Monographs

Of the many transitive verbs taking this accusative the following deserve mention:

(I) To do anything to or say anything of a person.

a. εὖ (καλῶς) ποιεῖν, δρᾶν (rarely with πρά_ττειν), εὐεργετεῖν, ὀνινάναι, ὠφελεῖν (also with dat.), θεραπεύειν, κακῶς ποιεῖν, κακοῦν, κακουργεῖν, βλάπτειν, ἀδικεῖν, ὑβρίζειν, βιάζεσθαι, ἀμείβεσθαι requite, τι_μωρεῖσθαι punish, λυ_μαίνεσθαι (also with dat.), λωβᾶσθαι (also with dat.).

b. εὖ (καλῶς) λέγειν, εὐλογεῖν, κολακεύειν, θωπεύειν, προσκυνεῖν, κακῶς λέγειν, κακολογεῖν, κακηγορεῖν, λοιδορεῖν.

συμφέρειν and λυ_σιτελεῖν profit, βοηθεῖν help, λοιδορεῖσθαι rail at take the dat., ἀδικεῖν injure and ὑβρίζειν insult also take εἴς τινα or πρός τινα.

εὖ (κακῶς) ἀκούειν, πάσχειν are used as the passives of εὖ (κακῶς) λέγειν, ποιεῖν. Cp. ^cross1752.

Many of the above-mentioned verbs take a double accusative ( ^cross1622).

(II) Verbs expressing emotion and its manifestations.

a. φοβεῖσθαι, δεδιέναι, τρεῖν, ἐκπλήττεσθαι, καταπλήττεσθαι fear, πτήσσειν crouch before, εὐλαβεῖσθαι beware of, θαρρεῖν have no fear of (have confidence in), αἰδεῖσθαι stand in awe of, αἰσχύ_νεσθαι feel shame before, δυσχεραίνειν be disgusted at, ἐλεεῖν pity, πενθεῖν, θρηνεῖν, δακρύ_ειν, κλά_ειν (κλαίειν) lament, weep over.

b. χαίρειν rejoice at and ἥδεσθαι be pleased to hear take the accus. of a person only in the poets and only with a predicate participle ( ^cross2100). αἰσχύ_νεσθαι, χαίρειν, ἥδεσθαι, δυσχεραίνειν usually take the dat. in prose. θαρρεῖν may take the instr. dat. (Hdt. 3.76).

(III) Verbs of swearing.

ὀμνύναι swear by (τοὺς θεούς, pass. Ζεὺς ὀμώμοται) and swear to (τὸν ὅρκον, pass. ὁ ὅρκος ὀμώμοται). So ἐπιορκεῖν swear falsely by.

a. ὀμνύναι τοὺς θεούς may be an abbreviation of ὀμνύναι ὅρκον (internal object) τῶν θεῶν.

b. The accusative is used in asseverations with the adverbs of swearing μά, οὐ μά, ναὶ μά, νή.

Nay, by Zeus: μὰ (τὸν) Δία, οὐ μὰ (τὸν) Δία.

Yea, by Zeus: ναὶ μὰ (τὸν) Δία, νὴ (τὸν) Δία.

μά is negative, except when preceded by ναί. μά may stand alone when a negative precedes (often in a question) or when a negative follows in the next clause: μὰ τὸν Ἀπόλλω, οὔκ Ar. Thesm. 269. μά is sometimes omitted after οὐ, and after ναί: οὐ τὸν Ὄλυμπον S. O. T. 1088, ναὶ τὰ_ν κόρα_ν Ar. Vesp. 1438.

c. The name of the deity may be omitted in Attic under the influence of sudden scrupulousness: μὰ τὸν—ου' σύ γε not you, by—P. G. 466e.

(IV) Various other verbs.

φεύγειν flee from, ἀποδιδρά_σκειν escape from, ἐνεδρεύειν lie in wait for, φθάνειν anticipate, φυλάττεσθαι guard oneself against, ἀμύ_νεσθαι defend oneself against, λανθάνειν escape the notice of, μένειν wait for, ἐκλείπειν and ἐπιλείπειν give out, fail (τὸ στράτευμα ὁ σῖτος ἐπέλιπε corn failed the army X. A. 1.5.6).

The accusative is rarely found after verbal nouns and adjectives, and in periphrastic expressions equivalent to a transitive verb. (This usage is post-Homeric and chiefly poetical.)

χοὰ_ς προπομπός (= προπέμπουσα) escorting the libations A. Ch. 23, τὰ μετέωρα φροντιστής a speculator about things above the earth P. A. 18b, ἐπιστήμονες ἦσαν τὰ προσήκοντα they were acquainted with their duties X. C. 3.3.9, πόλεμος ἄπορα πόριμος war providing difficulties (things for which there is no provision) A. Pr. 904, πολλὰ συνίστωρ (a house) full of guilty secrets A. Ag. 1090, σὲ φύξιμος able to escape thee S. Ant. 787; ἔξαρνός εἰμι (= ἐξαρνοῦμαι) τὰ ἐρωτώμενα say ‘no’ to the question P. Charm. 158c, τεθνᾶσι τῷ δέει τοὺς ἀποστόλους they are in mortal fear of the envoys D. 4.45; other cases 1612.

Elliptical Accusative.—The accusative is sometimes used elliptically.

οὗτος, ὦ σέ τοι (scil. καλῶ) ho! you there, I am calling you! Ar. Av. 274, μή, πρός σε θεῶν τλῇς με προδοῦναι (= μή, πρὸς θεῶν σε αἰτῶ) do not, I implore thee by the gods, have the heart to leave me! E. Alc. 275, μή μοι πρόφασιν (scil. πάρεχε) no excuse! Ar. Ach. 345. Cp. ^cross946.