previous next

[163] σχέθε may be counted among the forms which vary in sense between aor. and imperf. The imperf. sense is evidently required here, for the holding out of the shield at arm's length is subordinate to the previous action “βάλεν”, and this relation is in the Epic language expressed by the imperf. (H. G. § 71). On the other hand the aor. sense seems best suited to 1.219, and “σχεθέειν23.466, “ἀνσχεθέεινOd. 5.320 look like aorist forms, though even this is rendered doubtful when we consider such stem-formations as “γηθέω” by “γηθόμενος”, and “ὀρέχθεον23.30. Apart from these forms there is little to decide the question, whether in H., Pindar (e.g. P. vi. 19), or Trag., except the accent, and here, of course, we cannot trust to tradition, We must therefore conclude that this is a really indeterminate form, in which the usual differentiation, whether into a definite aor. or a definite imperf. was never carried out (see particularly Curtius, Vb. ii. 345-46). On the whole, however, the tendency of classical writers was to use it as aor. See Jebb on O.T. 651. ἀπὸ ἕο, the short syllable before “δ”(“Ϝ”)“εῖσε” is very rare. Heyne and Ahrens suggest “εὗ”, but the contracted form is probably not Epic. The internal “Ϝ” had apparently so far disappeared that “δϝ” does not lengthen a preceding short syll. in thesis: cf. 278 and H. G. § 394.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide References (4 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (4):
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: