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[*] 2340. Past general conditions have, in the protasis, εἰ with the optative; in the apodosis, the imperfect indicative or an equivalent. εἰ ταῦτα ποιοίης (ποιήσειας), σὲ ἐπῄνουν if ever you did this, I always praised you. εἴ πού τι ὁρῴη βρωτόν, διεδίδου if ever he saw anything to eat anywhere, he always distributed it X. A. 4.5.8, ““εἰ δέ τις καὶ ἀντείποι, εὐθὺς . . . ἐτεθνήκει” but if any one even made an objection, he was promptly put to death” T. 8.66, εἰ μὲν ἐπίοιεν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι, ὑπεχώρουν, εἰ δ᾽ ἀναχωροῖεν, ἐπέκειντο if the Athenians advanced, they retreated; if they retired, they fell upon them 7.79, ἐτί_μα_ δ᾽ εἴ τι καλὸν πρά_ττοιεν, παρί_στατο δ᾽ εἴ τις συμφορὰ_ συμβαίνοι he honoured them if ever they performed some noble action, and stood by them in times of misfortune (lit. if any misfortune befell) X. Ag. 7.3. a. The optative is here sometimes called the iterative optative. This mood has however no iterative force in itself, the idea of repetition being derived solely from the context. In Homer the iterative optative after εἰ (found only Ω 768) is an extension of the iterative optative in temporal clauses where this use originated.
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