A grammar of the Homeric dialect - Wilbourhall.org

332.] KAI, TE. 301
whole condition is an extreme one : even on the supposition that .
But with the order el KCU the KCU emphasises particular words : et
Kal judAo, Kaprepos eo-ri even if he is (I will go so far as to say)
very strong. Hence ei KCU usually implies that the supposition is
more or less true.
331.]
distinguish ;
re.
The enclitic re has two main uses which it is essential to
besides one or two special uses of less importance.
(a) As a Conjunction re connects clauses and single words.
It is especially used when a new fact or new object is to take
its place pari passu with "what has been already said : KVVZO-O-LV
oico^oio-i re Tracrt to dogs and birds as well: at TTCLCTL KaKov Tpweo-o-i
ytvovro ol T avTtp which were a bane to all the Trojans, and to
himself (equally). This meaning is given still more distinctly
by the Correlative re re thus we have the : pairs avbp&v re flewr
re, brjjjLos re Tro'Ais re, KAayyf/ T e^o-Trrj re, &c. and the pairs of
Clauses expressing simultaneous action, such as
&\lr T avX(aprja-v} (*>xpos re \LIV etAe mipeia?.
Hence re re sometimes marks that two things are mutually
dependent: oXiyov re va.
As to the place of re the general rule is that it follows the
first word in the Clause. Hence when standing
first in the pair
T re it does not always follow the word which it couples e. : g.
II. 6. 317 tyyuOi re ripiajuoio KCU "E/cropos near both Priam and
Hector ; II. 5- $78 crot T tTwrelQovTai Kal de8pjjuecr0a e'/caoros (cp.
2. 136, 198., 4. 505., 7. 294-5).
The use of TC as a Particle of transition (to begin a fresh sentence after a
pause) is not Homeric, though common in later Greek. This may indicate
that the use as a connecting Particle was originally confined to the Correlative
re re (Delbriick, Synt. Forsch, iv. p. 145).
332.] (fj)
In its other use which is distinctively Homeric
re serves to mark an assertion as general or indefinite.
Hence it
is found in gnomic passages :
as
II. I. 21 8 09 Ke 0eot? eTriTrei^rat, jutaAa r' HK\VOV avrov.
9. 509 rbv 8e /oie'y' &vj](rav /cat r' K\vov
Od. 6. 185 /xaAiara 8e' r' K\vov avroi.