a strange nominative

Steven Craig Miller scmiller at www.plantnet.com
Wed Jan 19 11:05:14 EST 2000


To: Rod Whitacre,

<< Does anyone have a suggestion for the use of KALOI in the following 
clause: hINA EI MEN ULAXOIEN THN CARIN KAI MENOIEN KALOI "so that if they 
kept the grace and remained good" This is from Athanasius, On the 
Incarnation, 3.4. The reference is to Adam  and Eve in the Garden. It seems 
KALOI should be the subject here ("and goodness [?] remained"), but the 
translations I've checked take it as above, so I think I'm missing 
something obvious in the grammar. >>

This is tricky, but what I think you got here is a predicate adjective 
modifying the implied subject of the verb. See Smyth-Messing [1956] 
sections 1042 and 1043. Smyth-Messing quote the example: KATEBAINON 
SKOTAIOI (from X.A. 4.1.10) meaning "they descended in the dark" and not 
"the dark ones descended." (But perhaps there is a better example somewhere?)

-Steven Craig Miller
Alton, Illinois (USA)
scmiller at www.plantnet.com
Disclaimer: "I'm just a simple house-husband (with no post-grad degree), 
what do I know?"




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