Pros
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun May 23 06:21:22 EDT 1999
At 6:45 PM -0500 5/22/99, Mitchell Gray wrote:
>Hello,
>I am not a student in Greek, but I plan to be as soon as I am able. I am
>having a discusion with someone about something, and they brought up the
>Greek word "pros". Which is commonly translated as "with", I suppose.
>Does "pros" convey something more than just "with"?
I've looked at other answers to this, and although none is really wrong,
there's a dimension of PROS that, in my opinion, throws the differences
into a context: nobody has asked why this preposition/adverb/prefix may
mean "with" in one context, "to" or "towards" in far more contexts. Nobody
has consulted a dictionary or grammar on this one, and yet it's a good and
worthwhile question to which most students of Greek, at whatever level,
think they know the answers without checking any reference source. To me it
is a bit ironic that this question seems to have originated exactly as did
my own first puzzlement over this everyday Greek preposition: how to
explain that in John 1:1 most versions find "with" the most meaningful way
to convey it in English?
I think that a careful perusal of the entry for this word in LSJ or in
Smyth's grammar is particularly instructive, but a couple little facts
strike me as worth noting even before asking why PROS can take so many
different senses and be used (although not commonly in Koine) with three
different cases: genitive, dative, and accusative.
(a) Aristotle, "the master of those who know," as Dante called him, may
have known more of the inner workings of Greek than anyone else who ever
analyzed them. Even if that may be debatable, I think it significant that
one of his "categories of understanding" is TO PROS TI, usually conveyed as
"the category of relation." One might say, of course, that ALL prepositions
seem to involve relationship, but this one is distinct from others in
underscoring 'contextual association' as one of the factors defining
anything precisely. And in fact, that's helpful in understanding John 1:1b
and 1:2: hO LOGOS HN PROS TON QEON: the BEING of the LOGOS is defined by
its 'contextual relationship' to God, and was so defined, says John, EN
ARCHi.
(b) Etymology is a perilous science, leading down blind alleys as often or
more often than not. Still, it is fun to speculate on etymology and it
often enough really is illuminating, however often it obfuscates. PROS,
PARA, PRO, PRIN, PROTEROS,and PRWTOS are all related. In fact, PROS appears
to be related to PRO ('in front') much as EIS (originally ENS) is related
to EN: the -S is a directional suffix, much like English "-ward/s." Since
the vowel -A- works with the semivowels -L- and -R- in a curious symbiosis
(-A- seems to ooze through the wall of an L or R, or sneak beneath it, and
wind up on the other side (there are four forms of ARA in Homer: AR, hRA,
ARA, and hR, depending on the initial vowel or consonant of the word
following). An older form of PROS may have been PAROS, but the A preceding
the R yields to the O as the disyllabic form gives way to the monosyllabic.
And there is a curious duality in fundamental meaning of this
PR/PAR/PARA/PRO: on the one hand it means "in front" of one or more things
(in relation to one thing or group the comparative PROTEROS comes into
play, while in comparison with several we have PRWTOS, from PRO-ATOS,
"foremost" = "first"); on the other hand it means "facing," "confronting."
I remember puzzling once over how Xenophon can say that so-and-say went
"FROM the king" (PARA BASILEWS) or "TO the king" using the same preposition
with the different cases. Of course, PARA really does 'mean' the same thing
in both, namely 'before' or 'the presence of'--PARA BASILEWS means "from
the king's presence" while PARA BASILEA means "to the king's
presence"--PARA BASILEA ERCESQAI = 'go before the king.' Of course,
ultimately PARA comes to be used in senses in which PROS is not used, such
as "alongside of" or "passing in front of" (with verbs of motion). From the
etymological perspective, then, hO LOGOS HN PROS TON QEON is going to mean
something like, "the Logos continued to be in the presence of God," or "the
Logos was always face-to-face with God" (where 'face-to'face' is the real
sense of PROS, while 'with' simply assists in linking 'face-to-face' with
its English object.
(c) As I suggested earlier, if one really does want to gain something more
than a superficial grasp on Greek, dictionaries and grammars need to be
studied rather than merely consulted; one may, of course, hunt for a
meaning that works in the context in which you find the word in a passage,
but if you study what you may learn in an unabridged dictionary, you'll
learn what that word may mean in a variety of other contexts--you will have
become 'intimate' with the word as an explorer becomes 'intimate' with a
terrain that is unique but that will be recognizable whenever seen again,
no matter the direction from which that terrain is approached. Here (with
minor deletions) is the web page from the Perseus site on PROS in Smyth's
first edition, #1695. It will repay some study, and even if the examples
cited are mostly classical Attic, they are instructive; it is worth
pondering, for each cited instance, why Smyth has chosen the particular
mode of converting PROS for the context even while discerning that this
unique preposition, "plus ça change, plus c'est la me^me chose."
==================
pros
--------------------
1695. pros (Hom. also proti), at, by (fronting). Of like meaning, but of
different origin, is Hom. poti.
1. pros with the Genitive
--------------------
a. Local (not common in prose): to pros hespera_s teichos the wall facing
the west Xen. Hell. 4.4.18, ta hupozugia echontes pros tou potamou having
the pack-animals on the side toward the river Xen. Anab. 2.2.4.
b. Other relations: Descent: pros patros on the father's side Aeschin.
3.169. Characteristic: ou gar ên pros tou Ku_rou tropou for it was not the
way of Cyrus Xen. Anab. 1.2.11. Point of view of a person: pros anthrôpôn
aischros base in the eyes of men 2. 5. 20. Agent as the source, with
passive verbs (instead of hupo): homologeitai pros pantôn it is agreed by
all 1. 9. 20; to the advantage of; sponda_s poiêsamenos pros Thêbaiôn
mallon ê pros heaut ôn making a truce more to the advantage of the Thebans
than of his own party Xen. Hell. 7.1.17; in oaths and entreaties: pros
theôn by the gods Xen. Hell. 2.4.21.
2. pros with the Dative
-------------------
In a local sense, denoting proximity (generally, in prose, of towns or
buildings, not of persons): pros têi polei tên machên poieisthai to fight
near the city Thuc. 6.49; sometimes like en, as pros hierois tois koinois
anatethênai to be dedicated in the common shrines Thuc. 3.57. Occupation:
ên holos pros tôi lêmmati he was wholly intent upon his gain Dem. 19.127.
In addition to: pros autois besides these Thuc. 7.57. In the presence of:
pros tôi diaitêtê legein to speak before the arbitrator Dem. 39.22. [p. 385]
3. pros with the Accusative
--------------------
a. Local (direction toward or to, strictly fronting, facing): hu_mas axomen
pros autous we will lead you to them Xen. Anab. 7.6.6, pros noton (toward
the) south Thuc. 3.6, ienai pros tous polemious to go against the enemy
Xen. Anab. 2.6.10.
b. Temporal (rare): pros hêmera_n toward daybreak Xen. Hell. 2.4.6.
c. Other relations: friendly or hostile relation: pros eme legete speak to
me Xen. Cyrop. 6.4.19, philia_ pros hu_mas friendship with you Isoc. 5.32,
echthra_ pros tous Argeious enmity to the Argives Thuc. 2.68, but hê pros
hêmas echthra_ our enmity 6. 80, hê apechtheia pros tous Thêbaious our
enmity to the Thebans and the enmity of the Thebans to us Dem. 18.36. With
words of hating, accusing, and their opposites, pros is used either of the
subject or of the object or of both parties involved. With words denoting
warfare pros indicates a double relation, and the context must determine
which party is the aggressor or assailant: naumachia_ Korinthiôn pros
Kerku_raious a sea-fight between the Corinthians and the Corcyreans Thuc.
1.13 (here kai often suffices, as ho Lakedaimoniôn kai Êleiôn polemos Xen.
Hell. 3.2.31). Relation in general: ouden autôi pros tên polin estin he has
nothing to do with the city Dem. 21.44, pros tous theous eusebôs echein to
be pious toward the gods Lyc. 15. Purpose: pros ti; to what end? Xen.
Cyrop. 6.3.20, pros charin legein to speak in order to court favour Dem.
4.51; with a view to (often nearly = dia): pros tauta bouleuesthe eu
wherefore be well advised Thuc. 4.87, pros ta paronta in consequence of the
present circumstances 6. 41. Conformity: pros tên axia_n according to merit
Xen. Cyrop. 8.4.29. Standard of judgment: oude pros argurion tên
eudaimonia_n ekri_non nor did they estimate happiness by the money-standard
Isoc. 4.76, chôra_ hôs pros to plêthos tôn poli_tôn elachistê a territory
very small in proportion to the number of its citizens 4. 107; and hence of
comparison: oi phauloteroi tôn anthrôpôn pros tous xunetôterous . . .
ameinon oikousi ta_s poleis the simpler class of men, in comparison with
the more astute, manage their public affairs better Thuc. 3.37. Exchange:
hêdona_s pros hêdona_s katallattesthai to exchange pleasures for pleasures
Plat. Phaedo 69a.
4. pros in Composition
-------------------
To, toward (proselaunein drive to, prostrepein turn toward), in addition
(proslambanein take in addition), against (proskrouein strike against, be
angry with). Often in the general sense of additionally, qualifying the
whole sentence rather
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 16342 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/b-greek/attachments/19990523/e0afa78b/attachment.bin
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list