Translating and Comprehending Unseen Greek Prose
What the unseen prose task rewards
The examiner is testing whether you can build a defensible English version of a passage you have never seen and then answer comprehension questions from that version. The concepts you must command are: syntax (how clauses nest - participle phrases, genitive absolutes, indirect statement after verbs of saying and thinking, conditions, purpose and result clauses); case usage (especially the genitive and dative, which carry many functions); particle and connective logic (μέν…δέ, γάρ, οὖν, ἀλλά, καίτοι - these mark argument structure and often carry comprehension marks); tense and aspect (aorist versus imperfect, the force of the perfect); and register, since a historian, an orator and a dialogue narrator read differently.
Traps that cost marks
- Chasing words instead of clauses. Find the main verb of each sentence first, then attach subjects and objects. Greek word order is information structure, not grammar.
- Ignoring the participle. A participle is a verb in disguise; deciding whether it is attributive, circumstantial, or supplementary changes the whole sentence.
- Leaving particles untranslated. A version that omits γάρ or οὖν loses the causal or inferential link that a comprehension question will ask about.
- Over-literal English. Answers must be idiomatic; a version that preserves Greek order but not English sense is penalised.
- Answering comprehension questions from memory of the topic rather than from the passage. Quote or cite the Greek where the question invites it.
Rule of thumb
Translate clause by clause, and for each clause ask: who does what to whom, and how does this clause relate to the one before? For comprehension, locate the exact Greek phrase that answers the question and paraphrase it.
Worked example. In a sentence like ὁ στρατηγὸς τοὺς στρατιώτας, ἐπεὶ οἱ πολέμιοι προσῆλθον, ἐκέλευσεν ἀναχωρεῖν, the main verb is ἐκέλευσεν; the ἐπεί-clause is subordinate; the infinitive ἀναχωρεῖν completes the command. Version: 'When the enemy approached, the general ordered the soldiers to withdraw.' A literal 'the general the soldiers, when the enemy approached, ordered to withdraw' is accurate but not English.