Chapter 1

Ο ΔΙΚΑΙΟΠΟΛΙΣ
Κεφάλαιον α´ (πρῶτον)
Ἐγχειρίδιον
We begin our course in Greek by meeting the protagonist of our story. This is a story
told entirely in Greek, which you will come to understand with ease after getting practice with
the Greek alphabet and its pronunciation. Dicaeopolis, as you likely gathered, is an Athenian
farmer, an αὐτουργός; this word is composed of two elements, αὐτο- and ἐργ-, and means
approximately “one who works for himself,” that is, an independent cultivator, a small
landowner, not subject to a lord. You will follow Dicaeopolis through the various events that
befall him and his family and, in doing so, you will learn his language: a language that was
spoken in Greece more than two-thousand four-hundred years ago.
To succeed in understanding the texts that will be proposed throughout this course, you
will always need to keep an eye out for the vocabulary highlighted at the bottom of every page;
then, while reading, always be aware of the columns on the margins, which will greatly aid
comprehension. In the margins, apart from the many illustrations that explain new vocabulary,
there are several typographic conventions intended to give explanations clearly and concisely.
An equals sign (=) placed between two words or expressions indicates that they mean more or
less the same thing; it would be like saying “mother = mom.” A colon (:) indicates “that is to
say” and serves to better explain a given word; it would be like saying “good : not bad.” The
opposite-facing arrows (↔︎) indicate that two words or expressions have opposite meanings;
like saying “good ↔︎ bad.” Lastly, when the less-than sign (<) appears, it means “obtained
from,” and serves to show that a given word derives from already-learned vocabulary; just as
writing “goodness < good.” This last typographic convention does not always refer to
vocabulary derivation in the strictest sense: sometimes it only indicates a relation between two
words, or that they belong to the same family, like writing “work < to work,” but with it you
will gradually come to learn both relationships between vocabulary and the roots of composite
words.
Occasionally, at the bottom of the page you will find translations shaded in grey: they
indicate anticipated grammatical forms yet to be covered, included primarily for textual
coherence, but which you do not need memorize, though learning them does not hurt.

The Greek Verb

Τὸ ῥήμα
 So, back to Dicaeopolis. Dicaeopolis is Athenian, Ἀθηναῖός ἐστιν. For a fifth-century
B.C.E. Greek, however, being an Athenian citizen did not necessarily mean living in Athens
proper: indeed, οἰκεῖ ὁ Δικαιόπολις οὐκ ἐν ταῖς Ἀθήναις ἀλλὰ ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς. He is a cultivator:
γεωργεῖ οὖν τὸν κλήρον καὶ πονεῖ ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς. Observe that οἰκεῖ, γεωργεῖ, and πονεῖ all
have the same ending, -εῖ.
Now consider these Latin verb forms: am-o (I love), am-as (you love), am-at (he/she/it
loves), am-amus (we love), am-atis (you love), am-ant (they love).
As you can see, in each of these verb forms there is a part that remains constant (am-,
or love- in English) and a part that changes (-o, -as, -at, -amus, -atis, -ant, or -s in the English
he/she/it loves). The part of the verb that does not change is called the θέμα, or stem; the part
that changes is called the ending. The stem communicates the general meaning of the word (in
this case, the idea of “loving”), while the ending communicates the πρόσωπον, or person, and
ἀριθμός, or number (i.e. singular or plural). In English, “I,” “you,” and “he/she/it” are
considered the first, second, and third persons singular, while “we,” “you,” and “they” are
considered the first, second, and third persons plural, in their respective orders.

Person and Number

Τὸ πρόσωπον καὶ ὁ ἀριθμός
In this chapter you learn the third person singular (τρίτον πρόσωπον ἑνικόν) of the
present tense, which corresponds to “he/she/it loves” in the English example above, as well as
to “he/she/it is loving” or “he/she/it does love,” depending on context.
The verbs for loosening (λῡ́ω, stem λῡ-) and rejoicing (χαίρω, stem χαιρ-) are examples
of regular Greek verbs. By adding the ending -ει to either stem, we have the verb’s τρίτον
πρόσωπον ἑνικόν. By adding the other present endings, which have not been covered in the
text yet, we achieve the same effect in the first (πρῶτον), second (δεύτερον), and third (τρίτον)
persons (πρόσωπα) of the singular (ἑνικὸς ἀριθμός) and plural (πληθυντικὸς ἀριθμός):

ἑνικός ἀριθμός πληθυντικός ἀριθμός

πρῶτον πρόσωπον χαίρ-ω χαίρ-ομεν

δεύτερον πρόσωπον χαίρ-εις χαίρ-ετε

τρίτον πρόσωπον χαίρ-ει χαίρ-ουσι(ν)

 The verbs for loving (φιλέω, stem φιλε-) and working (πονέω, stem πονε-), however,
are examples of contract verbs, verbs whose stem ending in -α-, -ε-, or -ο- causes a contraction
with the first vowel of the ending. Thus, from the stem φιλε- or πονε- and the ending -ει, we
get φιλέ-ει and πονέ-ει, which, contracted, are simply φιλεῖ and πονεῖ. The greater-than sign
(>) will indicate “from which,” meaning that the form on the right derives from the form on
the left; likewise, the less-than sign (<) will indicate “from,” meaning that the form on the left
derives from the form on the right (for example, φιλεῖ < φιλέ-ει, πονεῖ < πονέ-ει).
As for the verb χαίρω above, these are the not-yet-covered, but useful verb forms for
the type of contracted verbs we covered in this chapter, in the present tense:
φιλέ-ω > φιλῶ φιλέ-ομεν > φιλοῦμεν
φιλέ-εις > φιλεῖς φιλέ-ετε > φιλεῖτε
φιλέ-ει > φιλεῖ φιλέ-ουσι(ν) > φιλοῦσι(ν)

The last verb we will cover is the verb for being, εἰμί, which takes on an irregular set
of verb forms. The forms are as follows:
εἰμί ἐσμέν
εἶ ἐστέ
ἐστί(ν) εἰσί(ν)

Ephelcystic, Euphonic, or Movable ν

Τὸ νῦ ἐφελκυστικόν
In two cases, ἑστίν is written rather than ἐστί:
a) In front of a typographically-indicated pause, usually a period (.), raised point
(·), or comma (,). For example:
Αὐτουργός ἐστιν.
Ὁ Δικαιόπολις Ἀθηναῖός ἐστιν· οἰκεῖ δέ…
Ὁ κλῆρος μικρὸς μέν ἐστιν, καλὸς δέ.
b) When the next word begins in a vowel. For example:
Χαλεπός ἐστιν ὁ Βίος
Ὁ Δικαιόπολίς ἐστιν αὐτουργός.
This final -ν is sometimes called ephelcystic (literally, “dragged onto”) and sometimes
movable; as well as appearing in the verb forms ἐστί(ν) and εἰσί(ν), it will appear in a number
of other verbs you will encounter throughout this course.
 The verb εἱμί is enclitic (ἐγκλιτικόν), meaning that it does not have an accent on its
own: it “leans on” the accent of the word that precedes it. For this reason, its present-tense
forms (except for the second person singular, εἶ) are often written without an accent. A more
detailed explanation of enclitics and their accentuation can be found in §7 of the grammar
reference at the end of your book: it is important to know these rules if you wish to accent your
Greek correctly, for there are a number of other enclitics, like εἰμί, that will appear often in this
course.

Grammatical Gender: Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter

Τὸ γένος· ἄρσεν, θῆλυ καὶ οὐδέτερον
Unlike in English, all Greek nouns have grammatical gender, that is, they are
considered masculine (ἄρσεν), feminine (θῆλυ), or neuter (οὐδέτερον, the English term
“neuter” coming from the Latin genus neutrum, literally, “(of) neither kind,” that is,
grammatically, “neither masculine nor feminine”).

The Article
Τὸ ἂρθρον
When you learn Greek nouns, it is important to learn their articles, as well, to remember
their grammatical gender: ὁ for masculine, ἡ for feminine, and τό for neuter. In this chapter,
you have mainly encountered masculine nouns, preceded, of course, by the masculine article
ὁ.
Nouns and adjectives are made up, as verbs are, of a stem and an ending; the stem
indicates the word’s general meaning (e.g. κληρ-, “farm;” ἀνθρωπ-, “man, person;” μικρ-,
“small”), while the ending, as in Latin, indicates singular or plural number (ἀριθμὸς ἑνικὸς ἢ
πληθυντικός) and the word’s function in the sentence, whether it is the subject (τὸ
ὑποκείμενον), the direct object, etc., called the word’s case (ἡ πτῶσις). Below, the stem and
ending are separated by a dash.

Cases: Nominative, Vocative, Accusative, Genitive, Dative

Αἱ πτώσεις: ὀνομαστική, κλητική, αἰτιατική, γενική, δοτική
There are five cases in Greek (one fewer than in Latin, since Greek has no ablative):
the nominative (ὀνομαστική), the vocative (κλητική), the accusative (αἰτιατική), the genitive
(γενική), and the dative (δοτική). In this chapter we have seen two cases: ἡ ὀνομαστική καὶ ἡ
αἰτιατική.
 Nominative singular (ὀνομαστικὴ ἑνική): ὁ κλῆρ-ος. Ἡ ὀνομαστική ἐστι τὸ
ὑποκείμενον ἐν φράσει. The nominative indicates the subject in a sentence; if a noun (ὄνομα)
or adjective (ἐπίθετον) is related to the subject by the verb εἰμί, that is, if it is a complement, it
also takes the nominative.
Accusative singular (αἰτιατικὴ πληθυντική): τὸν κλῆρ-ον. The accusative indicates the
direct object of a transitive verb. Observe that the article changes along with the noun’s ending.
English, the Romance languages, and many others convey meaning by the ordering of
words in a sentence. Greek, however, like Latin, does so with case endings. Thus, the sentence
“ὁ κλῆρος μικρός ἐστιν” could be written “μικρὸς ὁ κλῆρός ἐστιν,” or “ὁ Δικαιόπολις τὸν οἶκον
φιλεῖ” “τὸν οἶκον ὁ Δικαιόπολις φιλεῖ” and mean the exact same thing. In English, on the other
hand, “Dicaeopolis loves the house” and “the house loves Dicaeopolis” have entirely different
meanings.
Greek word order is not, however, entirely unimportant. As in Latin, word order can
serve a stylistic function and reflect intent on the part of the author, since, for example, the first
and last words in a sentence have the strongest effect. For example, these two sentences put
different emphases on the elements of Dicaeopolis’ walk back home:
Πρὸς τὸν οἶκον βαδίζει ὁ Δικαιόπολις ἐκ τοῦ ἀγροῦ.
Ἐκ τοῦ ἀγροῦ πρὸς τὸν οἶκον ὁ Δικαιόπολις βαδίζει.
The ἂρθρον and ἐπίθετον agree with the ὂνομα γένει, ἀριθμῷ καὶ πτώσει, in gender,
number, and case. For example: Ὁ κλῆρος μικρός ἐστιν. Τὸν μικρὸν κλῆρον ὁ Δικαιόπολις
γεωργεῖ.
The Greek article functions similarly to articles in English and the Romance languages,
though Greek proper nouns (ὀνόματα κύρια) receive articles (e.g ὁ Δικαιόπολις, ἡ Μυρρίνη).
Chapter 2
Ο ΞΑΝΘΙΑΣ
Κεφάλαιον β´ (δεύτερον)
Ἐγχειρίδιον
Βίος αὐτουργοῦ two thousand, four hundred years ago, just as it is now, is often rather
monotonous. Δικαιόπολις δὲ μάλα ἄοκνός ἐστιν ὃτι φιλεῖ τὀν κλῆρον, ὁ Ξανθίας δ᾽οὔκ, ἀλλὰ
ἀργός ἐστι καὶ ἀεὶ καθεύδει. Δικαιόπολις οὖν λέγει· «Ὦ Ξανθία, διὰ τί καθεύδεις;» But, like a
true lazy person, Xanthias is ready to excuse and defend himself, not only denying that he is
lazy, but also asserting that he is already making haste: «οὐκ ἀργός εἰμι ἀλλὰ ἤδη σπεύδω».

The Indicative Mood

Ἡ ὁριστικὴ κλίσις
Greek verb endings, on top of communicating πρόσωπον καὶ ἀριθμός, also
communicate mood (ἔγκλισις).
A verb’s mood indicates how the verb should be considered in a sentence: as in Latin
and English, the Greek indicative mood (ὁριστικὴ κλίσις) indicates statements on, or questions
about, real facts. For example: Ελαύνω τοὺς βοῦς. Διὰ τί καθεύδεις;

The First, Second, and Third Persons Singular of the Present Indicative
Τὰ τρία πρόσωπα ἑνικὰ τῆς ὁριστικῆς
Ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ κεφαλαίῳ ἐστὶ τὸ τρίτον (III) πρόσωπον ἑνικὸν τῆς ὁριστικῆς, ἐν δὲ τῷ
δευτέρῳ κεφαλαίῳ ἔχεις τὰ τρία πρόσωπα ἑνικὰ τῆς ὁριστικῆς. In the first chapter you saw the
third person singular of the present indicative, while in this chapter we have covered all three
singular persons of the present indicative.
Ἐκ τοῦ θέματος λῡ- ἔχομεν τὸ πρῶτον πρόσωπον ἐγὼ λύω, τὸ δεύτερον σὺ λύεις καὶ τὸ
τρίτον αὐτὸς λύει.
Οὕτως καὶ ἐκ τοῦ φιλε- τὸ πρῶτον πρόσωπον ἐγὼ φιλέ-ω > φιλῶ, σὺ φιλέ-εις > φιλεῖς,
αὐτὸς φιλέ-ει > φιλεῖ.
Πολλάκις ἔχομεν τό εἰμι· ἐγώ εἰμι, σὺ εἶ, αὐτός ἐστιν. Τό εἰμι καὶ τό ἐστιν ἐγκλιτικά
ἐστιν.
Ἀλλὰ ἐν τῇ Ἑλληνικῇ γλώττῃ (in the Greek language) πολλάκις οὐ πάρεστι τὸ ἐγώ, σύ,
αὐτός· αἱ δὲ γλῶτται Γερμανική, Ἀγγλική καὶ Γαλατική ἀεὶ ἔχουσιν, ἀλλὰ ἡ Ἰταλική, Ἱσπανική,
Ῥωμαϊκή (Latin) καὶ ἄλλαι (others) οὔ.
 Thus, Greek subject pronouns are often not written, since the Greek verb endings in
and of themselves contain enough information about who is performing the verb’s action. They
are, however, included when the writer wishes to emphasize the verb’s subject, as often occurs
in contrasts by the correlative particles μέν and δέ. For example: Ἐγὼ μὲν τοὺς βοῦς ἐλαύνω,
σὺ δὲ καθεύδεις.

The Imperative Mood

Ἡ προστακτική
Ἐν τῷ κεφαλαίῳ ὁ Δικαιόπολις τὸν Ξανθίαν, ἀργὸν δοῦλον, καλεῖ καὶ λέγει «σπεῦδε!»·
τὸ σπεῦδε προστακτική ἐστιν. In this chapter, Dicaeopolis calls Xanthias and says “σπεῦδε,”
commanding him to hurry, using the imperative mood to do so. As in Latin and English, the
imperative is used for commands (as well as for prayers, exhortations, and advice, among
others).
Ἐν τῷ ἑνικῷ ἀριθμῷ ἡ προστακτική ἐστιν·
λῦ-ε, πάρεχ-ε, συλλάμβαν-ε, φίλει < φίλε-ε, ἴσθι < εἰμί.
Ἐν πληθυντικῷ ἀριθμῷ ἡ προστακτική ἐστιν·
λύ-ετε, παρέχ-ετε, συλλαμβάν-ετε, φιλεῖτε < φιλέ-ετε, ἔστε < ἐιμί
Observe that the imperative of contract verbs like φιλέω contracts as well (ε-ε > ει, ε-
ετε > ειτε).
While the Romans would often use “noli” and “nolite” with the infinitive for negative
commands, and English speakers “don’t” with the infinitive (e.g. “Don’t be lazy!”), ἐν τῇ
Ἑλληνικῇ διαλέκτῳ ἡ ἀποφατικὴ (negative) προστακτικὴ ἔχει τὸ μή. For example: Μὴ ἀργὸς
ἴσθι. Μὴ ἔκφερε τὸν λίθον.

Accents and Tones

Αἱ κεραῖαι καὶ οἱ τόνοι
First of all, it is important to recognize the difference between accent (κεραία) and pitch
or stress (τόνος). In Greek, accents are used as written marks used to indicate which syllable
in a word should be pitched differently or stressed. To use an example from a modern language,
the Spanish word for heart is “corazon,” but to indicate that the last syllable should be stressed,
it is always written “corazón.” The accent works the same in Greek, unlike in French, Italian,
Hungarian, and other languages that indicate not stress, but changes in vowel aperture with an
accent. In Greek, the syllable with the accent is pronounced either at a higher pitch or tone (the
more “classical” pronunciation) or simply with greater stress (a slightly later pronunciation).
 There is more information on accents on pages 437-440 of your book. Remember that
the circumflex accent, which indicates a rise and fall in tone, may only be written on long
vowels and diphthongs; accordingly, our book does not add macron signs (which indicate long
vowels) on vowels with circumflex accents. Also, remember that the acute accent can only fall
on the first, second, or third syllable from the end of a word (e.g. συλλαβή, λαμβάνω,
ἄνθρωπος), while the circumflex on the first or second, the latter only if the last syllable is short
(e.g. καλῶς, οἶκος).

Accents in the Imperative

Ὁ τόνος ἐν τῇ προστακτικῇ
In the imperative, a verb’s accent moves back by one syllable: if the verb is not
contract, it moves back to the third syllable (e.g. λάμβανε > λαμβάνω) (although on occasion
it remains on the second syllable, as in φέρε > φέρω), and if the verb is contract, it moves back
to the second syllable (e.g. γεώργει > γεωργέω, φίλει > φιλέω).
Note that imperatives such as λῦε, σπεῦδε, and αἶρε take a circumflex accent: this is
because the penult is long and the ultima short ( – u ). Some grammars call this the final trochee
rule.

Declension
Ἡ κλίσις
Ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς ὁ καλ-ὸς οἶκ-ος τοῦ Δικαιοπόλιδός ἐστιν. Ὁ δὲ αὐτουργὸς τ-ὸν οἶκ-ον
φιλεῖ, ἀλλὰ ἕωθεν ἐκ τ-οῦ οἶκ-ου ἐκβαίνει· ὅτε ὁ ἥλιος καταδύνει ὁ Δικαιόπολις πρὸς τὸν οἶκον
βαδίζει ὅτι μάλα κάμνει. Τέλος δὲ ἐν τ-ῷ οἴκ-ῳ ἡσυχάζει.
As you can see, by joining various endings to the stem of a noun, we can derive five
cases (not six, as in Latin, since Greek does not have an ablative case). From the stem ἀγρ- we
have: ὁ αγρός (ὀνομαστική), ὦ ἀγρέ (κλητική), τὸν ἀγρόν (αἰτιατική), τοῦ ἀγροῦ (γενική), τῷ
ἀγρῷ (δοτική). (There is a table with these forms on page 28 of your book).
Masculine (ἄρσεν) adjectives (τὸ ἐπίθετον) like καλ-ός decline in the same way, and
the masculine (ὁ) and neuter (τό) articles decline similarly (the articles receive the stem τ-),
albeit some exceptions: the masculine nominative remains ὁ, the neuter nominative and
accusative share the form τό, and the vocative for both is simply the interjection ὦ.
Neuter nouns and adjectives decline the same way as masculine nouns, though they
share an ending for the nominative, vocative, and accusative (-ον). Thus, if we take the stem
δενδρ-, we get: τὸ δένδρον (ὀνομαστική), ὦ δένδρον (κλητική), τὸ δένδρον (αἰτιατική), τοῦ
δένδρου (γενική), τῷ δένδρῳ (δοτική).

Cases
Αἱ πτῶσεις
Ἡ ὀνομαστική (the nominative) indicates the subject or a complement of the subject
with the verb “to be” (that is, an adjective or noun that describes the subject).
Ὁ Δικαιόπολις αὐτουργός ἑστιν.
Ἡ κλητική (the vocative) is used to address someone.
Ὦ Ξανθία, ἐλθὲ δεῦρο, κατάρατε δοῦλε!
Ἡ αἰτιατική (the accusative) indicates the direct object of a transitive verb, as well as
being used with prepositions that express the idea of movement into a place.
Ὁ δεσπότης τὸν δοῦλον τύπτει.
Ὦ Ξανθία φέρε τὸ ἄροτρον.
Ὁ αὐτουργὸς πρὸς τὸν οἶκον βαδίζει.
Ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὑπὸ τὸ ζυγὸν ἄγει τὸυς βοῦς.
Ἡ γενική (the genitive) has only been covered insofar as it is paired with prepositions
that express movement out of a place.
Ὁ Δικαιόπολις ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου ἐκβαίνει.
Ἡ δοτική (the dative) has only been covered insofar as it is paired with prepositions
that express where something takes place.
Ὁ Δικαιόπολις ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ πονεῖ.
Ὁ δοῦλος ὑπὸ τῷ δένδρῳ ἡσυχάζει.
Chapter 3
Ο ΑΡΟΤΟΣ
Κεφάλαιον γ´ (τρίτον)
Ἐγχειρίδιον
In Chapter Two you learned the first, second, and third persons singular of verbs like
λύω, φιλέω, and εἰμί in the present indicative. In this chapter we covered the third person plural:
for example, λύ-ουσι(ν), φιλέ-ουσι(ν) > φιλοῦσι(ν), εἰσι(ν).
Notice that third persons plural ending in -σι receive a movable ν (which also applies
to third person singular verbs ending in -σι, such as φη-σί(ν)), which we covered in Chapter
One.

The Second Person Plural Imperative

Δεύτερον πρόσωπον προστακτικῆς, πληθυντικῷ ἀριθμῷ
All the forms of the imperative you learned in Chapter Two were singular and second-
person, used to address a person directly: σπεῦδε, φίλει, ἴσθι, ἐλθέ.
As you began this chapter, you likely noticed new forms of the imperative, used to
command (or advise or exhort) more than one person (or animal). This is the second person
plural imperative; the forms you have seen so far are: σπεύδ-ετε, φιλεῖτε (<φιλέ-ετε), ἔστε,
ἔλθ-ετε.

The Infinitive
Ἡ ἀπαρέμφατος
Ἐν τῷ κεφαλαίῳ ὁ Ξανθίας «μέγας ἐστὶν ὁ λίθος» φησίν «οὐ δυνατόν ἐστιν αἴρειν
αὐτόν». Ἔμειτα δὲ ὁ δοῦλος «οὐ δυνατόν ἐστι φέρειν αὐτόν» φησιν.
In these two sentences the verbs αἴρειν and φέρειν (“to lift” and “to carry,” respectively)
are in their infinitive form. Observe these forms: λύ-ειν, φιλεῖν > φιλέ-ειν. You can see that the
ending -ειν indicates the infinitive; εἶναι (“to be”) and ἰέναι (“to go”), however, while also
being infinitives, take on irregular forms.

Articles, Adjectives, and Nouns

Τὸ ἄρθρον καὶ τὰ ἐπιθέτα καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα
Ἀπὸ τοῦ δευτέρου κεφαλαίου ἔχετε τὸ ἄρθρον καὶ ἐπίθετα καὶ ὀνόματα γένους
ἀρσενικοῦ καὶ θηλυκοῦ.
 Ἐν τῷ πληθυντικῷ τὰ ἀρσενικὰ ὀνόματα ἔχει -οι, ἐν ὀνομαστικῇ καὶ κλητικῇ· ἐν
αἰτιατικῇ ἔχει -ους· ἐν γενικῇ ἔχει -ων· ἐν δοτικῇ ἔχει -οις. Ἡ γενικὴ τοῦ οὐδετέρου γένους καὶ
ἡ δοτικὴ εἰσι καὶ -ων καὶ -οις, ἀλλὰ ἐν ὀνομαστικῇ καὶ κλητικῇ καὶ αἰτιατικῇ ἔχουσιν -α, ὥσπερ
ἐν τῇ Ῥωμαϊκῇ γλώττῃ (e.g. “oppida”).
As in Latin, neuter nouns, adjectives, and pronouns share a case ending in the
nominative, vocative, and accusative singular and in the nominative, vocative, and accusative
plural.
Τὸ ἄρθρον declines in the same way as nouns and adjectives, with τ- as the stem (except
in the masculine nominative singular (ὁ) and plural (οἱ), and in the neuter singular nominative,
vocative, and accusative (τό)). Remember that in the genitive and dative cases, τὸ ἄρθρον has
a circumflex accent.
In general, nouns and adjectives that, in the nominative, have an acute accent on the
last syllable (these words are called “oxytone,” for example, καλός and ἀγρός), receive a
circumflex accent in the genitive and dative (they become “perispomenon”). You can find
complete declension tables on page 47 of your book.

The Subjunctive
Ἡ ὑποτακτική
We have not yet covered this verbal mood in your book, but we will introduce it now,
since it is not hard to learn and is very useful both for speaking and for having our classes.
There are many uses for this mood, but for now we will focus on purpose clauses, like:
Ὁ γεωργὸς τοὺς βοῦς ὑπὸ ζυγὸν ἄγει ἵνα ἀροτρεύῃ.
Agricola boves sub iugum ducit ut aret.
The farmer leads the oxen under the yoke in order to/that he might plough.
In many languages now, such a sentence is expressed in various ways (e.g. in order to
plow, para arar, per arare, zu pflügen), but it generally responds to the question of why an
action is taken. Διὰ τί τοῦτο ποιεῖ; In the place of ἵνα you may also use ὡς or ὡς ἄν, and for the
negative, ἵνα μή, ὡς μή, or simply μή.
Ὁ Φίλιππος συλλαμβάνει ὡς μὴ ὁ πατὴρ μόνος πόνῃ.
Philippus adiuvat ne pater solus laboret.
Philippus helps in order that/so that the father might not work alone.
These are the forms of the present subjunctive:
ὁριστική φέρεις φέρομεν φέρουσι(ν)
φέρω φέρει φέρετε ὑποτακτική
φέρω φέρωσι(ν) φιλοῦμεν φιλῇς
φέρῃς ὁριστική φιλεῖτε φιλῇ
φέρῃ φιλῶ φιλοῦσι(ν) φιλῶμεν
φέρωμεν φιλεῖς ὑποτακτική φιλῆτε
φέρητε φιλεῖ φιλῶ φιλῶσι(ν)
 Chapter 4
ΠΡΟΣ ΤΗΙ ΚΡΗΝΗΙ
Κεφάλαιον δ´ (τέταρτον)
Ἐγχειρίδιον
By now you have encountered examples of all six forms of the present indicative, both
singular and plural; now all that is left is to memorize them well. They are, in the singular, λύ-
ω, λύ-εις, λύ-ει, and in the plural, λύ-ομεν, λύ-ετε, λύ-ουσι(ν).
We have also covered contract verbs, like φιλέω (stem φιλε-), which gives us φιλῶ (<
φιλέ-ω), φιλεῖς (< φιλέ-εις), and φιλεῖ (< φιλέ-ει) in the singular and φιλοῦμεν (< φιλέ-ομεν),
φιλεῖτε (< φιλέ-ετε), and φιλοῦσι(ν) (<φιλέ-ουσι(ν)) in the plural. Finally, we have seen the
verb “to be,” an irregular verb, which in the singular is εἰμί, εἶ, ἐστί(ν), and in the plural ἐσμέν,
ἐστέ, ἐισί(ν). As we saw above, the forms of εἰμί are all enclitic, except for the second person
singular εἶ.
For the sake of convenience, we have so far always divided verbs into two parts, into a
variable final part (for example, -ομεν) and an invariable initial part (for example, λῡ-), terming
the former the verb’s ending and the latter its stem. We have done so with a dash: for example,
λύ-ομεν.
However, historical analysis of these forms show a more complex division of a verb’s
parts: for example, we find that in the verb form λύομεν, the ending is actually only -μεν, just
as in ἐσ-μέν, making the stem λυο-.
In the verb forms λύο-μεν and λύε-τε observe the vowels -ο- and -ε-: these are called
thematic vowels, since they are, in the strict sense, at the end of the verb’s stem (θέμα). In the
other persons, due to various phonetic phenomena, the thematic -ε- and -ο- are not
recognizable, but you they will soon appear in other verbal forms.
As we have already said, φιλέω is an example of a contract verb, that is, a verb whose
stem (in this case, φιλε-) ends in a vowel that contracts with the first vowel of the ending. Since
you already know the forms of φιλέω, it will be easy to learn these general rules for vowel
contraction by -ε-: ε + ε > ει; ε + ο > ου; and the other instances where the -ε- simply falls, that
is, ε + ω > ω, ε + ει > ει, and ε + ου > ου.
Note well that the accent over a vowel contraction is always circumflex.

Feminine Article, Adjectives, and Nouns

Τὸ ἄρθρον, τὰ ἐπίθετα καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα· θηλυκὸν γένος
 In Chapters Two and Three you learned the singular and plural forms of masculine and
neuter nouns, as well as their corresponding article and adjectives.
At the start of this chapter you encountered a number of feminine nouns that decline on
the model of κρήνη; in your book, we have presented you with their complete declension, in
the singular and plural, with the article and an adjective (which, as always, corresponds with
the noun in gender, number, and case).
In the singular, the nominative and the vocative have the ending -η; the accusative the
ending -ην; the genitive -ης; and the dative -ῃ; while in the plural, the nominative and vocative
have the ending -αι; the accusative -ᾱς; the genitive -ῶν; and the dative -αις. The article has the
same endings with the stem τ-, excepting in the nominative, which is ἡ in the singular and αἱ
in the plural.
Note that the genitive plural of the Greek article, all Greek nouns, and all Greek
adjectives always ends in -ων. In the same vein, the dative singular always ends in -ι, though it
is sometimes rendered as an iota subscript.
As with the masculine and neuter articles, the feminine article, in the genitive and
dative, takes a circumflex accent.
Furthermore, again as in the masculine and neuter, nouns and adjectives that decline on
the same model as κρήνη (that is, nouns and adjectives of the first declension, as we will soon
explain) and are oxytone (that is, that have an acute accent on the ultima) become perispomena
(they receive a circumflex accent on the ultima) in the singular and plural oblique cases
(genitive and dative).
The diphthong -αι in the nominative and vocative plural (just as the masculine -οι) is
considered short for the purposes of accentuation; thus, the nominative plural of κρήνη is
rendered κρῆναι (see the final trochee rule explained above).
Remember that the genitive plural of all first-declension nouns is perispomenon (they
have a circumflex accent on the ultima): for example, κρηνῶν.

The Participle
Ἡ μετοχή
In your book, the participle will be covered in a few chapters, but it is an easy concept
to grasp. The participle is a verb form which acts as an adjective, but retains the significance
of a verb’s action. For example:
Πολλοὶ ἄνθρωποι ἥκουσι βουλόμενοι θεωρεῖν τοὺς χοροὺς καὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας.
 Many people come wanting/because they want to watch the dances and the
contests.
Αἱ γυναῖκες πολὺν χρόνον διαλεγόμεναι ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ μένουσιν.
The women stay in the agora for much time speaking/while they speak.
Here you can see the participles formed from the verbs βούλομαι and διαλέγομαι. We
will find many other verbs like these ones, in the middle voice, whose participles are
constructed the same way. Some Greek deponent verbs (who, in the present, only have a middle
form) correspond to Latin deponent verbs (e.g. διαλέγομαι = colloquor, ἐπανέρχομαι =
regredior), while others have an active-voice equivalent (e.g. βούλομαι = volo).
Greek has an active and passive voice, just as in Latin (and also as in English: for
example, “I want,” in the active voice, does not mean the same as “I am wanted,” the same
verb, but in the passive voice). However, Greek also has a middle voice, which, despite often
having the same form as the passive, conveys that a verb’s action is taken with greater intensity.
Take the verb παρέχω, which means “I give,” or “I provide:” you could say παρέχομαι to
signify “I give” with greater spirit. The very same παρέχομαι could, however, mean “I am
given” or “I am provided,” if it is in the passive voice.
Nearly all Greek verbs can be expressed in the middle voice, so we can construct a
middle participle from nearly all Greek verbs.
ἄγω < ἄγομαι < ἀγόμενος ἀγομένη ἀγόμενον
φιλῶ < φιλοῦμαι < φιλούμενος φιλουμένη φιλούμενον