| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence begins with the fronted participial object xenizonta {ξενίζοντα | xenízonta} ‘strange things’, which foregrounds the novelty of the message before identifying the speaker’s action. The postpositive conjunction gar {γάρ | gár} ‘for’ links this explanation to the preceding discourse, giving the rationale for their curiosity. The finite verb eisphereis {εἰσφέρεις | eisphéreis} ‘you bring in’ governs the first clause, with the prepositional phrase eis tas akoas hēmōn {εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν | eis tàs akoàs hēmōn} literally ‘into our ears’, an idiomatic expression for conveying information to someone’s hearing. The first tina {τινα | tina} functions as an indefinite pronoun modifying xenizonta, ‘certain strange things’. The second clause shifts to the first person plural subject in boulometha oun {βουλόμεθα οὖν | boulómetha oun} ‘therefore we wish’, with oun marking an inferential conclusion drawn from the preceding observation. This verb takes the complementary infinitive gnōnai {γνῶναι | gnônai} ‘to know’, forming the core of their request. The object of gnōnai is the clause tina thelei tauta einai {τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι | tína thélei taûta eînai}, where tina is an interrogative pronoun ‘what things’, and the construction ‘what these things want to be’ is an idiomatic way of asking ‘what these things mean’ or ‘amount to’. Thelei {θέλει | thélei} thus carries the nuance of ‘intend’ or ‘signify’, and tauta {ταῦτα | taûta} points back to the “strange things” already mentioned. In translation, the idioms ‘into our ears’ and ‘what these things want to be’ are rendered with more natural English equivalents, while still preserving the causal connection (for/therefore) and the communal desire for understanding. |