Georg Autenrieth, A Homeric Dictionary

παρά, παραί, πάρ : beside, by.—I. adv. (here belong all instances of the so - called ‘tmesis’), written πάρα (‘anastrophe’） when placed after the verb it modifies, or when the verb is not expressed; ἐτίθει πάρα πᾶσαν ἐδωδήν, placed food ‘beside’ (we should say ‘before’) him, Od. 5.196 ; πάρ ῤ̔ ἄκυλον βάλεν, threw ‘down,’ we should say, Od. 10.242 ; παρά μ᾽ ἤπαφε δαίμων, deceived and led me ‘astray’ (cf. our ‘beside oneself’), Od. 14.488. The relation of the adv. may be made more specific by the addition of an appropriate case of a subst. in the same sentence, thus showing the transition to the true prepositional usage, πὰρ δ᾽ ἴσαν Ὠκεανοῦ ῥοα?ς (acc. of extent of space), Od. 24.11.—II. prep. (1) w. gen., from beside, from; φάσγανον παρὰ μηροῦ ἐρύσσασθαι, παρά τινος ἔρχεσθαι, often ‘from one's house,’ Il. 21.444; then to denote the giver, author, Od. 6.290, Il. 11.795.—(2) w. dat., of rest or position beside, but also where a certain amount of motion is meant, as with verbs of placing, sitting, falling, θεῖναι, πεσεῖν παρά τινι, Ν 617, Od. 15.285; then of possession, keeping, πὰρ κεινοῖσιν ἐμὸν γέρας, ‘in their hands,’ Od. 11.175.—(3) w. acc., to the side of, unto, along by, beyond, implying motion, though sometimes very faintly, Il. 1.463 ; τύψε κατὰ κληῖδα παρ᾽ αὐχένα, motion implied in the mere act of striking, Il. 21.117 ; βῆναι παρὰ θι<*>῀να, ‘along the shore’; στῆναι παρά τινα, ‘come and stand by one’; then the thought of over-passing, over-stepping, transgressing, πὰρ δύναμιν, παρὰ μοῖραν, ‘contrary to right,’ Od. 14.509.—As a prep. also πάρα is written with anastrophe when standing after its case, unless there is elision, Od. 18.315.—In composition παρά has the meanings above given, but that of winning over (persuading from one side to the other), leading ‘astray,’ ‘amiss’ (also in good sense) by words, etc., is particularly to be noted.