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.