This text is part of:
Table of Contents:
[*] 247. It is but a slight step from the potential forms quoted in 245 and 246 to those which form the conclusion to an unfulfilled condition definitely implied in the context. After Homer the imperfect with ἄν may here refer to present time. E.g. “Ἀλλά κε κεῖνα μάλιστα ἰδὼν ὀλοφύραο θυμῷ,” “but you would have lamented most in your heart if you had seen this （ἰδών = εἰ εἶδες).” Od. xi. 418. Οὐδέ κεν αὐτὸς ὑπέκφυγε κῆρα μέλαιναν, ἀλλ᾽ Ἡφαιστος ἔρυτο, nor would he by himself have escaped, but Hephaestus rescued him. Il. v. 22. Ἀλλ᾽ εἰκάσαι μὲν, ἡδύς: οὐ γὰρ ἂν κάρα πολυστεφὴς ὧδ᾽ εἷρπε, but, as it seems, he has good news; for (otherwise） he would not be coming with head thus thickly crowned. SOPH. OT 83 ; so O. C. 125, 146. Πολλοῦ γὰρ ἂν τὰ ὄργανα ἦν ἄξια, for instruments would be worth much (if they had this power). PLAT. Rep. 374D. Ἤγετε τὴν εἰρήνην ὅμως: οὐ γὰρ ἦν ὅ τι ἂν ἐποιεῖτε, for there was nothing that you could have done (if you had not kept the peace). DEM. xviii. 43. Σημεῖον δέ: οὐ γὰρ ἂν δεῦρ᾽ ἧκον ὡς ὑμᾶς, for (otherwise) they would not have come hither to you. Id. xix. 58. Τότε Φιλίππῳ προδεδωκέναι πάντας ἂν ἔσχεν αἰτίαν, in that case she (Athens) would have had the blame of having betrayed all to Philip Id. xviii. 200.See other examples in 472.
Macmillan. London, Melbourne, Toronto. 1889. reprint edition:. St. Martin's Press. New York. 1965.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.