Friday, March 22, 2024

The Sixth Sentence in the Letter to Theodore

Εἰ γὰρ καὶ το ἀληθὲς λέγοιεν, οὐδ᾽ οὕτω συμφωνοίη ἂν αὐτοῖς ὁ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐραστής 

τι [MS, PV] το [AT]

Uncertain which makes more sense grammatically. If we consider: "Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τι ἀληθὲς λέγοιεν, οὐδ᾽ οὕτω συμφωνοίη ἂν αὐτοῖς ὁ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐραστής." The sense would be: "τι" (something) is more suitable in this context than "το" (the) before "ἀληθὲς" (truth). It makes the phrase more general, indicating any truth rather than a specific truth. The phrase "οὐδ᾽ οὕτω συμφωνοίη" (nor would the lover of truth agree) is in the subjunctive mood to express a hypothetical situation. Therefore, it's appropriate to use "τι" (something) to match the indefinite nature of the hypothetical truth being discussed. But then again the context is clearly "the truth" or "the true" throughout. Tselikas uses his choice however as an argument for forgery:
το ἀληθὲς: The scribe has missed the accent in το. He may wanted towrite τἀληθὲς.


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