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[*] 545. With ὡς or ὥς τε the conditional force of the subjunctive is not so obvious, especially as it depends directly on the verb of the antecedent clause, which is always particular and generally past. Here we should expect the present indicative, which sometimes occurs (548). We may suppose that the analogy of the far more frequent clauses with ὡς ὅτε (544)1 caused the same construction to be used also in these, in which the meaning is clearly the same. E.g. Ὡς δὲ γυνὴ κλαίῃσι φίλον πόσιν ἀμφιπεσοῦσα, ὅς τε ἑῆς πρόσθεν πόλιος λαῶν τε πέσῃσιν, ὣς Ὀδυσεὺς ἐλεεινὸν ὑπ᾽ ὀφρύσι δάκρυον εἶβεν, i.e. Ulysses wept as a wife weeps, etc. Od. viii. 523. Ὡς δὲ λέων ἐν βουσὶ θορὼν ἐξ αὐχένα ἄξῃ πόρτιος ἠὲ βοὸς, . . . ὣς τοὺς ἀμφοτέρους ἐξ ἵππων Τυδέος υἱὸς βῆσε, and as a lion leaps among the cattle and breaks the neck of a heifer or an ox, so did the son of Tydeus dismount them both from their chariot. Il. v. 161.So Il. ix. 323, Il. x. 183, Il. 485; Od. v. 368.
Macmillan. London, Melbourne, Toronto. 1889. reprint edition:. St. Martin's Press. New York. 1965.
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