ἐπεί, Conj., both temporal and causal; alsoἐπειδή,ἐπείτε.
A. OF TIME (ἐπειδήis more freq. in this sense in Prose),after that, since, when,from Hom. downwds.:
I. with Ind.,
1. of a definite occurrence in past time, mostly c.aor.,ἐπεί π̔' εὔξαντο afterthey had prayed, Il. 1.458 ; ἐπειδὴ ἐτελεύτησε Δαρεῖος καὶ κατέστη Ἀρταξέρξης after
D.
had died and A. had succeeded, X. An. 1.1.3 : rarely c.impf., ἐπειδὴ εἱστιώμεθ'
Ar. Nu. 1354
; ἐ. πόντον εἰσεβάλλομεν
E. IT 260
; ἐ. ἠσθένει Δαρεῖος
X. An. 1.1.1
: c.plpf.,ἐπειδὴ ἐξηπάτησθε . . afteryou had been deceived . ., D. 18.42 ; but generally theaor.is found, theplpf.being used only for special emphasis: c.impf.to express an action not yet complete,ἐπεὶ ὑπηντίαζεν ἡ φάλαγξ καὶ ἡ σάλπιγξ ἐφθέγξατο afterthe phalanx began to advance and the trumpet had sounded, X. An. 6.5.27 .
2. with implied reference to some later time,ἐ.orἐπειδή,
= ἐξ οὗ ,from the time when, since,mostly c.aor., πολλὰ πλάγχθη, ἐ. ἔπερσε
Od. 1.2
;ἐπείτε παρέλαβον τὸν θρόνον, τοῦτο ἐφρόντιζον ever sinceI came to the throne, I had this in mind, Hdt. 7.8 . ά; ἐπειδήπερ ὑπέστη
Th. 8.68
; δέκατον μὲν ἔτος τόδ' ἐ . . . ἦραν
A. Ag. 40
: sts. c.pres.(used inpf.sense) andpf.,ἐ. δὲ φροῦδός ἐστι στρατός sincethe army is gone, S. Ant. 15 ;ἐπείτε ὑπὸ τῷ Πέρσῃ εἰσί, πεπόνθασι τοιόνδε ever sincethey have been,now thatthey are . ., Hdt. 3.117 .
II. with Subj.,ἄνbeing always added in Att. Prose, andἄνorκεgenerally in Poetry:ἐπείwithἄνbecomesἐπήν(so in Com., Ar. Lys. 1175 , Av. 983 ), laterἐπάν(q.v.), Ion.
1. referring to future time withfut.apodosis,τέκνα ἄξομεν . . ἐπὴν πτολίεθρον ἕλωμεν whenwe shall have taken the city, Il. 4.238 ; ἐ. κ' ἀπὸ λαὸς ὄληται
;ταῦτ', ἐπειδὰν περὶ τοῦ γένους εἴπω, τότ' ἐρῶI will speak of this,whenI have spoken . ., D. 57.16 , cf. X. An. 2.3.29 ; ἐ. ἂν σύ γε πότ μον ἐπίσπῃς
Il. 6.412
;χρὴ δέ, ὅταν μὲν τιθῆσθε τοὺς νόμους, . . σκοπεῖν, ἐπειδὰν δὲ θῆσθε, φυλάττεινwhenever you are enacting your laws, . . andafteryou have enacted them . ., D. 21.34 .
2. of repeated action, with apres.apodosis,whenever, when once,
δαμνᾷ, ἐ. κε λίπῃ ὀστέα θυμός
Od. 11.221
, cf. Il. 9.409 ;ἐπειδὰν ἡ ἐκφορὰ ᾖ . . ἄγουσι wheneverthe burial takes place they bring, Th. 2.34 ;ἐπειδὰν κρύψωσι γῇ . . λέγει whenthey have covered them with earth, ibid.: sts. withoutἄνorκεin Poets, ἐ. ἂρ βλέφαρ' ἀμφικαλύψῃ
Od. 20.86
; ἐ. δὴ τόν γε δαμάσσεται . . ὀϊστός
Il. 11.478
, cf. S. OC 1225 (lyr.), Ant. 1025 .
3. like
A. 1.2 ,δέκα ἡμερῶν ἐπειδὰν δόξῃwithin ten daysfromthe passing of the resolution, IG 12.88.7 .
III. with Opt. (withoutἄν):
1. referring to future time,ἐπειδὴ πρὸς τὸ φῶς ἔλθοι, ὁρᾶν οὐδ' ἂν ἓν δύνασθαι(sc.οὐκ οἴει);afterhe had come into the light . ., Pl. R. 516a : Hom. sts. usesἐπήνwith opt. in same sense asἐπεί,
Il. 24.227 , Od. 2.105 (codd.), etc.
2. more freq. of repeated action, with a past apodosis, ἐ. ζεύξειεν . ., δησάσκετο
Il. 24.14
; ἐπειδὴ δέ τι ἐμφάγοιεν, ἀνίσταντο
X. An. 4.5.9
; ἐ. πύθοιτο, ἐπῄνει
Id. Cyr. 5.3.55
, cf. Th. 8.38 , Pl. Phd. 59d , Prt. 315b .
3. in orat. obliq. after past tenses, representing asubj.in orat. rect.,αὐτὸς δὲ ἐπεὶ διαβαίης, ἀπιέναι ἔφησθα(the direct form beingἐπὴν διαβῶ) X. An. 7.2.27 , cf. 3.5.18 , Cyr. 1.4.21 ; after opt. in a final clause,ἐπορεύοντο,
ὅπως ἐπειδὴ γένοιντο ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ . . ἴοιεν
Th. 7.80
.
4. by assimilation to opt. in principal clause, ἦ τ' ἂν . . νῦν μὲν ἀνώγοιμι πτολεμίζειν . . ἐπὴν τεισαίμεθα λώβην
Il. 19.208
; ὃς τὸ καταβρόξειεν ἐπεὶ κρητῆρι μιγείη
Od. 4.222
.
5. ἐπειδάνc. opt. isf.l. insome passages of early authors, as X. Cyr. 1.3.11 , D. 30.6 (c. ind., Plb. 13.7.8 ): found in later Gr., Agath. 2.5 , al., Zos. 5.18.10 .
IV. with Inf., only in orat. obliq.,ἐπειδὴ δὲ κατὰ σχολὴν σκέψασθαι, κόπτεσθαι(sc.ἔφη) Pl. R. 619c , cf. Smp. 174d , Hdt. 4.10 , 7.150 .
V. with other words:
1. ἐ. τάχιστα as soon as,freq. separated by a word, ἐ. ἦλθε τάχιστα, . . ἀπέδοτο
X. An. 7.2.6
; ἐ. δὲ τάχιστα διέβη
Id. Cyr. 3.3.22
; ἐ. θᾶττον
Arist. Pol. 1284a40
; ἐ. εὐθέως
X. HG 3.2.4
; ἐ . . . αὐτίκα
Pi. N. 1.35
; ἐπειδὴ τάχιστα
Pl. Prt. 310c
, D. 27.16 ; ἐπειδὰν τάχιστα
Hdt. 8.144
, X. An. 3.1.9 ; rarely ἐπειδὴ θᾶττον
D. 37.41
; ἐπειδὰν θᾶττον
Pl. Prt. 325c
.
b.
ἐ. τὰ πρῶτα
Il. 12.420
; ἐ. τὸ πρῶτον
A. Ag. 1287
.
2. with emphatic Particles,ἐπεὶ ἄρα whenthen, in continuing a narrative, Il. 6.426 ;ἐπεὶ οὖν whenthen, in resuming a narrative, 1.57 , 3.4 ; ἐπεὶ ὦν
Hdt. 3.9
; ἐπεὶ γὰρ δή
Id. 9.90
, etc.
B. CAUSAL (ἐπείmore freq. in this sense in early Prose:ἐπειδή whereasis used in preambles of decrees, IG 22.103 , etc.; ἐπειδήπερ inasmuch as, Ev. Luc.
1.1
),since, seeing that,freq. from Hom. downwards:
1. with Ind. (after both present and past tenses), ἐ. οὐδὲ ἔοικε
; freq. with past tenses with ἄν, ἐπεὶ οὔποτ' ἂν στόλον ἐπλεύσατ' ἄν
S. Ph. 1037
; ἐπεὶ οὔ κεν ἀνιδρωτί γ' ἐτελέσθη
Il. 15.228
, cf. D. 18.49 ;οὐ γὰρ ἂν σθένοντά γε εἷλέν μ': ἐπεὶ οὐδ' ἂν ὧδ' ἔχοντ'(sc.εἷλεν) S. Ph. 948 : esp. in the sense,for otherwise . .,
Pi. O. 9.29 , S. OT 433 , X. Mem. 2.7.14 , Herod. 2.72 , etc.: so c.fut.,ἐξέστω δὲ μηδενὶ . . τεθῆναι . ., ἐ. ἀποδώσει . . otherwisehe shall pay . ., Rev.Et.Anc. 4.261 (near Smyrna): c. imper.,ἐ. δίδαξον forteach me, S. El. 352 , OC 969 , cf. OT 390 , Ar. V. 73 , Pl. Grg. 473e : with an interrog.,ἐ. πῶς ἂν καλέσειας; forhow would you call him? Ar. Nu. 688 , cf. Pi. P. 7.5 , A. Ch. 214 , S. Tr. 139 (lyr.); ὦ Ἀλκιβιάδη, ἐπειδὴ περὶ τίνος Ἀθηναῖοι διανοοῦνται βουλεύεσθαι, ἀνίστασαι συμβουλεύσων;
Pl. Alc. 1.106c
.
2. c. Opt., ἐ. ἂν μάλα τοι σχεδὸν ἔλθοι
Il. 9.304
, cf. S. Aj. 916 ; so after past tenses on the principle of orat. obliq.,ἐπείπερ ἡγήσαιντο since(as they said) they believed, X. Mem. 1.4.19 .
3. c. Inf. in orat. obliq., ἐ. γιγνώσκειν γε αὐτά
Pl. Prt. 353a
, cf. Hdt. 8.111 , Th. 2.93 .
4. in elliptical expressions,ἀδύνατός [εἰμι], ἐ. ἐβουλόμην ἂν οἷός τ' εἶναιI am unable (and yet I am sorry),forI shouldliketo have the power, Pl. Prt. 335c ; soεἶμι: ἐ. καὶ ταῦτ' ἂν ἴσως οὐκ ἀηδῶς σου ἤκουονibid. (here the sense may be given byand yet, although,cf. ib. 333c , 317a , Ap. 19e , Smp. 187a , Arist. EN 1121a19 );ἐ. ὅ γε ἀποθανὼν πελάτης τις ἦν ἐμός and yet (moreover)the murdered man was my own hired man, Pl. Euthphr. 4c .
b. sts. after a voc., where 'listen' may be supplied, Ἕκτορ, ἐ. με κατ' αἶσαν ἐνείκεσας
Il. 3.59
, cf. 13.68 , Od. 3.103 , 211 .
5. with other Particles,ἐ. ἄρα, ἐ. ἂρ δή sincethen, Od. 17.185 ;ἐ. γε( ἐπεί . . γε
Il. 1.352
, Hes. Th. 171 ), more emphatic thanἐ., sinceindeed, E. Cyc. 181 , Hipp. 955 ;ἐπειδή γεib. 946 , Pl. Phd. 77d , D. 54.29 ; sts. separated, ἐπειδή . . γε
S. El. 631
, Pl. Phd. 87c ; ἐ. γε δή
Hdt. 3.9
, S. Ant. 923 , ἐπειδή γε καί
Th. 6.18
;ἐ. ἦ sincein truth, ἐ. ἦ πολὺ φέρτερόν ἐστι
Il. 1.169
, cf. 156 , Od. 9.276 ;ἐπείπερ( ἐ . . . περ
Il. 13.447
, Od. 20.181 ) in Trag. and Prose, A. Ag. 822 , S. OC 75 , Pl. Phd. 114d ;ἐπειδήπερin Com. and Prose, Ar. Ach. 437 , 495 , Nu. 1412 , Th. 6.18 , Pl. R. 350e ;ἐ. τοι sincesurely, S. OC 433 ; ἐ. νύ τοι
Il. 1.416
; ἐ. τοι καί
E. Med. 677
, Pl. R. 567e . [ἐ.sts. begins a verse in Hom. , Il. 22.379 , Od. 4.13 , 8.452 , 21.25 ; sts. coalesces by synizesis withοὐ, οὐδέ,etc., S. Ph. 446 , 948 , etc.]
