like or
unlike,
compare,
befit.
““
ἐοικέναι τοῖς τοιούτοις”
to be like such men”
P. R. 349d,
τί οὖν πρέπει ἀνδρὶ πένητι;
what then befits a poor man? P. A. 36d.
[*] 1467. The dative of the person and the genitive of the thing are used with the impersonals
δεῖ (
1400),
μέτεστι, μέλει, μεταμέλει, προσήκει. Thus, ““
μισθοφόρων ἀνδρὶ τυράννῳ δεῖ”
a tyrant needs mercenaries”
X. Hi. 8.10, ““
ὡς οὐ μετὸν αὐτοῖς Ἐπιδάμνου”
inasmuch as they had nothing to do with Epidamnus”
T. 1.28, ““
οὐχ ὧν ἐβιά_σατο μετέμελεν αὐτῷ”
he did not repent of his acts of violence”
And. 4.17, ““
τούτῳ τῆς Βοιωτία_ς προσήκει οὐδέν”
he has nothing to do with Boeotia”
X. A. 3.1.31.
ἔξεστί μοι it is in my power does not take the genitive. For the accusative instead of the dative, see
1400. Cp.
1344.
a. For
δοκεῖ μοι it seems to me (
mihi videtur),
δοκῶ μοι (
mihi videor) may be used.
b. For other cases of the dative as direct complement see
1476,
1481.
[*] 1468. An intransitive verb taking the dative can form a personal passive, the dative becoming the nominative subject of the passive. Cp.
1745.
DATIVE AS INDIRECT COMPLEMENT OF VERBS
[*] 1469. Many verbs take the dative as the indirect object together with an accusative as the direct object. The indirect object is commonly introduced in English by
to.
““
Κῦρος δίδωσιν αὐτῷ ἓξ μηνῶν μισθόν”
Cyrus gives him pay for six months”
X. A. 1.1.10, ““
τῷ Ὑρκανίῳ ἵππον ἐδωρήσατο”
he presented a horse to the Hyrcanian”
X. C. 8.4.24, ““
τὰ δὲ ἄλλα διανεῖμαι τοῖς στρατηγοῖς”
to distribute the rest to the generals”
X. A. 7.5.2, ““
μι_κρὸν μεγάλῳ εἰκάσαι”
to compare a small thing to a great thing”
T. 4.36, ““
πέμπων αὐτῷ ἄγγελον”
sending a messenger to him”
X. A. 1.3.8,
ὑπισχνοῦμαί σοι δέκα τάλαντα I promise you ten talents 1. 7. 18, ““
τοῦτο σοὶ δ᾽ ἐφί_εμαι”
I lay this charge upon thee”
S. Aj. 116, ““
παρῄνει τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις τοιάδε”
he advised the Athenians as follows”
T. 6.8, ““
ἐμοὶ ἐπιτρέψαι ταύτην τὴν ἀρχήν”
to entrust this command to me”
X. A. 6.1.31.
λέγειν ταῦτα τοῖς στρατιώταις to say this to the soldiers 1. 4. 11 (
λέγειν πρός τινα lacks the personal touch of the dative, which indicates interest in the person addressed). A dependent clause often represents the accusative.
[*] 1470.
Passive.—The accusative of the active becomes the subject of the passive, the dative remains: ““
ἐκείνῳ αὕτη ἡ χώρα_ ἐδόθη”
this land was given to him”
X. H. 3.1.6.
DATIVE AS DIRECT OR INDIRECT COMPLEMENT OF VERBS
[*] 1471. Many verbs may take the dative either alone or with the accusative.
““
οὐδενὶ μέμφομαι”
I find fault with no one”
D. 21.190,
τί ἄν μοι μέμφοιο;
what fault would you have to find with me? X. O. 2.15; ““
ὑπηρετῶ τοῖς θεοῖς”
I am a servant of the gods”
X. C. 8.2.22, ““
Ἔρωτι πᾶν ὑπηρετεῖ”
he serves Eros in everything”
P. S. 196c; ““
παρακελεύονται τοῖς περὶ νί_κης ἁμιλλωμένοις”
they exhort those who are striving for victory”
I. 9.79, ““
ταῦτα τοῖς ὁπλί_ταις παρακελεύομαι”
I address this exhortation to the hoplites”
T. 7.63; ““
ὀνειδίζετε τοῖς ἀδικοῦσιν”
you reproach the guilty”
L. 27.16 (also accus.), ““
Θηβαίοις τὴν ἀμαθία_ν ὀνειδίζουσι”
they upbraid the Thebans with their ignorance”
I. 15.248; ““
θεοῖς εὐξάμενοι”
having prayed to the gods”
T. 3.58, ““
εὐξάμενοι τοῖς θεοῖς τἀ_γαθά”
having prayed to the gods for success”
X. C. 2.3.1 (cp.
αἰτεῖν τινά τι,
1628). So
ἐπιτι_μᾶν (
ἐγκαλεῖν)
τινι to censure (
accuse)
some one,
ἐπιτι_μᾶν (
ἐγκαλεῖν)
τί τινι censure something in (
bring an accusation against)
some one. So
ἀπειλεῖν threaten; and
ἀμύ_νειν, ἀλέξειν, ἀρήγειν ward off (
τινί τι in poetry,
1483).
[*] 1472.
τι_μωρεῖν (poet.
τι_μωρεῖσθαί)
τινι means
to avenge some one (
take vengeance for some one), as
τι_μωρήσειν σοι τοῦ παιδὸς ὑπισχνοῦμαι I promise to avenge you because of (on the murderer of)
your son X. C. 4.6.8,
εἰ τι_μωρήσεις ““
Πατρόκλῳ τὸν φόνον”
if you avenge the murder of Patroclus”
P. A. 28c.
τιμωρεῖσθαί (rarely
τι_μωρεῖν)
τινα means
to avenge oneself upon some one (
punish some one).
[*] 1473. For the dative of purpose (
to what end?), common in Latin with a second dative (
dono dare), Greek uses a predicate noun: ““
ἐκείνῳ ἡ χώρα_ δῶρον ἐδόθη”
the country was given to him as a gift”
X. H. 3.1.6. The usage in Attic inscriptions (““
ἧλοι ταῖς θύραις”
nails for the doors”
C.I.A. /lref>, add. 834 b, 1,
38) is somewhat similar to the Latin usage. Cp.
1502.
a. The infinitive was originally, at least in part, a dative of an abstract substantive, and served to mark purpose:
τίς τ᾽ ἄρ σφωε θεῶν ἔριδι ξυνέηκε μάχεσθαι;
who then of the gods brought the twain together (for)
to contend in strife? A 8. Cp. “what went ye out for to see?” St. Matth. 11. 8.
Part I: Letters, Sounds, Syllables, Accent
Part IV: Syntax
