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Translation Assistance => Other language pairs => Ancient Greek→English translation forum => Topic started by: sappho on 01 Oct, 2019, 01:28:43

Title: ἑτέρως ἠδύνατο βέλτιον ἢ ὡς νῦν ἔχει κατεσκευάσθαι → otherwise they could have been constructed better than they are now (Galen, "On the use of parts of the body" 4.143.1 Kühn)
Post by: sappho on 01 Oct, 2019, 01:28:43

- ὅτι μὲν οὐδὲν τῶν εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ ζῆν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τῶν εἰς τὸ κάλλιον ζῆν γεγονότων ‖ ἑτέρως ἠδύνατο βέλτιον ἢ ὡς νῦν ἔχει κατεσκευάσθαι, διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν αὐτάρκως ἀπoδέδεικται.

Can someone help me with the meaning of this? I understand the meaning until γεγονότων, but I can not understand this ἑτέρως ἠδύνατο βέλτιον ἢ ὡς νῦν ἔχει κατεσκευάσθαι

Thanks a lot.

Galen, De usu partium corporis humani I-XI
http://cts.perseids.org/read/greekLit/tlg0057/tlg017/1st1K-grc1/12.15-14.1
https://www.graeco-arabic-studies.org/fileadmin/user_upload/texts.xml/Galen-Gr_032-2.xml

Title: ἑτέρως ἠδύνατο βέλτιον ἢ ὡς νῦν ἔχει κατεσκευάσθαι → otherwise they could have been constructed better than they are now (Galen, "On the use of parts of the body" 4.143.1 Kühn)
Post by: vbd. on 01 Oct, 2019, 02:27:30

ἑτέρως - otherwise
ἠδύνατο - could have 
ἔχει κατεσκευάσθαι - been created
βέλτιον - better
ἢ ὡς νῦν - than they are now

(has been sufficiently proven...)

Title: ἑτέρως ἠδύνατο βέλτιον ἢ ὡς νῦν ἔχει κατεσκευάσθαι → otherwise they could have been constructed better than they are now (Galen, "On the use of parts of the body" 4.143.1 Kühn)
Post by: sappho on 01 Oct, 2019, 12:35:44

Thanks a lot for your help, it was ἔχει κατεσκευάσθαι that I didn't understand in particular, (ἔχω plus infinitive): though I understood the idea expressed in it, I didn't know how to translate, and it was blocking all the rest.

Title: ἑτέρως ἠδύνατο βέλτιον ἢ ὡς νῦν ἔχει κατεσκευάσθαι → otherwise they could have been constructed better than they are now (Galen, "On the use of parts of the body" 4.143.1 Kühn)
Post by: billberg23 on 01 Oct, 2019, 14:52:02

Actually, κατεσκευάσθαι goes with ἠδύνατο, not with ἔχει. The phrase ὡς νῦν ἔχει ("as it now stands," "as it is now") is separate.  On this meaning, cf. Liddell-Scott-Jones s.v. ἔχω:
simply, be, ἑκὰς εἶχον Od. 12.435; ἔ. κατʼ οἴκους Hdt. 6.39; περὶ πολλῶν ἔ. πρηγμάτων Id. 3.128; ἀγῶνα διὰ πάσης ἀγωνίης ἔχοντα consisting in . . , Id. 2.91; ἔ. ἐν ἀνάγκαισι E. Ba. 88 (lyr.); ὅπου συμφορᾶς ἔχεις Id. El. 238; ἐκποδὼν ἔχειν Id. IT 1226, etc.
freq. with Advbs. of manner, εὖ ἔχει Od. 24.245, etc.; καλῶς ἔχει, κακῶς ἔχει, it is, is going on well or ill, v. καλός, κακός (but fut. σχήσειν καλῶς will turn out well, D. 1.9, cf. 18.45; εὖ σχήσει S. Aj. 684); οὕτως . . σχεῖν to turn out, happen thus, Pl. Ap. 39b; οὕτως ἔχει so the case stands, Ar. Pl. 110; οὕτως ἐχόντων, Lat. cum res ita se habeant, X. An. 3.2.10; ὡς ὧδʼ ἐχόντων S. Aj. 981; οὕτω χρὴ διὰ στέρνων ἔχειν Id. Ant. 639; οὕτως ἔ. περί τινος X. Mem. 4.8.7, cf. Hdt. 6.16; πρός τι D. 9.45; τῇδʼ ἔ. S. Ph. 1336; κοσμίως ἔ. Ar. Th. 854; ἥδιον ἔ. πρός τινας D. 9.63; ὡς εἶχε just as he was, Hdt. 1.114; ὥσπερ εἶχε Th. 1.134, X. HG 4.1.30; ὡς ἔχω how I am, Ar. Lys. 610; ὥσπερ ἔχομεν Th. 3.30; τἀναντία εἶχεν D. 9.41; ἀσφαλέως, ἀναγκαίως ἔχει, = ἀσφαλές, ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι, Hdt. 1.86,9.27; καλῶς ἔχει no, I thank you, v. καλός.

Title: ἑτέρως ἠδύνατο βέλτιον ἢ ὡς νῦν ἔχει κατεσκευάσθαι → otherwise they could have been constructed better than they are now (Galen, "On the use of parts of the body" 4.143.1 Kühn)
Post by: sappho on 02 Oct, 2019, 16:59:36

Thank you, now I understand this ἔχει which I was linking wrongly with κατεσκευάσθαι.

:)

Title: ἑτέρως ἠδύνατο βέλτιον ἢ ὡς νῦν ἔχει κατεσκευάσθαι → otherwise they could have been constructed better than they are now (Galen, "On the use of parts of the body" 4.143.1 Kühn)
Post by: billberg23 on 02 Oct, 2019, 18:01:37

No problem.  Welcome to the Forum, Sappho!