LESSON XVI
The Passive Voice
expressing not what a man does to another person or thing by the putting forth of his active force, but what he suffers from the active force of another, has its characteristic form in Greek as follows—
Present
| Indicative— | ||||||
| πείθ-ομαι, | -ῃ, | -εται, | I, thou, he is |  | persuaded. | |
| -όμεθα, | -εσθε, | -ονται, | we, you, they are | |||
Subjunctive, with the long vowel as in the active voice—
| πείθ-ωμαι | -ῃ | -ηται |
| -ώμεθα | -ησθε | -ωνται |
and optative with οι—
| πειθ-οίμην | -οιο | -οιτο |
| -οίμεθα | -οισθε | -οιντο |
Imperfect
| ἐπειθόμην | ἐπείθου | ἐπείθετο |
| ἐπειθόμεθα | ἐπείθεσθε | ἐπείθοντο |
Future
| πεισθ-ήσομαι | -ήσῃ | -ήσεται |
| -ησόμεθα | -ήσεσθε | -ήσονται |
First Aorist
| ἐπείσθ-ην | -ης | -η |
| -ημεν | -ητε | -ησαν |
| Optative— | ||||
| singular, | πεισθ-είην | -είης | -είη | |
| plural, | -εῖμεν | -εῖτε | -εῖεν | |
In the perfect as in the active voice the reduplication takes place, as—
| πέπεισμαι | πέπεισαι | πέπεισται |
| πεπείσμεθα | πέπεισθε | πεπεισμένοι εἰσίν |
Certain verbs have a second aorist, as στέλλω, I send, not ἐστάλθην but ἐστάλην, I was sent; and pure verbs have the characteristic contraction of the vowel into a diphthong, as φιλούμεθα for φιλεόμεθα; but these variations are best learned by practice.
ἐστάλησαν οἱ ἀπόστολοι κηρύξοντες τὸ εὐαγγέλιον,
καὶ ἐκήρυξαν δεινῶς,
the Apostles were sent to preach the gospel,
and they preached it with power.
ὅτε οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἐκήρυξαν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἐν ταῖς Ἀθήναις,
ὀλίγοι ἐπείσθησαν,
when the Apostles preached the gospel in Athens,
few were persuaded.
ὁ κακοῦργος ἐκεῖνος ἐπήνεγκέ μοι βιαίαν πληγὴν τῇ βακτηρίᾳ
καὶ τὸ νῶτόν μοι ἐτραυματίσθη χαλεπῶς,
that bad fellow struck me a heavy blow with his cudgel,
and my back was severely wounded.
εἶτα δὲ τί συνέβη; then what happened?
τῶν τοξοτῶν τις τῶν φυλασσόντων τὴν πόλιν ἥρπασεν αὐτόν,
καὶ εὐθὺς ἐνεβλήθη εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον,
one of the policemen who keep the peace of the city
laid hold of him, and he was forthwith cast into prison.
δίκαια ἔπαθεν, served him right.
κατὰ φύσιν τοῦτο· πάντες ὅσοι ἄνομοι καὶ βίαιοι δικαίως
ἐμβληθήσονται εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον· οὐ γὰρ ἄνθρωποι οἱ τοιοῦτοι ἀλλὰ
συγγενεῖς τῶν τίγρεων,
quite natural; all lawless and violent persons will
naturally be cast into prison; for such persons are not men,
but related to tigers.
οἴμοι πέπληγμαι, πόθεν ἡ πληγή;
woe’s me, I am struck! whence came the blow?
ὁ γνώριμός μου ὁ Ἰωάννης Καμερὼν παίζων τὴν κορύνην ἐν τῷ
πεδίῳ ἔπληξε πλαγίως τὴν σφαῖραν, ἥπερ παρετράπη εἰς τὴν κεφαλήν σου,
my acquaintance John Cameron, playing at golf on the links,
struck his ball obliquely and it was driven against your head.
οἴμοι—μοι—ὀτοτοτοτοῖ, O woe’s me, woe!
ὦ τοῦ ταλαιπώρου, O poor fellow.
τί χρὴ πρᾶξαι; what must we do?
φέρε εἰς τὸ νοσοκομεῖον, καὶ κάλεσον τὸν ἰατρόν·
ἔχει γὰρ κίνδῡνον τὸ πρᾶγμα,
take him to the infirmary and call the doctor;
it is a dangerous business.
αὐτίκα μάλα· κληθήσεται, instantly; he shall be called.
English Affinities
Oligarchy. Plague. Toxicology. Phylacteries. Tiger. Sphere. Nosology. Call. Physic.