[*] 285. The Greek language has ample facilities for a large number of periphrastic tenses. With its many participles and its various auxiliaries, the possible combinations are almost inexhaustible, while the existing combinations show at once the resources and the moderation of the language. Few languages capable of “ἔμελλε οὐ τὸ δεύτερον διαφυγὼν ἔσεσθαι” ( HDT.7.194), and of “ἔμελλε . . . ἔσεσθαι δεδωκώς” (PS.- DEM.52.24), would have shown such self-restraint.
Syntax of Classical Greek from Homer to Demosthenes. Basil L. Gildersleeve. New York. American Book Company. 1900.
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