A grammar of the Homeric dialect - Wilbourhall.org

266.]
THE RELATIVE. 235
the Correlation ws ws as so. A single
s tlirtov, &c. :
cp. the Latin guae quum diosisset, &c. The
other instances in which we have to translate cos as a Demonstrative
are rare :
e.g. II. 3. 339 &s ' avr&s and in like manner,
Among Demonstrative uses of os it is usual to count the use
with ydp, as os yap, o>s yap, %va yap. This however is an error,
arising from the occasional use of yap where it cannot be translated
for: see 348, 3.
Some commentators find a Demonstrative os in
Od. 4. 388 rov y' (i TTcas av Svvaio \oxf}ffafj.fvos XzXafitadai,
os Ktv TOI fiTrgaw u86v KT\.
Here however the clause os KW rot KT\. is not the Apodosis, but a Relative
Clause expressing purpose. The peculiarity of the passage is 7 merely that the
Apodosis is left to be understood : if you can seize him, (do so), that he may tell
you &c. :
cp. Od. 5. if., 10. 539.
These idioms are usually regarded as the remains of an earlier
use of os in the simple Anaphoric sense. The growth of a
Relative out of a Demonstrative has been already exemplified in
the Article ( 262). But the Relatival use of os is so ancient
that any attempt to trace its growth from an earlier syntax must
be of very uncertain value.
266.] os re, os ns. The simple os may be used in any kind of
Relative Clause, although in certain cases ( 262) the Article is
preferred. Thus we have
II. 4. 196 ov ris di'o-rewas Zj3a\v (a particular fact).
I.
403 bv B/oia/oeow KaAe'ouo-i (a constant, characteristic fact).
In these two places the Art. might be put in place of os but
:
not in
II. 2. 205 els j3ao-L\vs, o> e8o>Ke (a characteristic fact, defining).
I. 21 8 09 K 0eots TTL77idr]TaL (definition of a class).
So os is used to convey a reason (which implies a general cause
or tendency)
: as Od. i.
348 Zevs amos os re 6t8coo-tz/ KT\. ; cp.
II. 2. 275., 5. 650., 8. 34.
If the Relative is meant to refer to an indefinite number of
individuals falling under a common description, os TIS is generally
used, = wtio being any one, whoever.
again, the Relative Clause generalises by making us think,
If,
not so much of all possible individuals in a class, as of different
times and circumstances, in other words, if it lays stress on the
general and permanent element in facts os re is used e. : g.
II. I.
279 oTK/77iro{5)(os /3ar7tAev?, w re Zevs Kvbos eSco/ce to whom
as king, to whom in every such case.