Articular Infinitive

[Lukas]

I had to write, "The fact that not even the children are afraid will aid the army," in Greek

I wrote, "τὸ φοβεῖσθαι μηδὲ τοὺς παῖδας τὴν στρατιὰν ὠφελήσει."

The answer book wrote, "τὸ μηδὲ τοὺς παῖδας φοβεῖσθαι τὴν στρατιὰν ὠφελήσει.

I could not tell from Unit 9, page 79, how close to keep the article and the infinitive together. One example has them two words apart. The other 3 have them next to each other.

Are both sentences legitimate?

[Hylander]

μηδὲ should come before the verb. After the verb it seems strange and un-Greek, at least to me. τοὺς παῖδας would also be better before the verb, but putting it after the verb is not quite as jarring.

You shouldn't be afraid of "splitting" articular infinitives in Greek, any more than you should be afraid of "split infinitives" in English -- a made-up "rule" of English grammar perpetuated by ignorance.

[mwh]

Anything coming between τὸ and the infinitive belongs with the infinitive, rather than with anything else in the sentence. That might be nothing, as in “Being afraid (helps no-one)”, “τὸ φοβεῖσθαι (ouk wfelei oudena)”, or it might be dozens of words. Here “not even the children” goes with φοβεῖσθαι, so is best sandwiched within the articular infinitive. (That’s not an iron-clad rule however.)

Check ὠφωλήσει, a typo?

[Lukas]

Typo. Sorry --