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[*] 626. （In Homer.) In Homer the infinitive regularly follows πρίν after both affirmative and negative sentences, often where the Attic Greek would have the finite moods. E.g. Ναῖε δὲ Πήδαιον πρὶν ἐλθεῖν υἷας Ἀχαιῶν. Il. xiii. 172. Τοῦ δ᾽ ἔφθη ὀρεξάμενος πρὶν οὐτάσαι, οὐδ᾽ ἀφάμαρτεν. Il. xvi. 322. Σφῶιν δὲ πρίν περ τρόμος ἔλλαβε φαίδιμα γυῖα, πρὶν πόλεμόν τ᾽ ἰδέειν πολέμοιό τε μέρμερα ἔργα, before they saw the war, etc. Il. viii. 452. (See 657.) Φεύγει πρίν περ ὅμιλον ἀολλισθήμεναι ἀνδρῶν. Il. xv. 588. Ἦ κ᾽ ἔτι πολλοὶ γαῖαν ὀδὰξ εἷλον πρὶν Ἴλιον εἰσαφικέσθαι. Il. xxii. 17. Ἀλλά οἱ αὐτῷ Ζεὺς ὀλέσειε βίην πρὶν ἡμῖν πῆμα φυτεῦσαι. Od. iv. 668. Αἴθ᾽ ὤφελλ᾽ ἄλλοθ᾽ ὀλέσθαι πρὶν ἐλθεῖν. Od. xviii. 402. Οὐδ᾽ ἀπολήγει πρὶν χροὸς ἀνδρομέοιο διελθεῖν. Il. xx. 100. Οὐ λήξω πρὶν Τρῶας ἄδην ἐλάσαι πολέμοιο. Il. xix. 423. Οὔ μ᾽ ἀποτρέψεις πρὶν χαλκῷ μαχέσασθαι. Il. xx. 257. Οὐδ᾽ ὅ γε λοιγὸν ἀπώσει πρίν γ᾽ ἀπὸ πατρὶ φίλῳ δόμεναι κούρην. Il. i. 97. In the last three examples the subjunctive would be regular in Attic, and even Homer uses it in a few such cases (639). In Il. xx. 100 πρὶν διῆλθεν would have been the common Attic form. In the other examples, in which a mere temporal relation is expressed, the infinitive would be required in Attic Greek. Hesiod has one example (Scut. 40) and the Homeric Hymns one ( Ven. 151) of πρίν with the infinitive, both after negative sentences.
Macmillan. London, Melbourne, Toronto. 1889. reprint edition:. St. Martin's Press. New York. 1965.
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