Greeks sometimes used for a pair of persons or things. See the grammar.
ἔδωκα ἐκείνῃ παρθένῳ μῆλον, ὁ δὲ παῖς ἥρπαξε· τίς ποτε ἐδίδαξεν αὐτὸν
τὸ τέχνημα τόδε; _I gave that girl an apple, and the boy seized it. Who
taught him that trick?_
κακοδαίμων τις, _an evil genius_.
τίς ἔβαλε τὸν λίθον; _who threw the stone?_
ὁ παῖς ὁ ἐν τῷ κήπῳ, _the boy in the garden_.
παράνομός τις ἐστί, _he is a lawless boy_.
χθὲς διέθραυσε πλάκα ὑαλίνην ἐν τῇ τοῦ φροντιστηρίου τοῦ ἐμοῦ θυρίδι,
_yesterday he broke a glass pane in my study window_.
οὐχί· ὁ αἴλουρος ἦν ὁ ἁμαρτωλός· ἐμήνυσαν αἱ ῥῖνες αἱματηραὶ τὴν
ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ ζῴου, _not so; the cat was the sinner; the bloody nose of
the animal declared its sin_.
τὴν βίβλον ἣν ἔδωκά σοι χθὲς ἐγχειρίσεις (Attic ἐγχειριεῖς) τῇ ἀδελφῇ·
ἀγαθὴ γὰρ ἡ παρθένος καὶ βιβλοῦ ἀγαθῆς ἀξία, _the book which I gave you
yesterday you will hand over to your sister; she is a good girl, and
worthy of a good book_.
τίς ᾠκοδόμησε τοῦτο τὸ ἱερόν; _who built this church?_
τέκτων τις, _an architect_.
τέκτων μὲν οὔ, ἐργάτης δέ τις λίθων, _not an architect, a stonemason_.
ὁ γὰρ ἀληθὴς τέκτων ποιητής ἐστι· καὶ τὸ οἰκοδόμημα ὅπερ ᾠκοδόμησε χθὲς
ποίημα μένει λίθινον αὔριον καὶ ἀεί, ὡς ἔστιν ἰδεῖν ἐν τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ, _for
a true architect is a poet; and the edifice which he raised yesterday
remains a stone poem to-morrow and for ever, as one may see in Egypt_.
τίς εἶδε τὸν παῖδα ὃς ἀπέκοψε τὸν κλάδον τοῦ δένδρου ἐκείνου; _who saw
the boy who cut the branch of that tree?_
εἶδον ἐγώ, _I saw him_.
ἄγε αὐτὸν δεῦρο· μαστιγώσω τὸν κακοῦργον, _bring him to me; I will flog
the rascal_.
σήμερον πάντως οὐ δειπνήσει, _he shall have no dinner to-day_.
ἢ δειπνήσει γε μετὰ τῶν συῶν, _or dine with the pigs_.
ἐβούλευσα αὐτῷ καλὴν βουλήν, _I gave him good advice_.
μάτην, _in vain_.
οὐκ ἤκουσε, _he did not hear_.
κωφός ἐστι, _he is deaf_.
κωφὸς δὴ πρός γε τὴν τῶν σοφῶν βουλήν, _yes, deaf to the counsel of the
wise_.
χθὲς ἔκλεισε τὰ ὦτα πρὸς τὸν τοῦ σοφοῦ Σολομῶνος λόγον· τοῦ ἄφρονος οἱ
ὀφθαλμοί εἰσιν ἐπ’ ἄκρα τῆς γῆς, _yesterday he closed his ears to the
word of the wise Solomon: the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the
earth_.
ἤκουσε τοῦ μὲν λόγου, τὸν δὲ νοῦν οὐ κατέλαβε, _he heard the word, but
he did not take in the sense_.
ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ ἄφρων ἐπλήρωσε τὸν ἐγκέφαλον διανοημάτων κενῶν, _his
foolish brother filled his brain with vain imaginations_.
καὶ ἐπίστευσε τῷ ἀδελφῷ μᾶλλον ἢ τῇ ἁγίᾳ γραφῇ, _and he believed his
brother rather than the holy scripture_.
ὦ τοῦ ἀτυχήματος, _sad! sad!_
ENGLISH AFFINITIES
Egotism. Practice. Foliation. Chiromancy. The Parthenon. Didactic.
Technical. Cacodemon. Lithotomy. Rhinoceros. Zoology. Agatha.
Hierarchy. Dendritis. Divine. Acrobat. Geography. Logic. Hagiology.
Hagiolatry. Graphic.
LESSON IX
INFINITIVE MOOD AND PARTICIPLES
The infinitive mood gives the action of the verb substantively as we
use the participle in _seeing is a good thing_, but in Greek, as in
Latin, always the infinitive, as καλὸν τὸ ὁρᾶν, and declined with the
article like a noun, through all the cases, of course neuter, as the
gender does not lie in the action, but in the actor. Its normal ending
in the active voice is ειν, as in the present βάλλειν, _to throw_,
and second aorist βαλεῖν; but in first aorist its termination is αι,
as κόψαι, from κόπτω. Pure verbs follow their vowel, as τῑμᾶν, _to
honour_; φιλεῖν, _to love_.
Like substantives, verbal infinitives are governed by prepositions
through all the cases, as περί, _about_; παρά, _from beside_; μετά,
_with_; ἐν, _in_, and εἰς _into_—as περὶ τοῦ καπνίζειν λέγω μέτρον
ἄριστον, _about smoking I say moderation is best_.
Participles are verbal adjectives declined as such, and signifying the
quality or accident of a certain state of being or action belonging to
an agent.
The participles of the present and of the second aorist are declined in
masculine and neuter according to the type of the second declension, in
feminine according to the first, as—
τύπτων, τύπτουσα, τύπτον, _he, she, or it_ }
τύπτ-οντος, ούσης, οντος, _of him, her, or it_ } _striking_.
οντι, ούσῃ, οντι, _to him, her, or it_ }
The first aorist participle bears the type of the third declension,
as in γίγας, γίγαντος, _a giant_—so ποιήσας, _having made_; feminine
ποιήσᾱσα, neuter ποιῆσαν.
genitive, -αντος -ᾱσης -αντος.
dative, -αντι -ᾱσῃ -αντι.
objective, -αντα -ᾱσαν -αν.
Pure verbs have a long vowel or diphthong: thus, from
περιπατέω περιπατῶν περιπατοῦντος
τιμάω τιμῶν τιμῶντος
ἆράγε εἶδες ἐκεῖνον τὸν παῖδα ἐν τῷ κήπῳ περιπατοῦντα; _did you see
that boy walking in the garden?_
εἶδον, _I did_.
καλὸν τὸ περιπατεῖν καὶ ὑγιές, οὐ τοιοῦτον δὲ τῷ κλέψαντι τὰ μῆλα,
_walking is good and healthy, but not for him who stole the apples_.
τῑμῶσα τὴν βασίλισσαν τῑμᾷς τὴν πόλιν ἧς δὴ ἐκείνη κεφαλὴ ἐστίν, _in
honouring the queen you honour the state of which she is the head_.
περὶ τοῦ ὑπνοῦσθαι οὐδὲν ἀκριβῶς ἐπιτάττω· ἓν μόνον λέγω, οὐχ ὑγιὲς τὸ
ὑπερβάλλειν ὀκτὼ ὥρας ἐν τῇ κοίτῃ, _about sleeping I prescribe nothing
curiously; only this one thing I say, that to lie in bed more than
eight hours is not healthy_.
ἀληθῆ λέγεις, _you say well_.
τοῖς γε ὑγιὲς ἔχουσι τὸ σῶμα, _at least for those who have a healthy
body_.
τὸ γὰρ ἀργεῖν διαφθείρει τό τε σῶμα καὶ τὴν ψυχήν, _for lying idle
damages both body and soul_.
μάλιστα· καὶ τὸ πράττειν ὁτιοῦν ἐναντίον τῷ συστήματι τοῦ ὅλου
διαφθείρει τὴν ψυχήν, ὡς λέγει ὁ τῶν καλῶν ἔργων ἀπόστολος, ὁ Ἰάκωβος·
εἰδότι τὸ καλὸν καὶ μὴ ποιοῦντι, αὐτῷ ἁμαρτία ἐστίν, _certainly, for to
do anything contrary to the system of the universe destroys the soul,
as James the apostle of good works says, “to him that knoweth what is
good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”_
τῷ λαλοῦντι πολλὰ πολὺς ὁ κίνδῡνος, _to the great talker there is great
danger_.
ἐν δὲ τῷ ὀλίγα λέγειν μεγάλη ἡ σωτηρία, _but in speaking little there
is great safety_.
μεγάλη βιβλιοθήκη χρησίμη ἐστὶν εἰς τὸ πολλὰ εἰδέναι, _a good library
is useful to get great knowledge_.
πῶς γὰρ οὔ; ὅμως οὐκ ἀεὶ εἰς τὸ σοφῶς βιῶναι, _certainly, but not
always for wise living_.
πολλὰς βίβλους δυνατὸν τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς ἐγκεφάλους κυκᾶν, _it is possible
that many books may confound weak brains_.
τὸ λεγόμενον, πολλοὶ ὄντες οἱ μάγειροι διαφθείρουσι τὸν ζωμόν, _as they
say, many cooks spoil the broth_.
καὶ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον παμπλήθη ἔπιπλα ὑπὲρ τὸ πρέπον καὶ τὸ
ἡδὺ ἐκπληροῖ τὸ οἴκημα καὶ ταράττει τοὺς εἰσβαίνοντας, _and in the
same way, a great quantity of furniture, beyond what is proper and
comfortable, fills up the room, and inconveniences those who enter_.
σοφῶς. ἀεὶ κακὸν τὸ ὑπερβαίνειν, _wise. All excess is bad._
τὴν σοφίαν λέγεις τοῦ Ἀριστοτέλους· ἐν τῷ μέσῳ ἀεὶ ἡ σωτηρία, _the
wisdom of Aristotle: safety lies in the mean_.
ENGLISH AFFINITIES
Peripatetics. Hygiene. Cleptomania. Hypnotism. System. Psychology.
Apostle. Polyanthus. Trope. Hyperbole. Plethora.
LESSON X
THE OTHER PAST TENSES
The imperfect, with the augment prefixed as the sign of the past, is as
follows; from κόπτω—
ἔκοπτ-ον, -ες, -ε, _I, thou, he was_ } _cutting_.
ἐκόπτ-ομεν, -ετε, -ον, _we, you, they were_ }
Pure verbs contract
αον into ων
αες ” ας
αε ” α
άομεν ” ῶμεν
άετε ” ᾶτε
αον ” ων
as in—
ἐτίμων ἐτίμας ἐτίμα
ἐτιμῶμεν ἐτιμᾶτε ἐτίμων
εον into ουν
εες ” εις
εε ” ει
έομεν ” οῦμεν
έετε ” εῖτε
εον ” ουν
as in—
ἐφίλουν ἐφίλεις ἐφίλει
ἐφιλοῦμεν ἐφιλεῖτε ἐφίλουν
The present perfect, or the immediately past perfect, in addition to
the augment, reduplicates the initial consonant of the root, and its
terminations are—
-α, -ας, -ε, _I, thou, he has_ ...
-αμεν, -ατε, -ᾱσι, _we, you, they have_ ...
It changes also the σ of the future into a κ—
τιμήσω—τετίμηκα τετίμηκας τετίμηκε
τετιμήκαμεν τετιμήκατε τετιμήκāσι
but this κ, when the root ends in γ or κ, appears as χ; thus—
πλέκω πλέξω πέπλεχα
πράσσω πράξω πέπρᾱχα
and in the same way the final π of the root appears as φ; thus—
τύπτω τύψω τέτυφα
γράφω γράψω γέγραφα
In the pluperfect, which is not often used, the same reduplication
takes place, and the terminations are—
-ειν -εις -ει
-ειμεν -ειτε -εισαν or -εσαν
as in—
ἐτετύφειν ἐτετύφεις ἐτετύφει
ἐτετύφειμεν ἐτετύφειτε ἐτετύφεισαν
ἔτυπτον ἐγὼ τὸ παιδάριον, ὅτε εἰσελθὼν ὁ ἀστυνόμος ἥρπασέ με εἰς τὸ
δεσμωτήριον, _I was beating the boy, when the policeman entering took
me to prison_.
γέγραφα ἐπιστολὴν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα σου λέγων παῖδά σε εἶναι κόσμιον τοὺς
τρόπους, _I have written a letter to your father saying that you are a
well-behaved young man_.
ἐτύγχανον ὕπτιος κείμενος ἐν τῇ κοίτῃ ὅτε μέγας τις μῦς ὑπερπηδήσας
τὰ στρώματα δεινόν μοι ἐνεποίησε φόβον, _I happened to be lying on my
back in the bed when a rat, leaping over the bedcover, gave me a great
fright_.
δικαίως γε, _and with good reason_.
τὰ νῦν δὲ ποῦστι τὸ ἀναιδὲς θρέμμα; _and now, where is the shameless
creature?_
κέκαφεν αὐτὸ τὸ κυνάριόν μου τὸ ἐκ τῆς Ὀρεινῆς, _my little Skye terrier
has just snapped it up_.
δίκαια ἔπαθεν, _served it right!_
ποῦστι τὸ μελανοδοχεῖόν μου; _where is my inkstand?_
εὕρηκα, εὕρηκα, ἐν τῷ λουτρῶνι, _I have found it, I have found it, in
the bathroom_.
παράδοξον τοῦτο· οὐκ ἔγραφον ἔγωγε ἐν τῷ λουτρῶνι, _strange; I was not
writing in the bathroom_.
οὐχ ὁρῶ τὸν κάλαμον, _I do not see my pen_.
ἰδοῦ· εὗρον ἐν τῷ δειπνητηρίῳ, _here it is; I found it in the
dining-room_.
ἔπαιζεν ὁ αἴλουρος τῷ καλάμῳ σου καὶ τῷ πετάσῳ, καὶ τῇ χλαμύδι, καὶ
ταῖς κρηπῖσι, καὶ δεινόν τινα ἐποίει θόρυβον, _the cat was playing with
your pen, and with your hat, and your plaid, and your boots, and making
a terrible row._
σφάξον τὸ θρέμμα, _kill the brute!_
οὐδαμῶς· αὐτὸς σὺ αἴτιος, ὃς δὴ ἔλιπες τὸ οἴκημα ἐν πάσῃ ἀκοσμίᾳ, ὁ
δὲ αἴλουρος πεπλήρωκε τὸ ἔργον σου, _not at all; you yourself are to
blame, who left the room in great disorder, and the cat has finished
your work_.
δίκαια λέγεις, _you are right_.
καὶ ἐγὼ μεγάλην ὤφληκα μωρίαν, _and I have committed an act of great
folly_.
μετανοῶ ἐπὶ τῷ πράγματι, _I repent of the business_.
ἔρρωσο, _farewell_.
ENGLISH AFFINITIES
Harpy. Graphic. Epistle. Tropic. The Cosmos. Cosmetic. Big. Melancholy.
Paradox. Autonomy. Pragmatic.
LESSON XI
VERBS IN μι
The great mass of Greek verbs, whatever their variations of person
and tense may be, agree in this one prominent feature, that the first
person singular of the present indicative ends in ω, as in Latin _ō_,
possibly a relic of the pronoun ἐγώ, _I_. But there is a small class
of verbs in familiar use which, instead of the ω, affix to the first
person μι, evidently identical with the English _me_ and the German
_mich_—a confusion of the nominative and accusative cases familiar to
our ears in French and vulgar English, when we say _it is me_ instead
of _it is I_. Whatever may have been the original form of the verbs in
μι, as a matter of practice, if we fling off the μι from the present,
the future and the tenses cognate with it may be formed directly from
an assumed form in ω: thus ἵστημι, _I cause to stand_, στήσω, _I will
cause to stand_, as if from στάω; τίθημι, _I place_, θήσω, _I will
place_, as if from θέω; δείκνῡμι, _I show_, δείξω, _I will show_, as
if from δείκω; and δίδωμι, _I give_, future δώσω, _I will give_, as
if from δόω, the Latin _dō_ evidently preserving the simple form from
which δίδωμι comes by the prefix of δι and the suffix μι.
_Present_
ἵστημι, ἵστης, ἵστησι, _I, thou, he_ } _cause to stand_.
ἵσταμεν, ἵστατε, ἱστᾶσι, _we, you, they_ }
_Imperfect_
ἵστην ἵστης ἵστη
ἵσταμεν ἵστατε ἵστασαν
_Second Aorist_
ἔστην ἔστης ἔστη
ἔστημεν ἔστητε ἔστησαν
The middle and passive voice follow the form of the regular verb.
The perfect active of ἵστημι, ἕστηκα, is used as a present with a
neuter sense, _I stand_, and in like manner, the pluperfect ἑστήκειν,
and the 2nd aorist ἔστην, _I stood_.
τίθημι and its analogues have ε for the α in the plural, and first
aorist ἔθηκα instead of ἔθησα; and in the same way ἵημι, _to send_, has
first aorist ἧκα, _I sent_; so also δίδωμι has ἔδωκα, _I gave_, not
ἔδωσα.
The irregular verbs εἰμί, _I am_, εἶμι, _I go_ (usually future: _I will
go_), evidently fall under this scheme. For εἰμί, _I am_, see supra,
Lesson I. The verb _to go_ has εἶμι, _I go_; εἶ, _thou art going_;
εἶσι, _he is going_; ἴμεν, _we are going_; ἴτε, _you are going_; ἴᾱσιν,
_they are going_. Imperative ἴθι, _go_.
ἄπιθι, ἄπιθι, ἄκλητος καθίζεις ἐπ’ ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἕδρᾳ· στήσω σε ἐνταῦθα,
_begone, begone! you have no business in that seat; I will plant you
here_.
ἕστηκα ὅπου ἕστηκα, καὶ καθίζω ὅπου καθίζω, _I stand where I stand, and
I sit where I sit_.
σοὶ ἔδωκα τὴν βίβλον τὴν κομψήν, σὺ δὲ ἔδωκας τῷ παιδισκαρίῳ τούτῳ· ἐς
τοσοῦτον ἆρα καταφρονεῖς μου, καὶ τοῦ δώρου μου; _I gave the pretty
book to you, and you gave it to that little girl. Do you so despise me
and my gift?_
συνῆκα ἃ λέγεις· ἡ δὲ παρθένος μᾶλλον τῆς βίβλον ὀνήσεται ἢ ἐγώ, _I
understand what you say; but the young lady will be more profited by
the book than I_.
μάλα ταπεινόφρων σύ γε, _you are very humble_.
οὐχ οὕτως· φιλῶ τὴν παρθένον, _not at all; I love the girl_.
πιθανόν, _likely enough_.
οἱ πολλοὶ τί φασι περὶ τοῦ Γλάδστωνος; _what do people say about
Gladstone?_
θαυμάζουσι αὐτὸν δικαίως ὡς δεινὸν μὲν περὶ τοὺς λόγους, τῶν δὲ περὶ
τὰς τῆς πόλεως προσόδους ἐμπειρότατον, καὶ δὴ καὶ τῶν τε Ἰταλικῶν καὶ
τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν γραμμάτων ἐπιστήμονα, _they admire him, with good reason,
as a great speaker, also as an expert and apt financier, and besides a
great Greek and Italian scholar_.
ἀληθέστατα λέγεις· εἰ κατέστησαν αὐτὸν καθηγητὴν τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς
φιλολογίας ἐν τῷ τοῦ Βουπόρου πανεπιστημίῳ, οὐκ ἐλάττων ἂν ἐγένετο[6]
τοῦ Βοεκίου, τοῦ Ἑρμάννου, τοῦ Μυλλέρου, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Γερμανῶν ὅσοι
περὶ τὴν πολυμαθίαν ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις εὐδοκιμοῦσι, _very true; if they
had made him professor of Greek in the university of Oxford, he would
not have stood below Boeckh, or Hermann, or Müller, or any of the
Germans who are most distinguished for great learning_.
[6] For the use of the particle ἄν here and below see Lesson XV _infra_.
καὶ οὕτως γε ἐτύγχανεν ἂν εὐτυχῶς διαφυγὼν τόν τε πολὺν θόρυβον καὶ
διαφθορὰν τοῦ βίου πολιτικοῦ, _and so he might have happily escaped the
great bother and the corruption of political life_.
δυνατὰ λέγεις· ὅμως οὐκ ἄν τις τυγχάνοι διαπεφευγὼς τὴν εἱμαρμένην,
_possibly; however no man can escape his destiny_.
ENGLISH AFFINITIES
Stand. Sit. Seat. Dowry. Philology. Mathematics. Empiric. Dynamics.
Logic. Grammar. Allopathy. Biology.
LESSON XII
COMPOUND VERBS
Verbs compounded with a preposition place the augment and reduplication
between the preposition and the verb. Except περὶ and πρὸ all
prepositions ending in a vowel have the vowel elided before the
augment; πρὸ generally forms a crasis with the augment and becomes
προὐ. The ν in ἐν and σύν, which had been assimilated in the present,
is resumed before the augment.
The prepositions that most frequently occur in compound verbs are—
περί, _round about_, as in English _periphery_.
ἀπό, _off_ or _away from_, as in _apogee_.
ὑπό, _under_, as in _hypocrite_.
ἐν, _in_, as in _energy_.
εἰς, _into_.
σύν, _together_, as in _sympathy_.
πρό, _before_, as in _prophet_.
παρά, _alongside_ or _away_, as in _parallel_, _parasite_.
ἀντί, _instead of_, _opposite to_, as in _antidote_.
μετά, _with_ or _after_, as in _metaphysics_.
πρός, _toward_, as in _proselyte_.
ἀνά, _up_ or _back_, as in _anatomy_.
κατά, _down_, as in _catalepsy_.
ἐπί, _on_ or _upon_, as in _epilogue_.
ὁ φίλος μου ὁ ἀληθῶς φιλικὸς περιέβαλε τοῖς ὤμοις μου τὴν χλαῖναν
σκέπην ψύχους, _my true friend threw his cloak round my shoulders as a
protection against the cold_.
ὑπόδησον τὰ ὑποδήματά μου, _put on my shoes_.
ἀπέβαλον τὰ ὑποδήματα τὰ ἀρχαϊκά· κομψότερα τὰ καινότροπα, _I flung
away the old-fashioned shoes; those of the new fashion are more
elegant_.
χάριν ἔχω σοι τοῦ ἀγάλματος, _thanks to you for the pretty gift_.
σήμερον μεταβέβληκεν ὁ οὐρανὸς εἰς τὸ χεῖρον, _to-day the weather has
changed for the worse_.
κατὰ φύσιν τοῦτο ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ πατρίδι οὗ οὐδὲν ἔχει στάσιμον ὁ
οὐρανός, _quite natural, at least in our country, where the weather is
never steady_.
χθὲς κατέβην εἰς τὸ χῶμα, καὶ εἶδον τὸ μέγα ἀτμόπλοιον, _yesterday I
went down to the pier and saw the big steamboat_.
πότερον ἤρεσέ σοι ἢ οὔ; _did it please you or not?_
ὑπερεθαύμασά γε, _I admired it exceedingly_.
ἆρα οὐκ εἰσέβης; _did you not go on board?_
εἰσέβην γὰρ καὶ τὸν ναύκληρον εἶδον καὶ τῶν ναυβατῶν δεινὸν πλῆθος, _I
did, and saw the captain and a great number of the crew_.
ἔπειτα δὲ κατέβην εἰς τὴν κοίλην καὶ ἐθαύμασα ἄπειρα σάγματα πίθων
καὶ λαρνάκων καὶ κιστῶν καὶ κοφίνων καὶ ἄλλης παντοδαπῆς κατασκευῆς,
_afterwards I went down into the hold, and saw with wonder countless
piles of barrels, boxes and chests, baskets, and all sorts of stuff_.
ἔπειτα δὲ ἀνέβην, καὶ προσέβλεψα τὸν κυανοῦν οὐρανόν, καὶ χάριν εἶχον
τῷ Θεῷ, _then I came up, and looked on the blue sky, and thanked God_.
τελευταῖον δὲ συνέλεξα τὰ σκεύη μου, καὶ ἕστηκα ἐνώπιόν σου ἐν ὁλοκλήρῳ
δέρματι, _lastly, I gathered up my chattels, and stand before you with
a whole skin_.
ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ· ἀεὶ εὐτυχεῖς· πανταχοῦ πίπτεις, τρόπον τῶν αἰλούρων, τοὺς
πόδας ἔχων ἐμπέδους ἐν τῷ δαπέδῳ, _good luck be with you; you are a
lucky dog; you always fall on your feet like the cats_.
οὐ τυφλώττω· καὶ ἕκαστα εἴωθα πράττειν προσκόποις τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς, _I am
not blind, and am accustomed to do everything with forecasting eyes_.
σοφός σύ γε, _a wise man you!_
ENGLISH AFFINITIES
Philanthropy. Steady. Navy. Hollow. Chest. Theology. Epidermis.
Physiology. Patriot. Atmosphere. Plethora. Podagra.
LESSON XIII
MOODS: SUBJUNCTIVE AND CONDITIONAL
The subjunctive or conjunctive mood is the form which the verb takes
when no independent assertion is made as a fact, but only as a
sequence of an asserted fact or truth, and having only a secondary or
conditional existence; as if I should say in English, _I give you this,
that it may be in your power to do so and so_, the secondary sentence
preceded by _that_ is altogether dependent on the precedent thing done,
_I give you this_. In this example the substantival proposition is in
the present indicative, and the subjunctive nature of the dependent
sentence is expressed by the auxiliary verb _may_; but, if the leading
clause is in the past tense, the dependent clause is expressed by
_might_, which in fact is the past tense of _may_, as _I gave you this
that you might_. In Greek this past conditional is, from a peculiar
usage, commonly called the _optative mood_. In the present lesson we
shall confine ourselves to the dependent tense subjoined to a present
or a future. The form of the subjunctive is very simple, consisting as
it does in the mere change of the terminational vowel or diphthong of
the present into ω and η—
κόπτ-ω, -ῃς, -ῃ, _I, thou, he_ } _may strike_;
κόπτ-ωμεν, -ητε, -ωσι, _we, you, they_ }
and in the first and second aorist the same—κόπτω, ἔκοψα, κόψω,-ῃς, -ῃ.
The subjunctive mood is often introduced by ἐάν or ἤν, ἵνα, and ὅταν,
and when a negative particle belongs to it, it is μή, not οὐ.
δίδωμί σοι ταύτην τὴν βίβλον ἵνα καταλαμβάνῃς ὅσον ἐστὶ χαλεπὸν τὸ
πρᾶγμα περὶ οὗ ἔγραφες, _I give you this book that you may understand
how difficult the matter is on which you were writing_.
ἐὰν μὴ ἐκπονῇς τὰ διδάγματα, οὐ διδάξω σε, _if you don’t work out the
lessons, I will not teach you_.
ἢν τὸν δάκτυλον κόψῃς ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὀξείᾳ μαχαίρᾳ, οὐ παρ’ ἐμοὶ ἡ αἰτία,
_if you cut your finger with that sharp knife, the blame is not with
me_.
ἐκτέλεσον τὸ ἔργον τὸ προκείμενον, ἵνα μή σε ταράσσῃ αὔριον τὰ τῆς
σήμερον ἡμέρας ὑστερήματα, _finish the work that lies before you, that
the leavings of to-day may not disturb you to-morrow_.
λαβὼν τὸ σκάλευθρον κΐνει τὸ πῦρ, ἵνα μὴ πνίγῃ τὴν φλόγα τὸ βάρος τῶν
ἀνθράκων, _take the poker and stir the fire, that the weight of the
coals may not choke the flame_.
ἐὰν μὴ φυλάττῃ τὴν φλόγα, καύσεις τὰς χειρίδας τοῦ ἱματίου, _if you do
not take care of the flame, you will burn the sleeves of your coat_.
φέρε δὴ τὸν Ὅμηρον ἐκ τοῦ θηκίου, ἵνα ἀκούω τί λέγει περὶ τοῦ κάλλους
τῶν γυναικῶν, _bring me Homer from the shelf, that I may hear what he
says about the beauty of women_.
ἰδοῦ, _here it is_.
ἀνάγνωθι, _read it_.
καλὴ καὶ μεγάλη καὶ ἀγλαὰ ἔργ’ εἰδυῖα, _beautiful and tall, and skilful
in tasteful works_.
φεῦ· ὡς εὖ λέγεις. οὐκ ἀργαὶ αἱ γυναῖκες αἱ παρὰ τῷ ἀοιδῷ, _excellent.
The singer’s ladies were no idlers._
μιμήτριαί γε τῆς ἐν τοῖς περὶ τὸν βίον σοφῆς προστατίδος Παλλάδος,
_they were imitators of their patron goddess Pallas, wise in all that
relates to life_.
ῥίψον τὸ κυνάριον εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ, ἵνα μανθάνῃ τὸ νήχεσθαι, _fling the dog
into the water, that he may learn to swim_.
ἰδοῦ—νήχεται—ὡς εὐμαθὲς τὸ θρέμμα, _there he goes—he swims—what a
clever creature!_
ποίησον σὺ κατὰ ταὐτά, _do you the same_.
οὐδαμῶς· φοβοῦμαι μὴ βαπτίσῃ με τὸ κῦμα, _no; I fear the wave will
overwhelm me_.
γελοῖα λέγεις· ἐλαφρότερον γὰρ τὸ σῶμα τὸ ἀνθρώπινον τοῦ ὕδατος,
_nonsense; the human body is lighter than the water_.
οὐ καταποντίσει σε τὸ ὕδωρ ἀλλὰ ὁ φόβος, _it is not the water that will
drown you, but fear_.
πιθανόν· ὅμως ἀντέχομαι τῆς ξηρᾶς, _likely enough; nevertheless I hold
by the dry land_.
σοφός σύ γε, δεξιώτερον δὲ τὸ ζῷον. χαῖρε, _you are wise, but the
animal is more clever. Adieu._
ENGLISH AFFINITIES
Anthracite. Barometer. Phlogiston. Caustic. Ferry. Mimetic. Pantomime.
Hydropathy. Baptize. Anthropology. Dexterity.
LESSON XIV
THE OPTATIVE MOOD
The optative mood, or subjunctive in a historic sequence after a past
tense, is distinguished by the domination of the diphthong οι, and runs
thus—
βουλεύω, _I advise._
βουλεύοιμι, βουλεύοις, βουλεύοι, _I, thou, he_ } _might_
βουλεύοιμεν, βουλεύοιτε, βουλεύοιεν, _we, you, they_ } _advise_.
And so in the second aorist, where there is one, as λάβοιμι, λάβοις,
λάβοι, etc., from λαμβάνω, _might, could, would_, or _should get_.
In the first aorist the vowel α rules, and becomes αι, as singular,
βουλεύσαιμι, βουλεύσαις or ειας, βουλεύσαι or ειε; plural,
βουλεύσαιμεν, βουλεύσαιτε, βουλεύσαιεν or ειαν.
The most common uses of the optative may be classified thus—
(1) In narrating what some one said, without
guaranteeing the fact; as if I should say in
English, _he said that he were going to do so_,
instead of _was_; _e.g._ ἔλεγεν ὅτι ἀνδρὶ νέῳ καὶ
σφοδρῷ οὐ ῥᾴδιον εἴη κολάζειν τὰ πάθη, _he said
that it was not easy for a man young and vehement
to control his passions_.
(2) To express a purpose or consequence in past time,
with ὡς, ἵνα, or ὅπως, as ἐπόνει σταθερῶς ἵνα ἆθλον
λάβοι, _he laboured steadily that he might gain a prize_.
(3) After εἰ, _if_, to express an indefinite future,
generally with ἄν in the dependent clause, as εἴ
τις αἵρεσίν μοι δοίη, σπουδάζοιμι ἂν περὶ τὴν
Ἑλληνικὴν γλῶσσαν μᾶλλον ἢ περὶ τὴν Ἰταλικήν, _if
one gave me the choice, I should prefer to study
Greek rather than Italian_.
(4) To express a wish (from which use the name
_optative_ came), as μὴ γένοιτο, _may it not
happen—God forbid!_
ὁ φίλος μου συνεβούλευσέ μοι πηδᾷν εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ, ὅπως κυνὸς δίκην
μάθοιμι τὸ νήχεσθαι· ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ ἐς τοσοῦτο ἥκω μωρίας, _my friend
advised me to leap into the water that I might learn to swim like a
dog; but I am not such a fool_.
εὖ λέγεις· ὁμολογῶ σοι τερπνότερον μὲν εἶναι τὸ ὀρχεῖσθαι, χρησιμώτερον
δέ ποτε τὸ νήχεσθαι ἔν γε τῇ ναυαγίᾳ, _you say well; I must confess
dancing is more agreeable, but swimming is sometimes more useful,
especially in a shipwreck_.
τῶν γνωρίμων τῶν ἐμῶν τις εἶπε ὅτι ἀσκοῖ τὸ νήχεσθαι, ἵνα διαφεύγοι
τοὺς κινδ́ῡνους τῆς θαλάσσης, _an acquaintance of mine told me that he
is practising swimming to escape the dangers of the sea_.
σοφὸς ἐκεῖνος, _a wise man he_.
ἀσπὶς τῶν σοφῶν ἡ πρόνοια, _forethought is the shield of the wise_.
ἀκούσας ᾄδοντος τοῦ ἀλεκτρυόνος εὐθὺς ἀπέσεισα τὸν ὕπνον καὶ ἀπέδραμον
ὡς τάχιστα ἵνα μὴ ὑστεροῖμι τῶν ἀγώνων, _hearing the cock crow I
forthwith shook off sleep, and ran at full speed that I might not be
too late for the games_.
ἐγὼ δὲ ἄνευ τῆς χλαίνης ἀπέδραμον ἵνα μὴ τοῦ λαμπροῦ θεάματος
ἀστοχοῖμι, _and I ran off without my plaid, that I might not miss so
splendid a spectacle_.
ἐκεῖ δὲ τί εἶδες; _what did you see there?_
θύλακον μέγαν εἶδον ὑδρογόνῳ οἰδοῦντα ἀέρι, _I saw a huge bag full of
hydrogen gas_.