previous next

197. The use of ἄν with the future indicative in Attic Greek is absolutely denied by many critics, and the more careful revision of the texts has greatly diminished the number of examples cited in support of it. Still, in several passages, even of the best prose, we must either emend the text against the Mss., or admit the construction as a rare exception. E.g. Αἰγυπτίους δὲ οὐχ ὁρῶ ποίᾳ δυνάμει συμμάχῳ χρησάμενοι μᾶλλον ἂν κολάσεσθε τῆς νῦν σὺν ἐμοὶ οὔσης. XEN. An. ii. 5. 13 Ἔφη οὖν τὸν ἐρωτώμενον εἰπεῖν, οὐχ ἥκει, φάναι, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἥξει δεῦρο, he said that the one who was asked replied, “He hasn't come, and he won't come this way.PLAT. Rep. 615D. (The only other reading is ἥξοι. The colloquial style here makes ἄν less objectionable; see SOPH. Ant. 390, quoted in 208.) Ἔφη λέγων πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὡς, εἰ διαφευξοίμην, ἤδη ἂν ὑμῶν οἱ υἱεῖς πάντες παντάπασι διαφθαρήσονται. Id. Ap. 29C. Κἂν ἔτ᾽ ἔτι φόνιον ὄψομαι αἷμα (so the Mss.). EUR. El. 484.

See 208 and 216, on the future infinitive and participle with ἄν.

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: