This text is part of:
Table of Contents:
[*] 479. The apodosis, in any of its forms, may be expressed by an infinitive or participle, if the structure of the sentence requires it. 1. It may be expressed by the infinitive or participle in indirect discourse, each tense representing its own tenses of the indicative or optative, the present including the imperfect, and the perfect the pluperfect. If the finite verb in the apodosis would have taken ἄν, this particle is used with the infinitive or participle. E.g. Ἡγοῦμαι, εἰ τοῦτο ποιεῖτε, πάντα καλῶς ἔχειν, I believe that, if you are doing this, all is well. Ἡγοῦμαι, ἐὰν τοῦτο ποιῆτε, πάντα καλῶς ἕξειν, I believe that, if you (shall) do this, all will be well. Ἡγοῦμαι, εἰ τοῦτο ποιοῖτε, πάντα καλῶς ἂν ἔχειν, I believe that, if you should do this, all would be well. Ἡγοῦμαι, εἰ τοῦτο ἐποιήσατε, πάντα καλῶς ἂν ἔχειν, I believe that, if you had done this, all would now be (or would have been) well. Οἶδα ὑμᾶς, ἐὰν τοῦτο ποιῆτε, εὖ πράξοντας, I know that, if you do this, you will prosper. Πῶς γὰρ οἴεσθε δυσχερῶς ἀκούειν Ὀλυνθίους, εἴ τίς τι λέγοι κατὰ Φιλίππου κατ᾽ ἐκείνους τοὺς χρόνους; “ how unwillingly do you think the O. heard it, if any one said anything against Philip in those times?” DEM. vi. 20. (Here ἀκούειν represents the imperfect ἤκουον, and εἰ λέγοι is a general supposition, 462.） For examples of each tense of the infinitive and participle, see 689. For the use of each tense of the infinitive or participle with ἄν and examples, see 204-208; 213-216. 2. It may be expressed by the infinitive in any of its various constructions out of indirect discourse, especially by one depending on a verb of wishing, commanding, advising, preparing, etc., from which the infinitive receives a future meaning. Such an infinitive is a common form of future apodosis with a protasis in the subjunctive or indicative. E.g. Βούλεται ἐλθεῖν ἐὰν τοῦτο γένηται, he wishes to go if this shall be done. Παρασκευαζόμεθα ἀπελθεῖν ἢν δυνώμεθα, we are preparing to depart if we shall be able. Κελεύει σε ἀπελθεῖν εἰ βούλει, he bids you depart if you please. (See 403 and 445.） 3. The apodosis may be expressed in an attributive or circumstantial participle. E.g. Ῥᾳδίως ἂν ἀφεθεὶς εἰ καὶ μετρίως τι τούτων ἐποίησε, προείλετο ἀποθανεῖν, whereas he might easily have been acquitted （ἀφείθη ἄν）, if he had done any of these things even in a moderate degree, he chose to die. XEN. Mem. iv. 4, 4 Σκέμματα τῶν ῥᾳδίως ἀποκτιννύντων καὶ ἀναβιωσκομένων γ᾽ ἂν, εἰ οἷοί τε ἦσαν, “considerations for those who readily put men to death, and who would bring them to life again too if they could.” PLAT. Crit. 48C. (Ἀναβιωσκομένων ἄν = ἀνεβιώσκοντο ἄν.) Ὡς οἷός τ᾽ ὤν σε σῴζειν εἰ ἤθελον ἀναλίσκειν χρήματα, “whereas I might have saved you if I had been willing to spend money.” Ib. 44B.
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.