[*] 101. The present αἴτιός εἰμι, I am the cause, is often used with reference to the past, where logically a past tense would be needed; as αἴτιός ἐστι τούτῳ θανεῖν, he is the cause of his death, instead of αἴτιος ἦν τούτῳ θανεῖν, he was the cause of his death. This may make an ordinary aorist infinitive appear like a verb of past time. E.g.
- “Αἴτιοι οὖν εἰσι καὶ ὑμῖν πολλῶν ἤδη ψευσθῆναι καὶ δὴ ἀδίκως γέ τινας ἀπολέσθαι” “they are the cause why you were deceived and some even perished (i.e. they caused you to be deceived and some even to perish).” LYS. xix. 51.
- “Τεθνᾶσιν: οἱ δὲ ζῶντες αἴτιοι θανεῖν” “they are dead; and the living are the causes of their death.” SOPH. Ant. 1173.
- “Ἥ μοι μητρὶ μὲν θανεῖν μόνη μεταίτιος” Id. Tr. 1233.
