ἡμεῖς δ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἦν τετρημένα
ἐνεβύσαμεν ῥακίοισι κἀπακτώσαμεν,
I’m not sure what ἧν means here. I can only think it’s the 3rd sg imperfect of εἰμι with ὁσα τετρημενα as its subject - so ‘we stuffed up every opening there was…’ but I’m not sure?
Help would be appreciated!
ἦν (not ἧν) is 3rd sg imperfect of εἰμί here, as you suggest. Plural neutral subjects often take the singular form of the verb. Perhaps your trouble is with the relative ὅσα (as many as…) put in the middle of the sentence: And we – as many as ἦν τετρημένα – we stuffed up …
Thank you very much!
ἦν τετρημένα is the periphrastic form of the pluperfect middle/passive.
See Smyth sec. 599a, 599d :
- Perfect.—For the simple perfect and pluperfect periphrastic forms are often used.
a. For the perfect or pluperfect active indicative the forms of the perfect active participle and εἰμί or ἦν may be used: as λελυκώς εἰμι for λέλυκα, λελυκὼς ἦν for ἐλελύκη. So βεβοηθηκότες ἦσαν for ἐβεβοηθήκεσαν (βοηθέω come to aid); εἰμὶ τεθηκὼς for τέθηκα I have placed; γεγραφὼς ἦν for ἐγεγράφη I had written; πεπονθὼς ἦν I had suffered. > Such forms are more common in the pluperfect and in general denote state rather than action.
d. The perfect or pluperfect passive is often paraphrased by the perfect participle and ἐστί or ἦν; as γεγραμμένον ἐστί it stands written, ἐστὶ δεδογμένον it stands resolved, παρηγγελμένον ἦν ῀ παρήγγελτο (παραγγέλλω give orders).
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Smyth+grammar+599&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0007
The subject is the neuter relative pronoun ὅσ<α>, which, as Polemistes notes, takes a singular verb.
“whatever [parts] had been/were pierced through”, i.e., “wherever there were holes, we stuffed them up”.
Thanks Hylander!