instrumental dative proper

Instrument or Means.—ἔβαλλέ με λίθοις he hit me with stones L. 3.8, ῑ̔́ησι τῇ ἀξῑ́νῃ he hurls his ax at him (hurls with his ax) X. A. 1.5.12, ταῖς μαχαίραις κόπτοντες hacking them with their swords 4. 6. 26, οὐδὲν ἤνυε τούτοις he accomplished nothing by this D. 21.104, ἐζημίωσαν χρήμασιν they punished him by a fine T. 2.65, ῡ̔́οντος πολλῷ (ὕδατι) during a heavy rain X. H. 1.1.16 (934). So with δέχεσθαι: τῶν πόλεων οὐ δεχομένων αὐτοὺς ἀγορᾷ οὐδὲ ἄστει, ὕδατι δὲ καὶ ὅρμῳ as the cities did not admit them to a market nor even into the town, but (only) to water and anchorage T. 6.44. Often with passives: ᾠκοδομημένον πλίνθοις built of bricks X. A. 2.4.12.

a. The instrumental dative is often akin to the comitative dative: ἀλώμενος νηί τε καὶ ἑτάροισι wandering with his ship and companions λ 161, νηυσὶν οἰχήσονται they shall go with their ships Ω 731, θῡμῷ καὶ ῥώμῃ τὸ πλέον ἐναυμάχουν ἢ ἐπιστήμῃ they fought with passionate violence and brute force rather than by a system of tactics T. 1.49.

b. Persons may be regarded as instruments: φυλαττόμενοι φύλαξι defending themselves by pickets X. A. 6.4.27. Often in poetry (S. Ant. 164).

c. Verbs of raining or snowing take the dative or accusative (1570 a).

Under Means fall:

a. The dative of price (cp. 1372): μέρει τῶν ἀδικημάτων τὸν κίνδῡνον ἐξεπρίαντο they freed themselves from the danger at the price of a part of their unjust gains L. 27.6.

b. Rarely, the dative with verbs of filling (cp. 1369): δάκρυσι πᾶν τὸ στράτευμα πλησθέν the entire army being filled with tears T. 7.75.

c. The dative of material and constituent parts: κατεσκευάσατο ἅρματα τροχοῖς ἰσχῡροῖς he made chariots with strong wheels X. C. 6.1.29.

χρῆσθαι use (strictly employ oneself with, get something done with; cp. uti), and sometimes νομίζειν, take the dative. Thus, οὔτε τούτοις (τοῖς νομίμοις) χρῆται οὔθ᾽ οἷς ἡ ἄλλη Ἑλλὰς νομίζει neither acts according to these institutions nor observes those accepted by the rest of Greece T. 1.77. A predicate noun may be added to the dative: τούτοις χρῶνται δορυφόροις they make use of them as a body-guard X. Hi. 5.3. The use to which an object is put may be expressed by a neuter pronoun in the accus. (1573); τί χρησόμεθα τούτῳ; what use shall we make of it? D. 3.6.

The instrumental dative occurs after substantives: μῑ́μησις σχήμασι imitation by means of gestures P. R. 397b.

The instrumental dative of means is often, especially in poetry, reinforced by the prepositions ἐν, σύν, ὑπό: ἐν λόγοις πείθειν to persuade by words S. Ph. 1393, οἱ θεοὶ ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἐσήμηναν the gods have shown by the victims X. A. 6.1.31; σὺν γήρᾳ βαρεῖς heavy with old age S. O. T. 17; πόλις χερσὶν ὑφ᾽ ἡμετέρῃσιν ἁλοῦσα a city captured by our hands B 374.

Dative of Standard of Judgment.—That by which anything is measured, or judged, is put in the dative: ξυνεμετρήσαντο ταῖς ἐπιβολαῖς τῶν πλίνθων they measured the ladders by the layers of bricks. T. 3.20, τῷδε δῆλον ἦν it was plain from what followed X. A. 2.3.1, οἷς πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους πεποίηκε δεῖ τεκμαίρεσθαι we must judge by what he has done to the rest D. 9.10, τίνι χρὴ κρῑ́νεσθαι τὰ μέλλοντα καλῶς κριθήσεσθαι; ἆρ᾽ οὐκ ἐμπειρίᾳ τε καὶ φρονήσει καὶ λόγῳ; by what standard must we judge that the judgment may be correct? Is it not by experience and wisdom and reasoning? P. R. 582a. With verbs of judging ἐκ and ἀπό are common.

Manner (see also 1527).—The dative of manner is used with comparative adjectives and other expressions of comparison to mark the degree by which one thing differs from another (Dative of Measure of Difference).

κεφαλῇ ἐλᾱ́ττων a head shorter (lit. by the head) P. Ph. 101a, οὐ πολλαῖς ἡμέραις ὕστερον ἦλθεν he arrived not many days later X. H. 1.1.1, ἰόντες δέκα ἡμέραις πρὸ Παναθηναίων coming ten days before the Panathenaic festival T. 5.47, τοσούτῳ ἥδῑον ζῶ ὅσῳ πλείω κέκτημαι the more I possess the more pleasant is my life X. C. 8.3.40, πολλῷ μείζων ἐγίγνετο ἡ βοὴ ὅσῳ δὴ πλείους ἐγίγνοντο the shouting became much louder as the men increased in number X. A. 4.7.23. So with πολλῷ by much, ὀλίγῳ by little, τῷ παντί in every respect (by all odds).

a. With the superlative: μακρῷ ἄριστα by far the best P. L. 858e.

With comparatives the accusatives (1586) τί, τὶ, οὐδέν, μηδέν without a substantive are always used: οὐδὲν ἧττον nihilo minus X. A. 7.5.9. In Attic prose (except in Thuc.) πολύ and ὀλίγον are more common than πολλῷ and ὀλίγῳ with comparatives. Hom. has only πολὺ μείζων.

Measure of difference may be expressed by ἔν τινι; εἴς τι, κατά τι; or by ἐπί τινι.

The dative of manner may denote the particular point of view from which a statement is made. This occurs chiefly with intransitive adjectives but also with intransitive verbs (Dative of Respect). (Cp. 1600.)

ἀνὴρ ἡλικίᾳ ἔτι νέος a man still young in years T. 5.43, τοῖς σώμασι τὸ πλέον ἰσχῡ́ουσα ἢ τοῖς χρήμασιν a power stronger in men than in money 1. 121, ἀσθενὴς τῷ σώματι weak in body D. 21.165, τῇ φωνῇ τρᾱχύς harsh of voice X. A. 2.6.9, φρονήσει διαφέρων distinguished in understanding X. C. 2.3.5, τῶν τότε δυνάμει προύχων superior in power to the men of that time T. 1.9, ὀνόματι σπονδαί a truce so far as the name goes 6. 10.

a. The accusative of respect (1600) is often nearly equivalent to the dative of respect.

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 T. 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 X. 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 X. 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 T. 7.75, ὕβρει καὶ οὐκ οἴνῳ τοῦτο ποιῶν doing this out of insolence and not because he was drunk D. 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 T. 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.).