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

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[*] 867. Ὥσπερ, as, as it were, with the participle denotes a comparison of the action of the verb with an assumed case. The expression may generally be translated by as if with a verb; but the participle is not felt to be conditional in Greek, as is shown by the negative οὐ (not μή). E.g. Ὠρχοῦντο ὥσπερ ἄλλοις ἐπιδεικνύμενοι, they danced as if they were showing off to others (i.e. they danced, not really but in appearance showing off). XEN. An. v. 4, 34. Τί ἐμοὶ τοῦτο λέγεις, ὥσπερ οὐκ ἐπὶ σοὶ ὂν ὅ τι ἂν βούλῃ περὶ ἐμοῦ λέγειν; why do you say this to me, as if it were not in your power to say what you please about me? Id. Mem. ii. 6, Id. Mem. 36.In both these cases, there is a comparison between the action stated in the verb and dancing or speaking under circumstances stated in the participial clause. The if in our translation is a makeshift, which we find convenient in expressing the supposed case in a conditional form, which, however, is not the Greek form. The construction is the same as when ὥσπερ takes a noun, as τὸν κίνδυνον παρελθεῖν ἐποίησεν ὥσπερ νέφος, it caused the danger to pass by like a cloud, DEM. xviii. 188; only we can translate ὥσπερ νέφος, but we could not translate ὥσπερ νέφος ὄντα.

Ὥσπερ ἤδη σαφῶς εἰδότες ὃ πρακτέον ἐστὶν, οὐκ ἐθέλετ᾽ ἀκούειν, you are unwilling to hear, as if you already knew well what should be done. ISOC. viii. 9. Ἀπήντων ὀλίγοι πρὸς πολλὰς μυριάδας, ὥσπερ ἐν ἀλλοτρίαις ψυχαῖς μέλλοντες κινδυνεύσειν, “as if they had been about to incur the risk with others' lives.” Id. iv. 86. Τὴν ἡμίσειαν εἴληφεν, ὥσπερ πρὸς τὸν Δία τὴν χώραν νεμόμενος, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πρὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τὰς συνθήκας ποιούμενος, he has taken half (of the land) as if he were dividing the country with Zeus, and not making a treaty with men. Ib. 179. Πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις, ὥσπερ αὐτὸς ἁπλῶς καὶ μετ᾽ εὐνοίας πάντας εἰρηκὼς τοὺς λόγους, φυλάττειν ἐμὲ ἐκέλευεν, as if he had himself spoken, etc. DEM. xviii. 276. Οἱ Ἕλληνες οὕτως ἠγανάκτησαν, ὥσπερ ὅλης τῆς Ἑλλάδος πεπορθημένης, “as if the whole of Greece had been laid waste.” ISOC. x. 49.See Id. iv. 53, ὥσπερ οὐ τοὺς λόγους ὄντας, and XEN. An. iii. 1, 14 , XEN. An. v. 7, 24 ; Mem. ii. 3, Mem. 3; Oec. ii. 7.In PLAT. Ap. 35 A, we have ὥσπερ ἀθανάτων ἐσομένων ἐὰν ὑμεῖς αὐτοὺς μὴ ἀποκτείνητε, i.e. as if they will be (like men who will be) immortal if you do not put them to death, where the future participle indicates that there is no condition (473).

The participle with ὥσπερ generally denotes attendant circumstances (843), sometimes manner (836).