§ 138
Relative and conjunctional sentences which are appended to a sentence in the optative with ἄν, or to a conditional sentence in the optative, to define the hypothetical statement more accurately, without being predicated for themselves as actual, and which belong to present or future time, are themselves (as denoting something assumed or possible) put in the optative (as in oratio obliqua after a præteritum, § 132). On the other hand, declarative object-sentences and dependent interrogative sentences stand in the indicative, as after a present or future indicative (from which the optative with ἄν in a principal sentence, deviates only in form). In object-sentences with ὅπως, and in sentences of intention, the subjunctive is also usually put, but also the optative:
a) Πῶς ἄν τις, ἅ γε μὴ ἐπίσταιτο, ταῦτα σοφὸς εἴη; (Xen. Mem. 4, 6, 7.) Χρημάτων ὁ τοιοῦτος ἀνὴρ νέος μὲν ὢν καταφρονοῖ ἄν, ὅσῳ δὲ πρεσβύτερος γένοιτο, μᾶλλον ἀεὶ ἀσπάζοιτο ἄν (Pl. Rep. 8, 549). Οὕτω γιγνομένων (if such becomes the state of the case) σαφῶς οἶδα, ὅτι ὁ φρούραρχος δέοιτο ἂν Γαδάτα μένειν, ἕως σὺ ἀπέλθοις (Xen. Cyr. 5, 3, 13). Εἰ ἀποθνήσκοι μὲν πάντα, ὅσα τοῦ ζῆν μεταλάβοι, ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀποθάνοι, μένοι ἐν τούτῳ τῷ σχήματι καὶ μὴ πάλιν ἀναβιώσκοιτο, ἆρ’ οὐ πολλὴ ἀνάγκη, τελευτῶντα πάντα τεθνάναι καὶ μηδὲν ζῆν; (Pl. Phæd. 72.)
b) Οὐδ’ ἂν εἷς ἀντείποι, ὡς οὐ συμφέρει τῇ πόλει, καὶ Λακεδαιμονίους ἀσθενεῖς εἶναι καὶ Θηβαίους (Dem. 16, 4). Εἴ τις λέγοι ἄνθρωπον ἑστηκότα, κινοῦντα δὲ τὰς χεῖράς τε καὶ τὴν κεφαλήν, ὅτι ὁ αὐτὸς ἕστηκέ τε καὶ κινεῖται, οὐκ ἂν ἀξιοῖμεν οὕτω λέγειν δεῖν, ἀλλ’ ὅτι τὸ μέν τι αὐτοῦ ἕστηκε, τὸ δέ τι κινεῖται (Pl. Rep. 4, 436). Ὁ πρῳρεὺς τῆς νεὼς οὕτως ἐπίσταται ἑκάστων τῶν ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ τὴν χώραν, ὥστε καὶ ἀπὼν ἂν εἴποι, ὅπου ἕκαστα κεῖται καὶ ὁπόσα ἐστίν (Xen. Œcon. 8, 14). Οὐκ ἂν ἔχοιμί γ’ εἰπεῖν, ὅτι οὐ προςεῖχον τὸν νοῦν Εὐθυδήμῳ καὶ Διονυσοδώρῳ (Pl. Euthyd. 272).
c) Μέγα ἂν ὀνήσαιτε τὸ στράτευμα, εἰ ἐπιμεληθείητε, ὅπως ἀντὶ τῶν ἀπολωλότων ὡς τάχιστα στρατηγοὶ κατασταθῶσιν (Xen. An. 3, 1, 38). Ὀκνοίην ἂν εἰς τὰ πλοῖα ἐμβαίνειν, ἃ Κῦρος ἡμῖν δοίη, μὴ ἡμᾶς αὐταῖς ταῖς τριήρεσι καταδύσῃ (Xen. An. 1, 3, 17). -- Ἡ ἐμὴ φυλακὴ τῶν ἔνδον, ἔφη ἡ γυνή, γελοία τις ἂν φαίνοιτο, εἰ μὴ σύ γε ἐπιμελοῖο, ὅπως ἔξωθέν τι εἰςφέροιτο (Xen. Œcon. 7, 39). Αὐτὸς ἂν ἔχων τὴν ἄλλην δύναμιν πειρῴμην μὴ πρόσω ὑμῶν εἶναι, ἵνα, εἴ που καιρὸς εἴη, ἐπιφανείην (Xen. Cyr. 2, 4, 17). [1]
[1]: Dependent sentences containing a statement of the past in the indicative (§ 132 a. R. 1): Τίς οὐκ ἂν μισήσειεν Φίλιππον, εἰ φαίνοιτο τούτοις ἐπιβουλεύων, ὑπὲρ ὧν ὁ πρόγονος αὐτοῦ προείλετο κινδυνεύειν; (Isocr. Phil. 77.)
REM. 1. Now and then, however, a relative or conjunctional sentence has the subjunctive with ἄν, as after a condition put simply in the indicative: Μάλιστα ἂν αἰσθοίμεθα, ὃ ζητοῦμεν, εἰ τοιόνδε ποιήσαιμεν τῇ διανοίᾳ· δόντες ἐξουσίαν ἑκατέρῳ ποιεῖν ὅ, τι ἂν βούληται, τῷ τε δικαίῳ καὶ τῷ ἀδίκῳ, εἶτ’ ἐπακολουθήσαιμεν θεώμενοι, ποῖ ἡ ἐπιθυμία ἑκάτερον ἄξει (Pl. Rep. 2, 359). A dependent sentence which states something independently as matter of fact, has the indicative: Τίνι ἂν θεῷ εὐχόμενος κάλλιστ’ ἂν ἔλθοιμι τὴν ὁδόν, ἣν ἐπινοῶ; and consequently in the oratio obliqua after a præteritum: Ξενοφῶν ἐπήρετο τὸν Ἀπόλλω, τίνι ἂν θεῷ εὐχόμενος κάλλιστ’ ἂν ἔλθοι τὴν ὁδόν, ἣν ἐπινοεῖ (Xen. An. 3, 1, 6), or ἐπινοοῖ by § 132, a and b.
REM. 2. (to § 135-138.) Whether ἄν with the potential optative is sometimes omitted by Attic poets, is uncertain: in prose this is never the case. Ἄν with the fut. of the opt. is found only in doubtful readings.
§ 139
On the use of ἄν in general, and with the indicative and optative, remark further:
a) In the copulative, disjunctive, or adversative connexion of two verbs, ἄν is commonly put only once (with the first), except where the addition of special definitions to each verb, or the emphasis of the passage, causes the two notions to stand more apart, and gives more prominence to the hypothetical character of each severally: Εἰ ὁ Φίλιππος ὑμᾶς ἐξελθεῖν ἐβουλήθη, οὐκ ἄν ποτε τοὺς χρόνους ἀνελών, ἐν οἷς ἠδυνήθητ’ ἂν ἐξελθεῖν, τηνικαῦτ’ ἐκάλει, οὐδ’ ἂν ἐμέ, ἡνίκα δεῦρο ἀποπλεῖν ἐβουλόμην, κατεκώλυεν, οὐδὲ τοιαῦτα λέγειν Αἰσχίνῃ προςέταττεν, ἐξ ὧν ἥκισθ’ ὑμεῖς ἠμέλλετ’ ἐξιέναι (Dem. 19, 51). (It is never repeated, where two predicates are put comparatively: Ἥδιον ἂν ἀποθάνοιμι ἢ τὰ ὅπλα παραδοίην.) Sometimes ἄν is left to be understood from a preceding clause, rhetorically corresponding with the latter: Τί ἐποίησεν ἄν; ἢ δῆλον, ὅτι ὤμοσεν; (Dem. 31, 9.) Τί οὖν τῷ θεῷ τὸ ψεῦδος χρήσιμον; πότερον διὰ τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι τὰ παλαιὰ ψεύδοιτο ἄν; Γελοῖον μέντ’ ἄν, ἔφη. Ἀλλὰ δεδιὼς τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ψεύδοιτο; Πολλοῦ γε δεῖ (Pl. Rep. 2, 382).
b) Usually ἄν is put before the verb, when the emphasis lies on some definition of the verb that stands before it (the verb) in the sentence; otherwise directly after it. In this way, ἄν often comes to stand at some considerable distance before the verb, being attached to an interrogative word, a negation, or some other emphatic word in the opening of the sentence: Εἰ μὲν ἐπαινῶ Σεύθην, δικαίως ἄν με καὶ αἰτιῷσθε καὶ μισοῖτε· εἰ δέ, πρόσθεν αὐτῷ πάντων μάλιστα φίλος ὤν, νῦν πάντων διαφορώτατός εἰμι, πῶς ἂν (or οὐκ ἂν) ἔτι δικαίως, ὑμᾶς αἱρούμενος ἀντὶ Σεύθου, ὑφ’ ὑμῶν αἰτίαν ἔχοιμι; (Xen. An. 7, 6, 15.) Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ἑπόμενοι ἂν φίλοι τῷ Κύρῳ καὶ πρόθυμοι ἑποίμεθα καὶ ἀπιόντες ἀσφαλῶς ἂν ἀπίοιμεν (Xen. An. 1, 3, 19. The ἄν of the principal verb is often put in this way, where a participle precedes the verb). When ἄν is thus removed to a distance from its verb, it is sometimes repeated in immediate connexion with the verb: Ὥςπερ ἄν, εἰ τῷ ὄντι ξένος ἐτύγχανον ὤν, ξυνεγιγνώσκετε δήπου ἄν μοι, εἰ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ φωνῇ τε καὶ τῷ τρόπῳ ἔλεγον, ἐν οἷςπερ ἐτεθράμμην, καὶ δὴ καὶ νῦν ὑμῶν δέομαι τὸν μὲν τρόπον τῆς λέξεως ἐᾶν, τούτῳ δὲ τὸν νοῦν προςέχειν, εἰ δίκαια λέγω (Pl. Apol. 17). Ξενοφῶν ἐπήρετο τὸν Ἀπόλλω, τίνι ἂν θεῶν θύων καὶ εὐχόμενος κάλλιστ’ ἂν ἔλθοι τὴν ὁδόν, ἣν ἐπινοεῖ (Xen. An. 3, 1, 6). Οἶδα ὑμᾶς ταὐτὰ ἐμοὶ ἐπισταμένους, ὥστε κἂν ἄλλους εἰκότως ἂν διδάσκοιτε (Xen. Cyr. 3, 3, 35).[^14]
[^14]: Ἄν repeated where the same verb is put with two single and several definitions (οὔτε -- οὔτε, μὲν -- δέ): Εἰ ἐγὼ πάλαι ἐπεχείρησα πράττειν τὰ πολιτικά, πάλαι ἂν ἀπολώλειν καὶ οὔτ’ ἂν ὑμᾶς ὠφελήκειν οὐδὲν οὔτ’ ἂν ἐμαυτόν (Pl. Apol. 31). Δίκαιος μὲν ἂν εἴης, σοφὸς δ’ οὐκ ἄν (Xen. Mem. 1, 6, 12).
REM. An inversion of the place of ἄν is seen in the expression οὐκ οἶδ’ ἂν εἰ, or οὐκ ἂν οἶδ’ εἰ, for οὐκ οἶδα, εἰ ἄν, e.g. Ἐγὼ ἃ χθὲς ἤκουσα, οὐκ ἂν οἶδα εἰ δυναίμην ἅπαντα ἐν μνήμῃ πάλιν λαβεῖν (Pl. Tim. 26). Οὐκ οἶδ’ ἂν εἰ πείσαιμι, πειρᾶσθαι δὲ χρή (Eur. Med. 941). We may also notice the connexion of the ἄν belonging to the verb with the concessive καί, so that εἰ after κἄν follows with the indicative or optative according to the usual rules (κἂν εἰ = ἄν καὶ εἰ): Νῦν μοι δοκεῖ κἂν ἀσέβειαν εἰ καταγιγνώσκοι τις Μειδίου, τὰ προςήκοντα ποιεῖν (Dem. 21, 51, = καὶ εἰ καταγιγνώσκοι, τὰ πρ. ἂν ποιεῖν). Hence sometimes κἂν εἰ merely for καὶ εἰ in an appended concession: even if. (Different from κἄν = καὶ ἐάν.)
c) Ἄν sometimes stands elliptically, so that a verb immediately preceding is understood in the hypothetical indicative or optative: Οὐδεμία ἐστὶν οὕτω καλὴ παραίνεσις, ἥτις τοὺς μὴ ὄντας ἀγαθοὺς αὐθήμερον ἀκούσαντας ἀγαθοὺς ποιήσει· οὐκ ἂν οὖν τοξότας γε (Xen. Cyr. 3, 3, 50; viz. ποιήσειεν: good archers, at any rate, it would not make them). Πάλαι γ’ ἀλεκτρυόνος ἤκουσ’ ἐγώ· οἱ δ’ οἰκέται ῥέγκουσιν· ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἂν πρὸ τοῦ (Arist. Nub. 5; viz. ἔρεγκον: they would not have done that in time past). Ἐπ’ οὐδενὶ βρώματι οὐδὲ πώματι ἀνὴρ Πέρσης οὕτως ἐκπλαγείη ἂν ὥστε μὴ οὐ προνοεῖν, ἅπερ ἂν καὶ μὴ ἐπὶ σίτῳ ὤν (Xen. Cyr. 5, 2, 17; viz. προνοοίη). Especially note the elliptical ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ (ὅσονπερ ἂν εἰ), as though (strictly speaking: as one might, or would, have done, if --): Εἰ ὁ συμβὰς σκηπτὸς (sudden burst of calamity) μὴ μόνον ἡμῶν ἀλλὰ πάντων τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων μείζων γέγονε, τί χρὴ ποιεῖν; ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις ναύκληρον πάντ’ ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ πράξαντα εἶτα, συντριβέντων αὐτῷ τῶν σκευῶν, τῆς ναυαγίας αἰτιῷτο (Dem. 18, 194). [1]
[1]: Ὥςπερ ἂν εἰ παῖς, as if one were a child = like a child (Pl. Gorg. 479).
§ 140
Concluding Remarks to Chap. 1, 2, 3.
With respect to the cases in which the Greeks do not mark by the mood of the verb, that the thing said is not absolutely asserted as actual, though there might be occasion so to mark it, but, deviating from the Latin, and, in some cases, from the English idiom, retain the indicative without ἄν (besides those cases which have been named as exceptions in the preceding rules on the optative and subjunctive), the following require to be specially noted:
a) Declarative object-sentences (with ὅτι and ὡς) and dependent interrogative sentences after a present or future (after a præteritum in the optative, see § 130).
b) Relative sentences denoting an intention and definition, after a present or future; cf. § 115 a. R. (after a præteritum in the optative, see § 132 d); likewise those which express the consequence of a quality (Lat. Gr. § 364, qui talis ut, &c.), or a cause (Lat. Gr. § 366, qui quum is), or which belong to a negative statement: Οὐχ ἕξουσι δεῖξαι νόμον, καθ’ ὃν ἐξῆν αὐτοῖς ταῦτα πρᾶξαι (Isæ. 10, 11).
c) Accessory sentences which belong to a hypothetical sentence in the indicative with ἄν, or to a condition in the indicative put as not existing; see § 117 a. R. 2.
d) Relative or conjunctional sentences which, as members of a dependent statement, are necessary to complete the sense of object-sentences, or sentences of intention, or infinitive sentences (or statements expressed by a single infinitive), where the principal sentences have the verb in the present or future: Σκεπτέον, μὴ πρότερον τούσδε γενέσθαι μεγάλους ἐάσωμεν ἢ ἐκεῖνοι μικροὶ γενήσονται (Dem. 16, 5; except in the cases where the relative or conjunction is used with ἄν and the subjunctive). (For inferential [or consecutive] sentences with ὥστε in the indic. or infin., see Infinitive, § 166.)