Aristophanes' Frogs line 54 - why is this dative?

Phoebus Apollo

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

Διόνυσος

καὶ δῆτ᾽ ἐπὶ τῆς νεὼς ἀναγιγνώσκοντί μοι
τὴν Ἀνδρομέδαν πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν ἐξαίφνης πόθος
τὴν καρδίαν ἐπάταξε πῶς οἴει σφόδρα.

My translation is:
And indeed, while I was on the ship reading
the Andromeda to myself...


My question is - why is this phrase in the dative (and not the nominative)? I've looked in some grammars but can't seem to find an explanation for this.
 

Glabrigausapes

Philistine

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
Milwaukee
It is to be taken with τὴν καρδίαν, that is the common Indo-European construction called by many names (call it 'dative of reference'): that is,

A desire struck upon the heart to me (as I was reading)
or rather
A desire fell upon my heart as I read.

It is the Latin tetigit capillos mihi (he touched my hair).

Edit: It is generally reserved for intimate details, like body parts.
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
It is to be taken with τὴν καρδίαν
Or, rather, with ἐπάταξε. The dative modifies the verb*, not the noun.

*That is, the dative denotes who is affected by the action of the verb."It struck the heart (and it did so) to me."

I wrote an explanation about the phenomenon in Latin (but it's the same in this Greek passage) here (in part 2).
 

Phoebus Apollo

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

It is to be taken with τὴν καρδίαν, that is the common Indo-European construction called by many names (call it 'dative of reference'): that is,

A desire struck upon the heart to me (as I was reading)
or rather
A desire fell upon my heart as I read.

It is the Latin tetigit capillos mihi (he touched my hair).

Edit: It is generally reserved for intimate details, like body parts.
Or, rather, with ἐπάταξε. The dative modifies the verb*, not the noun.

*That is, the dative denotes who is affected by the action of the verb."It struck the heart (and it did so) to me."

I wrote an explanation about the phenomenon in Latin (but it's the same in this Greek passage) here (in part 2).
Thanks so much, both of you! :)
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
My question is - why is this phrase in the dative (and not the nominative)?
By the way, do you know why it couldn't possibly be nominative? Because the nominative is the case of the subject, but here the subject of the verb of the clause, ἐπάταξε, is πόθος. You can't have another nominative in the same clause just "hanging in the air" without any verb that it would be the subject of.
 

Phoebus Apollo

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

By the way, do you know why it couldn't possibly be nominative? Because the nominative is the case of the subject, but here the subject of the verb of the clause, ἐπάταξε, is πόθος. You can't have another nominative in the same clause just "hanging in the air" without any verb that it would be the subject of.
Thanks for explaining Pacifica :)
 
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