previous next

614.Final use of ἕως.) 1. It will be seen by the examples under 613 (see the first under 3 and the first three under 4) that the clause with ἕως very often implies a purpose, the attainment of which is aimed at or expected. When such a clause, implying a purpose which would originally be expressed by a subjunctive, depends on a past tense, it generally takes the optative; but the subjunctive also may be used, to retain the mood in which the purpose would be originally conceived, as in final clauses (318). E.g. Οὐδ᾽ ἔτλη πόσιος εἴρυσθαι μέγα δῶμα διαμπερὲς, εἷος ἵκοιτο, “nor did she dare to guard her husband's great house constantly until he should come.” Od. xxiii. 150. Ἡσύχαζε τῷ στράτῳ, ἕως τοῖς Ἀμπρακιώταις δέοι βοηθεῖν, “he kept quiet until it should be necessary to help the Ambraciots.” THUC. iii. 102. (The present optative is rare.) So LYS. xiii. 25. Σπονδὰς ἐποιήσαντο, ἕως ἀπαγγελθείη τὰ λεχθέντα εἰς Λακεδαίμονα, they made a truce, (to continue) until what had been said should be announced at Sparta. XEN. Hell. iii. 2, 20. (Here ἕως ἂν ἀπαγγελθῇ might have been used, as in the following examples.) Ἕως δ᾽ ἂν ταῦτα διαπράξωνται, φυλακὴν καὶ μισθὸν τοῖς φρουροῖς ἓξ μηνῶν κατέλιπε. Ib. v. 3, Ib. 25. Ἀλλ᾽ ἐπισχεῖν (τοὺς πρέσβεις ἐκέλευενμέχρι τοσούτου, ἕως ἂν τὸ τεῖχος ἱκανὸν αἴρωσιν ὥστε ἀπομάχεσθαι, but he bade them detain the ambassadors until they (the Athenians) should be getting their wall high enough to defend. THUC. i. 90. (Most editors emend αἴρωσιν to the aorist ἄρωσιν, which with ἕως would mean until they should get the wall high enough, the former being less definite and exact in its time, and therefore more appropriate here.)

For the intermediate form of ἕως ἄν with the optative in such sentences, see SOPH. Tr. 687, AND. i. 81, ISOC. xvii. 15 (in 702).

2. In five passages in the Odyssey ἕως with the optative after a past tense has an unusually strong final force, so that it appears almost like a final particle.

Πέμπε δέ μιν πρὸς δώματ᾽ Ὀδυσσῆος, εἵως Πηνελόπειαν ὀδυρομένην γοόωσαν παύσειε κλαυθμοῖο, she sent her to the house of Ulysses, (to the end) that she might cause Penelope to cease her lamenting. iv. 799. Ὦρσε δ᾽ ἐπὶ κραιπνὸν Βορέην πρὸ δὲ κύματ᾽ ἔαξεν, ἕως γε Φαιήκεσσι φιληρέτμοισι μιγείη, and she roused swift Boreas and broke the waves before him, that Ulysses might come to the oar-loving Phaeacians. v. 385. Μοχλὸν ὑπὸ σποδοῦ ἤλασα πολλῆς, εἵως θερμαίνοιτο, I pushed the club under the deep ashes, that it might be heated (to remain until it should be heated). ix. 375. So δῶκεν ἔλαιον, εἵως χυτλώσαιτο, vi. 79; and ἀρώμενος εἷος ἵκοιτο, xix. 367.

In none of these cases will until express the final force of the clause with ἕως. It appears as if ἕως here began the same course by which ὄφρα, ὡς, and ὅπως became final particles (312-314), but did not complete the change.

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 Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: