The expression of the agent with passive verbs in Ancient Greek
Whereas English has only one means of expressing the agent of a passive verb, the preposition <i>by</i>, Ancient Greek had several ways to mark this grammatical relation. In short, this dissertation is an examination of the conditions that favoured the use of one agent marker over another. In Homer, the use of the agent with the passive voice is extremely rare. As a result, little may be determined for certain regarding the reasons why one agent marker is preferred to another in a particular passage. By the time of Herodotus, however, this construction has become more frequent, and, both in Herodotus and in the Classical Attic prose writers, two main conditioning factors may be seen at work. First, the syntax of the verb may affect the expression of the agent: perfect passive verbs and, to a lesser extent, participles may be associated with agent markers other than the standard <i>hupo.</i> Second, the semantics of the verb also play a role: verbs of sending often construe with <i>para</i> with the genitive, verbs of thinking with <i>para</i> with the dative. These factors, however, do not account for non-standard agent expression in tragedy, where it is even more common than in prose. Here it was largely
George, C. H.
The expression of the agent with passive verbs in Ancient Greek. Whereas English has only one means of expressing the agent of a passive verb, the preposition <i>by</i>, Ancient Greek had several ways to mark this grammatical relation. In short, this dissertation is an examination of the conditions that favoured the use of one agent marker over another. In Homer, the use of the agent with the passive voice is extremely rare. As a result, little may be determined for certain regarding the reasons why one agent marker is preferred to another in a particular passage. By the time of Herodotus, however, this construction has become more frequent, and, both in Herodotus and in the Classical Attic prose writers, two main conditioning factors may be seen at work. First, the syntax of the verb may affect the expression of the agent: perfect passive verbs and, to a lesser extent, participles may be associated with agent markers other than the standard <i>hupo.</i> Second, the semantics of the verb also play a role: verbs of sending often construe with <i>para</i> with the genitive, verbs of thinking with <i>para</i> with the dative. These factors, however, do not account for non-standard agent expression in tragedy, where it is even more common than in prose. Here it was largely
expression agent passive verb ancient_greek whereas_english mean express agent passive verb preposition ancient_greek several way mark grammatical_relation short examination condition favour use agent marker another homer use agent passive voice extremely rare little may determine certain regard reason agent marker prefer another particular passage time herodotus however construction become frequent herodotus classical attic prose writer two_main condition factor_may see work first syntax verb may_affect expression agent perfect passive verb less_extent may associate agent marker standard second semantics verb also play_role verbs send often construe verbs think dative factor however account non_standard agent expression tragedy even common prose largely