A Short Grammar of Classical Greek: Part III, Syntax - VII. The Tenses of the Verb

167. 1. The forms of the Greek verb simultaneously denote an action

a) as either past, present or future:

they express the period of the action;

b) as either momentary, continuous or completed:

they express the stage of the action.

1. Every form of the verb is capable of denoting the stage of the action. An action is therefore described by the forms

a) of the aorist stem:

as simply taking place (no qualification being implied), as commencing (entrance upon a state), as being (successfully) accomplished, in a word as attained.

b) of the present stem:

as going on and (still, as yet) in progress, as stopping short before its accomplishment (the conative tenses!), as repeated or customary, as qualified (modality!), as continued.

c) of the perfect stem:

as fully accomplished and resulting in a certain state, as still felt in its consequences, as lasting in its result, as completed.

φυγ- (e.g. εἶν): to flee [169, 4 to have fled] as a simple occurrence - to take to flight [inceptive] - to flee [successfully] = escape; Xen. An. 1, 2, 20.

φευγ- (e.g. ειν): to flee = to be [still, as yet] fleeing - to attempt etc. fleeing - to flee [repeatedly] - to be under accusation; to be a fugitive, live in exile. An. 3, 2, 19.

πεφευγ- (e.g. έναι): to have fled = to have [already and fully] accomplished the flight; - to be in safety, out of reach. An. 1, 4, 8.

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SYNTAX.

Thus:

1. The period of the action is expressed solely by the indicatives:

the present by the present and perfect, the past by the aor., impf. and plupf. (augment! 73, 1), the future by the future and fut. perfect.

Note. - For the infinitive and the dependent moods (subj., opt., imper.), see 169; for the participle, see 170.

1. Table in Illustration of the Meanings of the Tenses:

Note. - There is no sequence of tenses in Greek, because the tense of the leading verb never affects that of the dependent verb.

168. 1. The present indicative and the imperfect, which represent action as going on (Durative Present - Durative Imperfect),

a) describe conditions, situations, customs, manners, characters, express repeated or customary action; denote general truths, detail attendant circumstances.

Πλοῖον ἐς Δῆλον Ἀθηναῖοι πέμπουσιν (every year). Ξενίας ὁ Ἀρκὰς τὰ Λύκαια ἔθυσε καὶ ἀγῶνα ἔθηκε· ἐθεώρει δὲ τὸν ἀγῶνα καὶ Κῦρος.

b) denote action that is prepared, intended, expected, attempted, started, but not accomplished (Conative Present - Conative Imperfect).

Ἔπειθον αὐτούς, καὶ οὓς ἔπεισα, τούτους ἔχων ἐπορευόμην tried to p.

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THE INDICATIVES.

Note 1. - There is, also, an Historical Present for lively narration.

Ἐπεὶ ἐτελεύτησε Δαρεῖος, Τισσαφέρνης διαβάλλει τὸν Κῦρον.

Note 2. - A number of present tenses, besides denoting an action, at once involve persistence of result, and may in consequence be rendered by the perfect, and their imperfects by the pluperfect. Examples are

Note 3. - The indicative of ἥκω am come, here and of οἴχομαι am gone, off has always perfect force, the other moods have perfect as well as aorist force.

1. The aorist indicative presents the following peculiarities (167).

a) Historical Aorist. - Being the tense of narration, it merely chronicles events that once came to pass. It corresponds to the historical perfect in Latin:

Ἦλθον, εἶδον, ἐνίκησα veni, vidi, vici.

b) Gnomic Aorist. - It denotes a general truth gathered from experience.

Οὐδεὶς ἔπαινον ἡδονὰς ἐκτήσατο.

Compare Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci.

c) The Pluperfect Aorist denotes an action as prior to another past action, especially in temporal and relative clauses. It is therefore rendered by a pluperfect.

Ἐπεὶ ἐσάλπιγξε, προβαλόμενοι τὰ ὅπλα ἔστησαν. Δαρεῖος Κῦρον μεταπέμπεται ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς, ἧς αὐτὸν σατράπην ἐποίησεν.

Note. - Sometimes the imperfect is thus used. It then brings out more forcibly continued or repeated action.

Κῦρος εἶδε τὰς σκηνάς, οὗ οἱ Κίλικες ἐφύλαττον had been watching. Οἵπερ πρόσθεν προσεκύνουν, καὶ τότε προσεκύνησαν.

d) The Ingressive Aorist expresses the entrance upon a state or condition.

Διὰ μικρὸν ἐπολεμήσατε started a war. Πεισιστράτου τελευτήσαντος Ἱππίας ἔσχε τὴν ἀρχήν.

Note. - All these aorists may, of course, be used also in the historical (2. a) sense:

ἐβασίλευσα was (once) king, ἐνόσησα was (once) sick.

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SYNTAX.

1. The future indicative denotes both the attainment (ingressive sense) and the continuance (durative sense) of a future action. Hence ἄρξω means both: I shall obtain power (ingress.), and: I shall have power (durat.).

Σκεπτέόν μοι δοκεῖ εἶναι, ὅπως τὰ ἐπιτήδεια ἕξομεν. Ὁ δίκαιος ἀνὴρ εὖ βιώσεται, κακῶς δὲ ὁ ἄδικος.

Note. - Μέλλω with the fut., pres. or aor. inf. means (see 111, 5):

a) am about, willing to: μέλλω ὑμᾶς διδάξειν. b) am likely, expected to: ἄγοραν οὐδεὶς ἔτι παρέξειν ἔμελλεν.

1. The perfect, pluperfect and future perfect indicative express action already completed, as well as the state resulting from it.

Ἀπολελοίπασιν (are gone) ἡμᾶς Ξενίας καὶ Πασίων, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀποπεφεύγασιν (out of reach). Φράζε καὶ πεπράξεται.

Οὐ βουλεύεσθαι ἔτι ὥρα, ἀλλὰ βεβουλεῦσθαι (plans should be ready).

Note. - In Greek, therefore, the perfect is never historical perfect; the pluperfect does not describe an action merely as prior to another past action, 2 c; the future perfect corresponds to the fut. perfect in Latin in independent sentences only; for the dependent clauses, see 187, 2, I.

169. 1. According to 167, 3, these forms of the verb do not imply the period of an action. They merely describe the stage of action, as explained in 167, 2. Thus, εἴπωμεν ἢ σιγῶμεν; means almost as much as: shall we break, or continue in, our silence?

1. The time of the action in this case is expressed by the tense of the principal verb; e.g.

1. Accordingly, the imperative of the

aorist: expresses one single instance of a command to be obeyed then and there;

present: expresses either one single command - which is then viewed in its continuance - or a command to be obeyed continually or at least repeatedly; hence also general rules and maxims of life.

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THE PARTICIPLES.

Μείνον παρ' ἡμῖν καὶ συνέστιος γενοῦ.

Τοὺς μὲν θεοὺς φοβοῦ (make it a rule ever to fear), τοὺς δὲ γονέας τίμα, τοῖς δὲ νόμοις πείθου.

1. It is only in indirect discourse that the opt. and the infin. express the period of the action, as they then represent the corresponding indicatives of the direct discourse. In indirect discourse, therefore

the aor. opt. and inf. denote a past action, the fut. opt. and inf. denote a future action, the pres. opt. and inf. denote either a present or (accdg. to 177, note) a past action.

Note. - The fut. opt. is never found except in indirect discourse and, consequently, always has a future meaning.

170. 1. The participles denote "relative time," i.e. they represent the secondary action as either contemporaneous with or antecedent or subsequent to the principal action expressed by the leading finite verb. Accordingly, the secondary action is marked by

a) the present as contemporaneous with the principal action.

Σοφοῖς ὁμιλῶν καὐτὸς ἐκβήσῃ σοφός.

b) the aorist as prior to the principal action.

Δίκαια δράσας συμμάχους ἕξεις θεούς.

c) the perfect as finished and still lasting in its results at the time when the principal action takes place.

Διαβεβηκόσι τοῖς Ἕλλησι (the Greeks had already reached the other bank of the river, when) φαίνεται ὁ Μιθραδάτης.

Ἐσκεμμένα καὶ παρεσκευασμένα πάντα λέγω.

d) the future as subsequent to the principal action.

Ὁ βάρβαρος ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα δουλωσόμενος ἦλθεν (in order) to subjugate it.

1. The participles depend, therefore, for their time on the principal finite verb;

e.g. ταῦτα λέγων ἀκούει while saying (while he says) this, he hears, ταῦτα λέγων ἤκουσε while saying (while he said) this, he heard, ταῦτα λέγων ἀκούσεται while saying (while he shall be saying) this, he will hear, or ταῦτ' εἰπὼν ἀποβαίνει (ἀπέβη, ἀποβήσεται).