Semantic roles (AGDT table)
§§1405–1408 · 4 sections
GENITIVE OF CAUSE
With verbs of emotion the genitive denotes the cause. Such verbs are to wonder at, admire, envy, praise, blame. hate, pity, grieve for, be angry at, take vengeance on, and the like.
ἐθαύμασα τῆς τόλμης τῶν λεγόντων
I wondered at the hardihood of the speakers 12.41, τοῦτον ἀγασθεὶς τῆς πρᾳότητος
admiring him for his mildness C. 2.3.21, ζηλῶ σε τοῦ νοῦ, τῆς δὲ δειλίᾱς στυγῶ I envy thee for thy prudence, I hate thee for thy cowardice El. 1027, σὲ ηὐδαιμόνισα τοῦ τρόπου I thought you happy because of your disposition Cr. 43b, συγχαίρω τῶν γεγενημένων
I share the joy at what has happened 15.15, ἀνέχεσθαι τῶν οἰκείων ἀμελουμένων
to put up with the neglect of my household affairs A. 31b, τὸν ξένον δίκαιον αἰνέσαι προθῡμίᾱς
it is right to praise the stranger for his zeal I. A. 1371, οὔποτ᾽ ἀνδρὶ τῷδε κηρῡκευμάτων μέμψῃ
never wilt thou blame me for my tidings Sept. 651, τοῦ πάθους ᾤκτῑρεν αὐτόν
he pitied him for his misery C. 5.4.32, οὐδ᾽ εἰκὸς χαλεπῶς φέρειν αὐτών
nor is it reasonable to grieve about them 2.62, οὐκέτι ὧν οὗτοι κλέπτουσιν ὀργίζεσθε, ἀλλ᾽ ὧν αὐτοὶ λαμβάνετε χάριν ἴστε you are no longer angry at their thefts, but you are grateful for what you get yourselves 27.11, τῑμωρήσασθαι αὐτοὺς τῆς ἐπιθέσεως
to take revenge on them for their attack A. 7.4.23. Here belongs, by analogy, συγγιγνώσκειν αὐτοῖς χρὴ τῆς ἐπιθῡμίᾱς
it is necessary to forgive them for their desire Eu. 306c (usually συγγιγνώσκειν τὴν ἐπιθῡμίᾱν τινί or τῇ ἐπιθῡμίᾳ τινός).
a. The genitive of cause is partly a true genitive, partly ablatival.
With the above verbs the person stands in the accusative or dative. Some of these verbs take the dative or ἐπί and the dative (e.g. ἀλγεῖν, στένειν, ἄχθεσθαι, φθονεῖν) to express the cause of the emotion. See the Lexicon.
The genitive of cause is used in exclamations and is often preceded by an interjection: φεῦ τοῦ ἀνδρός
alas for the man! C. 3.1.39, τῆς τύχης my ill luck! 2. 2. 3. In tragedy, the genitive of a pronoun or adjective after οἴμοι or ὤμοι refers to the second or third person. For the first person the nominative is used (οἴμοι τάλαινα
ah me, miserable! Ant. 554).
Allied to the genitive of cause is the genitive of purpose in τοῦ with the infinitive (esp. with μή, 2032 e), and in expressions where ἕνεκα is usually employed, as ἡ πᾶσ᾽ ἀπάτη συνεσκευάσθη τοῦ περὶ Φωκέᾱς ὀλέθρου
the whole fraud was contrived for the purpose of ruining the Phocians 19.76.
§§1517–1520 · 4 sections
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 · Genitive case · Vengeance · Dative case · Emotion · Admiring · Anger · Blaming · Envying · Grieving · Hating · Pitying