AGREEMENT OF PREDICATE ADJECTIVES (AND PARTICIPLES)
WITH ONE SUBJECT
[*] 1044. A circumstantial participle (
2054) referring to a collective noun (
996) may be plural: ““
τὸ στράτευμα ἐπορίζετο σῖτον κόπτοντες τοὺς βοῦς”
the army provided itself with provisions by killing the cattle”
X. A. 2.1.6. So after
οὐδείς, as
οὐδεὶς ἐκοιμήθη ( =
πάντες ἐν ἀγρυπνίᾳ ἦσαν) ““
τοὺς ἀπολωλότας πενθοῦντες”
no one slept because they were all bewailing the dead”
X. H. 2.2.3. Cp.
950.
[*] 1045. A plural participle may be used with a dual verb: ““
ἐγελασάτην ἄμφω βλέψαντες εἰς ἀλλήλους”
both looked at each other and burst out laughing”
P. Eu. 273d. A dual participle may be used with a plural verb:
ποῦ ποτ᾽ ὄνθ᾽ ηὑρήμεθα;
where in the world are we? E. I. T. 777.
[*] 1046. A dual subject may be followed by a plural predicate adjective or participle: ““
εἰ γάρ τις φαίη τὼ πόλει τούτω πλείστων ἀγαθῶν αἰτία_ς γεγενῆσθαι”
if any one should assert that these two cities have been the cause of very many blessings”
I. 12.156.
[*] 1047. A predicate adjective is neuter singular when the subject is an infinitive, a sentence, or a general thought: ““
ἡδὺ πολλοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἔχειν”
; is it pleasant to have many enemies?”
D. 19.221,
δῆλον δ᾽ ὅτι ταῦτ᾽ ἐστὶν ἀληθῆ it is clear that these things are true 2. 19.
[*] 1048. A predicate adjective referring to a masculine or feminine singular subject is often neuter singular and equivalent to a substantive. This occurs chiefly in statements of a general truth, where the subject refers to a whole class, not to an individual thing. Thus, ““
καλὸν εἰρήνη”
peace is a fine thing”
D. 19.336,
ἄπιστον ταῖς πολι_- τείαις ἡ τυραννίς despotism is an object of mistrust to free states 1. 5, ““
μεῖζον πόλις ἑνὸς ἀνδρός”
the state is larger than the individual”
P. R. 368e. So also in the plural (
1056).
[*] 1049. So with names of places: ““
ἔστι δὲ ἡ Χαιρώνεια ἔσχατον τὴς Βοιωτία_ς”
Chaeronea is on the frontier of Boeotia”
T. 4.76.
[*] 1050. A predicate superlative agrees in gender either with the subject or (usually) with a dependent genitive:
νόσων χαλεπώτατος φθόνος envy is
the most fell of diseases Men. fr. 535,
σύμβουλος ἀγαθὸς χρησιμώτατον ἁπάντων τῶν κτημάτων a good counsellor is
the most useful of all possessions I. 2.53.
[*] 1051. For a predicate adjective used where English has an adverb, cp.
1042.
[*] 1052. A predicate adjective is often used in the neuter plural (especially with verbal adjectives in
-τός and
-τέος in Thucydides and the poets):
ἐπειδὴ ἑτοῖμα ἦν, ἀνήγετο when (all)
was ready, he put out to sea T. 2.56,
ἀδύνατα ἦν τοὺς Λοκροὺς ἀμύ_νεσθαι it was impossible to resist the Locrians 4. 1,
ἐδόκει ἐπιχειρητέα εἶναι they decided to make the attempt 2. 3. Cp. 1003 a.
WITH TWO OR MORE SUBJECTS
[*] 1053. With two or more substantives a predicate adjective is plural, except when it agrees with the nearer subject: ““
φόβος καὶ νόμος ἱκανὸς ἔρωτα κωλύ_ειν”
fear and the law are capable of restraining love”
X. C. 5.1.10, ““
πολλῶν δὲ λόγων καὶ θορύβου γιγνομένου”
there arising much discussion and confusion”
D. 3.4. See
968.
[*] 1054. With substantives denoting persons of like gender, a predicate adjective is of the same gender:
Ἀγάθων καὶ Σωκράτης λοιποί Agathon and Socrates are
left P. S. 193c.
[*] 1055. When the persons are of different gender, the masculine prevails: ““
ὡς εἶδε πατέρα τε καὶ μητέρα καὶ ἀδελφοὺς καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γυναῖκα αἰχμαλώτους γεγενημένους, ἐδάκρυ_σε”
when he saw that his father and mother and brothers and wife had been made prisoners of war, he burst into tears”
X. C. 3.1.7.
a. But persons are sometimes regarded as things: ““
ἔχω αὐτῶν καὶ τέκνα καὶ γυναῖκας φρουρούμενα”
I have their children and wives under guard”
X. A. 1.4.8.
[*] 1056. With substantives denoting things of like gender a predicate adjective is of the same gender and plural. A neuter plural with the singular verb is often preferred: ““
εὐγένειαί τε καὶ δυνάμεις καὶ τι_μαὶ δῆλά ἐστιν ἀγαθὰ ὄντα”
noble birth and power and honour are clearly good things”
P. Eu. 279b.
[*] 1057. When the things are of different gender, a predicate adjective is neuter plural with singular verb: ““
λίθοι τε καὶ πλίνθοι καὶ ξύλα καὶ κέραμος ἀτάκτως ἐρρι_μμένα οὐδὲν χρήσιμά ἐστιν”
stones and bricks and pieces of wood and tiles thrown together at random are useless”
X. M. 3.1.7.
[*] 1058. When the substantives denote both persons and things, a predicate adjective is—
a. plural, and follows the gender of the person, if the person is more important, or if the thing is treated as a person:
γρᾴδια καὶ γερόντια καὶ ““
πρόβατα ὀλίγα καὶ βοῦς καταλελειμμένους”
old women and old men and a few sheep and oxen that had been left behind”
X. A. 6.3.22, ““
ἡ τύχη καὶ Φίλιππος ἦσαν τῶν ἔργων κύ_ριοι”
Fortune and Philip were masters of the situation”
Aes. 2.118,
b. or is neuter plural if the person is treated like a thing: ““
ἡ καλλίστη πολι_τεία_ τε καὶ ὁ κάλλιστος ἀνὴρ λοιπὰ ἂν ἡμῖν εἴη διελθεῖν”
we should still have to treat of the noblest polity and the noblest man”
P. R. 562a.
[*] 1059. The verbal and the adjective predicate may agree with the first of two subjects as the more important: ““
Βρα_σίδα_ς καὶ τὸ πλῆθος ἐπὶ τὰ μετέωρα τῆς πόλεως ἐτράπετο βουλόμενος κατ᾽ ἄκρα_ς ἑλεῖν αὐτήν”
Brasidas with the bulk of his troops turned to the upper part of the city wishing to capture it completely”
T. 4.112.
For further uses of predicate adjectives, see
1150 ff., 1168 ff., 2647.
ATTRACTION OF PREDICATE NOUNS WITH THE INFINITIVE TO THE CASE OF THE OBJECT OF THE GOVERNING VERB
[*] 1060. When the subject of the infinitive is the same as a genitive or dative depending on the governing verb, it is often omitted.
[*] 1061. A predicate adjective referring to a
genitive regularly stands in the genitive, but a predicate substantive or participle generally stands in the accusative in agreement with the unexpressed subject of the infinitive: ““
Κύ_ρου ἐδέοντο ώς προθυ_μοτάτου γενέσθαι”
they entreated Cyrus to show himself as zealous as possible”
X. H. 1.5.2, ““
ὑπὸ τῶν δεομένων μου προστάτην γενέσθαι”
by those who begged me to become their chief”
X. C. 7.2.23,
δέομαι ὑ_μῶν ἐθελῆσαί μου ἀκοῦσαι, ὑπολογιζομένους τὸ πλῆθος τῶν αἰτιῶν I beg of you that you be willing to listen to me,
paying heed to the number of charges Aes. 2.1.
[*] 1062. A predicate substantive, adjective, or participle referring to a
dative stands in the dative or in the accusative in agreement with the unexpressed subject of the infinitive: ““
νῦν σοι ἔξεστιν ἀνδρὶ γενέσθαι”
now it is in your power to prove yourself a man”
X. A. 7.1.21, ““
Λακεδαιμονίοις ἔξεστιν ὑ_μῖν φίλους γενέσθαι”
it is in your power to become friends to the Lacedaemonians”
T. 4.29, ““
ἔδοξεν αὐτοῖς . . . ἐξοπλισαμένοις προϊ_έναι”
they decided to arm themselves fully and to advance”
X. A. 2.1.2,
ἔδοξεν αὐτοῖς προφυλακὰ_ς καταστήσαντας συγκαλεῖν τοὺς στρατιώτα_ς they decided to station pickets and to assemble the soldiers 3. 2. 1, ““
συμφέρει αὐτοῖς φίλους εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ πολεμίους”
it is for their interest to be friends rather than enemies”
X. O. 11.23.
For predicate nouns in the nominative or accusative in agreement with omitted
subject of the infinitive, see
1973-1975.
Part I: Letters, Sounds, Syllables, Accent
Part IV: Syntax
