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784. 1. The infinitive is sometimes used in the sense of the second person of the imperative, especially in Homer. E.g. Τῷ νῦν μή ποτε καὶ σὺ γυναικί περ ἤπιος εἶναι: μή οἱ μῦθον ἅπαντα πιφαυσκέμεν, ὅν κ᾽ ἐὺ εἰδῇς, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν φάσθαι, τὸ δὲ καὶ κεκρυμμένον εἶναι, now therefore be thou never indulgent to thy wife, etc. Od. xi. 441.So Il. i. 20, Il. 582, Il. ii. 10, Il. xvii. 501; Od. x. 297, Od. xi. 72, Od. xvii. 278, Od. xviii 106, Od. xxii. 287.Οἷς μὴ πελάζειν,” “do not approach these (= μὴ πέλαζε).AESCH. Prom. 712. Πρὶν δ᾽ ἂν τελευτήσῃ, ἐπισχεῖν μηδὲ καλέειν κω ὄλβιον, wait, and do not yet call him happy. HDT. i. 32. Σὺ δὲ τὰς πύλας ἀνοίξας ὑπεκθεῖν καὶ ἐπείγεσθαι, and do you open the gates, and rush out and press on. THUC. v. 9. Ἐὰν οἷοί τε γενώμεθα εὑρεῖν, φάναι ἡμᾶς ἐξευρηκέναι, “say that we have found it.” PLAT. Rep. 473 A. Τοῦτο παρ᾽ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς βεβαίως γνῶναι, “understand this in your own minds.” DEM. viii. 39.

2. In the cases of the second person just given (1), the subject is in the nominative. But when the infinitive is equivalent to the third person of the imperative, its subject is in the accusative, as if some word like δός, grant, were understood. E.g. Εἰ μέν κεν Μενέλαον Ἀλέξανδρος κακαπέφνῃ, αὐτὸς Ἑλένην ἐχέτω: εἰ δέ κ᾽ Ἀλέξανδρον κτείνῃ Μενέλαος, Τρῶας ἔπειθ᾽ Ἑλένην ἀποδοῦναι, i.e. let him keep Helen himself,—and let the Trojans surrender Helen. Il. iii. 281-285. Τεύχεα συλήσας φερέτω, σῶμα δὲ οἴκαδ᾽ ἐμὸν δόμεναι πάλιν (sc. αὐτόν). Il. vii. 78.

These examples follow the construction of the infinitive in wishes (785).

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