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

---

[*] 488. The optative with εἰ (rarely εἴ κε) is sometimes used in Homer like the subjunctive after primary tenses in sentences of this class. It is also very common after past tenses, representing a subjunctive of the original form, though occasionally the subjunctive is retained in indirect discourse (696). E.g. Ἀλλ᾽ ἔτι τὸν δύστηνον ὀίομαι, εἴ ποθεν ἐλθὼν ἀνδρῶν μνηστήρων σκέδασιν κατὰ δώματα θείη, but I am still expecting the poor man, if haply he should come and scatter the suitors. Od. xx. 224.So Od. ii. 351. Ἀλλά τις εἴη Ἀγαμέμνονι, εἰ πλείονας παρὰ ναῦφιν ἐποτρύνειε νέεσθαι, let some one go to A. , in hope that he may exhort, etc. Hom. Od. xiv. 496.See also 491, below.

Βούλευον ὅπως ὄχ᾽ ἄριστα γένοιτο, εἴ τιν᾽ ἑταίροισιν θανάτου λύσιν εὑροίμην, i.e. if haply I might find some escape. Od. ix. 420. Ἀλλ᾽ ἐγὼ οὐ πιθόμην, ὄφρ᾽ αὐτόν τε ἴδοιμι καὶ εἴ μοι ξείνια δοίη, but I disobeyed them, in order that I might see him (the Cyclops) and in hope that he would show me hospitality. Od. ix. 228. (The final clause and the protasis are here again clearly distinguished: see Od. i. 93 under 487, Od. 1.) Πολλὰ δέ τ᾽ ἄγκἐ ἐπῆλθε μετ᾽ ἀνέρος ἴχνἰ ἐρευνῶν, εἴ ποθεν ἐξεύροι. Il. xviii. 321. Πειρήθη δὲ εὗ αὐτοῦ ἐν ἔντεσι, εἰ οἱ ἐφαρμόσσειε καὶ ἐντρέχοι ἄγλαα γυῖα, i.e. he tried himself in his armour, eager for it to fit him and for his limbs to play freely in it (if haply it should fit him, etc.). Il. xix. 384. (See the cases of the subjunctive after πειρῶμαι in 487, Il. 1.Here there is no indirect question, for Achilles can have no real doubt about the fit.) Ἐν δὲ πίθοι οἴνοιο ἕστασαν, εἴ ποτ᾽ Ὀδυσσεὺς οἴκαδε νοστήσειε, i.e. the casks of wine were waiting for the return of Ulysses. Od. ii. 340. Ἧστο κάτω ὁρόων, ποτιδέγμενος εἴ τί μιν εἴποι, i.e. he sat looking down, waiting for Penelope to speak. Od. xxiii. 91. Τόδ᾽ ἠνώγει εἰπεῖν ἔπος, εἴ κ᾽ ἐθέλητε παύσασθαι πολέμου, he bade me say this word, if haply you might be willing to stop the war. Il. vii. 394. (This appears in vs. 387 as εἴ κε γένοιτο, and the direct form of the command in vs. 375 is εἴ κ᾽ ἐθέλωσιν.) In Il. xiv. 163-165 we have εἴ πως ἱμείραιτο . . . τῷ δὲ χεύῃ after a past tense. Νῆχε παρὲξ, εἴ που ἐφεύροι ἠιόνας. Od. v. 439. (Compare vs. 417, εἰ δέ κε παρανήξομαι, ἤν που ἐφεύρω, under 487, Od. 1.）

See also Il. ii. 97, Il. iii. 450, Il. iv. 88, Il. x. 19, Il. xii. 122, Il. 333, Il. xiii. 807, Il. xx. 464, Il. xxiii. 40; Od. i. 115, Od. iv. 317, Od. ix. 267, Od. 317, Od. 418, Od. x. 147, Od. xi. 479, Od. 628, Od. xii. 334, Od. xiv. 460, Od. xxii. 91, Od. 381.