Translation of unseen Greek prose and verse
What this domain tests
This domain asks you to turn unfamiliar Greek into accurate, readable English and to show the grammatical reasoning behind your choices. Prose is usually Attic-Lysias, Xenophon, Plato or Thucydides-while verse may be Homeric hexameter or tragic iambic trimeter. Marks are lost by guessing from a few familiar words; they are gained by controlling clauses.
Core procedure
- Divide the passage into sense units at finite verbs, particles and punctuation. Find the main verb of each clause first.
- Build a case frame: nominative subject, accusative object, genitive of possession or separation, dative of means, manner or indirect object.
- Check voice, tense and mood. A middle form may be active in meaning; an aorist participle usually precedes the main verb; an imperative may carry the force of a command in reported speech.
- In verse, use dialect and metre as clues: epic -οιο and -φι endings, unaugmented verbs, dual forms, and formulaic line-openings.
- Translate idioms as idioms, not word for word: οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως, εἰς καιρόν, ἐν χερσί.
Worked example
ἡ μὲν πόλις ἐσώθη, οἱ δὲ στρατιῶται ἀπῆλθον.
First identify the contrast marked by μέν…δέ. πόλις is feminine nominative singular, subject of ἐσώθη, aorist passive indicative of σῴζω: “was saved.” στρατιῶται is nominative plural, subject of ἀπῆλθον, aorist active of ἀπέρχομαι: “departed.” The translation is: “The city was saved, but the soldiers departed.” Do not render μέν mechanically as “on the one hand” unless the English needs it.
Traps that cost marks
Ignoring the augment; mistaking a middle for a passive; missing a genitive absolute; leaving particles untranslated; turning a participle into a finite verb and losing the clause structure; and producing English that is literal but unintelligible. Always re-read your English as English.