Module 4: indirect speech

Overview of module 4

Practice, reading and composition are based on Lysias 1, sections 19-20: Euphiletos confronts the enslaved woman with his discovery that she has been cooperating with Eratosthenes.

Language

Module 4 introduces these features of Greek:

  • indirect speech refers to speech that reports what another speaker says. Greek uses three different constructions to express indirect speech:
    • after a verb indicating speaking or thinking, Greek can use a new form, the infinitive, with its subject in the accusative case
    • after a verb indicating perception or knowing, Greek can use a participle
    • Greek can introduce a subordinate clause with the conjunction ὡς or ὅτι. When the main verb is in a past tense (aorist or imperfect), the verb of the subordinate clause can appear in a new mood, the optative

Practice, Reading, and Composition

Reading selection based on Lysias 1.19–20.


Table of contents


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