William Watson Goodwin, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb

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[*] 588. The infinitive with ὥστε sometimes follows verbs of wishing, commanding, etc., which regularly take a simple infinitive of the object (746), less frequently verbs which take an infinitive of the subject (745); and sometimes adjectives and nouns which regularly take the simple infinitive (758). E.g. Κύπρις γὰρ ἤθελ᾽ ὥστε γίγνεσθαι τάδε, for the Cyprian Goddess wished this to be done, i.e. had (such) a wish (as) that this should be done. EUR. Hipp. 1327. “Δικαιῶν ὥστ᾽ ἐμοῦ κλύειν λόγους” “asking that he (Polynices) should hear my words (to the effect that he should hear).” SOPH. O. C. 1350. Τοὺς στρατηγοὺς τῶν πόλεων ἐδίδασκεν ὥστε δόντα χρήματα αὐτὸν πεῖσαι, “he instructed him to give money and persuade the generals.” THUC. viii. 45. “Τὸ μὲν δύνασθαι, ὦ Φαῖδρε, ὥστε ἀγωνιστὴν τέλεον γενέσθαι,” “the ability to become a finished disputer (i.e. having such power as to become).” PLAT. Phaedr. 269 D. Ἐλθόντες πρὸς αὐτοὺς πείθουσιν ὥστε μετὰ σφῶν Ἄργει ἐπιχειρῆσαι. THUC. iii. 102. (In the same chapter, πείθει Ἀκαρνᾶνας βοηθῆσαι Ναυπάκτῳ.) Ἔπεισαν τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ὥστε ἐξαγαγεῖν ἐκ Πύλου Μεσσηνίους. Id. v. 35. Ψηφισάμενοι αὐτοὶ πρῶτοι ὥστε πάσῃ προθυμίᾳ ἀμύνειν, having voted to defend them, etc. Id. vi. 88. Εἰς ἀνάγκην καθέσταμεν ὥστε κινδυνεύειν. ISOC. vi. 51. (See 749.) So δύναμιν ὥστε ἐγγενέσθαι, power to grow up in it, PLAT. Rep. 433B. “Εἴ τι θέσφατον πατρὶ χρησμοῖσιν ἱκνεῖθ᾽, ὥστε πρὸς παίδων θανεῖν,” “if my father was warned by oracles that he should perish by his children's hands.” SOPH. O.C. 969.

Πάνυ μοι ἐμέλησεν ὥστε εἰδέναι, “it concerned me very much to know.” XEN. Cyr. vi. 3, 19. Ἀδύνατον ὑμῖν ὥστε Πρωταγόρου τοῦδε σοφώτερόν τινα ἑλέσθαι, it is impossible for you to choose any one wiser than Protagoras here (you have not such power as to choose). PLAT. Prot. 338 C. So XEN. Mem. i. 3, 6. Ξυνέβη εὐθὺς μετὰ τὴν μάχην ὥστε πολέμου μὲν μηδὲν ἔτι ἅψασθαι μηδετέρους, πρὸς δὲ τὴν εἰρήνην μᾶλλον τὴν γνώμην εἶχον. THUC. v. 14. (Here the construction changes suddenly to the indicative in εἶχον.) Ἆρ᾽ ἔστιν ὥστε κἀγγύθεν θέαν λαβεῖν; “ is it possible for me to have a sight of it near by?” SOPH. Ph. 656.

Πῶς γάρ τις ἱκανὸς γένοιτ᾽ ἂν ὥστε ἀεὶ προστάττειν τὸ προσῆκον; for how could one become capable of always giving the proper command (so capable as)? PLAT. Polit. 295A. Πότερα παῖδές εἰσι φρονιμώτεροι ὥστε μαθεῖν τὰ φραζόμενα ἢ ἄνδρες; i.e. are they wiser than men in learning, etc.? XEN. Cyr. iv. 3, 11. Νέοι ὥστε τοσοῦτο πρᾶγμα διελέσθαι, “too young to decide.” PLAT. Prot. 314B. So γέρων ὥστε σ᾽ ὠφελεῖν, EUR. Andr. 80. Ψυχρόν (ἐστι τὸ ὕδωρ) ὥστε λούσασθαι, “the water is too cold to bathe in.” XEN. Mem. iii. 13, 3. (Cf. λούσασθαι ψυχρότερον and θερμότερον πιεῖν, in the same section.)

In many of these cases it seems impossible to believe that ὥστε added anything to the sense, even as it was felt by the Greeks. The expressions were probably stereotyped in usage, and their origin was forgotten. Indeed, ὥστε and ὡς (608) sometimes seem to have no more meaning than our to with the infinitive, which in some cases we can use or omit at pleasure, though with some change of sense, as in I dare say and I dare to say. Compare I command you to go and I bid you go. The examples show that there is hardly a construction in which the simple infinitive was used where ὥστε is not occasionally prefixed to it. It is important here to remember that ὥστε means only as (or, including the antecedent, so as); never so that, except in the construction with the finite moods, although this is often a necessary makeshift in our translation.

For ὥστε or ὡς with the infinitive after the comparative and ἤ, see 764 (b).