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INSTRUMENTAL DATIVE PROPER
Cause.—The dative, especially with verbs of emotion, expresses the occasion (external cause) or the motive (internal cause).
Occasion: τῇ τύχῃ ἐλπίσᾱς
confident by reason of his good fortune 3.97, θαυμάζω τῇ ἀποκλῄσει μου τῶν πυλῶν I am astonished at being shut out of the gates 4. 85, τούτοις ἥσθη
he was pleased at this A. 1.9.26, ἠχθόμεθα τοῖς γεγενημένοις we were troubled at what had occurred 5. 7. 20, χαλεπῶς φέρω τοῖς παροῦσι πρᾱ́γμασιν I am troubled at the present occurrences 1. 3. 3. Motive: φιλίᾳ καὶ εὐνοίᾳ ἑπόμενοι
following out of friendship and good will A. 2.6.13. Occasion and motive: οἱ μὲν ἀπορίᾳ ἀκολούθων, οἱ δὲ ἀπιστίᾳ some (carried their own food) because they lacked servants, others through distrust of them 7.75, ὕβρει καὶ οὐκ οἴνῳ τοῦτο ποιῶν
doing this out of insolence and not because he was drunk 21.74.
Some verbs of emotion take ἐπί (with dat.) to denote the cause; so always μέγα φρονεῖν to plume oneself, and often χαίρειν rejoice, λῡπεῖσθαι grieve, ἀγανακτεῖν be vexed, αἰσχῡ́νεσθαι be ashamed. Many verbs take the genitive (1405).
The dative of cause sometimes approximates to a dative of purpose (1473): Ἀθηναῖοι ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς ὥρμηνται Λεοντῑ́νων κατοικίσει the Athenians have set out against us (with a view to) to restore the Leontines 6.33. This construction is common with other verbal nouns in Thucydides.
Cause is often expressed by διά with the accusative, ὑπό with the genitive, less frequently by ἀμφί or περί with the dative (poet.) or ὑπέρ with the genitive (poet.).
In the index: Cause · Dative case · Emotion · Motive · Occasion