A while back, I posted some notes in which I tried to summarize the particles and other short words in Homer that were giving me trouble in reading comprehension. They were brief and sketchy, and I got some comments complaining that they were not accurate or oversimplified things. Since then, I’ve been accumulating notes on this sort of thing. Below are the part of those notes on ἄρα, which is one of the trickiest ones to interpret.
The format I’m actually using is LaTeX with PDF output, so the bbcode representation for posting on textkit is sometimes not formatted exactly the way I would like, but I hope it’s fairly readable.
— ἄρα —
The word ἄρα is a bland discourse particle. It becomes ἄρ (enclitic) when followed by a consonant, and
is often ῥά when it comes after a monosyllabic word.
It is postpositive and usually comes packed into two-word phrases such as δ᾽ ἄρ, τ᾽ ἄρ, and ὣς ἄρα.
Time sequence and causality
Ἄρα is cognate with harmony'' and articulate,‘’ coming from a PIE root meaning to join or fit together.
It can thus evoke the linkage of cause and effect, or the time-order of events, like English ``then.‘’
Iliad 1.45-46
τόξ᾽ ὤμοισιν ἔχων ἀμφηρεφέα τε φαρέτρην·
bow shoulder have close-covered and quiver
pl.ACC pl.DAT PTCP.m.NOM f.ACC PCL ACC
ἔκλαγξαν δ᾽ ἄῤ ὀϊστοὶ ἐπ᾽ ὤμων χωομένοιο,
scream, clang but - arrow on, at shoulder be angered
pl.AOR PCL PCL pl.NOM PREP pl.GEN PTCP.MP.m.GEN
With bow and close-covered quiver over his shoulder,
then the arrows rattled on the shoulder of the enraged [Apollo].
When used to describe causation, it may introduce either the outcome or, as in this example, the cause of something previously stated:
Iliad 1.429-430
χωόμενον κατὰ θυμὸν ἐϋζώνοιο γυναικὸς
be angered against; downward soul well-girded woman
PTCP.MP.m.ACC PREP ACC f.GEN GEN
τήν ῥα βίῃ ἀέκοντος ἀπηύρων· αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς
- - strength, force unwilling wrest, rob but Odysseús
f.ACC PCL DAT m.GEN pl.IMPF PCL NOM
[Thetis speaks to Achilles and then rushes off, leaving him], angered \ldots
because of the well-girded woman [Briseis] of whom they had robbed him \ldots
Sometimes when serving its time-ordering function, it helps to mark the transition from speech
to narrative, like a verbal close-quotes placed near the beginning of the first sentence after the transition.
An alternative to the standard ὣς ἔφατ᾽ is the following equally stereotyped speech-tag formula:
Iliad 2.35
Ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας ἀπεβήσετο, τὸν δὲ λίπ᾽ αὐτοῦ
thus - sound, speak leave, get off - but leave here, there
ADV PCL AOR.PTCP.m.NOM AOR.MID m.ACC PCL AOR ADV
[At the end of a divine dream’s speech to Agamemnon:] Thus then having spoken, it departed, leaving him with these things [to ponder] \ldots
Since the default in narrative is to string together events, the word often adds nothing to the meaning
and serves only as metrical filler. In this stock phrase it prevents hiatus:
Iliad 1.458
αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥ᾽ εὔξαντο καὶ οὐλοχύτας προβάλοντο,
but after; because - declare; pray and ceremonial barley throw before
PCL CONJ PCL pl.AOR.MID CONJ pl.ACC pl.AOR.MID
But after [Chryses, his daughter, and Odysseus] had prayed and scattered the ceremonial barley, \ldots
Highlighting facts
Sometimes the word does contribute something identifiable to the meaning, but semantic bleaching has introduced
meanings that diverge from its origins as a description of time and causality.
Some usages in quoted speech can be translated as visual phrases like you see,'' or behold.‘’ There can be literal vision involved:
Iliad 2.59
στῆ δ᾽ ἄῤ ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς καί με πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπεν·
stand, set; cause but - above; beyond head and I, me toward word, speech, tale say, speak
AOR PCL PCL PREP GEN CONJ m.ACC PREP ACC AOR
[Agamemnon recounts the dream.] And behold! There it was standing by my head,
and it said these words to me.
Sometimes it is more of a metaphorical you see,'' like a marking with a yellow highlighter pen, also sometimes translatable as of course,‘’ or ``naturally:‘’
Iliad 19.95-97
καὶ γὰρ δή νύ ποτε Ζεὺς ἄσατο, τόν περ ἄριστον
and for indeed now any Zeús infatuate, make foolish - - best
ADV PCL PCL ADV PCL NOM AOR.MID m.ACC PCL m.ACC
ἀνδρῶν ἠδὲ θεῶν φασ᾽ ἔμμεναι· ἀλλ᾽ ἄρα καὶ τὸν
man - god say; think be, exist, have but - and -
pl.GEN CONJ pl.GEN pl INF ADV PCL ADV m.ACC
Ἥρη θῆλυς ἐοῦσα δολοφροσύνῃς ἀπάτησεν,
Hera female be, exist, have trickery to lie, trick
NOM f.NOM PTCP.f.NOM pl.DAT AOR
[Agamemnon introduces a myth about the succession of the Mycenean throne.]
\ldots for indeed, at one time [Hera] made a fool of Zeus, who
they say is the best of men and gods: but, you see/naturally,
Hera, being female, fooled him with trickery \ldots
These two meanings are almost opposite: an expression of surprise, or a statement that of course something is true.
Questions and rhetoric
Ἄρα can connect a question to the preceding material that motivates it, as in
English examples like But in that case...?,'' or Who, then, will bell the cat?‘’
Iliad 1.8
Τίς τ᾽ ἄρ σφωε θεῶν ἔριδι ξυνέηκε μάχεσθαι;
which? who? what? and - they, themselves god strife send together; hear fight
? PCL PCL dual.m.ACC pl.GEN DAT AOR INF.MP
And which, then, of the gods pitted those two against one another in strife?
It can be used to point out that a certain thing \emph{would} have happened, if some other
unexpected event had not prevented it.
Iliad 6.75
εἰ μὴ ἄῤ Αἰνείᾳ τε καὶ Ἕκτορι εἶπε παραστὰς
if not - aineías and and Héktōr say, speak stand, be present
CONJ PCL PCL DAT PCL CONJ DAT AOR AOR.PTCP.m.NOM
[The Trojans would have been defeated] had not [Priamides], being with Aineias and Hector, said \ldots
Sources:
[Beekes 2010] Beekes, Etymological dictionary of Greek, 2010.
[Cunliffe 1924] Cunliffe, A lexicon of the Homeric dialect, 1924.
[Denniston 1954] Denniston, The Greek particles, 2nd ed., 1954.
[George 2018] George, “Homeric ἄρα: An (in)consequential particle,” Classical Philology,
113 (2018) 241. doi:10.1086/698210.
[Monro 1891] Monro, A grammar of the Homeric Dialect, 1891.
[Smyth 1920] Smyth, Greek grammar for colleges, 1920.