STUDIES IN TENSE, ASPECT AND AUGMENT USE: AN UNRECOGNIZED (?) TIMELESS INJUNCTIVE IN EARLY EPIC GREEK. PART 1: STATUS QUAESTIONIS ON THE USE OF INJUNCTIVE, AUGMENT AND ASPECT.
STUDIES IN TENSE, ASPECT AND AUGMENT USE: AN UNRECOGNIZED (?) TIMELESS INJUNCTIVE IN EARLY EPIC GREEK. PART 1: STATUS QUAESTIONIS ON THE USE OF INJUNCTIVE, AUGMENT AND ASPECT.

Summary/Abstract: Since West’s seminal  article, it has been assumed that there were (only) four instances in epic Greek (Homer, Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns) in which the in- junctive (often called an unaugmented indicative in the commentaries) could be in- terpreted as having a timeless (or omnitemporal) meaning. In an article, divided into two parts, I will argue and show that there could be more of these forms. I will also an- alyze several other instances in which an injunctive has been transmitted, instances in which it refers to a background action or an event in a remote past. In part 1, I address the interaction and difference in use between the injunctive and the (augmented) indicative in epic Greek, paying special attention to the gnomic aorist, the similia, the instances with τε-épique and the so-called “Hymnic aorist”, explaining why they mostly comprise the augment. Following West  for Greek and Hoffmann  for Vedic, I argue that the injunctives or unaugmented indicatives are not simply metrical variants of the indicative, but have their own distinct meanings and func- tions, as they are used to “mention” or describe background actions, preserve an old “timeless” meaning or refer to a more remote (and often mythical) past. As some of the instances have an aorist and others a present injunctive, I also take into account the aspectual difference(s) between these forms, discussing scholarship on tense and aspect in general and Homer in particular. In part 2, I proceed to actual instances and will investigate them for both the use of the injunctive or indicative and for that of the aspectual stem.

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