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(7) The third class includes all cases, in which the supposition is transferred from the region of fact and reality to that of imagination, when we have merely an idea, which may or may not admit of realization. Examples may occur in which it seems as if the possibility of the supposition was excluded by the nature of the circumstances themselves; and it may hence be supposed that there is an occasional confusion between this class of hypothetical pro positions and the fourth. But it will always be found on a close examination, that, while the latter expressly deny the validity of the assumption, the optative always presumes that we are still within the limits of a wish or prayer, and that the fulfilment of our expectations, however chimerical, is at least supposable for the sake of argument. Thus we read in Plat. Resp. p. 359 B, C: ws dè kai οἱ ἐπιτηδεύοντες ἀδυναμίᾳ τοῦ ἀδικεῖν ἀκόντες αὐτὸ ἐπιτηδεύουσι, μάλιστ ̓ ἂν αἰσθανοίμεθα, εἰ τοιόνδε ποιήσαιμεν τῇ διανοίᾳ, “ that those who practise justice do so unwillingly through an inability to be unjust, we should best perceive, if we were to form the following supposition in our imagination;" and a little lower down: ein d'av ἡ ἐξουσία, ἣν λέγω, τοιάδε μάλιστα, εἰ αὐτοῖς γένοιτο οἵαν ποτέ φασι Súvaμiv τậ Túyn, "and the liberty of which I am speaking, would be nearly as if they got the same power as they say was once obtained by Gyges;" and then follows a purely imaginative fable. We see the same resolution of the supposition into a mere mental conception in exaggerations, such as that in Esch. Pers. 431: κακῶν δὲ πλῆθος οὐδ ̓ ἂν εἰ δέκ ̓ ἤματα στιχηγοροίην οὐκ ἂν ἐκπλή oaquí oo, "I could not make up the full tale of our misfortunes, not even if I should recite them in order for ten days," which is of course an extravagant supposition. That the basis of this form of the hypothetical proposition is the idea of repeated action, namely, that the apodosis is regarded merely as coextensive with the protasis, is clear from the use of the optative in the corresponding temporal sentence (below, 580, (B)).

(8) With regard to the fourth case the following points deserve notice:

(aa) That the past tenses of the indicative, thus used in the hypothetical clause and its apodosis, really exclude the supposition which is made, appears clearly from the following examples: Thucyd. III. 53, § 3: ὁ μὴ ῥηθεὶς λόγος αἰτίαν ἂν παράσχοι ὡς, εἰ ἐλέχθη, σωτήριος ἂν ἦν, “ the non-spoken speech would involve

the charge that if it had been spoken it would have ensured their safety.” Herod. VII. 47 : εἴ τοι ἡ ὄψις τοῦ ἐνυπνίου μὴ ἐναργὴς οὕτω ἐφάνη, εἶχες ἂν τὴν ἀρχαίην γνώμην, ἢ μετέστης ἄν; “if the vision of your dream had not appeared to you so clear (i. e. if it had not been what it was), would you retain your former opinion, or would you have changed it?" Hyperid. pro Euxenippo, col. 30: εἴτ ̓ εἰ μὲν ἀπέφυγες τὴν γραφήν, οὐκ ἂν κατεψεύσατο οὗτος τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐπειδὴ δὲ συνέβη σοι ἁλῶναι, Εὐξένιππον δεῖ ἀπολωλέναι, "if you had been acquitted, my client would not have given a false report about the god; but since it so happened that you were convicted, Euxenippus must needs be ruined."

(bb) When the imperfect is used, the supposition excluded has reference properly to the present time, and this reference is sometimes directly expressed, as in Thucyd. I. 71, § 2: μόλις δ' ἂν πόλει ὁμοίᾳ παροικοῦντες ἐτυγχάνετε τούτου· νῦν δ', ἀρχαιότροπα ὑμῶν τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα πρὸς αὐτούς ἐστιν, “you would scarcely ensure this, if you were (now) living by the side of a similar state; but now (as the case is) your principles are old-fashioned as compared with them.” It may appear, however, that this distinction is neglected in certain cases. Thus in Demosth, Mid. 523, 10: ταῦτ ̓ εὖ οἶδ' ὅτι πάντ ̓ ἂν ἔλεγεν οὗτος τότε, it seems that we ought to render it, "I am well assured that he would have said all these things at that time." But the context shows that the meaning really is, "I know that he would now be saying all these things, if I had adopted the other course.' In Soph. Antig. 388, σχολῇ ποθ' ἥξειν δεῦρ ̓ ἂν ἐξηύχουν ἐγώ, ταῖς σαῖς ἀπειλαῖς αἷς ἐχειμάσθην τότε, compared with Asch. Αg. 480, οὐ γάρ ποτ' ηὔχουν μεθέξειν, the av creates so much difficulty that it seems almost necessary to read av' for ává, in the sense of "back again."

(cc) The particle av may be omitted with the past tense of the indicative in the apodosis, by a sort of rhetorical artifice, to indicate the certainty of the immediate consequence; thus Eurip. Hec. 1111: εἰ δὲ μὴ Φρυγῶν πύργους πεσόντας ᾖσμεν Ἑλλήνων δορί, φόβον παρέσχεν οὐ μέσως ὅδε κτύπος, “ did we not know that the towers of the Phrygians had fallen by the spear of the Greeks, this noise had caused us fear in no slight degree." Id. Troad. 397 : Πάρις δ ̓ ἔγημε την Διός γήμας δὲ μή, σιγώμενον τὸ κῆδος εἶχεν ἐν δόμοις, “ Paris married Jove's daughter, but if he had not married her he must have continued to keep his marriage

affinity in the obscurity which originally belonged to it." Diphilus, ap. Athen. IV. p. 165 F: εἰ μὴ συνήθης Φαιδίμῳ γ ἐτύγχανεν ὧν ὁ Χαβρίου Κτήσιππος, εἰσηγησάμην νόμον τιν ̓ οὐκ ἄχρηστον ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, " if Ctesippus the son of Chabrias had not been intimate with Phædimus, I had introduced a certain law, not without its use as I conceive." The same omission is observed in later writers, as in Paul, ad Rom. VII. 7: τὴν ̔Αμαρτίαν οὐκ ἔγνων, εἰ μὴ διὰ Νόμου, “I had not known Sin, but through Law." And we have a corresponding idiom in Latin, as in Juv. x. 123: Antoni gladios potuit contemnere, si sic omnia dixisset. In Greek it is particularly common with the impersonals ἐχρῆν, ἔδει, ὤφελον, προσῆκε, εἰκὸς ἦν, ἄξιον ἦν, δίκαιον ἦν, καλὸν ἦν, καλῶς εἶχε, αἰσχρὸν ἦν, κρεῖττον ἦν, ἐξῆν, ἐνῆν, ὑπῆρχε, ἦν, ἔμελλε, and with words expressing an inclination, as ἐβουλόμην and ἤθελον. Thus Soph. Electr. 1505 sqq.: χρὴν δ ̓ εὐθὺς εἶναι τήνδε τοῖς πᾶσιν δίκην, ὅστις πέρα πράσσειν γε τῶν νόμων θέλει, κτείνειν· τὸ γὰρ πανοῦργον οὐκ ἂν ἦν, “ it were right that this retribution were immediately exacted from all, namely, to slay any one who wishes to violate the laws, for then villainy would not exist.” Thucyd. Ι. 38, § 3: καλὸν δ ̓ ἦν, εἰ καὶ ἡμαρτάνομεν, τοῖσδε μὲν εἶξαι τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ὀργῇ, ἡμῖν δ' αἰσχρὶν βιάσασθαι τὴν τούτων μετριότητα, “it were right, even if we were erring, that these should yield to our passion, and then it would be disgraceful for us to put violence on their moderation.” Aristoph. Ran. 866: ἐβουλόμην μὲν οὐκ ἐρίζειν ἐνθάδε, “ I should prefer not to contend here."

503 Circumstances may occur, under which the apodosis of one of these cases may follow the protasis of another: thus, we may have the protasis of I. with the apodosis of III., as in Soph. Antig. 901 :

ἀλλ ̓ εἰ μὲν οὖν τάδ ̓ ἐστὶν ἐν θεοῖς φίλα,
παθόντες ἂν ξυγγνοῖμεν ἡμαρτηκότες,

where a special supposition is followed by a general sentiment. We have the protasis of IV. (α), as well as of III., with the apodosis of III., in Plat. Apol. p. 28 Ε: δεινὰ ἂν εἴην εἰργασμένος, εἰ τότε ἔμενον καὶ ἐκινδύνευον, νῦν δὲ ἀπολίποιμι τὴν τάξιν, because the facts of his past life are opposed to the mere supposition which he makes. We have the protasis of II. with the apodosis of III.

in Soph. d. Τ. 216: τἄμ' ἐὰν θέλῃς ἔπη κλύων δέχεσθαι, ἀλκὴν λάβοις ἂν κανακούφισιν πόνων, “ if you shall be willing to hear and receive my words, you would get succour and an alleviation of your troubles," where the mind supplies the intervening conse quence, "I will speak, and perhaps my words might produce the effect.” We have the protasis of III. with the apodosis of I. (502, (α), (cc)), or of IV. (α), without ἄν (502, (δ), (cc)), in Xen. Cyr. II. 1, § 9: ἐγὼ μὲν ἂν εἰ ἔχοιμι ὡς τάχιστα ὅπλα ἐποιούμην πᾶσι Πέρσαις, as this is followed by the second case: κἂν ταῦτα παρα σκευάσῃς ἡμῖν μὲν ποιήσεις, κ. τ. λ., and immediately preceded by the third case: οὐδ ̓ εἰ πάντες ἔλθοιεν Πέρσαι, πλήθει γε οὐχ ὑπερβαλοίμεθ ̓ ἂν τοὺς πολεμίους, before which we have in succession (§ 8): εἰ οὕτως ἔχει, τί ἂν ἄλλο τις κρεῖττον εὕροι; and εἴ τι πείσονται Μῆδοι, εἰς Πέρσας τὸ δεινὸν ἥξει, we may see that in the whole passage the protasis and apodosis are changed to suit the various shades of confidence or uncertainty with which the assumptions are put forth.

504 The apodosis is very often used in cases III. and IV. without any protasis, and with the same distinction of meaning as if a protasis had been expressed; thus we have in Soph. Aj. 88: μένοιμ' ἄν· ἤθελον δ ̓ ἂν ἐκτὸς ὢν τυχεῖν,

where the optative is used, as it very often is, to express a constrained future, "I suppose I must remain," and the indicative expresses, "but if it were possible, I should like to be out of the way."

505 The most common substitutes for ei, in all these cases of protasis, are the participle without the article, and the relative with indefinite antecedent. Thus we can say, with scarcely any difference of meaning:

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On the other hand, the infinitive and participle may take the place of the finite verb in the apodosis, whenever the latter appears in a dependent sentence, which requires either of these verb-forms (below, 593, 594). Thus (a) the particle av is very often found with the infinitive after such verbs as οἴομαι, δοκῶ, νομίζω, ἡγοῦμαι, ἐλπίζω, ὑπολαμβάνω, denoting opinion or expec tation, and also after verbs like λέγω, φημί, ὁμολογῶ, ὑπισχνοῦμαι, ὄμνυμι, denoting the expression of the thoughts in words with reference to something conditional, as Thucyd. II. 20: τοὺς ̓Αθηναίους ἤλπιζεν ἴσως ἂν ἐπεξελθεῖν, καὶ τὴν γῆν οὐκ ἂν περιϊδεῖν τμηθῆναι, because in the independent sentence we should have had ἴσως ἂν ἐπεξέλθοιεν καὶ οὐκ ἂν περιΐδοιεν. It is more than doubtful whether the future infinitive is ever used with av. Instances are found in some of the existing texts, but they seldom stand the test of criticism (see Preface to Thucydides, p. xi). We find äv with the infinitive used substantively, as Thucyd. VII. 62: διὰ τὸ βλάπτειν ἂν τὸ τῆς ἐπιστήμης, “on account of the fact that it would be a hindrance to the application of our skill." (b) The apodotic use of the participle with av is generally found in objective, relative and causal sentences; as Thucyd. I. 76: εὖ ἴσμεν μὴ ἂν ἧσσον ὑμᾶς λυπηροὺς γενομένους, “ we are quite convinced that you would not have been less vexatious," where the protasis is εἰ ὑπομείναντες απήχθησθε. Plat. Crit. p. 48 c: τῶν ῥᾳδίως ἀποκτιννύντων καὶ ἀναβιωσκομένων γ ̓ ἄν, “ of those who would without hesitation slay and restore to life again.” Thucyd. I. 73: ἀδυνάτων ἂν ὄντων πρὸς ναῦς πολλὰς ἀλλήλοις βοηθεῖν, " as they would have been unable to assist one another when opposed to so many ships.” Xen. Anab. I. 1, § 10: ὡς οὕτω περιγενόμενος ἂν τῶν ἀντιστασιωτών, " on the ground that he would in this way have got the better of his political opponents." On the repetition of av with the participle when it really belongs to the verb of the sentence, see below, 508, (a).

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