Herbert Weir Smyth, A Greek Grammar for Colleges

MOODS IN INDIRECT QUESTIONS

After primary tenses, the mood and tense of the direct question are retained (indicative, past indicative with ἄν, deliberative subjunctive, potential optative with ἄν).

After secondary tenses, the mood and tense of the direct form may be retained or the optative may be used instead. The latter is more common. But a past indicative with ἄν always remains unchanged.

a. Direct Form Retained.—““πολλάκις ἐσκόπει τί διαφέρει μανία_ς ἀμαθία_” he often considered in what respect ignorance differed from madness” X. M. 1.2.50, ““ἠπορεῖτο τι ποιήσει” he was uncertain what to do” X. A. 7.3.29 ( = τί ποιήσω, deliberative future, 1916), ““ἐβουλεύοντο εἴτε κατακαύσωσιν . . . εἴτε τι ἄλλο χρήσωνται” they deliberated whether they should burn them or dispose of them in some other manner” T. 2.4 ( = κατακαύσωμεν, χρησώμεθα;), ““ἠρώτησε . . . ποῦ ἂν ἴδοι Πρόξενον” he asked where he could see Proxenus” X. A. 2.4.15 ( = ποῦ ἂν ἴδοιμι;).

b. Optative: ““ἤρετο εἴ τις ἐμοῦ εἴη σοφώτερος” he asked whether any one was wiser than I” P. A. 21a ( = ἐστί;), ““ὅ τι δὲ ποιήσοι οὐ διεσήμηνε” he did not announce publicly what he was going to do” X. A. 2.1.23 ( = τί ποιήσω;), ““τὸν θεὸν ἐπηρώτων εἰ παραδοῖεν Κορινθίοις τὴν πόλιν” they questioned the god whether they should surrender the city to the Corinthians” T. 1.25 ( = παραδῶμεν;). Here παραδοῖεν might represent the aorist indicative, but that tense is usually retained to avoid confusion (exceptionally ἠρώτα_ τι πάθοιεν X. C. 2.3.19; cp. X. A. 6.3.25, D. 50.55). An imperfect relatively anterior to the time of the main verb is retained in D. 30.19.

c. A dubitative subjunctive in an indirect question, when dependent on an optative, may be attracted into the optative; as ““ἔλεγες . . . ὅτι οὐκ ἂν ἔχοις ἐξεθὼν ὅ τι χοῷο σαυτῷ” you were saying that if you went out you would not know what to do with yourself” P. Cr. 45b ( = τί χρῶμαι ἐμαυτῷ;).

d. Homer has the optative for the indicative due to indirect discourse only in indirect questions; as ““εἴροντο τίς εἴη καὶ πόθεν ἔλθοι” they asked who he was and whence he had come” ρ 368. See 2624 c.

[*] 2678. After a secondary tense the mood of a direct question may be retained (usually for vividness) in the same sentence with the mood of an indirect question (cp. 2632). Thus, ““ὁμοῖοι ἦσαν θαυμάζειν ὅποι ποτὲ τρέψονται οἱ Ἕλληνες καὶ τί ἐν νῷ ἔχοιεν” they seemed to be wondering to what direction the Greeks would turn and what they had in mind” X. A. 3.5.13, ““ἤρετο ὅ τι θαυμάζοι καὶ ὁπόσοι αὐτῶν τεθνᾶσιν” he asked what it was that he was astonished at and how many of them were dead” T. 3.113 ( = τί θαυμάζεις, πόσοι τεθνᾶσιν;).

a. In some cases there is no apparent reason (apart from desire for variety) for this use of the indicative and optative in the same sentence. Sometimes the indicative may ask for a statement of fact, the optative request an opinion of the person questioned.

[*] 2679. Parallel to 2624 are cases like ““ᾔδει ὅπου ἔκειτο ἡ ἐπιστολή” he knew where the letter had been put” X. C. 2.2.9.