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Herbert Weir Smyth [n.d.], A Greek Grammar for Colleges; Machine readable text [info] [word count] [Smyth].

1728

Differences between Active and Middle.—As contrasted with the active, the middle lays stress on the conscious activity, bodily or mental participation, of the agent.

In verbs that possess both active and middle: βουλεύεσθαι deliberate, βουλεύειν plan, σταθμᾶν measure, σταθμᾶσθαι calculate, σκοπεῖν look at, σκοπεῖσθαι consider, ἔχεσθαι cling to, παύεσθαι cease ( ^cross1734. ^cross14). The force of the middle often cannot be reproduced in translation (ἀκούεσθαι, τι_μᾶσθαι, ἀριθμεῖσθαι, ἀπορεῖσθαι), and in some other cases it may not have been felt, as in ὁρᾶσθαι in poetry (προορᾶσθαι occurs in prose).

a. Many such verbs form their futures from the middle: ἀκούσομαι, ᾄσομαι, ἁμαρτήσομαι. See ^cross805.

b. In verbs in -ευω, the middle signifies that the subject is acting in a manner appropriate to his state or condition: πολι_τεύειν be a citizen, πολι_τεύεσθαι act as

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a citizen, perform one's civic duties; πρεσβεύειν be an envoy, πρεσβεύεσθαι negotiate as envoy or send envoys (of the State in its negotiations). But this force of the middle is not always apparent.

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Herbert Weir Smyth [n.d.], A Greek Grammar for Colleges; Machine readable text [info] [word count] [Smyth].