To die in Ancient Greek: n the meaning of - in 

245

JULIN MNDEZ DOSUNA

To die in Ancient Greek: n the meaning of in

; Was it fated for him to die? Oracular consultation (Dodona, ca. 400375 BC?) Vokotopoulou, Dakaris & Christidis (forthcoming), no 461A

246

Julin Mndez Dosuna

1 It is a well-known fact that some verbs whose simple form is still common in the Homeric poems are replaced by compounds in Attic prose and comedy. Thus, to sleep, to be sitting, to seat, to sit down, () to open, to clothe, to break, to destroy yield to to fall asleep (lit. to sleep down), lit. to be sitting down, to sit down, to sit down, () lit. to open up, lit. to clothe on both sides, to break down, to wipe out. The compounds are already attested in Homer, but, except for , simple forms are still more frequent (Table I):
Table I: Simple and compound verbs in Homer     ()    60x 39x 15x 75x 2x 86x 74x 29x     ()    7x 6x 6x 37x 1x 61x 56x 33x 8.51: 1 6.50: 1 2.50: 1 2.02: 1 2.00: 1 1.40: 1 1.32: 1 0.87: 1

[6x tmesis] [3x tmesis] [20x tmesis] [26x tmesis]

In Attic, the verbs at issue were no longer felt to be compounds because the prefixes, now void of meaning, had been reinterpreted as being part of the root. This explains why they can take an external augment in the past tenses: impf. , aor. for , , impf. for , aor. for *, etc. 2 The case of to die is somewhat different. In Homer, simple is well documented for all verb stems, but there are also a number of occurrences of compound and (Table II):
Table II: and compounds in Homer pres. , fut. , aor. pf. verbal adj. pres. , fut. , aor. pf. pres. , fut. (), aor. () pf. verbal adj. 81x 56x 44x 2x 2x 4x [1x tmesis] 22x 10x

In early Greek poetry, non-prefixed forms also prevail (ca. 80x). There are eleven occurrences of apocopated . For we find only three instances: one in Callinus (, fr. 1.5), and two in Pindar (, l. 2.25, and , sthm. 7.30, with tmesis). In Attic tragedy, is still prevalent (Table III). For , only fut. and aor. occur (apocope imparted a distinctly literary flavour). is not used. The only exception of the participial form in a fragment of Euripides (fr. 578.6). This is clear evidence that the compound was avoided as a feature of colloquial speech incompatible with the decorum of tragedy.

To die in Ancient Greek: n the meaning of - in 

247

Table III: () in Attic Tragedy1 pres. , fut. , aor. 66x Aeschylus 177x Sophocles 432x Euripides 16x Aeschylus 34x Sophocles 61x Euripides 19x Aeschylus 14x Sophocles 74x Euripides 16x Euripides 8x Aeschylus 10x Sophocles 86x Euripides

pf.

verbal adj.

fut. aor.

1. The fragments of tragic works have not been taken into account. 2. Curiously enough, Aristotle and Theophrastus use only for animals and plants. This applies also to Thuc. 2.51.4 ( ) and Pl. Phd. 72d ( ). Yet, was also possible: e.g., Many hounds die in this type of hunting (Xen. Cyn. 10.21.1). 3. This example is uncertain since the preceding context is missing in the inscription.

Conversely, in the language of comedy and prose, the prefix is all but general in the present (), in the future (), and in the aorist, (). Thucydides marks the turning point. Besides pres. (15x) and aor. (50x), he still has seven occurrences of pres. (intriguingly, these all occur in the description of the pestilence in Athens, Thuc. 2.4754). Isolated instances of non-compound turn up in Plato (Phd. 72d; Leg. 946e), Aristotle (8x), and Theophrastus (4x).2 Aristophanes (Ach. 893), (Th. 865) occur in parodic quotations of Euripides Alc. 367 and Hel. 53 respectively. is missing altogether, except for in a parodic quotation of Euripides in Aristophanes Frogs 1477. Pf. (1sg. ind. ) never takes the prefix. The contrast between prefixed present, aorist and future vs. non-prefixed perfect was by no means exclusive of Attic. In Herodotus Ionian we find pres. (24x), fut. (5x), aor. (63x + 2x with tmesis), but pf. (17x). In inscriptions, is used in metrical texts. In prose texts, is common in all dialects: e.g., Megar. (IvO 22.4; Olympia, sixth c.); Cret. (IC 4.47 A.21; Gortyna, early fifth c.?), (IC 4.72 III.17; Gortyna, ca. 480450?); Arc. (IPArk 1A.3; Tegea, ca. 450?), (IPArk 8 II.32; Mantinea, ca. 460?), Ion. (IG 12 Suppl. 303.3 (fourth c.); Heracl. (IG 14.645 I.152; Heraclea, ca. 300?). The only exception I am aware of is a fifth century text from Tenos regulating burials (IG 12.593), where non-prefixed forms are used regularly: (A 2, A 10), (A 20), ( 23). As in Attic, the perfect has no prefix: Arc. (IG 5.2.4.15; Tegea, fourth c.);3 Delph. (CID 1.9C.40; Delphi, ca. 400350); Lesb. [] (IG 12.2.526d.15; Eresos, ca. 33624 BC). The evidence of the Dodona oracular consultations (Dakaris, Vokotopoulou & Christidis forthcoming) is illustrative: cf. (no 461A, probably Doric, 400373?), (Lhte 2006, no 107 B.2, Doric, 400350?) as against and (no 2980, Doric consultation, early fifth century?), (no 115A = Lhte 2006, 124A, ca. 375350?), (Lhte 2006, no 126.5 fourth c. BC). The prefixed perfect shows up occasionally in later writers (Plutarch, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, the Church Fathers, etc.), in a late inscription from Chios (, ABSA 1966, 2012, no 4.7; ear-

248

Julin Mndez Dosuna

ly first century AD) and possibly in an Egyptian papyrus ( [] , PTorAmen. 7.20; Thebes, ca. 119117 BC?). But these data are irrelevant, since by this time the perfect had become entirely synonymous with the aorist. To sum up, Classical Greek had a mixed paradigm, in which prefixed and non-prefixed forms appeared in complementary distribution: pres. , fut. , aor. vs. pf. . It is evident that the presence or absence of the prefix depends crucially on aspect, but, as I will try to show, the facts have not been adequately explained. 3 In this section I will sketch an outline of the interaction between actionality (lexical aspect, Aktionsart) and grammatical aspect in the verb at issue. Like the verb for to die in many other languages (Botne 2003), Gk. () encodes a complex telic event which entails three successive stages (Berrettoni 1976, 2134):
d d d A (potential) preliminary period of illness and agony (dynamic activity) (Stage 1): to be dying, moribund.4 The point of transition from life to death (the pivotal moment of death) (Stage 0):5 to die, to expire The resultant state of being dead (resultative state) (Stage +1).6

Broadly speaking, in Ancient Greek these three phases correspond to the different grammatical aspects. The present-stem expressed imperfective (durative) aspect. This is consistent with the frequentative meaning of the suffix --: the original meaning of pres. must have been something like to be dying little by little. Imperfect aspect favours a progressive reading (dynamic development of the verbal action), which corresponds with Stage 1:7
1 2 (but when Niceratus was dying ; Lys. 19.47) (I am dying [sc. being executed] unjustly; Xen. Ap. 26.1)

Conversely, the perfective (punctual) aspect of the aorist tends to be associated with Stage 0, the pivotal moment of death:8
3 , (after he died, most of the Four Hundred fled; Lys. 13.73)

A perfective reading seems also to be normal for aspect-neutral future:

4 , (if you fail to persuade me, you will die today; Ar. Eq. 68)

Finally, the perfect-stem refers unequivocally to Stage 1 (resultative stative reading):

5 6 (Since Proteas has been dead these ten years; Ar. Thesm. 876) , (I rented [the plot] to Alcias, a freed-man of Antistenes, who is dead; Lys. 7.10)

4. This corresponds to Botnes (2003, 237) Onset, where he distinguishes between Stage A ([a] state of prolonged illness or injury during which one could speak of a state of dying) and Stage B (a more dynamic stage representing a relatively rapid decline when death is imminent). 5. Botnes (2003, 237) Nucleus (Stage C). 6. This is Botnes (2003, 237) Coda. He distinguishes between Stage D (the denouement of the event represents entry into the state of death, that brief period when the individual being, in the form of the extant body, still exists) and Stage E (the ensuing state of being dead). We will see later on that this distinction might be relevant for Greek. 7. Botnes (2003, 237) Stage B could be expressed by the periphrastic past future with : e.g., (When he was just about die, [Cyrus] summoned me and said; Xen. Cyr. 3.1.38). Note also the adjective , - half-dead in Thuc. 2.52.3, Ar. Nub. 504 (later also /-). 8. To be sure, the interaction between actionality and grammatical aspect is somewhat more complex, since in some contexts the present-stem does not allow for a progressive reading and focusses on Stage 0. Thus, the historic present favours a perfective reading: e.g., (Astyages dies in Media; Xen. Cyr. 7.10). So-called presents of general truth express (perfective) habitual actions: (when it loses its sting, a bee dies; Arist. Hist.An., 626a). Finally, plural subjects allow for a distributive perfective reading: (and some of them died one after another owing to the plague; Thuc. 1.126.10). Since the event of dying is normally irreversible and unrepeatable, it is unlikely that we may nd imperfects interpreted as habitual: e.g., (so-and-so used to die).

To die in Ancient Greek: n the meaning of - in 

249

, (when his father had just died [lit. was recently dead], [Callias] was thought to possess a larger fortune than any other Greek; Lys. 19.48) (Woe! You are going to be dead!; Ar. Ach. 590)

The Ancient Greek data have clear correlates in Modern Greek : pres. he is dying, impf. he was dying (Stage 1), aor. he died (Stage 0), pf. he has died, he is dead (Stage +1). 4 According to prevalent opinion (Schwyzer & Debrunner 1950, 2689; Brunel 1939; 1946, 67; Chantraine 1953, 93; DELG s.v. ; Adrados 1992, 448), the prefix in conveyed a culminative meaning involving completion of the verbal action: to die completely.9 Like in other languages (Bybee et al. 1994, 8790; Tatevosov 2002, 391), Greek preverbs (prepositions in verbal composition), which originally had a spatial meaning, were reinterpreted in terms of time bounders and developed aspectual meanings (Brunel 1939; Adrados 1992, 4429). A few examples can illustrate this point (the glosses make plain the parallel between Greek compound verbs and English phrasal verbs): to work off > to finish off to cut down > to cut up, to cut in pieces to drink down to learn up lit. to learn down to make through > to work through Allegedly, the culminative meaning of - in was redundant with the resultative aspect of the perfect and, consequently, could be dispensed with. According to Schwyzer & Debrunner (1950, 2689), the contrast between // vs. was a failed attempt to establish in Greek the system found in Slavic languages, where verbal aspect is largely encoded by prefixes: cf. Russ. pisa-l he was writing (IMPFV.) vs. na-pisa-l he wrote (IMPFV.). In the next sections I will try to demonstrate that this line of argumentation is misguided. 4.1 To begin with, prefixes in Greek modify actionality rather than grammatical aspect. This conclusion rests on the following evidence: d The use of preverbs is subject to severe lexical restrictions: to drink up, to eat up, to put down, or to burn down are possible, but not * to turn down, or * *to trumpet down. d The meaning of compound verbs is idiosyncratic and unpredictable: means to work through, but means to drink by turns. The meaning of grammatical aspect is much more predictable and lexical restrictions are fairly uncommon. 4.2 It is true that prefixes with a culminative meaning seem to be incompatible with stative verbs: neither , nor mean to inhabit completely, does not mean *to be completely, and there are no

9. The label culminative corresponds to what Bybee et al. (1994) call completive. Brunels rsultatif is misleading. In order to avoid ambiguity, I will consistently use culminative as an actionality type as against aspectual perfective (an event presented as bounded temporally) and resultative (the resultant state of a previous action), which are characteristic of the aorist and the perfect stems respectively.

250

Julin Mndez Dosuna

* to be a slave completely, or * to be a king completely. But prefixes of this type combine regularly with all verbal stems, including the perfect, as exemplified by the following examples:
9 10 (they used to eat the crabs; Ar. Eq. 606) (the soldiers who ate of the honey-combs all lost their minds gradually; Xen. An. 4.8.20) (Those who had eaten a little looked like extremely drunk people; X. An. 4.8.20) ([The dog] has been eating up the Sicilian [cheese] all by himself; Ar. Vesp. 8967) , (As for the sesame-cake you have eaten up, I ll make you shit it; Ar. Thesm. 570) ([The dog] has eaten up a fresh Sicilian cheese; Ar. Vesp. 838)

11 12 13 14

The alleged redundancy between culminative bounders and resultative aspect is fictitious. Culminative bounders mean that something is done completely. This is a far cry from resultative aspect, which, as indicated above, denotes a state resulting from a previous action. It is precisely this action not the state resulting from it that culminative prefixes focus on. Thus, means that he ate some food (and he may be hungry) and means he ate up the food (but he may be hungry) since the aorist is not relevant for the present situation. Conversely, means that he has eaten some food (but he is not hungry) and means he has eaten up the food (and he is not hungry) since the action of eating (up) is made relevant to the present situation by virtue of the resultative aspect of the perfect stem. Significantly, no similar restriction applies to to perish, to be killed whose intransitive perfect is consistently in Attic comedy and prose (as against simple , in epic, lyric, and tragedy).
15 (our man is not dead, but he is safe and sound somewhere; Pl. Phd. 87b)

4.3 The parallel with Slavic-style aspect is not pertinent. In the languages where bounders evolve into aspectual markers, the presence of the bounder typically means [+perfective] while its absence can be interpreted as [-perfective] (Bybee et al. 1994, 8790). If the parallel were real, we should expect in Greek the prefix to be absent in the present stem: i.e., non-prefixed vs. prefixed , . Interestingly enough, in Russian, the prefix u- occurs in perfective umeret to die as well as in imperfective umirat to be dying. The use of the prefix u- (basic spatial meaning away) has been generalised, so that umirat/ umeret no longer contrast with simple *mirat/*meret. 4.4 Finally, the idea that the prefix - is dispensed with in the perfect due to its alleged redundancy is contradicted by several facts. As we have seen ( 2, esp. Table II), in the Homeric poems, prefixed gen. sg. pf. part. and 3pl plpf. occur, and in-

To die in Ancient Greek: n the meaning of - in 

251

stances of pf. are common. This is unexpected, since the supposedly original culminative meaning of the prefixes should have been perceived more intensively at an earlier historical stage. Schwyzer & Debrunner (1950, 269) try to explain away these embarrassing data by arguing that, in these cases, the meaning of - and is intensifying rather than culminative: they consider Hom. to be equivalent to Fr. ils sont morts et bien morts they are dead and well dead. But this is playing with words, since well dead amounts to completely dead. Moreover, the perfect by itself presupposes a complete death. Unlike ModGk. half-dead, a compound * was impossible in Ancient Greek. Significantly, we have already seen that compound , , , , and ousted simple , , , , . This happened notwithstanding the fact that a downward movement (-) is entirely predictable for the actions of taking a sitting position (, ) or a lying position for sleep (). Similarly, an upward movement (-) was often necessary for opening () any door closed with a bar or a bolt () and cloaks were usually put on both sides (-) of the body (). Thus, redundant compounds were favoured over simple verbs. In fact, it is highly dubious that language users are bothered by redundancy. For instance, in Ancient Greek, the article was optional with proper names ( ) and was mandatory with demonstratives ( ), in spite of its being redundant. 5 Since the traditional explanation is unsatisfactory, let us now address our problem from a different point of view. Admittedly, the original and basic meaning of - was spatial separation and departure (Eng. away, off ): to be away, to go away, to be away from home, to be abroad, to send off , to cut off , to wall off , etc. In my opinion, this was also the sense of - in .10 Arguably, in many cultures, death involves the ideas of departure from life, separation of the soul from the body, and the absence of the dead. To go away, to be missing, and to be absent are common euphemisms (see Theodoropoulou in this volume) for to die, to be dead in all languages (Botne 2003, 243): Eng. to pass away, to pass on, to be dead and gone, Sp. pasar a mejor vida to proceed to a better life, ModGk. to depart from life, he left this life still young. Note also that this is the original meaning of the prefix u- in aforementioned Russ. umirat/umeret. Needless to say, similar expressions were used in Ancient Greek. In fact, Greeks imagined death in terms of a journey to Hades:
16 17 (if you hear that [your father] is dead and does not exist any more; Od. 1.289) T (They lay out the bones of the departed for the three days before [the funeral]; Thuc. 2.34.2) ([Agathon] has gone and left me; Ar. Ran. 83) (and [Hector] departed unto Hades; Il. 22.213) (their souls have gone down to Hades; Il. 7.330)

10. Hypothetically, one could contend that the idea of completion is present in to nish another common euphemism for to die. But this refers not to the process of dying, but to the end of life: cf. (The end of my life is already close; X. Cyr. 8.7.6).

18 19 20

252

Julin Mndez Dosuna

21

, (when I drink the poison, I ll start off and leave for certain states of happiness which belong to the blessed; Pl. Phd. 115d)

At this point, it is worthwhile to look at some data from English and German. The basic meaning of the prepositions Eng. out, off, away, Ger. aus is departure, exit, and disappearance. Like in Greek, these prepositions can be used as time bounders and have a secondary culminative reading: cf. Eng. to burn away, to burn off to destroy something by burning, Ger. auskochen to cook thoroughly. All these prepositions can be combined with the verbs to die and sterben to die, but, interestingly, none of the resultant verbs allows for a typically culminative reading: i.e., to die completely, to expire. Eng. to die away is to become weaker (e.g., a sound), until it ceases, to die off means to die one by one, both Eng. to die out and Ger. austerben mean to disappear (families, animals, etc.). Coming back to Gk , the original semantic nuance may still be perceptible in the relevant passages of the Homeric poems. When describing his own death at Clitemnestras hands, the ghost of Agamemnon is probably thinking of his departure for the netherworld:
22 / . / , , / (I alternatively lifted my hands and dropped them to the ground while I was dying and departing, pierced by the sword, but she, the shameless bitch, turned away, and even though I was going to Hades, did not deign to close my eyes with her hands; Od. 11.4236)

death:
23

A sense of departure is not impossible in the description of Eurytus

/ (in turn he passed down [the bow] to his son when he was dying and departing [for Hades] in his lofty palace; Od. 21.323)

Likewise, Hecabe may be hinting at the absence of his dead son (in fact, Hectors corpse is away from Troy in possession of Achilles):11
24 / ; (why shall I live on in my sore anguish, now that you are dead and gone?; Il. 22.4312)

The advocates of a culminative meaning for - cite the plpf. in the episode of Helios cows in the Odyssey as the most compelling piece of evidence of a culminative or intensifying meaning:
25 / . (but we could find no remedy the cows were already dead; Od. 12.3923)
11. This idea was suggested by Eustathius in his Commentary on the Iliad (ad. loc.): the prex - is either superuous or expresses the departure of dying people ( [] ).

Of course, one cannot exclude the possibility that Homer may have wanted to stress that the cows were completely dead regardless of the fact that their skins crawled and the pieces of meat bellowed upon the spits. But the culminative sense if real may be no more than a pragmatic implica-

To die in Ancient Greek: n the meaning of - in 

253

ture of the idea of departure: The cows were dead () and their spirit (, ) had already left them (-): cf. (his soul left him; Il. 5.696, Od. 14.426), (life left his bones; Il. 12.386, 16.743, etc.). Incidentally, Chantraine (1953, 93) was wrong in attributing the value of completion (Fr. ralisation) to - in , to leave off, to stop from doing something. Arguably, cessation of an activity can be conceived of in terms of separation: cf. Eng. to cease from, to desist from, to stop somebody from doing something. This is also evident in the construction of simple , to cease, to stop, with an ablatival genitive:
26 27 (When they ceased from their labours; Il. 1.467) (Cease from strife; Il. 1.210).

Similarly, there is every reason to doubt that - in had a meaning of intensity (Schwyzer & Debrunner 1950, 2689), aboutissement du procs (Chantraine 1953, 112) or intensidad y precisin (Adrados 1992, 448). Interestingly, in Homer, out of the twenty occurrences of the perfect participle , twelve apply to corpses (, ):12
28 29 30 (let me battle for the dead corpse; Il. 16.526) / (then many souls of dead corpses will come forth; Od. 10.52930) (so, first they carried away the dead corpses, one after another; Od. 22.448)

But why should Homer be so interested in stressing that corpses are completely dead? A dead corpse is already redundant enough. Such a nuance would be especially unsuitable in the Nekyia (nine occurrences) where the souls () of the dead retain a certain amount of vitality: they are dead, but not completely dead. On the other hand, the sense completely mortal for the verbal adjective would be fairly strange.13 Once again, the use of - in can be explained on the basis of its original directional value. It expresses not completion, but the natural downward collapse of a corpse, which is no longer able to resist the force of gravity.14 The verb is frequently used in battle scenes. means only to fall dead, and, like its quasi-synonym to fall (down), is frequently used in the context of battles:
31
12. Simple is combined with () only three times. 13. But cf. Kirk 1990, 172: In [ , Il. 6.123] - may be felt to emphasize Glaukos special liability to death. 14. Eustathius (ad. Il. 22.432) suggests that - if not redundant might refer to the Netherworld ( ), which is clearly impossible.

32 33

34

, (Patroclus, who was much better than you, also fell dead; Il. 21.107) T (When falling dead Hector of the flashing helmet spoke to him; Il. 22.355) / / (and he fell down backwards into the dust and gasped out his life; Il. 4.5224) / , (and he fell down headlong upon the earth and death was shed around him; Il. 16.41314)

254

Julin Mndez Dosuna

Incidentally, for similar reasons, pace Adrados (1992, 448), does not express that the action of killing someone is carried out thoroughly. The meaning is simply to bring someone down by slaying him:15
35 , (This is the tomb of a man who fell dead in older days, whom once in the midst of his prowess glorious Hector knocked down; Il. 7.8990).

In short, the evidence for a culminative value in and , allegedly meaning to die completely, is inconclusive, at best. The general impression is that - off and more clearly - downwards largely retain their original directional meanings. 6 Coming back to Attic , we have already seen that a culminative meaning, supposedly redundant with the resultative aspect of the perfect-stem, cannot justify the absence of the prefix. Conversely, it is easy to understand why the idea of departure, absence was felt to be contradictory with the resultative meaning of the perfect, which often implied the physical presence of the corpse or the remains of the dead (Botnes 2003 Stage D), as can be seen in the following examples:
36 ([Seuthes] explained that he had supposed that he should find many of them dead; Xen. An. 7.4.19) (as for the dead, he allowed their relatives to bury them; Xen. Cyr. 7.5.34) (When he was being brought away dead from the prison ; Lys. 12.18) (after digging them up, they threw out the bones of the dead; Thuc. 1.126.12)

37

38 39

In daily life, the incongruity of - and pf. (implying presence) must have been most conspicuous. Greek funerary rites prescribed that the corpses of dead persons should be shrouded and set out on a bier () at the entrance of the house for a whole day before the burial. In such a context, the idea of absence conveyed by - was inconvenient for a corpse, which was still present and visible.16 7 and formed a not very cohesive paradigm. They bore a relationship of weak suppletion to each other, which did not greatly differ from that of, e.g., med.-pass. to lay oneself, to be laid and its perfect, to lie. Suppletive paradigms for to die and to be dead seem to be common in the languages of the world (Botne 2003, 2723). 8 To conclude, the lack of the prefix - in the perfect of cannot be attributed to a semantic affinity between the supposedly culminative meaning of the prefix and the resultative meaning of the meaning of the perfect-stem. Quite on the contrary, the prefix retained its spatial value of departure, absence, which was incompatible with the meaning of the perfect.
15. For the meaning of - in , cf. English dysphemisms like to bump o, to do away with, to knock o, Sp. quitar a alguien de en medio lit. to take someone out of the middle. 16. Cf. the Spanish expression estar de cuerpo presente to be present in body alone, i.e., to lie dead (said of a corpse before burial).

To die in Ancient Greek: n the meaning of - in 

255

, . Tassos is gone, but he is assuredly not dead!

References Adrados, F. R. 1992. Nueva sintaxis del griego antiguo. Madrid: Gredos. Berrettoni, P. 1976. Per un analisi del rapporto tra significato lessicale e aspetto in greco antico. SSL 16:20736. Botne, R. 2003. To die across languages. Linguistic Typology 7:23378. Brunel, J. 1939. LAspect verbal et lemploi des prverbes en grec, particulirement en attique. Paris: Klincksieck. . 1946. LAspect et lordre de procs en grec. BSLP 42:4375. Bybee, J. L., R. D. Perkins & W. Pagliuca. 1994. The Evolution of Grammar. Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press. Chantraine, P. 1953. Grammaire homrique II. Syntaxe. Paris: Klincksieck. Dakaris, S., I. Vokotopoulou & A.-F. Christidis. Forthcoming. Dodona Oracular Tablets from Evangelidis Excavation (in Greek). Athens: Arcaeological Society. Kirk, G. S. 1990. The Iliad: A Commentary. General editor G. S. Kirk. Vol. 2, books 58. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. lhte, . 2006. Les Lamelles oraculaires de Dodone. Geneva: Droz. SchwyZer, E. & A. Debrunner. 1950. Griechische Grammatik II. Syntax und syntaktische Stylistik. Munich: C.H. Beck. tatevosov, s. 2002. The parameter of actionality. Linguistic Typology 6:317401. THEODOROPOULOU, M. 2007. (S)he is left: A metaphor of an irrevocable(?) parting (in Greek). In this volume, 16982.