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“It would be the time to discuss the optatives.” Understanding the Syntax of the Optative from Protagoras to Planudes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2015

Neil O'Sullivan
Neil O'Sullivan*
Affiliation:
The University of Western Australia, neil.osullivan@uwa.edu.au
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Abstract

This paper uses the Greeks' understanding of the optative mood over many centuries to enlarge our knowledge of the origins of formal grammar, of the vernacular Greek language in post-classical times, and of the limitations which imitative Atticism faced when it tried to give new life to a verbal form which had virtually disappeared from the spoken language. Starting with the very beginnings of grammar as a discipline, it argues that Protagoras' contribution to the study of verbal mood has been overlooked, and the Stoics given too much credit. This observation has implications for the larger issue of whether the origin of formal grammar is to be found amongst students of literature or of philosophy. The rest of the paper works through the standard uses of the optative found in Attic and Homeric Greek, examining the explanations and paraphrases of these usages found in ancient and medieval grammarians and scholiasts, and arguing that this material confirms the evidence for the vernacular suggested by the New Testament and papyri, and can also explain some non-classical uses of the optative found in Atticising writers.

Type
Research Article
Information
Antichthon , Volume 45 , 2011 , pp. 77 - 112
Copyright
Copyright © Australasian Society for Classical Studies 2011

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