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[*] 534. Possessive article. The article is used very freely in prose, in orators, philosophers, historians alike, to intimate possession. So especially in family relations, parts of the body, personal belongings. In elevated poetry this possessive article is very little used. The language is content with the anarthrous substantive. But as possession is more freely emphasized in poetry than in prose, the possessive pronoun and possessive genitive are often employed where prose would be satisfied with the article. (See Possessive Pronouns.） Comedy admits the prose use without difficulty. “τὴν κλεῖν συνετρίβην καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν κατεάγην”, AND.1.61; My collar-bone was crushed and my head broken. “ἐβούλετο” (sc. “Δαρεῖος”) “τὼ παῖδε ἀμφοτέρω παρεῖναι”, XEN. An. 1.1.1; Darius wanted both his boys to be with him. DEM.19.314: “τὰς ὀφρῦς ἀνέσπακε”. Ibid.: “διὰ τῆς ἀγορᾶς πορεύεται θοἰμάτιον καθεὶς ἄχρι τῶν σφυρῶν . . . τὰς γνάθους φυσῶν”. ANDOC.1.44: “ἐπὶ τοὺς ἵππους ἀναβάντες ᾤχοντο. 47: οὑτοσὶ ἀνεψιὸς τοῦ” (my) “πατρός”. 61 (see above). PLATO, Gorg. 519C: “κατηγοροῦσι τῶν μαθητῶν ὡς ἀδικοῦσι σφᾶς αὐτοὺς τοὺς . . . μισθοὺς ἀποστεροῦντες”, They accuse their pupils of wronging them by withholding their fees. Phaedo 60 B: “συνέκαμψέ τε τὸ σκέλος καὶ ἐξέτριψε τῇ χειρί”. XEN. An. 1.1.1 (see above). 3.4.47: “χαλεπῶς κάμνω τὴν ἀσπίδα φέρων. 48: καταπηδήσας ἀπὸ τοῦ ἵππου”. THUC.2.4.7: “ξυνέβησαν τοῖς Πλαταιεῦσι παραδοῦναι σφᾶς αὐτοὺς καὶ τὰ ὅπλα”, They agreed to surrender themselves and their arms to the Plataeans. 2.93.2: “ἐδόκει δὲ λαβόντα τῶν ναυτῶν ἕκαστον τὴν κώπην καὶ τὸ ὑπηρέσιον καὶ τὸν τροπωτῆρα πεζῇ ἰέναι κτἑ” . HDT.1.2: “τὸν Κόλχων βασιλέα ἀπαιτέειν” (sc. “φασί”) “τὴν θυγατέρα”, They say that the king of Colchis demanded the restoration of his daughter. AR. Ach. 5: “τὸ κέαρ ηὐφράνθην” (varying with 1: “τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ καρδίαν. 12: μου . . . τὴν καρδίαν”). 18: “τὰς ὀφρῦς. 83: τὸν πρωκτόν. 97: τὸν ὀφθαλμόν”. Often. EUR. El. 86-7: “ὅς μου κατέκτα πατέρα χἡ πανώλεθρος” | “μήτηρ”. I. T. 765: “τὸ σῶμα σώσας” (339). SOPH. El. 1027: “ζηλῶ σε τοῦ νοῦ τῆς δὲ δειλίας στυγῶ”. O. R. 371: “τυφλὸς τά τ᾽ ὦτα τόν τε νοῦν τά τ᾽ ὄμματ᾽ εἶ” [almost vulgarly passionate — see A. J. P. x (1889), 87]. AESCHYL. Eum. 203: “ἔχρησα ποινὰς τοῦ πατρὸς πέμψαι. 738: κάρτα δ᾽ εἰμὶ τοῦ πατρός”. Suppl. 336: “τίς δ᾽ ἂν φίλους ὠνοῖτο τοὺς κεκτημένους;” HIPPONAX, 19.3: “τοὺς πόδας. 20.4: τὰς φρένας γὰρ δείλαιος. 35.4: κατέφαγε δὴ τὸν κλῆρον”. THEOGN. 97: “τὸν ἑταῖρον. 277: τὸν πατέρ᾽ ἐχθαίρουσι, καταρῶνται δ᾽ ἀπολέσθαι”. HOMER. The examples usually cited are not stringent. Cf. also Monro, Gram.,2 p. 230 f. Od. 11.492: “ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε μοι τοῦ παιδὸς ἀγαυοῦ μῦθον ἐνίσπες” (Vogrinz, Gr. des hom. Dial., p. 198, says that this is the only example of the possessive article in Homer). Il. 23.75: “καί μοι δὸς τὴν” (thy) “χεῖρ”（“α”) (“quite anomalous,” Monro, l.c.).
Syntax of Classical Greek from Homer to Demosthenes. Basil L. Gildersleeve. New York. American Book Company. 1900.
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