LESSONS IS GREEK. 



299 



generally in the dative without a | ,** way 



.. Atftj^ojoi, '' ':/ ""- 



ron by whom a ...n.litn.ii about Htandx 



.vith i rb, nom.-tiiiioa in the dativo without a preposi- 



:n-. l iu'litl.v with ' 

 : !y with tho verbal adjective; aa nojTo> <m <rot 7; O/>ITJ 



you. 



: y poH.sivo predioute may be oonvertod into an active one, 

 or .liTivou fn>i un m.-tivi- one. In this change the object in 

 the active representation becomes the subject in the positive : 



Pa- -iite, 



. Tted into) 



6 watt ruirrtrat Inro tov 

 tin- buy is struck by the man, 

 & atnrip ruirrfi TOV iraioa. 



If, however, a verb in the active voice takes two objects, only 

 one of thorn can appear as subject in the passive. 



Tin' i (reeks subjoined to intransitive verbs in the accusative 

 the abstract object implied in the verb, saying, for instance, to 

 live a life, Qtov Ptwvcu. From this active a passive was formed, 

 as /3io9 /Sc/Stwrai, a life has been lived. Agreeably to this usage 

 they employed tho verbal adjective, as /8oj /Surra?, liveable life. 



The middle form of tho verb presents tho subject as active, 

 but at tho same time as acted on by its own act. 



Some verbs altogether want tho active form, and, appearing 

 only in the middle, have the reflex or intransitive signification. 

 These are called deponents, because they have laid down the 

 active form. These deponents may be divided into two classes, 

 middle deponents and passive deponents. The middle deponents 

 are those which form their aorist with a middle form, as ar- 

 fayo/uai, / perceive, aor. jj^oyuTjc. The passive deponents ore 

 those which form their aorist with a passive form, as Swauai, I 

 am able, aor. t$urr]6r]v. 



For tho expression of external circumstances, the Greeks use 

 the middle voice in its reflex sense but sparingly. Examples of 

 such usage are Aoueo-flai, to wash one's self, to bathe; y 

 i>afff0at, to exercist one's self, to contend; ffrcurOcu, to place one's 

 telf, to stand. 



Very common is tho use of tho reflective middle, when a con- 

 dition of mind is represented, and the subject appears as in his 

 own spirit producing a result, or as acting on his own internal 

 state. Thus ira.ptx fiv means to afford, to offer, and irapexfo-floi 

 to offer or give one's self, to present from one's self, of on 

 accord, from one's own resources. 



The middle voice is often used to express that which is done 

 in some way for or to tho subject, for the benefit or interest or 

 at the command of the subject. This reference to the subject 

 is sometimes strengthened by the reflective pronoun, as tavrw 

 (9(To VOJJ.QV, he made a law for himself. The middle voice is 

 used mediately in these examples : utarOwiraffQai OIKIO.V, to take a 

 house ; aytardai yvvaiKa, to marry a wife ; fj."raire /xire<r0cu nva, to 

 send for a person ; a/j.vvt(r0ai, to nuard one's self a/jainst, punish. 



Tho use of the middle voice, in contrast with the active, may 

 be illustrated in tho verb TiQevai, as TiBevcu vopovs, to establish 

 or give laws (tho act of tho legislator), and nOfffOau vo/j.ous, to 

 pass or enact laws (the act of the legislature or people). 



THE TENSES OF THE VERB. 



Every act has a relation to time. Time is conceived of in 

 three ways the present, tho past, tho future. Tense, as cor- 

 responding to time, must have tho same divisions, though in 

 some languages the tenses do not fully correspond to the three 

 modifications of time ; for instance, in EngKsh we have not a 

 future tense, and arc obliged to express future time by the aid 

 of auxiliary verbs. 



The exact import of the tenses appears best in the indicative 

 mood. 



Ii we conceive of time in the present, we have tho condition 

 (or action) of tho verb as taking an actual shape, tho present ; 

 aa completed, the perfect ; as coming on, the periphrastic 

 future, formed by yucAAa and tho infinitive. 



If we conceive of time in the past, we have tho condition of 

 the verb as taking an actual shape, the imperfect ; as completed, 

 tho pluperfect ; as coming on, the periphrastic future, formed 

 by ffit\\ov and the infinitive. 



If we conceive of time in tho future, we have the condition of 

 the verb as taking an actual shape, tho ordinary future ; as 

 completed, the future perfect or third future ; as coming on, tho 

 |)oriphrastic future, formod by /xAA7j<ra> and the infinitive. 



Th.- |.r.-r.-nt ii,,i,.-:it,.. tUt th,- u/-i;.,n or ,*ii.iiti.,l: f " ,- %.,-, 



in forming, or realitiing itself ; it ootiMquentljr denots* "Hmi- 

 anoe, and gives the idea in a general and -iplffHH manner ; 

 thus, wavra ra ayatia oAuatv & tttot, tjod pit** all good thingt. 



In narrative the writer often transfers past events to present 

 time, and relates them as if now actually proceeding. This is 

 called the historic present (prmens historicnm). The historic 

 present gives a liveliness to the style, and is common with the 

 Greek authors. 



When a past event may in itself or in its oonseqnenoes be 

 considered as coming down to the present, it is often spoken of 

 by the Greeks in the present. Thns we find in the present 

 OKovu, KwOapo/xat, ftayOavu, yiyvuffKu, though this nse is not 

 limited to these verbs : for example, 0fu<rroAa OI/K 0*01*11 

 aifopa. ayaOov oina. , do you not hear (for have you not heard) 

 that Tlu:mistocles was a good man V 



'HKO>, I have come, and otxopai, I have left, are regularly used 

 in a kind of perfect signification, while many other verbs, 

 besides their ordinary meaning, have an import which can be 

 best rendered into English by a perfect ; as <p*vyw, I flee, I have 

 been accused, I have been banished} VIKU, I conquer, I am a 

 conqueror, that is, / liave conquered. 



Future events also may be spoken of as present, while an 

 additional degree of certainty is given to them. Especially are 

 </>X M<*< and xoofi/o/uu thus used. Elm is regularly employed 

 with a future signification. 



The perfect presents the action or condition of the verb as 

 completed in regard to the present ; the pluperfect presents the 

 action or condition of the verb as completed in regard to the 

 past. The use of both tenses, however, undergoes in Greek a 

 considerable limitation by means of the aorist. 



As the conclusion of an act has commonly a result, the 

 perfect, which denotes the conclusion, may denote also the 

 result. And as the result, if a completed act comes down to 

 or near the present, so the perfect may signify that which is, 

 or that which lately was : for example, vuv iroiirT<ai> nyn vro~ 

 OTJKO.S o>s xp*l C r l v KaTa\e\onraffiir, some of the poets have Iqft 

 directions how we ought to live. They have left them, and here 

 they are ; thus the perfect has the force of a present. Hence 

 this form has been called "a present- perfect," being past in act 

 but present in consequence. 



In Greek this use of the perfect is common. Accordingly 

 the perfect signifies the result of the action of the present, and 

 is sometimes best represented in English by another verb ; thn* 



Tijfjiai, I possess, as expressive of tho result of 

 acquire ; otoa, I know, the result of ?, I see. 

 remember; oeooiKa (or 55io), I fear. As the perfect in these 

 verbs has the force of a present, so the pluperfect has the force 

 of a simple past or an imperfect ; thus, KKATJ/UTJ', / wot called, 

 or I bore the name ; r,Sfti>, I knew. 



The imperfect represents the action or condition of the verb 

 as forming itself in the past, and so describes a past event in 

 its progress and continuance in time. The imperfect may thus 

 denote continuance, an habitual state, as well aa repetition, in 

 the past. 



Tho aorist presents the action or condition of the verb as 

 belonging to the past, without extension or limitation. On this 

 account the aorist is specifically the narrative tense the tense 

 for reporting events as so many vanishing points in past time. 

 The corresponding English tense is the simple preterite or the 

 past, as he read, they gave. If during the narration events are 

 spoken of in their continuance, the imperfect is employed in 

 Greek ; and if events ore introduced with their oonseqnenoes in 

 tho present, then the perfect is used ; as 



Aorist. Of 'EAAijvfj tviKTiaa* rovs Htpau, 

 the Greeks CONQUERED the Persians. 

 Perfect. *O *oA./uo* aram-wr ijfua arfOTfpijico', 

 the war HAS DEPRIVED t of everything. 



In propositions which in English set forth general truths or 



'acts which arise from common experience, the Greeks also 



employ the aorist to indicate a single fact or observation ; a* 



oAAa avBpuiriHS ropa yftefirji' cirttrt, many things happen to men 



contrary to their expectation. 



The future declares that the act or condition will take place 

 n time to come. The periphrastic future, formed with parts of 

 e\\o.< and the infinitive present, future, or aorist, is to be ois- 

 inguished from the simple future. Tho latter is o future 



