William Watson Goodwin, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb

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[*] 187. The present, perfect, and future of the infinitive and participle, and the aorist infinitive when it is not in indirect discourse, regularly denote time which is relative to that of the leading verb. They therefore merely transmit the force of that verb, as primary or secondary, to the dependent clauses. E.g. Βούλεται λέγειν τί τοῦτό ἐστιν, he wishes to tell what this is. Ἐβούλετο λέγειν τί τοῦτο εἴη, he wished to tell what this was. Φησὶν ἀκηκοέναι τί ἐστιν, he says he has heard what it is. Ἔφη ἀκηκοέναι τί εἴη, he said he had heard what it was. Φησὶ ποιήσειν ὅ τι ἂν βούλησθε, he says he will do whatever you may wish. Ἔφη ποιήσειν ὅ τι βούλοισθε, he said he would do whatever you might wish.

Μένουσιν βουλόμενοι εἰδέναι τί ἐστι. Ἔμενον βουλόμενοι εἰδέναι τί εἴη. Μένουσιν ἀκηκοότες τί ἐστιν. Ἔμενον ἀκηκοότες τί εἴη, they waited, having heard what it was (τί ἐστίν; ). Μένουσιν ἀκουσόμενοι τί ἐστιν. Ἔμενον ἀκουσόμενοι τί εἴη.

Βούλεται γνῶναι τί τοῦτό ἐστιν, he wishes to learn what this is. Ἐβούλετο γνῶναι τί τοῦτο εἴη, he wished to learn what this was.

Οὐδενὶ πώποτε τούτων δεδώκατε τὴν δωρεὰν ταύτην οὐδ᾽ ἄν δοίητε, ἐξεῖναι τοὺς ἰδίους ἐχθροὺς ὑβρίζειν αὐτῶν ἑκάστῳ, ὁπότ᾽ ἂν βούληται καὶ ὃν ἂν δύνηται τρόπον. DEM. xxi. 170. Οὔθ᾽ ὑμῖν οὔτε Θηβαίοις οὔτε Λακεδαιμονίοις οὐδεπώποτε συνεχώρηθη τοῦθ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ποιεῖν ὅ τι βούλοισθε, never was this granted you, etc., to do whatever you pleased. Id. ix. 23.Here ποιεῖν denotes a habit, and is followed by the optative (532); if the leading verb were συγχωρεῖται, we should have ποιεῖν ὅ τι ἂν βούλησθε. Compare the two subjunctives in the preceding example.