σκληρό τσόφλι

[altan]

Good eveningi

What does "σκληρό τσόφλι" mean at here? Is it something like "withdrawn" or "stubborn"?

 

[Themis†]

I would understand it as inaccessible, unapproachable.

 

[pontios]

I would understand it as inaccessible, unapproachable.

Are there any similarities then with the English "hard-shelled"?
In English, the term would refer to someone who is inflexible in their attitudes, set in their ways, strict, uncompromising.

So, from what Themis and altan have suggested .... Inaccessible, Unapproachable .. and stubborn, withdrawn
In English: maybe unapproachable and stubborn from the point of view of not being open to new ideas, not listening to others, insisting on doing things their way -- and someone like that could be characterised as being inaccessible and withdrawn.

 

[Theseus]

On the website Ask Greek (which altan knows about), this answer is proposed:-

'λαϊκό means folk, common, ordinary, not sophisticated.
σκληρό means hard, stiff.
τσόφλι means shell (eg egg shell or nut shell).

It has to do with the character of the hero. What the author probably means here is “not sophisticated”.'

In Report to Greco Peter Bien translates it as ' I was coarse and taciturn, with the tough hide of a peasant'. Peter Bien's translation covers all the meanings given, with the extra advantage of fidelity to the original, like Pontios's suggestion.

 

[pontios]

Thanks, Theseus.

With the extra information you've provided - tough hide of a peasant.
Perhaps, then, it boils down to a work-hardened (or life-hardened) peasant or commoner (as against a privileged gentleman).