Luc. Cat. 13 - use of αν with imperative?

Greek Learning Greek
1

The spirit of Μεγαπένθης is pleading with Κλωθώ to be allowed to return to the land of the living:

Μεγαπένθης
κἂν ἰδιώτην με ποίησον, ὦ Μοῖρα, τῶν πενήτων ἕνα, κἂν δοῦλον ἀντὶ τοῦ πάλαι βασιλέως: ἀναβιῶναί με ἔασον μόνον

I’m reading ποίησον as an imperative with a double accusative, but if this is the case what is κἂν, (in particular αν) doing here with this imperative?

For some context, below are the two preceding sentances:

Μεγαπένθης
καὶ τίς ἀξιώσει κατ᾽ ἀνδρὸς τυράννου ψῆφον λαβεῖν;

Κλωθώ
κατὰ τυραννοῦ μὲν οὐδείς, κατὰ νεκροῦ δὲ ὁ Ῥαδάμανθυς, ὃν αὐτίκα ὄψει μάλα δίκαιον καὶ κατ᾽ ἀξίαν ἐπιτιθέντα ἑκάστῳ τὴν δίκην τὸ δὲ νῦν ἔχον μὴ διάτριβε.

2

Having re-read it I’m thinking that κἂν is acting as a (very short) protasis, the imperative forming the apodosis. So κἂν is saying something like “if you would” or “even should (it be possible)”.

3



Μεγαπένθης
κἂν ἰδιώτην με ποίησον, ὦ Μοῖρα, τῶν πενήτων ἕνα, κἂν δοῦλον ἀντὶ τοῦ πάλαι βασιλέως: ἀναβιῶναί με ἔασον μόνον

I suggest these imperatives are more like humble requests than directives. So as I read it κἂν means something like “oh if only”, or “oh please, please”. The speaker ( in the world of the dead?) asks to be made a common person, one of the poor, a slave in place of the king that he formerly was, but alive again. [ My inexpert reading!]

I believe that in prayer God may be asked in the imperative. The imperative appears also in English hymns: “make me a blessing”, “take my life and let it be”, and so on.

4

See the LSJ for κἄν (I.3). There are examples there where in later Greek it acts as adverbial καί with a bit more umph.

So:

Make me even a private individual, Mistress Fate, one of the poor, even a slave instead of the king of old times; only let me live again.

The same sentiment, famously, from Achilles:

βουλοίμην κ’ ἐπάρουρος ἐὼν θητευέμεν ἄλλῳ,
ἀνδρὶ παρ’ ἀκλήρῳ, ᾧ μὴ βίοτος πολὺς εἴη,
ἢ πᾶσιν νεκύεσσι καταφθιμένοισιν ἀνάσσειν.

5

Joel, Hugh
Thanks for your assistance with this. I’d missed the LSJ entry which never helps. The link from Perseus took me to the head word κἀν which didn’t offer an LSJ entry. And I then must have used the wrong diacritics on my separate LSJ search.