external object (object affected)

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

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

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

συμφέρειν and λῡσιτελεῖν 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. 1752.

Many of the above-mentioned verbs take a double accusative (1622).

(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, αἰσχῡ́νεσθαι feel shame before, δυσχεραίνειν be disgusted at, ἐλεεῖν pity, πενθεῖν, θρηνεῖν, δακρῡ́ειν, κλᾱ́ειν (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 (2100). αἰσχῡ́νεσθαι, 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 τᾱ̀ν κόρᾱν Ar. Vesp. 1438.

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

(IV) Various other verbs.

φεύγειν flee from, ἀποδιδρᾱ́σκειν escape from, ἐνεδρεύειν lie in wait for, φθάνειν anticipate, φυλάττεσθαι guard oneself against, ἀμῡ́νεσθαι 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.)

χοᾱ̀ς 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.

The absence of the article generally distinguishes the predicate noun from the object: ἐπηγγέλλετο τοὺς κόλακας τοὺς αὑτοῦ πλουσιωτάτους τῶν πολῑτῶν ποιήσειν he promised to make his flatterers the richest of the citizens L. 28.4.

Especially in Plato and Herodotus, after verbs signifying to name, to call, the predicate noun may be connected with the external object by (a redundant) εἶναι (911); σοφιστὴν ὀνομάζουσι τὸν ἄνδρα εἶναι they call the man a sophist P. Pr. 311e, ἐπωνυμίᾱν ἔχει σμῑκρός τε καὶ μέγας εἶναι he is called both short and tall P. Ph. 102c. This is due to the analogy of verbs signifying to think or say (1041).

A predicate accusative may stand in apposition to the object: ἔδωκα δωρειᾱ̀ν τὰ λύτρα I gave them the price of their ransom as a free gift D. 19.170.

This use is the source of many adverbial accusatives (993, 1606 ff.).

Passive: both the object and the predicate accusative of the active construction become nominative (1743) in the passive construction: αὐτὸς στρα- τηγὸς ᾑρέθη he himself was chosen general L. 12.65, αὐτοὶ νομοθέται κληθήσονται they shall themselves be called lawgivers P. L. 681d.

The external object refers to a person, the internal object (cognate accusative, 1563 ff.) refers to a thing. Here the internal object stands in closer relation to the verb.

ὁ πόλεμος ἀείμνηστον παιδείᾱν αὐτοὺς ἐπαίδευσε the war taught them a lesson they will hold in everlasting remembrance Aes. 3.148, τοσοῦτον ἔχθος ἐχθαίρω σε I hate thee with such an hate S. El. 1034, Μέλητός με ἐγράψατο τὴν γραφὴν ταύτην Meletus brought this accusation against me P. A. 19b, ἕλκος, τό μιν βάλε the wound that he dealt him E 795 (1578), Μιλτιάδης ὁ τὴν ἐν Μαραθῶνι μάχην τοὺς βαρβάρους νῑκήσᾱς Miltiades who won the battle at Marathon over the barbarians Aes. 3.181, τὸν ἄνδρα τύπτειν τᾱ̀ς πληγᾱ́ς to strike the man the blows Ant. 4. γ. 1, καλοῦσί με τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα they give me this appellation X. O. 7.3.

Passive (1747): πᾶσαν θεραπείᾱν θεραπευόμενος receiving every manner of service P. Phae. 255a, τύπτεσθαι πεντήκοντα πληγᾱ́ς to be struck fifty blows Aes. 1.139, ἡ κρίσις, ἣν ἐκρίθη the sentence that was pronounced upon him L. 13.50, τᾱ̀ς μάχᾱς, ὅσᾱς Πέρσαι ἡττήθησαν ἐῶ I omit the battles in which the Persians were defeated I. 4.145, ὄνομα ἓν κεκλημένοι Σικελιῶται called by the one name of Sicilians T. 4.64.

So with verbs signifying to do anything to or say anything of a person (1591): πολλὰ ἀγαθὰ ῡ̔μᾶς ἐποίησεν he did you much good L. 5.3, ταυτῑ́ με ποιοῦσι that's what they are doing to me Ar. Vesp. 696, τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπαινῶ Ᾱ̓γησίλᾱον I praise Agesilaus for such merits X. Ages. 10.1, τοὺς Κορινθίους πολλά τε και<*> κακὰ ἔλεγε he said many bad things about the Corinthians Hdt. 8.61. For the accusative of the thing, εὖ (καλῶς), κακῶς may be substituted; and εἰς and πρός with the accusative occur.

The accusative of the person may depend on the idea expressed by the combination of verb and accusative of the thing (1612); as in τοὺς πολεμίους εἰργάσθαι κακά to have done harm to the enemy L. 21.8 (here εἰργάσθαι of itself does not mean to do anything to a person).

When the dative of the person is used, something is done for (1474), not to him: πάντα ἐποίησαν τοῖς ἀποθανοῦσιν they rendered all honours to the dead X. A. 4.2.23. εἰς or πρός with the accusative is also employed.

Passive of 1622: ὅσα ἄλλα ἡ πόλις ἠδικεῖτο all the other wrongs that the State has suffered D. 18.70.

Verbs of dividing (νέμειν, κατανέμειν, διαιρεῖν, τέμνειν) may take two accusatives, one of the thing divided, the other of its parts (cognate accus.). Thus, Κῦρος τὸ στράτευμα κατένειμε δώδεκα μέρη Cyrus divided the army into twelve divisions X. C. 7.5.13. εἰς or κατά may be used with the accusative of the parts.

Passive: διῄρηται ἡ ἀγορᾱ̀ τέτταρα μέρη the Agora is divided into four parts X. C. 1.2.4. εἰς and κατά may be used with the accusative of the parts.

Both person and thing are equally governed by the verb. The accusative of the person is the external object; the accusative of the thing is sometimes a cognate accusative (internal accusative).

Some of these verbs also take the genitive or dative, or employ prepositions. Thus ἐρωτᾶν τινα περί τινος, αἰτεῖν (αἰτεῖσθαί) τι παρά τινος, ἀποστερεῖν or ἀφαιρεῖσθαί τινά τινος (τινός τι) (1394), or τινί τι (1483); ἀναμιμνῄσκειν τινά τινος (1356); παιδεύειν τινά τινι or τινὰ εἰς (or πρός) with the accusative.

The poets employ this construction with verbs of cleansing (a form of depriving): χρόα νίζετο ἅλμην he was washing the brine from his skin ζ 224, αἷμα κάθηρον Σαρπηδόνα cleanse the blood from Sarpedon II 667. And with other verbs (in tragedy), e.g. τῑμωρεῖσθαι avenge on, μετελθεῖν seek to avenge on, μετιέναι execute judgment on, ἐπισκήπτειν charge.

Passive (1747): ὑπὸ βασιλέως πεπρᾱγμένος τοὺς φόρους having had the tribute demanded of him by the king T. 8.5, ὅσοι ἵππους ἀπεστέρηνται all who have been deprived of their horses X. C. 6.1.12, οὐκ ἐπείθοντο τὰ ἐσαγγελθέντα they would not credit the news Hdt. 8.81, μουσικὴν παιδευθείς having been instructed in music P. Menex. 236a (here μουσικῇ is possible), οὐδὲν ἄλλο διδάσκεται ἄνθρωπος ἢ ἐπιστήμην man is taught nothing else except knowledge P. Men. 87c.

The accusative of extent (1580) is freely used in the same sentence with other accusatives, as ὑπερενεγκόντες τὸν Λευκαδίων ἰσθμὸν τᾱ̀ς ναῦς having hauled the ships across the isthmus of Leucas T. 3.81.

On the accusative of the whole and part, see 985; on the accusative subject of the infinitive, see 1972 ff.; on the accusative absolute, see 2076. See also under Anacoluthon.