A grammar of the Homeric dialect - Wilbourhall.org

324-*] CONDITIONAL CLAUSES. 295
a Conditional form the sentence would be :
then Orestes has killed him.' So with an Infinitive
'if you do not find him alive,
II. 22. 108 /J.ol Sc TOT' av iro\v ttfpSiov fir)
dvrrjv ^ 'Axi\7ja KaTaKTeivavra vfeaOai
i\k KCV avrai 6\ff6ai fi'>K\iws irpb ITU AT/OS.
In the Protasis Kv with the Indicative occurs only once, viz. II. 23. 526 et
8e K' en irpoTepoj ycvero 8p6fj,os (see Leaf's note a. Z.).
This may be compared
with the occasional use of KCV with el and an Opt. ( 313). The rarity of the
use with an Indie, need not be felt as a difficulty
:
cp. the oracle in Hdt. i.
1
74 Zevs yap K' ZOrj/ct vrjaov ei K' eftovkfro, also Erinna, fr. 4, 4, and Ar. Lys.
1098 (Hartung, ii. p. 240).
In later Greek the Imperfect with a>
may express either a
continuous action which would have occurred at some past time,
or an action (continuous or momentary) which would have been
occurring at the moment of speaking. The latter of these uses,
as Mr. Goodwin points out is ( 435), not Homeric. He sees
an approach to it in II. 24, 220 ei \v yap rts ^ aXXos K\vev
were it
any one else who lade me. Another may be found in Od.
2O. 307 KCU Ke rot avrl yapoio irar^p rdcjiov aju^eTroyetro vOdb (if
had struck the stranger] your father would have had to busy
here with your burial in place of wedding : cp. also Od. 4.
178 KCU KC ddfjC vOdb' OVT$ fJLLa-y6}Ji0' ,
ovoc Ktv ^/oie'aj
aAAc
The Impf. without av or KCI/ may express what ought to have
been, if the meaning of fitness, obligation, &c. is given by the
Verb or Predicate. Thus we have Od. 20. 331 ntpbiov riev it
would have been better. So in Attic with exp^ ^ et and
j
similar
words.
The Opt. with &v or Key, as we have seen is ( 300, not unf
requently used in Homer with the same meaning as the Aor.
or Impf. with a.v has in later Greek. This is one of the points
c),
in which the use of the Indicative gained on that of the
Optative.
324.*] Ellipse of the Apodosis. We may notice here the
cases in which el with an Indie, or Subj. is not followed
by a corresponding Clause expressing the consequence of the
supposition made. This occurs
When (a) two alternative suppositions are made, the second
being the one upon which the speaker wishes to dwell : as II. I.
135 t ptv buxrovcTL yeptts . et 8e Ke . JUIT/ Swoxriz;, eyo> 8e KV avrbs
e'Aco/xat if they give (there is nothing to be said), but if not, &c.
When (b) the consequence is sufficiently implied in the et-
Clause : as II. 6. 150 et 8' e^eXet? KCU ravra barmtvai, if you wish
to be told this (I
will do so)
: II. 7. 375
at K' e^eAcoo-t Trawa