Lesson 5: Reading

1. οἱ νόμοι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους παιδεύουσιν.

οἱ νόμοι the laws (pl. masc. nom.)
τοὺς ἀνθρώπους the men (pl. masc. acc.)
παιδεύουσιν they educate (verb, present tense, 3rd person plural)

The laws educate the men.

2. πιστεύουμεν τοῖς τῶν φίλων λόγοις.

πιστεύουμεν we trust (present tense verb, 1st person plural)
τοῖς . . . λόγοις to the words/speeches/reasons (pl.dat.masc.)
τῶν φίλων of the the friends (pl. gen. masc.)

We (give) trust to the words of the friends.
We trust the words of the friends.

3. τοὺς φίλους πείθει πιστεύειν τοῖς νόμοις.

τοὺς φίλους the friends (acc.)
πείθει he/she/it persuades (subject, verb)
πιστεύειν to trust (inf.)
τοῖς νόμοις to the laws (dat.)

He persuades the friends to trust the laws.

4. ἡ ἐπιυμία ἡδονῶν πολλάκις ἀνθρώπους εἰς ἀδικίαν ἄγει.

ἡ ἐπιυμία the desire
ἡδονῶν of pleasures
πολλάκις often
ἀνθρώπους men
εἰς ἀδικίαν into injustice
ἄγει he/she/it leads

The desire of pleasures often leads men into injustice.
The desire for pleasure often leads men into injustice.

5. κακὸν φέρουσι καρπὸν οἱ κακοὶ φίλοι.

κακὸν evil
φέρουσι they bear
καρπὸν fruit
οἱ κακοὶ the evils
φίλοι friends

The evil friends bear evil fruit.
Evil friends bear evil fruit.

6. ἔφη κακοὺς φίλους φέρειν καρπὸν κακόν.

ἔφη he said
κακοὺς evils
φίλους friends
φέρειν to bear
καρπὸν fruit
κακόν evil

He said the evil friends (to) bear evil fruit.
He said that the evil friends were bearing evil fruit.

C&P, p. 15:

"Many verbs of saying and thinking, as φημί (t0 be studied later) and νομίζω, are followed by indirect statement in the infinitive. In such cases the verb of the direct statement is changed in the indirect to the same tense of the infinitive, and the subject is put in the accusative case.

"If the subject of the verb of saying or thinking and the subject of the infinitive are the same, and are not emphatic, the subject of the infinitive is not expressed, and its modifiers remain nominative."

7. νομίζουσιν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι τὸν θάνατον εἶναι καὶ ὕπνον.

νομίζουσιν they think
οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι the Athenians
τὸν θάνατον the death
εἶναι to be
καὶ and/merely
ὕπνον sleep

They think, the Athenians do, the death to be merely/also sleep.
The Athenians think/are thinking that death is merely sleep.

8. τοὺς νόμους οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι εἰς λίθους γράφουσιν.

τοὺς νόμους the laws
οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι the Athenians
εἰς λίθους into stones
γράφουσιν they scratch, write

The Athenians write the laws in stones.

9. οὐκ ἔφασαν τὸν θάνατον κακὸν εἶναι ἀνθρώποις.

οὐκ not
ἔφασαν they said
τὸν θάνατον the death
κακὸν evil
εἶναι to be
ἀνθρώποις to men

They were not saying death to be evil to men.
They were not saying that death was evil to men.
They didn't say that death was evil to men.

10. νομίζουσιν οἱ ἆνθρωποι καλὸν εἶναι ἀγαθοὺς φίλους ἔχειν.

νομίζουσιν they think
οἱ ἆνθρωποι the men
καλὸν beautiful
εἶναι to be
ἀγαθοὺς good
φίλους friends
ἔχειν hold, have

The men think that it is a beautiful thing to have good friends.
The men think it beautiful to have good friends.