γίγνομαι (root γα), aor. iter. γενέσκετο, perf. γέγονε, 3
pl. γεγάα_σι, inf. γεγάμεν, part. acc. sing. γεγαῶτα, pl. -ῶτας, plup.
γεγόνει: become, (of
men) be born; the word admits of great variety in
paraphrase, but never departs from its meaning of come into
being;
ἄνθεα γίγνεται,
‘grow’; κλαγγὴ
γένετο, ‘arose,’ ‘was
heard’; ποθὴ Δαναοἶσι
γένετο, ‘filled,’ ‘they
felt’; νῶι νόστον ἔδωκε νηυσὶ
γενέσθαι, i. e. the accomplishment of it, Od. 4.173
; οὐκ ἂν ἔμοιγε | ἐλπομένῳ τὸ γένοιτο, I may hope, but this
will not ‘happen,’ Od.
3.228
; πάντα γιγνόμενος, Proteus,
‘turning into’ every shape, Od. 4.417
; ἐπὶ νηυσὶ γενέσθαι,
‘get’ upon the ships, and thus often implying
motion, e. g. πρὸ ὁδοῦ γένοντο,
‘progressed,’ Il.
4.382; never of course the same as εἶναι, but the perf. is sometimes a strong equivalent of
the verb of existence, τοῖς οἳ νῦν
γεγάα_σι, who ‘live’ now, Od. 24.84, Od.
13.160, etc.