Hi there, I wonder if anyone can explain to me the sense of the present optative “enarizoi” which has its own clause within the historic sequence of deliberative indirect questions, lines 189-192. Is this clause potential perhaps? Is it just a change of aspect? My ponderings come up with no means to express the different tenses here. Best wishes to everybody from Yorkshire!
Sorry you never got a reply to this post, which I’ve only just spotted. Usually you could can on getting a reply from one of the very helpful people on this forum.
You’re right, surrounded by the normal aorists the present εναριζοι does stand out. The difference will be aspectual. I suppose it’s what the grammarians would call “conative”—have a go at killing him. The other contemplated actions are in his power to accomplish, but this one there might be some doubt about. Still, I would have rather expected the aorist myself.
My nostalgic greetings to Yorkshire, where I spent the formative years of my life, the first fifteen.
I think there’s a backlog of initial posts, which require approval. The posts don’t show up for months.
there was a backlog for awhile, but we’ve been caught up recently.