A.v.l. μεθίης), μεθιεῖ, Il.6.523, 10.121, Od.4.372; Ion. “μετίει” Hdt.2.70; 3pl. “μεθιᾶσι” Pl.Ti.81d; Ion. “μετιεῖσι” Hdt.1.133; imper. “μεθίει” Pl.La.187b; Ep. subj. 3sg. “μεθίῃσι” Il.13.234; inf. μεθιέναι, Ep. -ιέμεναι, -ιέμεν, ib.114,4.351: impf. 3sg. “μεθίει” 15.716, 16. 762, 21.72, 3pl. “μέθιεν” Od.21.377; Ep.“μεθίεσκεν” A.R.4.799: fut. “μεθήσω” Od.15.212; Ep. inf. μεθησέμεναι, -έμεν, 16.377, Il.20.361: aor. 1 μεθῆκα, Ep. “μεθέηκα” 23.434 (also “ἐμέθηκα” Phot.); part. “μεθήσας” Coluth.127: other moods from aor. 2, imper. “μέθες” S.El.448, Ar.Ec. 958 (lyr.), etc.; subj. μεθῶ, Ep. “μεθείω” Il.3.414; opt. “μεθείην” S.Ph. 1302; inf. μεθεῖναι, Ep. “μεθέμεν” Il.1.283; part. “μεθείς” A.Pers.699 (troch.), etc.:—Med., first in Hdt., not in Att. Prose, fut. “μεθήσομαι” E.Hipp.326, Ar.V.416 (μετήσομαι in pass. sense, Hdt.5.35): aor. 2 “μεθεῖτο” S.Tr.197, “μέθεσθε” Id.OC1437; subj. dual and pl. μεθῆσθον, μεθῆσθε, Ar.Ra.1380, V.434; inf. “μεθέσθαι” S.El.1277:—Pass., Ion. impf. “ἐμετίετο” Hdt.1.12: pf. 3sg. “μεθεῖται” A.Th.79 (lyr.); pl. “μεθεῖνται” Pl.Phlb.62d; Ion. part. “μεμετιμένος” Hdt.6.1, etc.: Ion. aor. 1 “μετείθη” Id.1.114. [Generally ι^ in Hom. and Ep., ι_ in Att.: but ι_ in “μεθιέμεν” Il.14.364, “μεθίετε” 4.234, al., “μεθιέμεναι” 13.114: in μεθίει, 15.716, 16.762, 21.72, ι_ may be long by augment, but ι^ in “μεθίεν” Od.21.377.]
I. trans., set loose, let go what is bound, stretched, or held back: hence
1. c. acc. pers., release a prisoner, Il.10.449, Hdt. 1.24, etc.; “μ. χεροῖν” S.OC838; let a visitor depart, Od.15.212, cf. Pl.La.187b; dismiss a wife, Hdt.9.111: c. inf., set one free to do as he will, “ἐμὲ μέθες ἰέναι ἐπὶ τὴν θήρην” Id.1.37, cf. 40; also “ἐλεύθερον μ. τινά” E.Hec.551:—Pass., to be let go, dismissed, Hdt.1.12, 114, al.; but μεθεῖται στρατός is let loose (as if from a leash), A.Th.79 (lyr.).
b. give up, abandon, “μὴ χωσαμένη σε μεθείω” Il.3.414; “εἰ τοῦτον Τρώεσσι μεθήσομεν . . ἄστυ πότι . . ἐρύσαι” 17.418.
2. c. acc. rei, let go, let fall, throw, τι ἐς ποταμόν ib.460, Hdt.2.70; μ. δεξιάν (v.l. δεξιᾶς) E.Hipp.333; “μ. με χεῖρα” S.Ph.1301; ταῦτα μὲν μέθες (sc. τὰ λουτρά) lay down, Id.El.448, cf. 1205; μ. ψυχήν give up the ghost, E.Med.1218; of liquids, let flow, let drop, “πολλὰ τῶν δακρύων” Hdt.9.16; “ἰὸν ἀντιπενθῆ μεθεῖσα καρδίας” A.Eu.783 (lyr.): c. acc. et inf., μ. τὰς συμπάσας [ἐπιστήμας] ῥεῖν εἰς . . Pl.Phlb.62d; of words, utter, “γλῶσσαν Περσίδα μ.” Hdt.6.29; λόγους, βρόμον μ., E. Hipp.499, 1202; μ. βλαστόν let it shoot forth, Hdt.6.37; of weapons, let fly, discharge, “μετὰ δ᾽ ἰὸν ἕηκε” Il.1.48; “μ. βέλος” S.Ph.1300, cf. X. Cyr.4.3.9; ἐκ χερὸς λίθον, ἀπὸ γλώσσης λόγον, Men.1092; of plants, put forth, “καρπούς” Porph.Abst.2.13; μ. ξίφος ἐς γυναῖκα plunge it into her, E.Or.1133; but μ. οἱ τὰς αἰχμάς laid them aside as he ordered, Hdt.3.128, cf. 4.3, 9.62: elliptically, μεθῆκε (sc. τὰς ἡνίας) E.Fr.779.7; ναῒ μεθεῖναι give the ship her way, S.Aj.250 (lyr.).
c. c. dat. pers. et acc., give up to, surrender, “Ἕκτορι νίκην” 14.364; “στέμματ᾽ ἀνέμοις” E.Ba.350.
d. resign, throw aside, “χόλον” Il.15.138, Od.1.77; Ἀχιλλῆϊ μεθέμεν χ. as a favour to Achilles, Il.1.283 (cf. 11.3); μ. καρδίας χόλον from one's heart, E.Med. 590; give up a scheme, Hdt.1.133; τὰ παρεόντα ἀγαθά ib.33; “τὴν ἀρχήν” Id.3.143; “τὴν τυραννίδα” Id.5.37; “αἰδῶ” A.Pers.699 (troch.); “τὸ κόσμιον” S.El.872; τἀφανῆ the search for the unknowable, Id.OT131; “τεμένη . . μέθες” E.Supp.1212:—Pass., “ἡ πρότερον γνώμη ἀποδεχθεῖσα μετείσθω” Hdt.4.98.
e. forgive one a fault, “Ἀθηναίοισι τὰς ἁμαρτάδας” Id.8.140.ά; remit, “φόρον τῇσι πόλισι” Id.6.59; τόνδε κίνδυνον μεθείς excusing you this peril, E.Ph.1229.
f. let in, introduce, “τὸ δεῖγμα εἰς τὰς ἄλλας πόλεις” Pl.Lg.951d; “τὸ μὲν τῶν ἐγκυρτίων εἰς τὸ στόμα μεθῆκεν” Id.Ti.78c.
II. intr., relax one's energies:
2. c. inf., omit or neglect to do, “ὅς τις μεθίῃσι μάχεσθαι” 13.234, cf. 23.434; “οἱ ἵπποι μετιέντες τὰς νομὰς νέμεσθαι” Hdt.1.78; “μ. τὰ δέοντα πράττειν” X.Mem.2.1.33.
b. permit, μεθεῖσά μοι λέγειν having left it for me to speak, having allowed me, S.El.628:—Pass., “δύο πηγαὶ μεθεῖνται ῥεῖν” Pl.Lg.636d.
3. c. gen. rei, relax, cease from, “μεθιέντα . . στυγεροῦ πολέμοιο” Il.6.330; “ἀλκῆς” 4.234; “βίης” Od.21.126; μεθιεὶς πολέμου (prob. for πόλεμον) Tyrt.12.44; “μ. τῆς χρησμοσύνης” Hdt.9.33; μέθιεν . . χόλοιο Τηλεμάχῳ [the suitors] ceased from wrath in deference to Telemachus, Od.21.377.
b. c. gen. pers., abandon, neglect, Il.11.841.
4. c. part., κλαύσας καὶ ὀδυράμενος μεθέηκε after weeping and lamenting he leaves off, 24.48.
III. Med., free oneself from, let go one's hold of, c. gen., “παιδὸς οὐ μεθήσομαι” E.Hec.400, cf. Ar.Pl.42, 75, etc.; “σῶν γονάτων” E.Hipp.326; “τοῦ θρόνου” Ar.Ra.830, etc.; “σπουδασμάτων” Metrod.Herc.831.15: in this sense the acc. is rarely used and perh. corrupt, ἐκεῖνο (fort. ἐκείνου) E.Ph.519; τόνδε (fort. τοῦδε) Ar.V.416; in S.El.1277 (lyr.) the constr. is μή μ᾽ ἀποστερήσῃς τῶν σῶν προσώπων ἁδονάν, [ὥστε] μεθέσθαι [αὐτῆς], and in E.Med.736 ἄγουσιν οὐ μεθεῖ᾽ ἂν ἐκ γαίας ἐμέ, the acc. is governed by ἄγουσιν.