Participle/Finite Verb constituent order (again!)

clayton stirling bartholomew c.s.bartholomew at worldnet.att.net
Wed Jul 19 17:04:12 EDT 2000


The old question about Participle/Finite Verb  constituent order came up
again yesterday in a private exchange.

Anyway, I was just now taking a look at Homer's Iliad book 1 line 311 and
noted:

hEISEN AGWN

I was wondering if someone would like to explain the connection between word
order and temporal relationships here. It seems that  AGWN could be either
prior to  hEISEN, or it could be a general idea which takes into view the
whole event or AGWN may be an action which transpires after hEISEN.

The fact that AGWN is not an aorist puts it outside the normal discussions
of this matter, which usually focus on the aorist participle and the finite
verb. 

I have no theory to promote. I just saw this and was thinking that it might
generate some discussion. I generally look for examples which put strain on
the currently popular ways of thinking about things. I am not sure this
example does that, but someone who has read Homer might be able to clarify
this for all of us.

Thanks, Clay

--  
Clayton Stirling Bartholomew
Three Tree Point
P.O. Box 255 Seahurst WA 98062





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