previous next
μέλλω , ipf. ἔμελλον, μέλλε: be going or about to do something, foll. by fut. inf., sometimes pres., rarely aor., Il. 23.773 ; μέλλω never means to intend, although intention is of course sometimes implied, τῇ γὰρ ἔμελλε διεξίμεναι πεδίονδε, ‘for by that gate he was going to pass out,’ Il. 6.393; by destiny as it were, of something that was or was not meant to happen, Κύκλωψ, οὐκ ἄρ᾽ ἔμελλες ἀνάλκιδος ἀνδρὸς ἑταίρους | ἔδμεναι, ‘you were not going to eat the comrades of a man unable to defend himself after all,’ i. e. he was no coward whose companions you undertook to eat, and therefore it was not meant that you should eat them with impunity, Od. 9.475, and often similarly. Virtually the same is the usage that calls for must in paraphrasing, οὕτω που Διὶ μέλλει ὑπερμενέϊ φίλον εἶναι, such methinks ‘must’ be the will of Zeus; τὰ δὲ μέλλετ᾽ ἀκουέμεν, ye ‘must’ have heard, Il. 2.116, Il. 14.125, Od. 4.94, Od. 1.232 ; μέλλει μέν πού τις καὶ φίλτερον ἄλλον ὀλέσσαι, ‘may well’ have lost, Il. 24.46.
hide Dictionary Entry Lookup
Use this tool to search for dictionary entries in all lexica.
Search for in
How to enter text in Greek:
hide References (8 total)
  • Cross-references in text-specific dictionaries from this page (8):
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: