Second Person Imperative; relative pronoun 71

This is the thing that bothers me.

Leave it in the place where you found it.
Note that in English the relative pronoun may be omitted (The man we saw looked
familiar) but that other languages, including Greek, require that it always be
expressed.

1.  The Imperative Mood. One of the finite moods of ancient Greek is the imperative
(Latin imperativus, Greek προστακτική, “of command”). The Greek imperative is
used to express commands in the second and third persons. (For the first person,
the subjunctive is used: Unit 32.) Imperative forms are used mainly in the present
and aorist tenses to express the contrasting aspects associated with these stems of the
verb. (Verbal aspect will be discussed in detail in Unit 20.)
2.  Second Person Present Active Imperative. In this unit only the second person
imperative of the present active is presented. In the present active of ω-verbs, the
second person singular is the present stem with theme vowel ε and no personal end-
ing, whereas the second person plural form is identical to the indicative, using the
ending -ετε. The accentuation is recessive, as for any finite verb form.
The English imperative of the second person, whether singular or plural, is simply
the present principal part of the verb with no pronoun subject expressed: go, eat,
read, study, be.
first principal
part 2nd singular 2nd plural translation

λέγω λέγε λέγετε speak

ἄρχω ἄρχε ἄρχετε begin
ἐλαύνω ἔλαυνε ἐλαύνετε drive
λείπω λεῖπε λείπετε leave

Greek has two distinct negative adverbs, οὐ and μή. The former is used with indica-
tives, as already seen, whereas μή serves to negate imperatives, most infinitives,
many uses of the subjunctive and optative, and in other idiomatic uses. (More details
on negation will be given in later units.)
μὴ λεῖπε τοὺς φίλους. Do not abandon your friends.

3.  More Prepositions. The three common prepositions presented below may govern any
of the three oblique cases. Recall that, in general, the genitive with a preposition often
conveys motion away from; the dative often conveys static position; and the accusative
often conveys motion toward. There are some overlaps in the meanings of these prepo-
72 Unit eight

sitions, especially for ἐπί and πρός with the dative or the accusative; likewise, uses of
ἐπί or πρός with the accusative often overlap with those of εἰς. The definitions are only
rough indications of some of the most common uses of the various prepositions:
ἐπί + gen. upon; in the time of
ἐπί + dat. upon, over; next to; in addition to
ἐπί + acc. onto, up to, toward; against
παρά + gen. from the side of, from (usually with a person as object)
παρά + dat. by the side of, at the house of (almost always with a person
as object)
παρά + acc. to the side of; beside; past, beyond, contrary to
πρός + gen. from, proceeding from
πρός + dat. near, beside; in addition to
πρός + acc. to, toward; against; in respect to, regarding

4.  Examples of Usage of These Prepositions

ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης upon the table (superposition)
ἐπὶ Καλλίου in the time of (the archon) Callias
ἐφ’ ἵππου upon a horse, on horseback
ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ (position) by (or next to) the sea
ἐπὶ τοῖς στρατιώταις over (i.e., in charge of ) the soldiers
ἐπὶ τούτοις in addition to these things
ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμόν up to the river
ἐπὶ μακρὸν χρόνον (up to the limit of, i.e.) for a long time
ἐπὶ τοὺς Πέρσας (warlike campaign) against the Persians
παρὰ Κύρου from Cyrus’s presence (or
from the vicinity of Cyrus)
παρὰ Κύρῳ in Cyrus’s presence (or with Cyrus, or
on Cyrus’s side)
παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις among all men (or in the eyes
[i.e., judgment] of all men)
παρὰ Κῦρον to (or into) Cyrus’s presence
παρὰ τὸν ποταμόν (movement or extension) alongside the river
παρὰ δόξαν beyond (or contrary to) expectation
πρὸς τῶν πολιτῶν (e.g., hear, receive) from the citizens
πρὸς τῷ ποταμῷ (position) near the river
πρὸς τούτοις in addition to these things
πρὸς τὴν γέφυραν (direction) toward the bridge
πρὸς τοὺς στρατιώτας (fighting, war) against the soldiers
 Second Person Imperative; relative pronoun 73

πρὸς τοὺς πολίτας (e.g., speak) to the citizens (in an assembly or

court); (behave in a certain way) toward
(or with regard to) the citizens

5.  Relative Pronoun. The Attic Greek relative pronoun has the stem h- (that is, the
rough breathing) and is inflected in all three genders with vowel-declension end-
ings. Like the article, in the neuter singular nominative and accusative inflections it
uses the pronominal ending -ο instead of the -ον seen in nouns and adjectives. The
declension of ὅς, ἥ, ὅ, who, which, that, is as follows:
singular plural

masc. fem. neut. masc. fem. neut.

nom. ὅς ἥ ὅ οἵ αἵ ἅ
gen. οὗ ἧς οὗ ὧν ὧν ὧν
dat. ᾧ ᾗ ᾧ οἷς αἷς οἷς
acc. ὅν ἥν ὅ οὕς ἅς ἅ

dual, all genders nom. acc. ὥ

gen. dat. οἷν

Some forms are identical to the article except for the accent:
ὁ the, masc. sing. nom. ὅ which, neut. sing. nom. and acc.
ἡ the, fem. sing. nom. ἥ who, fem. sing. nom.
οἱ the, masc. pl. nom. οἵ who, masc. pl. nom.
αἱ the, fem. pl. nom. αἵ who, fem. pl. nom.
One must be careful, however, to recognize when a form of the article has received
an accent because it is followed by the enclitic τε (Unit 12), since in that instance the
article will be accented:
ἡ Ξανθίππη ἥ τε Ἀσπασία οἵ τε στρατηγοί
Xanthippe and Aspasia and the generals

6.  Use of the Relative Pronoun. Relative pronouns serve to introduce subordinated
adjectival clauses. The relative pronoun agrees with its antecedent in gender and
number, but the case of the relative pronoun is usually determined by its use in its
own clause. (An idiomatic exception will be learned later, in Unit 41.)
The soldier whom the general is striking is a coward.
(The antecedent of whom is soldier, and whom is the direct object of
is striking.)
74 Unit eight

ὁ στρατιώτης ὃν ὁ στρατηγὸς κόπτει κακός ἐστιν.

(ὃν is masculine singular because its antecedent, στρατιώτης, is masculine
singular; it is accusative because it is the direct object of κόπτει.)
We do not want to abandon the woman with whom we are fleeing.
οὐ βουλόμεθα λείπειν τὴν ἄνθρωπον μεθ’ ἧς φεύγομεν.
(ἧς is feminine singular because its antecedent, ἄνθρωπον, is feminine
singular; it is genitive because it is the object of the preposition μεθ’
[μετά], with.)

What to study and do

1. Learn the second person imperative forms and the declension of the
relative pronoun.
2. Study the examples of prepositional usage presented above.
3. Learn the vocabulary of this unit.
4. Do the exercises of this unit.

Vocabulary
Masculine o-declension nou ns
δοῦλος, δούλου, m. (male) slave [hierodule]
δούλη, δούλης, f. (female) slave (slave woman)
Κῦρος, Κύρου, m. Cyrus (son of Achaemenid king Darius II of Persia, who
challenged his brother for the throne in 401 B.C.E.)
πλοῦτος, πλούτου, m. wealth, riches [plutocrat]
πόνος, πόνου, m. hard work, toil; suffering [geoponics]
ποταμός, ποταμοῦ, m. river [Mesopotamia, hippopotamus]
τρόπος, τρόπου, m. turn; way, manner, fashion; habits, character [tropics,
heliotrope]
ὕπνος, ὕπνου, m. sleep [hypnotism]
φθόνος, φθόνου, m. envy, jealousy
χρόνος, χρόνου, m. time; period of time [chronology]

Prepositions
ἐπί (elided ἐπ’ or ἐφ’) (+ gen.) upon; in the time of; (+ dat.) upon, over; next to;
in addition to; (+ acc.) onto, up to, toward; against
[epideictic, epiglottis]
παρά (elided παρ’) (+ gen.) from the side of, from (usually with a person as
object); (+ dat.) by the side of, at the house of (almost
always with a person as object); (+ acc.) to the side
of; beside, alongside; past, beyond, contrary to
[paranormal, paradox, parallel]
 Second Person Imperative; relative pronoun 75

πρός (+ gen.) from, proceeding from; (+ dat.) near, beside; in

addition to; (+ acc.) to, toward; against; in respect to,
regarding [prosthesis, prosody]

Relative pronou n
ὅς, ἥ, ὅ who, which, that

Exclamatory particle
ὦ o! (accompanies many vocatives; sometimes to be
left untranslated in English)

Negative adverb
μή not (with imperatives, infinitives, most subjunctives and
optatives, and other constructions to be learned later)

Exercises
I.  Translate the following into English.
1. ἀπὸ τῆς παρὰ τὴν χώραν θαλάττης
2. ἐπὶ ταῖς δούλαις
3. ἐπὶ τοὺς στρατιώτας τοὺς ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ
4. μετὰ τὴν τῶν δούλων πεῖραν
5. διὰ τοὺς καλοὺς τρόπους
6. πρὸς τῶν δικαστῶν
7. ἐπὶ Πεισιστράτου
8. παρὰ τοῦ τῶν πολεμίων στρατηγοῦ
9. διὰ τὸν πρὸς τοὺς σοφοὺς φθόνον
10. ἐπὶ τοῖς δώροις
11. πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον
12. παρὰ τῶν φίλων
13. ἐν τῷ ποταμῷ
14. πρὸς τὴν ὁδόν
15. ἐπὶ τῶν τραπεζῶν
16. παρὰ τὴν εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν ὁδόν
17. πρὸς τῷ πλούτῳ
18. ἐξ ὕπνου
19. παρὰ τῷ κακῷ διδασκάλῳ
76 Unit eight

II.  Translate the following prepositional phrases into Greek. (For some expressions
there is more than one correct rendering.)
1. on account of the hard work
2. in the house of (or at the side of or in the presence of) the children
3. beside the doors of the courtesan
4. from the citizens
5. after the victory
6. regarding the Fates
7. next to the table
8. upon the small horses
9. beyond the expectation of the messenger
10. out of the beautiful river
11. in the time of Isaeus
12. against the well-born youths

III.  Translate the following into English.

1. ὁ θεὸς φόβον πέμπει καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἐλαύνει τοὺς στρατιώτας.
2. οἱ ἄνθρωποι τοὺς πόνους παρὰ τῶν θεῶν ἔχουσιν.
3. ὦ νεανίαι, φέρετε τὰ δῶρα τοῖς ἀξίοις.
4. λεῖπε πρὸς τῇ γεφύρᾳ τοὺς τῶν πολεμίων ἵππους.
5. οἱ ἄγγελοι τὰς τῆς στρατιᾶς συμφορὰς λέγουσιν τοῖς ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ πολίταις.
6. ὁ ἀδελφός, ὃς ἐπὶ μακρὸν χρόνον ἐκ τῆς χώρας φεύγει, παρὰ τῶν φίλων τὸν
βίον λαμβάνει.
7. ἡ δούλη ᾗ τὴν τῶν παιδίων ὑγίειαν ἐπιτρέπετε σοφὴ καὶ φιλία.
8. ὁ ὁπλίτης, ὃς τὰ χαλεπὰ φέρει καὶ τὰ αἰσχρὰ φεύγει, οὐ λείπει τοὺς ἑταίρους.
9. ὦ πολῖται, μὴ ἄρχετε πολέμου, ἀλλ’ ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ μὴ φόβον ἔχετε.

IV.  Render into Greek.

1. Shameful are the arguments through which you persuade the jurors.
2. The master sends his slaves to the priestess, and the children carry the offerings
out of the tent.
3. Poet, do not feel [“have”] envy.
4. Isaeus, write just laws for the citizens of the land.
5. Do not speak shameful things, but [speak things] that lead men toward virtue.
6. The road from the shrine to the river is long and difficult.