CONCORD OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE

963

(I) When the subjects are different individuals or things and stand in the third person

964

With two subjects in the singular, the verb may be dual or plural: Κριτίᾱς καὶ Ἀλκιβιάδης ἐδυνάσθην ἐκείνῳ χρωμένω συμμάχῳ τῶν ἐπιθῡμιῶν κρατεῖν Critias and Alcibiades were able to keep control of their appetites by the help of his example X. M. 1.2.24,

.

965

In Homer the verb may intervene between the subjects (Alcmanic Construction):

.

966

The verb may agree with the nearest or most important of two or more subjects. The verb may be placed

a. Before both subjects:

.

b. After the first subject:

, .

c. After both subjects:

. (Cp. Shakesp. “my mistress and her sister stays.”)

967

(II) With several subjects referring to different persons the verb is in the plural; in the first person, if one of the subjects is first person; in the second person, if the subjects are second and third person:

, ἡμεῖς καὶ οἵδε οὐκ ἄλλην ἄν τινα δυναίμεθα ᾠδὴν ᾁδειν we and these men could not sing any other song 666 d, οὐ σὺ μόνος οὐδὲ οἱ σοὶ φίλοι πρῶτοι ταύτην δόξαν ἔσχετε not you alone nor your friends are the first who have held this opinion 888 b.

968

But the verb may be singular if it refers to the nearer or more important or more emphatic subject: πάρειμι καὶ ἐγὼ καὶ οὗτος Φρῡνίσκος καὶ Πολυκράτης. I am present and so are Phryniscus here and Polycrates X. A. 7.2.29.

969

The verb may agree in person with the nearer or more important subject:

.

970

With subjects connected by the disjunctives ἤ or, ἤ—ἤ either—or, οὔτε—οὔτε neither—nor, the verb agrees in number with the nearer subject when each subject is taken by itself:

.

971

When the subjects are taken together, the plural occurs:

. This is unusual.

972

When ἤ than unites two subjects, if the verb follows ἤ, it agrees with the second subject:

.

973

A predicate substantive agrees with its subject in case: Μιλτιάδης ἦν στρατηγός Miltiades was a general.

974

A predicate substantive may agree in gender and number with its subject; but this is often impossible: τύχη τὰ θνητῶν πρά̄γματα the affairs of mortals are chance Trag. frag. p. 782,

.

975

A predicate substantive or adjective agrees with the subject of the governing verb when the subject of the infinitive is omitted because it is the same as that of the governing verb (937):

, .

On the agreement of demonstrative and relative pronouns with a predicate substantive, see 1239, 2502 e.

976

Concord.—An appositive (916) agrees in case with the word it describes:

. An appositive also agrees in case with the pronoun contained in a verb: Ταλθύβιος, ἥκω, Δανα̈́δων ὑπηρέτης I, Talthybius, have come, the servant of the Danaids E. Hec. 503. Cp. 942.

977

An appositive to a possessive pronoun stands in the genitive, in agreement with the personal pronoun implied in the possessive: τὸν ἐμὸν ( = ἐμοῦ)

, τὰ ὑ̄μέτερ᾽ ( = ὑ̄μῶν) . Cp. 1200. 2. b, 1202. 2. b.

978

An appositive in the genitive may follow an adjective equivalent to a genitive: Ἀθηναῖος ( = Ἀθηνῶν) ὤν, πόλεως τῆς μεγίστης being an Athenian, a citizen of the greatest city P. A. 29d.

979

Agreement in number between the appositive and its noun is unnecessary and often impossible: Θῆβαι, πόλις ἀστυγείτων Thebes, a neighbouring city Aes. 3.133. So with δῶρα in poetry: γάμος, χρῡσῆς Ἀφροδί̄της δῶρα, marriage, gift of golden Aphrodite Theognis 1293.

980

An appositive to two substantives is dual or plural:

, .

981

Partitive Apposition (σχῆμα καθ᾽ ὅλον καὶ μέρος, construction of the whole and part). The parts are represented by the appositives, which stand in the same case as the whole, which is placed first to show the subject or object of the sentence: τὼ ὁδώ, ἡ μὲν εἰς μακάρων νήσους, ἡ δ᾽ εἰς τάρταρον two roads, the one to the Islands of the Blest, the other to Tartarus P. G. 524a (distributive apposition). The appositives are generally in the nominative (ὁ μέν, ἡ δέ; οἱ μέν, οἱ δέ), rarely in the accusative.

a. The whole may stand in the singular: λέγεται ψῡχὴ ἡ μὲν νοῦν ἔχειν, ἡ δὲ ἄνοιαν; with regard to the soul, is one said to have intelligence, the other folly? P. Ph. 93b.

982

To the word denoting the whole the appositive may be a collective singular (adjunctive apposition):

(cp. ἠρώτων δὲ ἄλλος ἄλλο P. Charm. 153c), . Cp. 952.

983

The apposition may be limited to one or more parts:

. Often with participles: (οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι) ἀνεμνήσθησαν καὶ τοῦδε τοῦ ἔπους, φάσκοντες οἱ πρεσβύτεροι πάλαι ᾁδεσθαι the Athenians bethought themselves of this verse too, the old men saying that it had been uttered long before T. 2.54.

984

In partitive apposition emphasis is laid on the whole, which is stated at once as the subject or object of the sentence. In the genitive of the divided whole (1306) emphasis is laid on the parts; thus, τῶν πόλεων αἱ μὲν τυραννοῦνται, αἱ δὲ δημοκρατοῦνται, αἱ δὲ ἀριστοκρατοῦνται of states some are despotic, others democratic, others aristocratic P. R. 338d.

985

Construction of the Whole and Part in Poetry.—In Homer and later poets a verb may take two objects, one denoting the person, the other the part especially affected by the action:

, . But the accusative of the part, often explained as an appositive, was an external object (1554 b) that became an accusative of respect (1601 a). In , ἑκάστῳ is a partitive appositive, καρδίῃ is local dative and grammatically independent of Ἀχαιοῖσιν. The construction is very rare in prose: .

986

Attributive Apposition.—A substantive may be used as an attributive to another substantive. This is common with substantives denoting occupation, condition , or age (usually with ἀνήρ, ἄνθρωπος, γυνή): ἀνὴρ ῥήτωρ a public speaker, ἀνὴρ τύραννος a despot, πρεσβῦται ἄνθρωποι old men, γραῦς γυνή an old woman. So also

, , Ἕλλην (for Ἑλληνικός), as .

a. In standard prose Ἕλλην is used as an adjective only of persons (in poetry also of things).

b. The addition of ἀνήρ often implies respect:

, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί jurymen, gentlemen of the jury D. 27.1. (Cp. foemen.) The addition of ἄνθρωπος often implies contempt: .

c. Many of the substantives thus qualified by an attributive substantive were originally participles, as

.

987

Descriptive Apposition.—Here the appositive describes something definite that has just been mentioned:

.

988

Explanatory Apposition.—Here the appositive explains a general or vague statement:

, μεγίστου κακοῦ ἀπαλλαγή, πονηρίᾱς deliverance from the greatest of evils, vice P. G. 478d. So in geographical statements: Κύπρον ἵκᾱνε . . . ἐς Πάφον she came to Cyprus, to Paphos Θ 362; cp. .

989

In Homer the substantival article at the beginning of a sentence may be followed by an appositive noun at or near the end: ἡ δ᾽ ἀέκουσ᾽ ἅμα τοῖσι γυνὴ κίεν but she, the woman, went unwillingly with them A 348.

990

τοῦτο, αὐτὸ τοῦτο, αὐτό, ἐκεῖνο often introduce emphatically a following substantive (or an equivalent, 908): ἐκεῖνο κερδαίνειν ἡγεῖται, τὴν ἡδονήν this (namely) pleasure it regards as gain P. R. 606b. Cp. 1248.

991

Apposition to a Sentence.—A noun in the nominative or accusative may stand in apposition to the action expressed by a whole sentence or by some part of it.

a. The appositive is nominative when a nominative precedes: ἐμέθυον· ἱκανὴ πρόφασις I was tipsy, a sufficient excuse Philemon (Com. frag. 2. 531).

b. The appositive is accusative, and states a reason, result, intention, effect, or the like: ῥί̄ψει ἀπὸ πύργου, λυγρὸν ὄλεθρον will hurl thee from the battlement, a grievous death Ω 735, Ἑλένην κτάνωμεν, Μενέλεῳ λύ̄πην πικρά̄ν let us slay Helen and thus cause a sore grief to Menelaus E. Or. 1105,

.

N.—The appositive accusative is often cognate (1563 f.): ὁρᾷς Εὐρυσθέᾱ, ἄελπτον ὄψιν thou beholdest Eurystheus, an unexpected sight E. Heracl. 930.

992

An effect or result may be denoted by an appositive in other cases:

.

993

From the construction in 991 b arose many adverbial accusatives (1606 ff.) such as χάριν on account of, πρόφασιν in pretence, δωρεά̄ν gratis; as ὅς τις δὲ Τρώων ἐπὶ νηυσὶ φέροιτο . . . χάριν Ἕκτορος whoever of the Trojans rushed at the ships as a favour to Hector (for Hector's sake) O 744.

994

Many neuter words are used in apposition to a sentence or clause, which they usually precede. Such are ἀμφότερον, ἀμφότερα both, τὸ δεινότατον the most dreadful thing, δυοῖν θά̄τερον or θά̄τερα one or the other, τὸ ἐναντίον the contrary, τὸ κεφάλαιον the chief point, τὸ λεγόμενον as the saying is, οὐδέτερον neither thing, σημεῖον δέ sign, τεκμήριον δέ evidence, τὸ τελευταῖον the last thing, τὸ τῆς παροιμίᾱς as the proverb runs, αὐτὸ τοῦτο this very thing, ταὐτὸ τοῦτο this same thing. Thus,

, εἶπεν ὅτι δεῖ δυοῖν θά̄τερον, ἢ κείνους ἐν Ολύνθῳ μὴ οἰκεῖν ἢ αὑτὸν ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ he said that one of two things was necessary—either that they should not live at Olynthus or he himself in Macedon 9. 11, , ἀλλ᾽ ἦ, τὸ λεγόμενον, κατόπιν ἑορτῆς ἥκομεν; but have we come ‘after a feast’ as the maying is? P. G. 447a, .

995

Very common are introductory relative clauses forming a nominative predicate of the sentence that follows:

. ἐστί is regularly omitted (944). Such relative clauses are followed by an independent sentence, a clause with ὅτι, by ὅτε γάρ, ὅταν, ὅταν γάρ, <*>. Similarly , etc.