Chapter III
The Particle ἄν.
[*] 192.
The adverb
ἄν
(with the epic
κέ, Doric
κά) has two uses, which
must be distinguished.
1. In one use, it denotes that the action of the verb to
which it is joined is dependent upon some condition, expressed or
implied. This is its force with the secondary tenses of the indicative,
and with the optative, infinitive, and participle: with these it belongs
strictly to the verb, to which it gives a potential force, like our
would.
2. In its other use, it is joined regularly to
εἰ,
if, to relative and temporal words, and sometimes to the final
particles
ὡς, ὅπως, and
ὄφρα, when any of
these are followed by the subjunctive. Here, although as an adverb it
qualifies the verb, it is so closely connected with the relative or
particle, that it often coalesces with it, forming
ἐάν, ἤν, α?ν ὅταν, ὁπόταν, ἐπειδάν,
ἐπάν or
ἐπήν
(Ionic
ἐπεάν).
These statements include only the constructions which are in
good use in Attic Greek. For the epic use of
κέ or
ἄν with the subjunctive in a potential sense (as with the
optative)
see 201,
1; for
κέ or
ἄν with the future indicative
see 196.
[*] 193.
There is no word or expression in English which can be used
separately to translate
ἄν. In its first use (192, 1) we express it by the form of
the verb which we use; as
ἔλθοι
ἄν,
he would go;
ἦλθεν ἄν,
he would have gone. In its second use, with
the subjunctive, it generally has no force that can be made perceptible
in translation.
The peculiar use of
ἄν can be understood only by a study of the various
constructions in which it occurs. These are enumerated below, with
references (when it is necessary) to the more full explanation of each
in Chapter IV.
[*] 194.
No theory of the origin of either
ἄν or
κέ has yet helped to explain their meaning, however
valuable the discussion of the question may have been to comparative
philology. It seems to be clear that
κέ is the older particle; it occurs 621 times in Homer
while
ἄν occurs 155 times;
in Pindar the two are nearly balanced;
ἄν has a preference for negative
sentences, being very often attached to the negative;
ἄν is more emphatic, as
appears indeed from its fixed accent, while
κέ is enclitic;
κέ is much more frequent than
ἄν in relative clauses in
Homer.
1 But, practically, it is still safe to assume that the two
particles are used in substantially the same sense in all epic and lyric
poetry. In Herodotus and Attic Greek only
ἄν is used.
Indicative with ἄν.
[*] 195.
The present and perfect indicative are never used with
ἄν.
This seems to occur chiefly when Plato and Aristotle use
κἂν εἰ (=
καὶ ἂν, εἰ) like
καὶ εἰ, without regard to the
mood of the verb which is to follow, to which
κἄν really belongs. See
PLAT. Men. 72
C,
“
κἂν εἰ πολλαί εἰσιν, ἕν
γέ τι εἶδος ταὐτὸν πᾶσαι ἔχουσι”
, i.e.
even if they are many, still (it
would seem to follow that) they all have one and the same
form. So
PLAT. Rep. 579 D,
Soph. 247E. So
ARISTOT.
Pol. iii. 6, 1,
“
κἂν εἰ πλείους”
, with
σκεπτέον
ἐστίν.
Examples of a different class (without
κἂν εἰ) are obviously corrupt, and have
now almost disappeared from our texts. One of the last relics,
Leg. 712E,
“
ἐγὼ δὲ οὕτω νῦν ἐξαίφνης
ἂν ἐρωτηθεὶς ὄντως ὅπερ εἶπον, οὐκ ἔχω
εἰπεῖν”
, is now simply emended by reading
ἀνερωτηθείς.
[*] 196.
The future indicative is often used with
κέ or
ἄν by the early poets, especially Homer. The addition of
ἄν seems to make the
future more contingent than that tense naturally is, sometimes giving it
a force approaching that of the optative with
ἄν. E.g.
Ἀλλ᾽ ἴθ̓, ἐγὼ δέ κέ τοι Χαρίτων μίαν
ὁπλοτεράων δώσω, ὀπυιέμεναι καὶ σὴν κεκλῆθαι
ἄκοιτιν,
I will give you one of the
younger Graces, etc.
Il. xiv. 267.
Καί κέ τις ὧδ᾽ ἐρέει Τρώων
ὑπερηνορεόντων,
and some one
will (or
may)
thus speak.
Il. iv. 176.
Ὁ δέ κεν κεχολώσεται ὅν κεν
ἵκωμαι,
“and he may be angry to whom I come.”
Il. i. 139.
“
Εἰ δ᾽ ἄγε, τοὺς ἂν ἐγὼν
ἐπιόψομαι: οἱ δὲ πιθέσθων”
Il. ix.
167.
Παρ᾽ ἔμοι γε καὶ ἄλλοι, οἵ
κέ με τιμήσουσι,
others,
who will honour
me.
Il. i. 174.
“
Εἰ δ᾽ Ὀδυσεὺς ἔλθοι καὶ
ἵκοιτ᾽ ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν, αἶψά κε σὺν ᾧ παιδὶ βίας
ἀποτίσεται ἀνδρῶν”
Od. xvii.
539.
Here
ἀποτίσεταί
κε, which may be aorist subjunctive (
201, 1), is used nearly in the
sense of the optative, corresponding to the optatives in the protasis.
Κέ is much more
common with the future than
ἄν.
[*] 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.
[*] 198.
The most common use of
ἄν with the indicative is with the secondary tenses,
generally the imperfect and aorist, in the apodosis of an unfulfilled
condition
(410) or
in a potential sense
(243).
[*] 199.
The imperfect and aorist indicative are sometimes used with
ἄν in an iterative
sense
(162), which
construction must not be confounded with that just mentioned
(198).
Subjunctive and Optative with ἄν.
[*] 200.
In Attic Greek
ἄν is regularly used with the subjunctive in protasis and in
conditional relative sentences, and sometimes in final clauses with
ὡς and
ὅπως, being always closely
joined with the particle or the relative; but never in independent
sentences.
See 325,
381, and
522.
[*] 201.
1. In epic poetry, when the independent subjunctive has
nearly the sense of the future indicative
(284), it sometimes takes
κέ or
ἄν. This forms a future potential
expression, nearly equivalent to the future indicative with
κέ or
ἄν, and sometimes approaching the optative
with
κέ or
ἄν. E.g.
“
Εἰ δέ κε μὴ δώῃσιν, ἐγὼ
δέ κεν αὐτὸς ἕλωμαι,”
“and if he does not give her up, I will take
her myself.”
Il. i.
324
; see also
i. 137.
See 285
and
452. For the
variety of nearly equivalent future potential forms which the Homeric
language presents, reduced to one in Attic Greek,
see 235.
2. The epic language has
κέ or
ἄν
with the subjunctive in the constructions of
192, 2; but its use of
κέ or
ἄν in conditions is less strict, and that
with final particles is more free, than the Attic use of
ἄν.
See 325-328; 450-454; 468-471; 538-541.
[*] 202.
The optative with
ἄν forms the apodosis of the less vivid future condition
(like the English form with
would or
should), or has a potential sense. E.g.
Εἰ τοῦτο ποιήσειεν, ἄθλιος ἂν
εἴη,
if he should do this,
he would be wretched.
Ἡδέως ἂν ἐροίμην
αὐτόν,
I should like to ask
him. (
See
233 and 455.)
For construction of
ἄν or
κέ with
εἰ or the final
particles and the optative, see 460; and 329, 330, 349, 350, 351.
[*] 203.
As the future optative came into common use after the future
indicative with
ἄν
(196) was nearly
extinct, it was never used with
ἄν.
Infinitive with ἄν.
[*] 204.
The infinitive can be used with
ἄν in all cases in which a finite verb
would have
ἄν if it stood
in its place.
This is found chiefly in indirect discourse, in which each
tense of the infinitive with
ἄν represents the
corresponding
tenses of the indicative or optative with
ἄν in the direct form. The context must
decide whether the indicative or optative is represented in each
case.
[*] 205.
（
Present.) The present
infinitive, which represents also the imperfect
(119), when used with
ἄν, may be equivalent either
to the imperfect indicative with
ἄν or to the present optative with
ἄν. It can represent no other form, as no
other form of these tenses has
ἄν joined with the verb in a finite mood. E.g.
Φησὶν αὐτοὺς ἐλευθέρους ἂν
εἶναι, εἰ τοῦτο ἔπραξαν,
he
says that they would (
now)
be freeif they had done this (
εἶναι ἄν representing
ἦσαν ἄν).
Φησὶν αὐτοὺς ἐλευθέρους ἂν
εἶναι, εἰ τοῦτο πράξειαν,
he
says that they would (
hereafter）
be freeif they should do this (
εἶναι ἄν representing
εἴησαν ἄν).
Οἴεσθε γὰρ τὸν πατέρα οὐκ ἂν
φυλάττειν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν λαμβάνειν τῶν ξύλων;
do you think he would not have taken care and
have received the pay for the timber? DEM. xlix. 35. (Here
the direct discourse would be
ἐφύλαττεν ἂν καὶ ἐλάμβανεν.)
Μαρτυρίῳ ἐχρῶντο, μὴ ἂν τούς γε ἰσοψήφους
ἄκοντας, εἰ μή τι ἠδίκουν οἷς ἐπῄεσαν,
ξυστρατεύειν,
they used us as an
argument,
that people who had an equal
vote with themselves (
like us）
would not be serving with them against their
will, unless those whom they attacked were guilty of some wrong.
THUC. iii. 11.
Οἶμαι γὰρ ἂν οὐκ ἀχαρίστως
μοι ἔχειν,
for I think it would not
be a thankless labour (
οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι).
XEN. An. ii. 3, 18.
[*] 206.
（
Perfect.) The perfect
infinitive, which represents also the pluperfect
(123), when used with
ἄν, may be equivalent either
to the pluperfect indicative with
ἄν or to the perfect optative with
ἄν. E.g.
Εἰ μὴ τὰς ἀρετὰς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἐκείνας οἱ
Μαραθῶνι καὶ Σαλαμῖνι παρέσχοντο, . . . πάντα ταῦθ᾽ ὑπὸ
τῶν βαρβάρων ἂν ἑαλωκέναι (sc.
φήσειεν ἄν τις),
if
those at Marathon and Salamis had not exhibited those deeds of
valour in their behalf, any one would say that all these would have
been captured by the barbarians.
DEM. xix. 312.
(Here
ἑαλωκέναι ἄν
represents
ἑαλώκεσαν
ἄν.)
“
Ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἂν ἡγοῦμαι
αὐτοὺς δίκην ἀξίαν δεδωκέναι, εἰ ἀκροασάμενοι αὐτῶν
καταψηφίσαισθε,”
“but I do not believe they would (then) have
suffered sufficient punishment, if you after hearing them should
condemn them.”
LYS. xxvii.
9.
(Here the protasis in the optative shows that
δεδωκέναι ἄν represents
δεδωκότες ἂν εἶεν
(103); but if the
protasis were
εἰ
κατεψηφίσασθε,
if you had condemned
them,
δεδωκέναι
ἄν would represent
ἐδεδώκεσαν ἄν,
they would have
suffered.) See also, in xxvii. 8,
οὐκ ἂν ἀπολωλέναι, ἀλλὰ δίκην
δεδωκέναι, representing perfect optatives with
ἄν. Ἀνδραποδώδεις ἂν δικαίως
κεκλῆσθαι (
ἡγεῖτο).
XEN. Mem. i. 1, 16. (Here
κεκλῆσθαι ἄν represents
κεκλημένοι ἂν εἶεν.)
These constructions are of course rare, as are the forms of
the finite moods here represented.
[*] 207.
（
Aorist.) The aorist infinitive
with
ἄν may be equivalent
either to the aorist indicative with
ἄν or to the aorist optative with
ἄν. E.g.
Οὐκ ἂν ἡγεῖσθ᾽ αὐτὸν κἂν ἐπιδραμεῖν;
do you not believe that (
if this had been so)
he
would even have run thither? i.e.
οὐκ ἂν ἐπέδραμεν;
DEM. xxvii. 56.
Ἄνευ δὲ σεισμοῦ οὐκ ἄν μοι
δοκεῖ τὸ τοιοῦτο ξυμβῆναι γενέσθαι (
οὐκ ἂν ξυμβῆναι representing
οὐκ ἂν ξυνέβη),
but unless there had been an earthquake, it does not
seem to me that such a thing could by any chance have happened.
THUC. iii. 89.
Τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἤλπιζεν ἴσως
ἂν ἐπεξελθεῖν καὶ τὴν γῆν οὐκ ἂν περιιδεῖν
τμηθῆναι (i.e.
ἴσως ἂν
ἐπεξέλθοιεν καὶ οὐκ ἂν περιίδοιεν).
Id. ii. 20.
Οὐδ᾽ ἂν κρατῆσαι αὐτοὺς τῆς
γῆς ἡγοῦμαι (i.e.
κρατήσειαν ἄν).
Id. vi. 37.
[*] 208.
（
Future.) The future infinitive
with
ἄν can be equivalent
only to the Homeric construction of the future indicative with
ἄν. But as
ἄν is not found in Homer with
the future infinitive, this construction rests chiefly on the authority
of passages in Attic writers, and is subject to the same doubts and
suspicions as the future indicative with
ἄν in those writers. (
See 197.) Unless we exterminate
the latter, there can be no objection to this as its representative. In
the following passages it is still retained on the best MS. authority.
Νομίζοντες, εἰ ταύτην
πρώτην λάβοιεν, ῥᾳδίως ἂν σφίσι τἄλλα
προσχωρήσειν.
THUC. ii. 80. (Here the direct discourse would regularly
have had either the future indicative without
ἄν, or the aorist optative with
ἄν.) The same may be said of
THUC. v.
82,
νομίζων μέγιστον ἂν
σφᾶς ὠφελήσειν (where one MS. reads by correction
ὠφελῆσαι). See also
THUC. vi. 66;
viii. 25 and 71; and
PLAT. Crit. 53D ;
PLAT. Crat. 391A.
“
Σχολῇ ποθ᾽ ἥξειν δεῦρ᾽
ἂν ἐξηύχουν ἐγώ,”
“I declared that I should be very slow to come
hither again.”
SOPH. Ant.
390.
(Here the colloquial style may account for
ἥξειν ἄν, as for
ἥξει ἄν in
PLAT. Rep. 615 D, unless we take
ἄν with
ἐξηύχουν.
See 197.) In
PIND. Ol. i.
108, we have
εἰ δὲ μὴ
ταχὺ λίποι, ἔτι γλυκυτέραν κεν ἔλπομαι σὺν ἅρματι θοῷ
κλεΐξειν.
As the future optative is never used with
ἄν
(203), this can
never be represented by the future infinitive with
ἄν.
[*] 209.
The infinitive with
ἄν is rare in the early poets, occurring but once in Homer,
Il. ix.
684 (quoted under 683), and three times in Pindar,
Pyth. viii. 20
(present),
Pyth.
iii. 110 (aorist), and
Ol. i. 108 (future, quoted in 208).
[*] 210.
The infinitive with
ἄν sometimes represents an iterative imperfect or aorist
indicative with
ἄν
(162). This must be
carefully distinguished from the potential use. E.g.
Ἀκούω Λακεδαιμονίους τότε ἐμβαλόντας ἂν
καὶ κακώσαντας τὴν χώραν ἀναχωρεῖν ἐπ᾽ οἴκου
πάλιν,
I hear that the Lacedaemonians at
that time,
after invading and ravaging
the country, used to return home again.
DEM. ix. 48.
(Here
ἀναχωρεῖν ἄν
represents
ἀνεχώρουν ἄν
in its iterative sense,
they used to
return.)
Φασὶ μὲν γὰρ
αὐτὸν ἐρεπτόμενον τὰ τῶν ἐχόντων ἀνέρων οὐκ ἂν
ἐξελθεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς σιπύης: τοὺς δ᾽ ἀντιβολεῖν ἂν
ὁμοίως,
they say that,
when he was feeding on men of wealth, he never would
get away from the meal-tub; and they all alike used to implore
him (
οὐκ ἂν ἐξῆλθεν, οἱ
δὲ ἠντιβόλουν ἄν).
AR. Eq. 1295.
[*] 211.
The infinitive with
ἄν, in the cases already mentioned, stands in indirect
discourse after a verb of
saying or
thinking. Sometimes, however, it is found in
other constructions, where the present or aorist infinitive (without
ἄν) would be expected.
In such cases there is an approach to the usage of indirect discourse,
so far at least that the infinitive with
ἄν has the force of the corresponding
tense of the indicative or optative. E.g.
Τὰ δὲ ἐντὸς οὕτως ἐκαίετο, ὥστε ἥδιστα
ἂν ἐς ὕδωρ ψυχρὸν σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ῥίπτειν,
so that they would most gladly have thrown
themselves into cold water (
ῥίπτειν ἄν here being equivalent to
ἔρριπτον ἄν).
THUC. ii. 49.
Μιᾶς τρέφει πρὸς νυκτὸς, ὥστε
μήτ᾽ ἐμὲ μήτ᾽ ἄλλον,
ὅστις φῶς ὁρᾷ, βλάψαι ποτ᾽ ἄν,
so that you could harm (
βλάψειας ἄν)
neither me nor any other who beholds the
light. OSOPH. .T. 374. So
SOPH. Tr. 669.
Ἔφθασαν παρελθόντες τὴν τῶν
Ἀθηναίων οἰκοδομίαν, ὥστε μηκέτι μήτε αὐτοὶ κωλύεσθαι
ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν, ἐκείνους τε καὶ παντάπασιν ἀπεστερηκέναι, εἰ
καὶ κρατοῖεν, μὴ ἂν ἔτι σφᾶς ἀποτειχίσαι,
so as to be no longer themselves obstructed by
them,
and so as to have deprived them
absolutely of the power of ever again walling them in, even if they
should be victorious.
THUC. vii. 6.
“
Ὕσομεν τὴν νύκτα πᾶσαν:
ὥστ᾽ ἴσως βουλήσεται κἂν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τυχεῖν ὢν
μᾶλλον ἢ κρῖναι κακῶς,”
“we will rain all night long, so that perhaps
he will wish to have the luck to be (that he might by chance
find himself) in Egypt rather than to judge unfairly.”
AR. Nub.
1130.
(Here
τυχεῖν ἄν
follows
βούλομαι like the
future infinitive in
THUC. vi. 57:
see 113.) We have
ἐλπίζω followed by the infinitive and
ἄν in
THUC. vii. 61,
τὸ τῆς τύχης κἂν μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐλπίσαντες
στῆναι,
hoping that fortune may take
sides with us (
σταίη
ἄν). See also
SOPH. El. 1482,
ἀλλά μοι πάρες κἂν σμικρὸν εἰπεῖν,
but permit me at least to say a
little (
that I might say even a
little,
εἴποιμι
ἄν).
See the corresponding use of the future infinitive in similar
expressions, where there is the same approach to indirect discourse
(113).
[*] 212.
Even the infinitive with the article occasionally takes
ἄν, as in
ANT. v. 8,
τοῦτο ὑμᾶς διδάξω, οὐ τῷ
φεύγειν ἂν τὸ πλῆθος τὸ ὑμέτερον,
this I will teach you,
not because I would avoid your people. In
SOPH. Ant. 236,
“
τῆς ἐλπίδος τὸ μὴ παθεῖν
ἂν ἄλλο”
,
the hope that I could not suffer anything
else, the construction is practically that of indirect
discourse
(794).
Participle with ἄν.
[*] 213.
When the participle is used with
ἄν, each tense represents the
corresponding tenses of the indicative or optative with
ἄν.
The participle with
ἄν is not, like the infinitive with
ἄν, found chiefly in indirect discourse;
but
ἄν is more frequently
added to an
attributive or a
circumstantial participle
(822) to give it a potential force
equivalent to that of the indicative or optative with
ἄν. The participle with
ἄν is not found in
Homer or Pindar.
[*] 214.
（
Present.) The present participle
(like the present infinitive) with
ἄν represents the imperfect indicative or the present
optative with
ἄν. E.g.
Οἶδα αὐτοὺς ἐλευθέρους
ἂν ὄντας, εἰ τοῦτο ἔπραξαν,
I
know they would (
now)
be free, if they had done this.
Οἶδα αὐτοὺς ἐλευθέρους ἂν
ὄντας, εἰ τοῦτο πράξειαν,
I know
they would (
hereafter)
be free, if they should do this. (In the
former
ὄντας ἄν
represents
ἦσαν ἄν, in
the latter
εἴησαν ἄν.)
Τῶν λαμβανόντων δίκην
ὄντες ἂν δικαίως (i.e.
ἦμεν ἄν),
whereas
we should justly be among those who inflict punishment. DEM.
lvii. 3.
Ὅπερ ἔσχε μὴ κατὰ
πόλεις αὐτὸν ἐπιπλέοντα τὴν Πελοπόννησον πορθεῖν,
ἀδυνάτων ἂν ὄντων (
ὑμῶν)
ἐπιβοηθεῖν,
when you would have been
unable to bring aid (
ἀδύνατοι ἂν ἦτε).
THUC. i. 73.
Πόλλ᾽ ἂν ἔχων ἕτερ᾽ εἰπεῖν
περὶ αὐτῆς παραλείπω,
although I
might be able to say many other things about it,
I omit them.
DEM. xviii. 258.
Ἀπὸ παντὸς ἂν φέρων λόγου
δικαίου μηχάνημα ποικίλον (i.e.
ὃς ἂν φέροις),
thou who wouldst derive, etc.
SOPH. O.C. 761.
[*] 215.
（
Aorist.) The aorist participle
with
ἄν represents the
aorist indicative or the aorist optative with
ἄν. E.g.
Οὔτε ὄντα οὔτε ἂν γενόμενα
λογοποιοῦσιν,
they relate things which
are not real,
and which never could
happen (i.e.
οὐκ ἂν
γένοιτο).
THUC. vi. 38.
Ἐφ᾽ ἡμῶν οὐ γεγονὸς οὐδ᾽
οἶδα εἰ γενόμενον ἄν, (a thing)
which has not occurred in our day, and I doubt whether it ever
could occur (
γένοιτο
ἄν).
PLAT. Rep. 414 C.
Ἀλλὰ ῥᾳδίως ἂν ἀφεθεὶς, εἰ καὶ μετρίως τι τούτων
ἐποίησε, προείλετο ἀποθανεῖν,
whereas he might easily have been acquitted, etc.
XEN. Mem. iv. 4, 4.
Καὶ εἰ ἀπήχθησθε ὥσπερ
ἡμεῖς, εὖ ἴσμεν μὴ ἂν ἧσσον ὑμᾶς λυπηροὺς γενομένους
τοῖς ξυμμάχοις, καὶ ἀναγκασθέντας ἂν ἢ ἄρχειν,
κ.τ.λ. (i.e.
οὐκ ἂν
ἐγένεσθε, καὶ ἠναγκάσθητε ἄν),
if you had become odious as we have, we are sure that you would
have been no less oppressive to your allies, and that you would have
been forced, etc.
THUC. i. 76.
Ὁρῶν τὸ παρατείχισμα ἁπλοῦν
ὂν καὶ, εἰ ἐπικρατήσειέ τις τῆς ἀναβάσεως, ῥᾳδίως ἂν
αὐτὸ ληφθέν (i.e.
ῥᾳδίως ἂν ληφθείη),
seeing that
it would easily be taken, etc.
Id. vii. 42.So
ὡς τάχ᾽ ἂν συμβάντων,
DEM. xxiii.
58 (see 918).
[*] 216.
（
Future.) A few cases of the
future participle with
ἄν,
representing the future indicative with
ἄν, are found in Attic writers. These rest
on the same authority as those of the future indicative and the future
infinitive with
ἄν (197
and 208). E.g.
Ἀφίετε ἢ μὴ
ἀφίετε, ὡς ἐμοῦ οὐκ ἂν ποιήσοντος ἄλλα, οὐδ᾽ εἰ μέλλω
πολλάκις τεθνάναι (i.e.
οὐκ ἂν ποιήσω ἄλλα): so all MSS.
PLAT. Ap. 30B.
Τοὺς ὁτιοῦν ἂν ἐκείνῳ
ποιήσοντας ἀνῃρηκότες ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἔσεσθε.
DEM. xix. 342.
(Here most MSS., including
Σ, have
ποιήσοντας, but A has
ποιήσαντας.)
Πάλαι
τις ἡδέως ἂν ἴσως ἐρωτήσων κάθηται,
many a one has long been sitting here who perhaps
would be very glad to ask (so all MSS.).
DEM. ix. 70.
[*] 217.
The participle with
ἄν can never represent a protasis, because there is no form
of protasis which could be represented by a participle, where
ἄν is separable from the
conditional particle. (
See 224.)
Position of ἄν.
[*] 218.
1. When
ἄν is
used with the subjunctive, if it does not coalesce with the relative or
particle into one word (as in
ἐάν,
ὅταν, etc.), it is generally separated from it only by
such monosyllables as
μέν, δέ,
τέ, γάρ, καί, νύ, πέρ, etc., rarely
τὶς.
See examples under 444 and 529.
2. In Homer and Hesiod two such words may precede
κέ; as
εἴ περ γάρ κεν, εἰ γάρ νύ κε, εἰ γάρ τίς
κε, ὃς μὲν γάρ κε. This is rare with
ἄν in prose; see
DEM. iv. 45,
ὅποι μὲν γὰρ ἄν. Exceptional are
ὅποι τις ἂν, οἶμαι,
προσθῇ,
DEM. ii. 14;
ὅ τι
ἄλλο ἂν δοκῇ ὑμῖν,
XEN. Cyr. iv. 5, 52. The strange
καθ᾽ ὧν μηνύῃ ἄν
τις,
ANT. v.
38, is now corrected to
ἂν μηνύῃ, but still stranger is
ὅποσον ἡ φάρυγξ ἂν ἡμῶν χανδάνῃ
(?),
AR. Ran.
259.
[*] 219.
When
ἄν is used
with the optative or indicative, it may either stand near the verb, or
be attached to some other emphatic word. Particularly, it is very often
placed directly after interrogatives, negatives, adverbs of
time, place, etc., and other words which
especially affect the sense of the sentence. E.g.
Ἀλλὰ τίς δὴ θεῶν θεραπεία εἴη ἂν ἡ
ὁσιότης;
PLAT. Euthyph.
13D.
Ἀλλ᾽ ὁμῶς τὸ κεφάλαιον αὐτῶν
ῥᾳδίως ἂν εἴποις.
Id. 14
α. Οὐκ ἂν δὴ τόνδ᾽ ἄνδρα
μάχης ἐρύσαιο μετελθὼν, Τυδείδην, ὃς νῦν γε ἂν καὶ Διὶ
πατρὶ μάχοιτο;
Il. v. 456.
“
Πῶς ἂν τὸν αἱμυλώτατον,
ἐχθρὸν ἄλημα, τούς τε δισσάρχας ὀλέσσας βασιλῆς, τέλος
θάνοιμι καὐτός”
SOPH. Aj.
389.
“
Πολλὰ κἂν ἄκων ἔδρων”
Id. O.T.
591.
Τάχιστ᾽ ἄν τε πόλιν οἱ
τοιοῦτοι ἑτέρους πείσαντες ἀπολέσειαν.
THUC. ii. 63.
[*] 220.
1. By a peculiar usage,
ἄν is often separated from its verb by such verbs as
οἴομαι, δοκῶ, φημί,
οἶδα, etc. In such cases care must be taken to connect the
ἄν with the verb to
which it really belongs. E.g.
Καὶ
νῦν ἡδέως ἄν μοι δοκῶ κοινωνῆσαι,
and now I think I should gladly take part
(
ἄν belonging to
κοινωνῆσαι).
XEN. Cyr. viii.
7, 25. So
AESCHIN. iii. 2 (end).
Οὐδ᾽ ἂν ὑμεῖς οἶδ᾽ ὅτι ἐπαύσασθε πολεμοῦντες,
nor would you (
I
am sure)
have ceased fighting.
DEM. vi. 29.
Πότερα γὰρ ἂν οἴεσθε ῥᾷον
εἶναι; DEM. xlix. 45.
Ἐκλέξαντα ἃ μήτε προῄδει μηδεὶς μήτ᾽ ἂν ᾠήθη
τήμερον ῥηθῆναι,
“selecting what nobody knew beforehand and nobody
thought would be mentioned to-day.”
DEM. xviii.
225. (Here
ῥηθῆναι
ἄν =
ῥηθείη
ἄν. If
ἄν were
taken with
ᾠήθη, the
meaning would be,
what nobody would have thought
had been mentioned.)
Τί
οὖν ἂν, ἔφην, εἴη ὁ Ἔρως;
Symp.
202D.
2. Especially irregular are such expressions as
οὐκ οἶδα ἂν εἰ, or
οὐκ ἂν οἶδα εἰ, followed
by an optative or indicative to which the
ἄν belongs. E.g.
Οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ἂν εἰ πείσαιμι,
“I do not know whether I could persuade him.”
EUR. Med.
941. (The more regular form would be
οὐκ οἶδα εἰ πείσαιμι ἄν.) So
Alc. 48.
Οὐκ ἂν οἶδ᾽ εἰ
δυναίμην.
PLAT. Tim. 26B.
Οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ἂν εἰ ἐκτησάμην
παῖδα τοιοῦτον.
XEN. Cyr. v. 4, 12. So
οὐκ ἂν οἶδ᾽ ὅ τι ἄλλο εἶχον
ψηφίσασθαι,
I do not know what other
vote I could have given (
τί ἄλλο εἶχον ἂν ψηφίσασθαι; ), DEM. xlv. 7.
[*] 221.
（
Τάχ᾽ ἄν.)
Among the words to which
ἄν is very frequently joined is
τάχα,
perhaps (i.e.
quickly, soon), the
two forming
τάχ᾽ ἄν,
which expression is sometimes supposed to mean
perhaps. But
τάχ᾽
ἄν cannot be used unless the
ἄν belongs in its ordinary sense to the
verb of the sentence.
Thus
τάχ᾽ ἂν
γένοιτο means
it might perhaps
happen, and
τάχ᾽ ἂν
ἐγένετο means
it might perhaps have
happened; but the latter can never mean
perhaps it happened, like
ἴσως ἐγένετο. Τάχα alone often means
perhaps, as in
XEN. An. v. 2,
17. Aristotle writes
τάχα and
ἄν
separately in the same sense as
τάχ᾽ ἄν; as
τάχα
δὲ καὶ μᾶλλον ἂν ταύτην ὑπολάβοι,
Nic. i. 5,
Nic. 6.
[*] 222.
Ἄν never
begins a sentence, or a clause before which a comma could stand. But it
may directly follow a parenthetic clause, provided some part of its own
clause precedes. E.g.
Ἀλλ᾽ ὦ
μέλ᾽ ἄν μοι σιτίων διπλῶν ἔδει,
Pac. 137.So
τὸ μέλλον, ἐπεὶ γένοιτ̓, ἂν κλύοις
(or without the commas),
the future you can hear
when it comes,
AESCH. Ag. 250.
Repetition of ἄν.
[*] 223.
Ἄν is
sometimes used twice, or even three times, with the
same verb. This may be done in a long sentence, to make the
conditional force felt through the whole, especially when the connexion
is broken by intermediate clauses. It may also be done in order to
emphasise particular words with which
ἄν is joined, and to make them prominent
as being affected by the contingency. E.g.
Ὥστ᾽ ἂν, εἰ σθένος λάβοιμι, δηλώσαιμ᾽ ἂν
οἰ̔̂ αὐτοῖς φρονῶ.
SOPH. El. 333.
Οὔ τἂν ἑλόντες αὖθις
ἀνθαλοῖεν ἄν.
AESCH. Ag. 340.
Ἄλλους γ᾽ ἂν οὖν οἰόμεθα
τὰ ἡμέτερα λαβόντας δεῖξαι ἂν μάλιστα εἴ τι
μετριάζομεν.
THUC. i. 76. (
See 220.)
“
Οὔτ᾽ ἂν κελεύσαιμ᾽, οὔτ᾽
ἂν, εἰ θέλοις ἔτι πράσσειν, ἐμοῦ γ᾽ ἂν ἡδέως
δρῴης μέτα”
SOPH. Ant.
69.
Λέγω καθ᾽ ἕκαστον δοκεῖν ἄν
μοι τὸν αὐτὸν ἄνδρα παρ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐπὶ πλεῖστ᾽ ἂν εἴδη καὶ
μετὰ χαρίτων μάλιστ᾽ ἂν εὐτραπέλως τὸ σῶμα αὔταρκες
παρέχεσθαι.
THUC. ii. 41. (Here
ἄν is used three times, belonging to
παρέχεσθαι.)
Ὑμῶν δὲ ἔρημος ὢν οὐκ ἂν
ἱκανὸς οἶμαι εἶναι οὔτ᾽ ἂν φίλον ὠφελῆσαι οὔτ᾽ ἂν
ἐχθρὸν ἀλέξασθαι.
XEN. An. i. 3, 6. (Here
ἄν is used three times,
belonging to
εἶναι.)
Οὐκ ἂν ἡγεῖσθ᾽ αὐτὸν
κἂν ἐπιδραμεῖν;
DEM. xxvii.
56.
[*] 224.
A participle representing a protasis
(472) is especially apt to have an
emphatic
ἄν near it. This,
by showing that the verb is to form an apodosis, tends to point out the
participle as conditional in an early part of the sentence. E.g.
Νομίσατε τό τε φαῦλον καὶ τὸ
μέσον καὶ τὸ πάνυ ἀκριβὲς ἂν ξυγκραθὲν μάλιστ᾽ ἂν
ἰσχύειν,
believe that
these,
if they should be united, would be
especially strong.
THUC. vi. 18.
(Here
ξυγκραθέν,
not with
ἄν, is equivalent to
εἰ ξυγκραθείη.)
Ἀγῶνας ἄν τίς μοι δοκεῖ, ἔφη, ὦ πάτερ, προειπὼν
ἑκάστοις καὶ ἆθλα προτιθεὶς μάλιστ᾽ ἂν
ποιεῖν εὖ ἀσκεῖσθαι,
it seems to me,
said he, father, that if any one should proclaim contests,
etc.,
he would cause, etc.
XEN. Cyr. i. 6,
18. (Here the protasis implied in the participles is merely
emphasised by
ἄν, which
belongs to
ποιεῖν.) See
also
λέγοντος ἄν τινος πιστεῦσαι
οἴεσθε; (i.e.
εἴ τις
ἔλεγεν, ἐπίστευσαν ἄν; )
do you
think they would have believed it, if any one had told them?
DEM. vi. 20.
(Here
ἄν stands near
λέγοντος only to point
this out as the protasis to which its own verb
πιστεῦσαι is the apodosis, with which
ἄν is not
repeated.)
[*] 225.
（
a) Repetition of
κέ is rare; yet it sometimes
occurs. E.g.
Τῷ κε μάλ᾽ ἤ κεν
ἔμεινε καὶ ἐσσύμενός περ ὁδοῖο, ἤ κέ με τεθνηυῖαν ἔνι
μεγάροισιν ἔλειπεν. Od iv. 733.
（
b) On the other hand, Homer
sometimes joins
ἄν and
κέ in the same sentence
for emphasis. E.g.
Καρτεραὶ, ἃς οὔτ᾽
ἄν κεν Ἄρης ὀνόσαιτο μετελθὼν οὔτε κ᾽ Ἀθηναίη
λαοσσόος.
Il. xiii. 127.
[*] 226.
When an apodosis consists of several
co-ordinate clauses with the same mood,
ἄν is generally used only in the first and
understood in the others, unless it is repeated for emphasis or for some
other special reason. E.g.
Οὐδ᾽
ἂν ἐμὲ, ἡνίκα δεῦρο ἀποπλεῖν ἐβουλόμην, κατεκώλυεν,
οὐδὲ τοιαῦτα λέγειν τούτῳ προσέταττεν, ἐξ ὧν ἥκισθ᾽
ὑμεῖς ἐμέλλετ᾽ ἐξιέναι.
DEM. xix. 51. (Here
ἄν is understood with
προσέταττεν.)
Οὕτω δὲ δρῶν οὐδὲν ἂν
διάφορον τοῦ ἑτέρου ποιοῖ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ ταὐτὸν ἴοιεν
ἀμφότεροι.
PLAT. Rep. 360 C.
Οὐκοῦν κἂν, εἰ πρὸς αὐτὸ τὸ φῶς
ἀναγκάζοι αὐτὸν βλέπειν, ἀλγεῖν τε ἂν τὰ ὄμματα καὶ
φεύγειν ἀποστρεφόμενον (
οἴει);
Ib. 515E. (
Κἄν belongs to the infinitives; 223.) See
also
XEN. An.
ii. 5, 14.
ΙΙάντα ᾕρει ὁ Φίλιππος,
πολλὰ λέγοντος ἐμοῦ καὶ θρυλοῦντος ἀεὶ, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὡς
ἂν εἰς κοινὸν γνώμην ἀποφαινομένου, μετὰ ταῦτα δ᾽ ὡς
ἀγνοοῦντας διδάσκοντος, τελευτῶντος δὲ ὡς ἂν πρὸς
πεπρακότας αὑτοὺς καὶ ἀνοσιωτάτους ἀνθρώπους οὐδὲν
ὑποστελλομένου.
DEM. xix. 156.The clauses with
ὡς represent
(1)
ὡς ἔλεγον ἂν εἰ
ἐφαινόμην,
as I should have spoken if I
had been merely informing my colleagues;
(2)
ὡς ἔλεγον (
ἂν)
εἰ ἀγνοοῦντας ἐδίδασκον,
as I should have spoken if I had been instructing
ignorant men;
(3)
ὡς λέγοιμι ἂν,
as I should speak to men who had sold
themselves, etc. In the second clause, the construction
remaining the same,
ἄν is
omitted; but in the third, where an optative is implied,
ἄν reappears.
In
PLAT. Rep. 398 A, we find
ἄν used with two co-ordinate optatives,
understood with a third, and repeated again with a fourth to avoid
confusion with a dependent optative in a relative clause.
Ἄν may be understood with an
optative even in a separate sentence, if the construction is continued
from a sentence in which
ἄν is used with the optative; as in
PLAT. Rep. 352 E:
Ἔσθ᾽ ὅτῳ ἂν ἄλλῳ ἴδοις ἢ
ὀφθαλμοῖς; Οὐ δῆτα. Τί δέ; ἀκούσαις ἄλλῳ ἢ
ὠσίν; So with
πράττοι after
γάρ, ib. 439
Elliptical uses of ἄν.
[*] 227.
Ἄν is
sometimes used elliptically without a verb, when one can be supplied
from the context. E.g.
“
Οἱ οἰκέται ῥέγκουσιν:
ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἂν πρὸ τοῦ”
(sc.
ἔρρεγκον),
“the slaves are snoring; but they wouldn't
have been doing so at this hour in old times.”
AR. Nub.
5.
“
Ὡς οὔτ᾽ ἂν ἀστῶν τῶνδ᾽
ἂν ἐξείποιμί τῳ, οὔτ᾽ ἂν τέκνοισι τοῖς ἐμοῖς ῾σξ.
ἐξείποιμι）, στέργων ὅμως”
SOPH. O.C.
1528.
Τί ἂν δοκεῖ σοι
Πρίαμος (sc.
πρᾶξαι),
εἰ τάδ᾽
ἤνυσεν;
“ but what think you Priam would have done if he
had accomplished what you have?”
AESCH. Ag. 935.
Σώφρων μὲν οὐκ ἂν μᾶλλον,
εὐτυχὴς δ᾽ ἴσως (sc.
οὖσα).
EUR. Alc. 182: cf.
AR. Eq.
1252. (
See
483.)
So
πῶς γὰρ ἄν
(sc.
εἴη）
; how could it?
πῶς οὐκ ἄν; and similar
phrases; especially
ὥσπερ ἂν
εἰ (also written as one word,
ὡσπερανεί), in which the
ἄν belongs to the verb that
was originally understood after
εἰ; as
φοβούμενος ὥσπερ
ἂν εἰ παῖς,
fearing like a
child (originally for
φοβούμενος ὥσπερ ἂν ἐφοβεῖτο εἰ παῖς ἦν).
PLAT. Gorg.
479A. See
DEM. xviii. 194:
τί χρὴ ποιεῖν; ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ
τις ναύκληρον πάντ᾽ ἐπὶ σωτηρία πράξαντα . . . τῆς ναυαγίας
αἰτιῷτο,
what are we to
do? (
We are to do)
just what a shipowner would do (
ποιοῖ ἄν)
if any one should blame him for the wreck of his
ship, etc. See
φήσειεν
ἄν, which explains the omitted verb, just afterwards.
[*] 228.
Κἄν in both
its meanings (as
καί with
the adverb
ἄν, and as
καί with
α?ν =
ἐάν) may stand without a verb. E.g.
“
Ἀλλ᾽ ἄνδρα χρὴ δοκεῖν
πεσεῖν ἂν κἂν ἀπὸ σμικροῦ κακοῦ”
SOPH. Aj.
1077.
(Here
κἄν, for
καὶ ἄν, which we may
express by
even or
though it be, belongs to
πεσεῖν understood.)
Ἱκανῶς οὖν τοῦτο ἔχομεν, κἂν εἰ πλεοναχῇ σκοποῖμεν;
are we then satisfied of this (
and should we be so)
even
if we were to look at it in various ways?
PLAT. Rep.
477A. (We must supply
ἱκανῶς ἔχοιμεν with
κἄν.) See different cases of
κἂν εἰ in 195, in which a verb follows to
which
ἄν cannot belong.
Καὶ ὅποι τις ἂν,
οἶμαι, προσθῇ κἂν μικρὰν δύναμιν, πάντ᾽ ὠφελεῖ,
and,
I think,
wherever we add even (
though it
be)
a little power, it all helps.
DEM. ii. 14.
(Here
κἄν =
καὶ ἄν τις προσθῇ,
even though we add.)
Μέτρησον εἰρήνης τί μοι, κἂν πέντ᾽
ἔτη,
measure me out some peace,
even if it be only for five years
(
καὶ ἂν μετρήσῃς).
AR. Ach.
1021.
[*] 229.
Ἄν may be used
with a relative without a verb, as it is with
εἰ (in
ἄν =
εἰ
ἄν) in the last examples
(228). So in
XEN. An. i. 3, 6 ,
ὡς ἐμοῦ οὖν ἰόντος ὅπῃ ἂν
καὶ ὑμεῖς, οὕτω τὴν γνώμην ἔχετε (i.e.
ὅπῃ ἂν καὶ ὑμεῖς
ἴητε), “be of this mind, that I shall go
wherever you go.”
Chapter II
