Module 25

The Infinitive in Indirect Statement and πρίν- and ὥστε-Clauses

The Infinitive

Remember that in English and in Greek the infinitive is unmarked for person and for number. Ιt is classified as a verbal noun and is best understood by thinking of its function as completing or enhancing the meaning of adjectives, clauses, nouns, and verbs. This is why the infinitive is referred to as complement. Sometimes classified as a mood, the infinitive is potential in meaning, ἐν δυνάμει, because its action may or may not be realized.

The Declarative and Dynamic Infinitives

There are two types of infinitives, the declarative and the dynamic. You learned about the dynamic infinitive in Module 17. Both the declarative and the dynamic infinitives refer to actions which exist potentially or ἐν δυνάμει. The dynamic infinitive is negated by the abverb μή not, and not οὐ not. οὐ not typically negates the declarative infinitive, though there are some exceptions. For more on the declarative and dynamic infinitives, see CGCG 51.

The Declarative Infinitive

The declarative infinitive is referred to as a complement because it completes the meaning of verbs of belief, opinion, and speech, introducing what is referred to as indirect statement. The declarative infinitive expresses the content of someone’s speech or belief. Note that this content, as is true of the content of the dynamic infinitive, may or may not be true. In the sentences,

ποιεῖν φημὶ αὐτοὺς ἃ βούλονται,

I say that they are doing what they want,

and

αὐτοὶ μέντοι ἐκ Κρήτης φασὶ εἶναι,

they say they are from Κrete,

the subject I of φημί I say and the subject they of φασί they say represent what the speakers believe to be true. Others may disagree. And so the actions of the infinitives ποιέειν to do and εἶναι to be are said to exist potentially. The introductory verbs φημί and φασί are called head verbs because the action takes place in the head. For more information on the declarative infinitive, see CGCG 51.19–27.

Examples of verbs of belief and opinion:

γίγνωσκω judge

δοκέω think

ἡγέομαι believe

λογίζομαι reckon

νομίζω believe

οἴομαι (οἶμαι) think

πιστεύω trust

ὑπολαμβάνω understand

ὑποπτεύω suspect

φαινομαι appear

Examples of verbs of speaking:

ἀγγέλλω announce

ἀκούω hear, am told that

δηλόω make clear

λέγω say

φημί say

Practice Translating Direct Statement. Translate these direct statements. Check yourself with the answers that follow.

1. μετὰ ταῦτα οἱ Καλλατίαι τοὺς γονέας κατεσθίουσιν (Herodotos).
2. οἱ δ’ Ἕλληνες τοὺς πατέρας κατακαύσουσι πυρί (Herodotos).
3. νόμος ἐστί πάντων βασιλεύς (Herodotos quoting Pindar).
4. δεῖ σὲ μὲν οὐδ᾽ ἀντιτείνειν νῦν νήπι᾽ ἀντὶ νηπίων (Euripides).
5. ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἔπεισα αὐτούς, πειράεσθαι δὲ ἔδει (Euripides).
6. πείθει δῶρα καὶ θεούς· χρυσὸς δὲ κρείσσων πολλῶν λόγων βροτοῖς (Euripides).

Vocabulary

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

Translations

1. Next the Kallatians eat their parents.
2. The Greeks will burn their fathers with fire.
3. Custom is king of everything.
4. It is not necessary for you now to repay folly with folly.
5. I did not persuade them but it was necessary to try.
6. Gifts persuade even gods; and to mortals gold is greater than a lot of talk.

Practice Translating Indirect Statement. Νοw translate these same sentences which have been placed in indirect statement. Check yourself with the answers that follow.

1. Δαρεῖος δὲ ἔφη μετὰ ταῦτα τοὺς Καλλατίαs τοὺς γονέας κατεσθίειν.
2. ὁ δὲ ἔφη τοὺς Ἕλληνας τοὺς πατέρας κατακαύσειν πυρί.
3. ὀρθῶς ἔφη Πίνδαρος νόμον πάντων βασιλέα εἶναι.
4. λέγω δεῖν σὲ μὲν οὐδ᾽ ἀντιτείνειν νῦν νήπι᾽ ἀντὶ νηπίων.
5. λέγει ἐμὲ μὲν οὐκ πεῖσαι αὐτούς, πειρᾶσθαι δὲ δεῖν.
6. λέγουσιν πείθειν δῶρα καὶ θεούς· χρυσὸν δὲ κρείσσονα πολλῶν λόγων βροτοῖς.

Vocabulary

Δαρεῖος, Δαρείου ὁ Dareios (Darius), I the Great, third king of the Akhaimenids, defeated the Magi to come to power; it is estimated that Dareios ruled over 50 million people, about 44% of the world’s population c. 550–486

*ἔφη he, she, it said

*λέγω, λέξω or ἐρέω, ἔλεξα or εἶπον say, tell, speak

ὀρθῶς correctly

Πίνδαρος, Πινδάρου ὁ Pindaros (Pindar), a Theban and one of the nine Greek lyric poets, best known for his Odes, c. 522–443

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

Translations

1. And Dareios said that next the Kallatians eat their parents.
2. And he said that the Greeks will burn their fathers with fire.
3. Pindar correctly said that custom is king of everything.
4. I say that it is not necessary for you now to repay folly with folly.
5. She says that I did not persuade them but it was necessary to try.
6. They say that gifts persuade even gods and to mortals, gold is greater than a lot of talk.

Compare and contrast the two sets of sentences, taking careful note of these points:

• The subject of the infinitive is in the accusative case unless the subject of the head verb and the subject of the infinitive are the same.
• The tense of the infinitive stands for the same tense of the finite verb. The present infinitive can stand for an original present indicative or imperfect indicative.
• Each sentence begins with a head verb, ἔφη, λέγω, λέγουσιν.
• When you parse, refer to the subject of the infinitive as a subject accusative and to the infinitive as the main verb in indirect statement.

Practice Translating Subject of Head Verb and Infinitive the Same I. Sometimes the subject of the head verb and the subject of the infinitive are the same. In the sentence, you say you can relax on both sides of the tracks, the subject you of you say and the subject you of you can relax are the same. For practice, translate these same sentences which have been changed so that the subject of the head verb and the subject of at least one of the infinitives are the same and indicated by underlining. Check yourself with the answers that follow.

1. οἱ δὲ Καλλατίαι ἔφασαν μετὰ ταῦτα τοὺς γονέας κατεσθίειν.
2. οἱ δὲ Ἕλληνες ἔφασαν τοὺς πατέρας κατακαύσειν πυρί.
3. ὀρθῶς ἔφη Πίνδαρος νομίζειν νόμον πάντων βασιλέα εἶναι.
4. λέγεις νομίζειν δεῖν σὲ μὲν οὐδ᾽ ἀντιτείνειν νῦν νήπι᾽ ἀντὶ νηπίων.
5. λέγω μὲν οὐκ πεῖσαι αὐτούς, πειρᾶσθαι δὲ δεῖν.
6. λέγουσιν νομίζειν πείθειν δῶρα καὶ θεούς· χρυσὸν δὲ κρείσσονα πολλῶν λόγων βροτοῖς.

Vocabulary

*ἔφασαν they said

*νομίζω believe, think, have the custom of, hold as custom

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

Translations

1. The Kallatians said that next they ate their parents.
2. The Greeks said that they will burn their fathers with fire.
3. Pindar correctly said that he thinks custom is the king of everything.
4. You say that you think it is not necessary for you now to repay folly with folly.
5. I say that I did not persuade them, but it was necessary to try.
6. They say that they think gifts persuade even the gods and to mortals, gold is greater than a lot of talk.

Practice Translating Subject of Head Verb and Infinitive the Same II. As noted above, when the subject of the head verb and the subject of the infinitive are the same, there is no separate subject accusative and all subject modifiers remain nominative. For further practice consider these examples. Check yourself with the answers that follow.

1. νομίζουσιν ἀγαθοὶ εἶναι.
2. νομίζουσιν ἀγαθαὶ εἶναι.
3. νομίζετε ἀγαθοὶ εἶναι.
4. νομίζετε ἀγαθαὶ εἶναι.
5. νομίζομεν ἀγαθοὶ εἶναι.
6. νομίζομεν ἀγαθαὶ εἶναι.
7. νομίζω ἀγαθὴ εἶναι.
8. νομίζω ἀγαθὸς εἶναι.
9. νομίζεις ἀγαθὴ εἶναι.
10. νομίζεις ἀγαθὸς εἶναι.

Answers

1. They think that they are good (they is male).
2. They think that they are good (they is female).
3. You think that you are good (you is male).
4. You think that you are good (you is female).
5. We think that we are good (we is male).
6. We think that we are good (we is female).
7. I think that I am good (I is female).
8. I think that I am good (I is male).
9. You think that you are good (you is female).
10. You think that you are good (you is male).

Practice Parsing Indirect Statement in English. Consider these English sentences that are based on a story in Herodotos concerning Kroisos and Adrastos. For each sentence parse the words by specifying which case each word would be in if you translated them into Greek and by explaining what function the case has. It may be helpful to use the Case and Function Chart.

1. He said that you will be short-lived and will be killed by an iron spear.
2. You tell me that the dream says I will die by an iron spear.
3. The dream did not say that I will die by a fang.
4. The oracle said that he would destroy a large empire.
5. He said that a mule will never rule.

Check the answers in the Answer Key, making sure that you understand why each word is parsed as it is.

πρίν-Clauses

πρίν before, until or πρὶν ἤ before, until may be followed by a finite verb or by an infinitive. When the main verb is negated, πρίν is typically followed by a finite verb of the aorist tense. Otherwise πρίν is followed by an infinitive and should be translated by its English equivalent before. As with the declarative infinitive in indirect statement, the subject of the infinitive is placed in the accusative case unless the subject of the main verb and the infinitive are the same. When they are the same, there is no separate subject accusative and all subject modifiers remain nominative.

Practice Translating πρίν-Clauses I. Translate these sentences, excerpted from Herodotos, which have their subjects changed to the nominative and their infinitives changed to finite verbs. Check yourself with the answers that follow.

1. μέγαλοι γίγνονται οἱ Πέρσαι.
2. οἱ Πέρσαι Λυδοὺς κατεστρέψαντο.
3. σφεῖς ἀνέπλωσαν ἐς τὰς Σάρδις.
4. Ψαμμήτιχος σφέων ἐβασίλευσεν.
5. οὐκ ἐς Φωκαίην ἥξουσιν καὶ ὁ μύδρος οὗτος ἀνέφανη.

Vocabulary

ἀναπλώω (ἀναπλέω), ἀναπλώσω, ἀνέπλωσα sail up

ἀναφαίνω (-φαίνω, -φανέω, -ἔφηνα, -πέφαγκα or -πέφηνα, -πέφασμαι, -ἐφάνθην or -ἐφάνην) make to give light; (pass.) be shown forth, appear

βασιλεύω, βασιλεύσω, ἐβασίλευσα rule + gen.

*γίγνομαι, γενήσομαι, ἐγενόμην be, be born

*ἥκω, ἥξω have come, be present

καταστρέφω, -στρέψω, -ἔστρεψα turn down, trample; (mid.) subdue

Λυδοί, Λυδῶν οἱ the Lydians

*μέγαλοι, μεγάλων οἱ big, great, large

μύδρος, μύδρου ὁ lump of iron

Πέρσης, Πέρσου (-εω) ὁ a Persian

Σάρδεις, -εων (-ιων) αἱ (Σάρδις (acc.)) Sardis, capital of Lydia, and principal city of Persia, located near the coast of Asia Minor

Φωκαίη, Φωκαίης ἡ Phokaia, a Greek city on the western coast of Turkey

Ψαμμήτιχος, Ψαμμητίχου ὁ Psammetikhos, king of Egypt, c. 664 BCE

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

Translations

1. The Persians become great.
2. The Persians conquered the Lydians.
3. They sailed to Sardis.
4. Psammetikhos ruled them.
5. They will not return to Phokaia and this lump of iron reappeared.

Practice Translating πρίν-Clauses II. Now translate these same sentences, paying particular attention to the changes that have occurred in the πρίν-clauses. Check yourself with the answers that follow.

1. εἴ πως δύναμαι, πρὶν μεγάλους γενέσθαι τοὺς Πέρσας, καταλήψομαι αὐτῶν τὴν δύναμιν.
2. Πέρσῃσι γάρ, πρὶν Λυδοὺς καταστρέψασθαι, ἦν οὔτε ἁβρὸν οὔτε ἀγαθὸν οὐδέν.
3. πρὶν γὰρ ἢ ὀπίσω σφέας ἀναπλῶσαι ἐς τὰς Σάρδις ᾑρέθη ὁ Κροῖσος.
4. οἱ δὲ Αἰγύπτιοι, πρὶν μὲν ἢ Ψαμμήτιχον σφέων βασιλεῦσαι, ἐνόμιζον ἑωυτοὺς πρώτους γενέσθαι πάντων ἀνθρώπων.
5. μύδρον σιδήρεον κατεπόντωσαν καὶ ὤμοσαν μὴ πρὶν ἐς Φωκαίην ἥξειν πρὶν ἢ τὸν μύδρον τοῦτον ἀναφανῆναι.

Vocabulary

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

Translations

1. If I am at all able, before the Persians become great, I will sieze their might.
2. Before they conquered the Lydians the Persians had nothing luxurious or valuable.
3. Before they sailed back to Sardis Kroisos was captured.
4. Before Psammetikhos ruled them, the Egyptians thought themselves the best of all peoples.
5. They sunk the iron lump and swore not to return to Phokaia before it appeared again.

Compare and contrast the two sets of sentences, taking careful note of these items:

• In each sentence consider who the subjects of each infinitive are.
• In sentence 2, the subject of the infinitive καταστρέψασθαι is not expressed and must be supplied from context.
• In sentence 4, the subject of γενέσθαι is the accusative reflexive pronoun, ἑωυτούς, and not the expected nominative: ἐνόμιζον αὐτοὶ πρῶτοι γενέσθαι πάντων ἀνθρώπων.

ὥστε-Clauses or Result Clauses

ὥστε when followed by a finite verb in the indicative creates a clause that is referred to as actual result. ὥστε when followed by an infinitive creates a clause that is referred to as natural result. In actual result the emphasis is on the factual occurrence of the action. Natural result emphasizes the natural or inevitable occurrence of the action, which may or may not have actually occurred. As with the declarative infinitive in indirect statement, the subject of the infinitive is placed in the accusative case unless the subject of the main verb and the infinitive are the same. When they are the same, there is no separate subject accusative and all subject modifiers remain nominative.

Practice Translating Actual Result. Translate these sentences adapted from their originals. They have finite verbs in their ὥστε-clauses. Check your understanding with the translations that follow.

1. ἀλλ᾽ ἐς τοσοῦτον ἥκεθ᾽ ὥστε πάντ’ ἔχειν νομίζετε (Euripides).
2. ὁ δ᾽ ἐς τοσοῦτον μωρίας ἀφίκετο, ὥστε τήνδ’ ἀφῆκεν ἡμέραν μεῖναί με (Euripides).
3. παῖς δ’ εἰμι ἐγώ σοι, ὥστ’ οὐκ ἄλλοις δόμον λείψειν ἔμελλες ὀρφανὸν διαρπάσαι (Euripides).
4. τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ οἶσθα, ὥστε οὐδὲν ἔτι δεήσει τὴν θυγατέρα ἰδεῖν (Lucian).
5. αἱ μὲν τῶν Περσέων κεφαλαί εἰσι ἀσθενέες οὕτω ὥστε, εἰ θέλεις ψήφῳ μόνῃ βαλεῖν, διατετρανέεις (Herodotos).

Vocabulary

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

Translations

1. You reached such a point that you think you have everything.
2. He reached such an excess of folly that he permitted me to remain this one day.
3. I am your child, successor to this house, and so you were not likely to leave the house an orphan for others to plunder.
4. You know his face and so it will not be necessary for you to see his daughter.
5. The skulls of the Persians are so weak that if you wish to strike one with a pebble you will pierce it.

Practice Translating Natural Result I. Translate these sentences adapted from their originals. They have been removed from their ὥστε-clause with their infinitives changed to finite verbs. Check yourself with the translations that follow.

1. οὐ θανέῃ ποτε (Euripides).
2. αὐτὴν χερσὶν ἐνθήσω ξένου (Euripides).
3. ὕμνοις αὐτὴν ἐξ Ἅιδου λήψομαι (Euripides).
4. οὐκέθ’ ἀνὴρ ὅδε ἥδεται βίῳ (Euripides).
5. βοτήρ ὄψεται ἐμέ (Sophokles).

Vocabulary

Ἅιδης, Ἅιδου ὁ Hades

*ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός ὁ man, husband

*βίος, βίου ὁ life

βοτήρ, βοτῆρος ὁ herdsman

ἐντίθημι, ἐνθήσω, ἐνέθηκα place, put

ἥδομαι delight in; take pleasure, rejoice; be delighted with + dat.

*θνῄσκω, θανέομαι, ἔθανον die, perish

*λαμβάνω, λήψομαι, ἔλαβον take, receive, capture

ξένος (ξεῖνος), ξένου (ξείνου) ὁ stranger; guest-friend

*ὁράω, ὄψομαι, εἶδον (ἰδεῖν) see

οὐκέθ’ = οὐκέτι no more, no longer, no further

ὕμνος, ὕμνου ὁ hymn, song

*χείρ, χειρός ἡ (dat pl. χερσίν) hand; force, army

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

Translations

1. You will never die.
2. I will place her in the hands of my guest-friend.
3. Through song I will take her from Hades.
4. This man no longer enjoys life.
5. A herdsman will see me.

Practice Translating Natural Result II. Translate these sentences that now have their verbs in the ὥστε-clause changed into infinitives. Note how the infinitive functions in each ὥστε-clause.

1. σοφῶς δ’ ἐφηῦρες, ὥστε μὴ θανεῖν ποτε.
2. ἄξω ἄνω Ἄλκηστιν, ὥστε χερσὶν ἐνθεῖναι ξένου.
3. οὐκ Ὀρφέως μοι γλῶσσα καὶ μέλος ἐστίν, ὥστε ὕμνοις αὐτὴν ἐξ Ἅιδου λαβεῖν.
4. γυναικὸς ἐσθλῆς ἤμπλακον, ὥστ’ ἄνδρα τόνδε μηκέθ’ ἥδεσθαι βίῳ.
5. βοτὴρ ἔτι ζάει οὗτος, ὥστ᾽ ἰδεῖν ἐμέ;

Vocabulary

*ἄγω, ἄξω, ἤγαγον do, drive, lead; χάριν ἄγω I give thanks

Ἄλκηστις, Ἀλκήστιδος ἡ Alkestis

ἤμπλακον (aorist) miss, fail, come short of + gen.; lose, be bereft of + gen.

ἄνω up, above

γλῶσσα γλώσσης ἡ tongue, language

*γυνή, γυναικός ἡ woman, wife

ἐσθλός, ἐσθλή, ἐσθλόν noble, fine, good

ἐφευρίσκω, ἐφευρήσω, ἐφηῦρον discover

μέλος, μέλεος (-ους) τό limb, song

Ὀρφεύς, Ὀρφέως ὁ Orpheus, Argonaut and divine singer, able to charm animals with song

σοφῶς wisely

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

Translations

1. You have discovered wisely so as not to die ever.
2. I will lead Alkestis up so as to place her in the hands of my guest-friend.
3. I do not have Orpheus’ tongue or music so as to bring her by singing from Hades.
4. I lost a noble wife and so this man no longer enjoys life.
5. Does this herdsman still live so as to look upon me?

Practice Translating. Translate the sentences below, which have been adapted from Euripides’ Helen (Ἑλένη). Do not write down your translation. Doing so slows the learning process. Remember the meanings and functions of the cases presented in Module 7. Use your memory to identify endings and their functions. If you forget an ending or a function, consult the Adjective, Adverb, Noun, and Pronoun Chart in Appendix VIII at the back of the book and the Case and Function Chart in Appendix I. Check your understanding with the answers in the Answer Key, making sure that you understand why each word translates as it does. Now go back and read each sentence two or three times, noticing with each rereading how much better your understanding of the sentence becomes. Make this a habit and you will improve quickly.

Adverbs and Verbs

Adjectives, Nouns, Pronouns

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

Practice Parsing Greek Sentences. Parse each word of the sentences found below. For nouns and pronouns, give case and function. For verbs, give person, number, tense, mood, and voice. For adverbs and conjunctions, identify them. For prepositional phrases, give the preposition and the preposition’s object. For adjectives, specify the noun they agree with in gender, number, and case.

γέλως ἄκαιρος πᾶσι βροτοῖς φέρει δεινὸν κακόν.

Λακεδαίμονος γῆς δεῦρο ἐνόστησ’ ἄπο.

Check your answers with those in the Answer Key.

Module 25 Top 250 Vocabulary to be Memorized. Like learning the alphabet and endings, memorizing vocabulary is an essential building block to acquiring language. The better you memorize the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary words, the greater mastery of the language you will have.

Adjectives

ἀληθής, ἀληθές true

ἅπας, ἅπασα, ἅπαν all, each, every, whole

δεινός, δεινή, δεινόν awesome, fearsome, terrible; δεινὸς λέγειν clever at speaking

εὐθύς, εὐθεῖα, εὐθύ straight, direct

μέγας, μεγάλη, μέγα big, great

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν all, each, every, whole

πολύς, πολλή, πολύ much, many

ταχύς, ταχεῖα, ταχύ swift

Verb

ἀφικνέομαι, ἀφίξομαι, ἀφικόμην, ------, ἀφῖγμαι, ------ arrive, reach, come to

Religion and Death

Today there are approximately 10,000 religions, though 84% of people follow these six: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, folk religion, Judaism. The first records of polytheistic religions date to about 5,000 years ago. Animism, the belief that everything possesses a divine element, appears to predate poly- and mono-theism. Though the Greek religion was polytheistic, it has animistic qualities to it.

From the literature that has survived, we can generalize about Greek belief in the divine, with the caveat that not all Greeks believed the same things. Some Greeks were atheists. Others agnostic. Some believed in one god. Others believed in gods different from the ones depicted in the Iliad, Odyssey, and Theogony, though it is guessed that most Greeks believed in them. As is true when discussing events far removed from our own time, we often come to conclusions based on incomplete evidence and as additional evidence comes to light we adjust our thinking accordingly. More evidence tends to complicate our views. Complication that admits of greater difference and diversity is generally desirable.

Greek religion involves a complicated relationship between mortals and immortals. Some big picture items are these three. First, Greeks honor the gods in exchange for something material on earth in a quid pro quo exchange. A Greek would pray to a deity asking her to accomplish something. In return the petitioner would offer devotion and sacrifice. For example, Sappho petitions Aphrodite to win over for her the woman she loves. In return Sappho offers Aphrodite her devotion (Fragment 1, West). Second, should something be amiss, Greeks would consult a seer or oracle to determine which god had been offended and how to appease the deity. Once they determined which god was angry and why, they would offer the required appeasement, typically a sacrifice. In the Iliad, Agamemnon offers a sacrifice to the priest Khryses and to the god Apollo in appeasement for his mistreating Khryses and for his threatening to abuse his daughter Khryseis. Third, gods punished wrongdoing. Should you act or even think about acting in a way that violated Greek customary behavior, a god could punish you, your family members, those around you, or even take out their punishment against a relative many years later, even after you have died (Solon, Fragment 13, West). In Herodotos’ Histories, Kroisos suffers because of his relative Gyges’ wrongs, committed four generations before Kroisos was born. In Aiskhylos’ Agamemnon, Artemis may be asking Agamemnon to sacrifice his daughter Iphigeneia in order to punish him proleptically for fighting a costly war.

Greek attitudes toward death are also complicated. Great deeds and works of art were a way for a Greek to achieve a quasi-immorality. In the Iliad, Akhilleus has two fates, a long life of anonymity or a short life with lots of honor. Though he agonizes over the choice, Akhilleus dies young on the battlefield and is immortalized by Homer. A couple of hundred years later, Herodotos writes his Histories to preserve for eternity the reasons why the Greeks fought the barbarians and the great deeds that the two accomplished. By writing it he achieves his own immortality, and is kept alive by those who continue to read his work. Building on Herodotos’ accomplishment, Thoukydides writes his history as a possession for all time, κτῆμα ἐς αἰεί, reasoning that as long as human nature remains similar we will find meaning and relevance in what he writes. Another strain of Greek thought argues that best was never to have been born at all and second best was to die as soon as possible. In the Moralia, “Letter to Apollonius, 115 a-c”, Plutarch ascribes the quote to Aristoteles’ lost dialogue Περὶ ψυχῆς On the Soul wherein the character Silenos quotes Eternity, μὴ γενέσθαι μὲν ἄριστον πάντων, τὸ δὲ τεθνάναι τοῦ ζῆν ἐστι κρεῖττον, best of all is not to have been born and death is better than life. Other sources offer the opposite viewpoint. In Book 11 of Homer’s Odyssey, Akhilleus’ shade tells Odysseus that he would prefer being a poor servant to being king of the dead. Numerous other examples from the Greek records reject death as a horrible existence and exalt human beings’ brief time on earth as precious. You have read one of these examples when you practiced reading Mimnermos’ poem on the brevity of life and importance of love. Plato’s Sokrates remains uncommital, arguing in the Apology that since we do not know what death is or what it holds in store for us, we need to reject our fear of death and the unknown, living a life directed toward the good. Many Greeks sought refuge from life’s brevity in the religious cults of Demeter and Dionysos, which promised initiates a blessed, heaven-like afterlife. A nuanced understanding of ancient Greek belief on religion and death would require more evidence than we currently possess.