Aorist (Ancient Greek)
In the grammar of Ancient Greek, including Koine, the aorist is a class of verb forms that generally portray a situation as simple or undefined, that is, as having aorist aspect. In the grammatical terminology of classical Greek, it is a tense, one of the seven divisions of the conjugation of a verb, found in all moods and voices.
Terminology
In traditional grammatical terminology, the aorist is a "tense", a section of the verb paradigm formed with the same stem across all moods. By contrast, in theoretical linguistics, tense refers to a form that specifies a point in time, so the aorist is a tense-aspect combination.The literary Greek of Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries BC, Attic Greek, was the standard school-room form of Greek for centuries. This article therefore chiefly describes the Attic aorist, describing the variants at other times and in other dialects as needed. The poems of Homer were studied in Athens, and may have been compiled there; they are in Epic or Homeric Greek, an artificial blend of several dialects, not including Attic. The Homeric aorist differs in morphology from Attic, but the educated Athenians imitated Homeric syntax.
Conversely, Hellenistic or Koine Greek was a blend of several dialects after the conquests of Alexander; most of the written texts that survive in Koine imitate the Attic taught in schools to a greater or lesser extent, but the spoken language of the writers appears to have simplified and regularized the formation of the aorist, and some of the features of Attic syntax are much less frequently attested.
Morphology
A verb may have either a first aorist or a second aorist: the distinction is like that between weak and strong verbs in English. A very few verbs have both types of aorist, sometimes with a distinction of meaning: for example ἵστημι has both ἕστησα and ἕστην as aorists, but the first has a transitive meaning and the second an intransitive meaning.First
The stem of the first aorist is often marked by -σα- in the active and middle voice, and -θη- in the passive voice. Because of the σ, it is also called sigmatic aorist.Compensatory lengthening
affects first aorist forms whose verbal root ends in a sonorant.In Attic and Ionic Greek, the σ in the first aorist suffix causes compensatory lengthening of the vowel before the sonorant, producing a long vowel.
In Aeolic Greek, the σ causes compensatory lengthening of the sonorant instead of the vowel, producing a double consonant.
The present stem sometimes undergoes sound changes caused by a suffix — for instance, palatal approximant. In this case, the aorist is formed from the verbal root without the present-stem sound changes.
Kiparsky analyzes the process as debuccalization of s to h in Proto-Greek, metathesis of h and the sonorant so that h comes before the sonorant, and assimilation of h to the vowel or to the consonant.
- men-sa → men-ha → mehna → mēna or menna
First aorist endings
Most of the passive forms of the first aorist have endings similar to those of the root aorist.
| λύω "release", aor. λυσ- | indicative | subjunctive | optative | imperative | infinitive | participle |
| active | ἔλυσα ἔλυσας ἔλυσε ἐλύσαμεν ἐλύσατε ἔλυσαν | λύσαιμι λύσαις λύσαι λύσαιμεν λύσαιτε λύσαιεν | — λῦσον λυσάτω — λύσατε λυσάντων/λυσάτωσαν | λῦσαι | λύσας λύσασα λῦσαν | |
| middle | λύσωμαι λύσῃ λύσηται λυσώμεθα λύσησθε λύσωνται | λυσαίμην λύσαιο λύσαιτο λυσαίμεθα λύσαισθε λύσαιντο | — | λύσασθαι | λυσάμενος λυσαμένη λυσάμενον | |
| passive | ἐλύθην ἐλύθης ἐλύθη ἐλύθημεν ἐλύθητε ἐλύθησαν | λυθῶ λυθῇς λυθῇ λυθῶμεν λυθῆτε λυθῶσι | λυθείην λυθείης λυθείη λυθείημεν/λυθεῖμεν λυθείητε/λυθεῖτε λυθείησαν/λυθεῖεν | — λύθητι λυθήτω — λύθητε λυθέντων/λυθήτωσαν | λυθῆναι | λυθείς λυθεῖσα λυθέν |
Second
The stem of the second aorist is the bare root of the verb, or a reduplicated version of the root. In these verbs, the present stem often has e-grade of ablaut and adds a nasal infix or suffix to the basic verb root, but the aorist has zero-grade and no infix or suffix.Zero-grade
When the present has a diphthong, the second aorist has the offglide of the diphthong.- present λείπω "leave", aorist λιπ
- present πέτομαι "fly", aorist πτ
- present τρέπω, aorist τραπ
Reduplication
- present ἄγω "lead", aorist ἄγαγ
Second aorist endings
| λείπω "leave", aor. λιπ( | indicative | subjunctive | optative | imperative | infinitive | participle |
| active | ἔλιπον ἔλιπες ἔλιπεν ἐλίπομεν ἐλίπετε ἔλιπον | λίπω λίπῃς λίπῃ λίπωμεν λίπητε λίπωσιν | λίποιμι λίποις λίποι λίποιμεν λίποιτε λίποιεν | — λίπε λιπέτω — λίπετε λιπόντων | λιπεῖν | λιπών λιποῦσα λιπόν |
| middle | ἐλιπόμην ἐλίπου ἐλίπετο ἐλιπόμεθα ἐλίπεσθε ἐλίποντο | λίπωμαι λίπῃ/ει λίπηται λιπώμεθα λίπησθε λίπωνται | λιποίμην λίποιο λίποιτο λιποίμεθα λιποίεσθε λίποιντο | — λιποῦ λιπέσθω — λίπεσθε λιπέσθων | λιπέσθαι | λιπόμενος λιπομένη λιπόμενον |
| passive | ἐβλάβην ἐβλάβης ἐβλάβη ἐβλάβημεν ἐβλάβητε ἐβλάβησαν | βλαβῶ βλαβῇς βλαβῇ βλαβῶμεν βλαβῆτε βλαβῶσι | βλαβείην βλαβείης βλαβείη βλαβείημεν/βλαβεῖμεν βλαβείητε/βλαβεῖτε βλαβείησαν/βλαβεῖεν | — βλάβητι βλαβήτω — βλάβητε βλαβέντων/βλαβήτωσαν | βλαβῆναι | βλαβείς βλαβεῖσα βλαβέν |
Second aorist passive
A second aorist passive is distinguished from a first aorist passive only by the absence of θ. A few verbs have passive aorists in both forms, usually with no distinction in meaning; but ἐφάνην "I appeared" is distinguished from ἐφάνθην "I was shown".There is no correlation between the first/second aorist distinction in the active and the passive: a verb with an active second aorist may have a passive first aorist or vice versa.
Root
The root aorist is characteristic of athematic verbs. Like the second aorist, the stem is the bare root, and endings are similar to the imperfect in the indicative, and identical to the present in non-indicative moods. It is sometimes included as a subcategory of the second aorist because of these similarities, but unlike the second aorist of thematic verbs, it has no thematic.| indicative | subjunctive | optative | imperative | infinitive | participle | |
| active | ἔγνων ἔγνως ἔγνω ἔγνωμεν ἔγνωτε ἔγνωσαν | γνῶ γνῷς γνῷ γνῶμεν γνῶτε γνῶσι | γνοίην γνοίης γνοίη γνοῖμεν, γνοίημεν γνοῖτε, γνοίητε γνοῖεν, γνοίησαν | — γνῶθι γνώτω — γνῶτε γνόντων | γνῶναι | γνούς γνοῦσα γνόν |
The singular aorist indicative active of some athematic verbs uses a stem formed by the suffix -κα and takes first aorist rather than root aorist endings.
Syntax
The aorist generally presents a situation as an undivided whole, also known as the perfective aspect.Aspectual variations
The aorist has a number of variations in meaning that appear in all moods.Ingressive
In verbs denoting a state or continuing action, the aorist may express the beginning of the action or the entrance into the state. This is called ingressive aorist.- βασιλεύω "I am king" — ἐβασίλευσα "I became king" or "I ruled"
- : basileúō — ebasíleusa
Resultative
- ἐβούλευον "I was deliberating" is imperfect; ἐβούλευσα "I decided" is aorist.
Indicative mood
Narrative
- ἔπαιζε ἐν τῇ κώμῃ ταύτῃ... μετ᾽ ἄλλων ἡλίκων ἐν ὁδῷ. καὶ οἱ παῖδες παίζοντες εἵλοντο ἑωυτῶν βασιλέα εἶναι τοῦτον δὴ... ὁ δὲ αὐτῶν διέταξε τοὺς μὲν οἰκίας οἰκοδομέειν, τοὺς δὲ δορυφόρους εἶναι, τὸν δέ κου τινὰ αὐτῶν ὀφθαλμὸν βασιλέος εἶναι, τῷ δὲ τινὶ τὰς ἀγγελίας φέρειν ἐδίδου γέρας,...
- :
The narrative aorist has the same force, of an undivided or single action, when used by itself:
- ἐπεὶ δὲ εἶδον αὐτὸν οἵπερ πρόσθεν προσεκύνουν, καὶ τότε προσεκύνησαν, καίπερ εἰδότες ὅτι ἐπὶ θάνατον ἄγοιτο.
- :
Complexive
Herodotus introduces his story of Cyrus playing with:
- καὶ ὅτε ἦν δεκαέτης ὁ παῖς, πρῆγμα ἐς αὑτὸν τοιόνδε γενόμενον ἐξέφηνέ μιν·
- :
- Οὑμὸς πατὴρ Κέφαλος ἐπείσθη μὲν ὑπὸ Περικλέους εἰς ταύτην γῆν ἀφικέσθαι, ἔτη δὲ τριάκοντα ᾤκησε.
- : Lysias, Against Eratosthenes 4
Past-in-the-past
- τούς τε Ἱμεραίους ἔπεισαν ξυμπολεμεῖν καὶ αὐτούς τε ἕπεσθαι καὶ τοῖς ἐκ τῶν νεῶν τῶν σφετέρων ναύταις ὅσοι μὴ εἶχον ὅπλα παρασχεῖν
- :
Gnomic
The gnomic aorist expresses the way things generally happen, as in proverbs. The empiric aorist states a fact of experience, and is modified by the adverbs often, always, sometimes, already, not yet, never, etc.The gnomic aorist is regarded as a primary tense in determining the mood of verbs in subordinate clauses. That is to say, subordinate clauses take the subjunctive instead of the optative.
- οἱ τύραννοι πλούσιον ὃν ἄν βούλωνται παραχρῆμ’ ἐποίησαν
Dramatic
In dialogues within tragedy and comedy, the first person singular aorist or present expresses an action performed by the act of speaking, like thanking someone, or, according to another analysis, a state of mind. This is called tragic or dramatic aorist. The aorist is used when the action is complete in the single statement; the present when the speaker goes on to explain how or why he is acting.- Ἀλλαντοπώλης. ἥσθην ἀπειλαῖς, ἐγέλασα ψολοκομπίαις,
Sausage-seller. I like your threats, laugh at your empty bluster,
dance a fling, and cry cuckoo all around.
Indicative mood with particle
Unattainable wish
A wish about the past that cannot be fulfilled is expressed by the aorist indicative with the particles εἴθε or εἰ γάρ "if only". This is called the aorist of unattainable wish.- εἴθε σοι, ὦ Περίκλεις, τότε συνεγενόμην.
An unattainable wish about the present uses the imperfect. A wish about the future uses the optative with or without a particle; an optative of wish may be unattainable.
Past potential
The aorist indicative with the modal particle ἄν, Homeric κέ, may express past potentiality, probability, or necessity.- τίς γὰρ ἂν ᾠήθη ταῦτα γενέσθαι;
Iterative
The aorist indicative with ἄν án may express repeated or customary past action. This is called the iterative indicative. It is similar to the past potential, since it denotes what could have happened at a given point, but unlike the past potential, it is a statement of fact.- ὁπότε δ’ αὖ γένοιτο κατά τινας τῶν πρόσθεν συμμαχεσαμένων, εἶπεν ἄν
Unreal
Participles
Outside of indirect discourse, an aorist participle may express any time relative to the main verb.Non-indicative moods
Outside of the indicative mood, sometimes the aorist determines time, and sometimes the function of the mood determines it. When the aorist does not determine time, it determines aspect instead.Aorist in indirect discourse refers to past time relative to the main verb, since it replaces an aorist indicative.
An imperative, subjunctive or optative in an independent clause usually refers to future time, because the imperative express a command, the subjunctive expresses urging, prohibition, or deliberation, and the optative expresses a wish or possibility.
In dependent clauses, the time of an aorist subjunctive, optative, or imperative is based on the function of the mood. The subjunctive is used with main verbs in the present and future tenses, and the optative is used with main verbs in the past tenses and to express potentiality in the future.