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Dative: possessor as modifier
studieniveau:
4
τῶν μοι παίδων ἕνα παράλυσον τῆς στρατηίης τὸν πρεσβύτατον
‘Exempt one of my sons from military service, the eldest.’ (Hdt. 7.38.3)
The dative signals a possessor as a modifier.
Syntactic usage
The noun with which this modifier stands is invariably in the genitive. This indicates that Greek has recourse to a dative in order to avoid a double genitive.