Herbert Weir Smyth, A Greek Grammar for Colleges

QUESTIONS INTRODUCED BY INTERROGATIVE PARTICLES

ἦ τέθνηκεν Οἰδίπου πατήρ; is Oedipus' father really dead? S. O. T. 943, ἦ λέγω (delib. subj.); shall I tell you? X. C. 8.4.10, ἦ καὶ οἴκοι τῶν πλουσίων ἦσθα; were you really one of the rich men when you were at home? 8. 3. 36.

ἆρ᾽ εἰμὶ μάντις; am I a prophet? S. Ant. 1212, ἆρ᾽ Ὀδυσσέως κλύω; can it be that I am listening to Odysseus? S. Ph. 976, ἆρα ἐθελήσειεν ἂν ἡμῖν διαλεχθῆναι; will he really be willing to talk with us? P. G. 447b.

a. ἆρα is from ἦ ¨ ἄρα. ἦ is chiefly poetic. Homer uses ἦ, not ἆρα. Both particles denote interest on the part of the questioner (often = really? surely?).

[*] 2651. οὐ, ἆρ᾽ ου᾽, οὐκοῦν expect the answer yes (nonne), μή, ἆρα μή, μῶν ( = μὴ οὖν) expect the answer no (num).

a. οὐχ οὕτως ἔλεγες; did you not say so? P. R. 334b (i.e. ‘I think you did, did you not?’), ἆρ᾽ οὐχ ὕβρις τάδε; is not this insolence? S. O. C. 883, οὐκοῦν . . . εὖ σοι δοκοῦσι βουλεύεσθαι; do they not then seem to you to plan well? X. C. 7.1.8. οὐκοῦν οὐ expects the answer no.

b. μή τι νεώτερον ἀγγέλλεις; no bad news, I hope? P. Pr. 310b, ἆρα μὴ αἰσχυνθῶμεν; surely we are not ashamed, are we? (or can it be that we should be ashamed?) X. O. 4.4, μὴ ἀποκρί_νωμαι; am I not to answer? P. R. 337b, μῶν τί σε ἀδικεῖ; surely he has not wronged you, has he? (or can it be that, etc.) P. Pr. 310d. μῶν οὐ expects the answer yes.

c. μῶν is confined to Attic. Since the fact of its composition was lost, we find μῶν οὖν (A. Ch. 177) and μῶν μή (P. Lys. 208e).

d. οὐ after μή or ἆρα μή belongs to a single word, not to the sentence (P. Men. 89c, Lys. 213 d). On μή or μὴ οὐ with the subjunctive in half-questions, see 1801.

e. ἆρα placed before οὐ or μή gives greater distinctness to the question. οὐ questions ask concerning facts; μή questions imply uncertainty or even apprehension, but sometimes are asked merely for effect.

f. οὔ που; οὔ τί που; οὐ δή; οὐ δή που mean surely it is not so? Here the negative belongs to the sentence.

[*] 2652. ἄλλο τι ἤ; is it anything else than? and ἄλλο τι; is it not? are used as direct interrogatives. Thus, ἄλλο τι ἢ οὐδὲν κωλύ_ει παρεῖναι; there's nothing to hinder our passing, is there? (lit. is there anything else the case than this that nothing prevents, etc.) X. A. 4.7.5, ἄλλο τι φιλεῖται ὑπὸ θεῶν; is it not loved by the gods? P. Euth. 10d. Cp. τί γὰρ ἄλλο ἢ κινδυ_νεύσεις ἐπιδεῖξαι κτλ.; for what other risk will you run than that of showing, etc.? ( = for what else will you do than that you will very likely show?) X. M. 2.3.17.

[*] 2653. εἶτα and ἔπειτα (more emphatic κᾆτα, κἄ_πειτα) introduce questions expressing surprise, indignation, irony, etc.; and often indicate a contrast between what a person has or has not done and what is or was to be expected of him. Thus, εἶτα πῶς οὐκ εὐθὺς ἐπήγειράς με; then why did you not rouse me at once? P. Cr. 43b.

[*] 2654. ἀλλά (ἀλλ᾽ ἦ) introduces a question opposed to an expressed or implied thought of the speaker (especially an objection). Thus, ᾔτουν τί σε καὶ ἐπεί μοι οὐκ ἐδίδους ἔπαιον; ἀλλ᾽ ἀπῄτουν; ἀλλὰ περὶ παιδικῶν μαχόμενος; ἀλλὰ μεθύων ἐπαρῴνησα; did I ask anything of you and strike you when you would not give it to me? Or did I demand anything back? Or was I quarreling about an object of affection? Or was I the worse for liquor and did I treat you with drunken violence? X. A. 5.8.4, ἀλλ᾽ ἦ, τὸ λεγόμενον, κατόπιν ἑορτῆς ἥκομεν; but have we arrived, as the proverb says, late for a feast? P. G. 447a. Cp. 2785.

[*] 2655. δέ sometimes introduces a suppressed thought, as an objection. Thus, εἰπέ μοι, σὺ δὲ δὴ τί τὴν πόλιν ἡμῖν ἀγαθὸν πεποίηκας; tell me, (but) what good, pray, have you done the State? D. 8.70.