Semantic roles (AGDT table) › time
§§1444–1447 · 4 sections
GENITIVE OF TIME AND PLACE
Time.—The genitive denotes the time within which, or at a certain point of which, an action takes place. As contrasted with the accusative of time (1582), the genitive denotes a portion of time. Hence the genitive of time is partitive. Cp. τὸν μὲν χειμῶνα ῡ̔́ει ὁ θεός, τοῦ δὲ θέρεος χρηίσκονται τῷ ὕδατι during the (entire) winter the goo<*>rains, but in (a part of) summer they need the water 3.117.
ἡμέρᾱς by day, νυκτός at or by night, μεσημβρίᾱς at midday, δείλης in the afternoon, ἑσπέρᾱς in the evening, θέρους in summer, χειμῶνος in winter, ἦρος in spring, ὀπώρᾱς in autumn, τοῦ λοιποῦ in the future. The addition of article or attributive usually defines the time more exactly. Thus, οὐκοῦν ἡδὺ μὲν θέρους ψῡχεινὴν ἔχειν, ἡδὺ δὲ χειμῶνος ἀλεεινήν; is it not pleasant to have (a house) cool in summer, and warm in winter? M. 3.8.9, ᾤχετο τῆς νυκτός
he departed during the night A. 7.2.17, καὶ ἡμέρᾱς καὶ νυκτὸς ἄγων ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους both by day and by night leading against the enemy 2. 6. 7, ἔλεγον τοῦ λοιποῦ μηκέτι ἐξεῖναι ἀνομίᾱς ἄρξαι they said that for the future (at any time in the future) it should no longer be permitted to set an example of lawlessness 5. 7. 34. (Distinguish τὸ λοιπόν for the (entire) future 3. 2. 8.) ἐντός within is sometimes added to the genitive.
The addition of the article may have a distributive sense: δραχμὴν ἐλάμβανε τῆς ἡμέρᾱς
he received a drachm a day 3.17.
The genitive may denote the time since an action has happened or the time until an action will happen: οὐδείς μέ πω ἠρώτηκε καινὸν οὐδὲν πολλῶν ἐτῶν
for many years nobody has put a new question to me G. 448a, βασιλεὺς οὐ μαχεῖται δέκα ἡμερῶν
the king will not fight for ten days A. 1.7.18.
The genitive may or may not denote a definite part of the time during which anything takes place; the dative fixes the time explicitly either by specifying a definite point in a given period or by contracting the whole period to a definite point; the accusative expresses the whole extent of time from beginning to end: cp. τῇ δὲ ὑστεραίᾳ οἱ μὲν Ἀθηναῖοι τό τε προάστειον εἷλον καὶ τὴν ἡμέρᾱν ἅπᾱσαν ἐδῄουν τὴν γῆν, οἵ τε τριᾱκόσιοι τῶν Σκιωναίων τῆς ἐπιούσης νυκτὸς ἀπεχώρησαν
on the next day the Athenians captured the suburb and laid waste the land for that entire day, while the three hundred Scionaeans departed in the course of the following night 4.130; ἡμέρᾳ δὲ ἀρξάμενοι τρίτῃ ὡς οἴκοθεν ὥρμησαν, ταύτην τε εἰργάζοντο καὶ τὴν τετάρτην καὶ τῆς πέμπτης μέχρι ᾱ̓ρίστου beginning on the third day after their departure, they continued their work (all) this day and the fourth, and on the fifth until the mid-day meal 4. 90.
a. The genitive of time is less common than the dative of time (1539) with ordinals, or with ὅδε, οὗτος, ἐκεῖνος; as ταύτης τῆς νυκτός 6.97, Cr. 44a, ἐκείνου τοῦ μηνός
in the course of that month M. 4.8.2. For θέρους we find ἐν θέρει rarely and, in poetry, θέρει. 4.133 has both τοῦ αὐτοῦ θέρους and ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ θέρει in the course of the same summer; cp. ἶσος ῥέει ἔν τε θέρεϊ καὶ χειμῶνι ὁ Ἴστρος 4.50 and Ἴστρος ἶσος ῥέει θέρεος καὶ χειμῶνος 4. 48 (the Ister flows with the same volume in summer and winter).
§§1539–1543 · 5 sections
LOCATIVE DATIVE
Dative of Time.—The dative without a preposition is commonly used to denote a definite point of time (chiefly day, night, month, year, season) at which an action occurred. The dative contrasts one point of time with another, and is usually accompanied by an attributive.
The dative denotes the time at which an action takes place and the date of an event.
ταύτην μὲν τὴν ἡμέρᾱν αὐτοῦ ἔμειναν, τῇ δὲ ὑστεραίᾳ κτλ. throughout that day they waited there, but on the day following, etc. H. 1.1.14. So τῇ προτεραίᾳ the day before, τῇ δευτέρᾳ the second day, Ἐλαφηβολιῶνος μηνὸς ἕκτῃ (ἡμέρᾳ) φθίνοντος
on the sixth of waning Elaphebolion 2.90, ἕνῃ καὶ ϝέᾳ
on the last of the month 18.29; τρίτῳ μηνί
in the third month 21.1, περιιόντι τῷ θέρει
when summer was coming to an end 1.30, ἐξηκοστῷ ἔτει in the sixtieth year 1. 12; also with ὥρᾳ (χειμῶνος ὥρᾳ
in the winter season 1.137).
The names of the regular recurring festivals which serve to date an <*>ccurrence stand in the dative: Παναθηναίοις
at the Panathenaea 21.156, <*>οῖς Διονῡσίοις at the Dionysia 21. 1, ταῖς πομπαῖς at the processions 21. 171, τοῖς <*>οαγῳδοῖς at the representations of the tragedies 3.176. ἐν is rarely added.
ἐν is added:
a. To words denoting time when there is no attributive: ἐν τῷ χειμῶνι
in winter O. 17.3; cp. 1444. b. When the attributive is a pronoun (sometimes): (ἐν) ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ. c. To statements of the time within the limits of which an event may take place (where ἐντός with the genitive is common); to statements of how much time anything takes; with numbers, ὀλίγος, πολύς, etc. Thus, ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις for (during) three days A. 4.8.8, οὐ ῥᾴδιον τὰ ἐν ἅπαντι τῷ χρόνῳ πρᾱχθέντα ἐν μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ δηλωθῆναι
it is not easy to set forth in a single day the acts of all time 2.54, ἐξελέσθαι τὴν διαβολὴν ἐν οὕτως ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ
to clear myself of calumny in so brief a time A. 19a. ἐν is rarely omitted in prose, and chiefly when there is an attributive: μιᾷ νυκτὶ 6.27. d. Always with adjectives or adverbs used substantively: ἐν τῷ παρόντι, ἐν τῷ τότε. e. To words denoting the date of an event, not a point of time: ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ πρεσβείᾳ
in the first embassy 2.123. Thuc. employs ἐν, as ἐν τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ ἐκκλησίᾳ in the assembly held the day after 1. 44, but usu. the simple dative, as μάχῃ in the battle 3. 54, ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἐσβολῇ in that incursion 2. 20, τῇ προτέρᾳ ἐκκλησίᾳ in the first assembly 1. 44.
The dative and genitive of time are sometimes employed with only a slight difference (1447 a).
§§1582–1587 · 6 sections
ACCUSATIVE OF EXTENT
Time.—The accusative denotes extent of time.
ἔμεινεν ἡμέρᾱς ἑπτά
he remained seven days A. 1.2.6, ξυμμαχίᾱν ἐποιήσαντο ἑκατὸν ἔτη
they made an alliance for a hundred years 3.114.
The accusative of time implies that the action of the verb covers the entire period. When emphasis is laid on the uninterrupted duration of an action, παρά with the accusative (1692. 3. b) and διά with the genitive (1685. 1. b) are used. The accusative of time is rarely employed where the dative (1540) is properly in place: τήνδε τὴν ἡμέρᾱν 3.7.
Duration of life may be expressed by γεγονώς: ἔτη γεγονὼς ἑβδομήκοντα
seventy years old A. 17d. (Also by εἶναι and the genitive, 1327.)
To mark (a) how long a situation has lasted or (b) how much time has elapsed since something happened, an ordinal is used without the article, but often with the addition of οὑτοσῑ́. The current day or year is included. Thus (a) τὴν μητέρα τελευτήσᾱσαν τρίτον ἔτος τουτῑ́
my mother who died two years ago 24.6, ἐπιδεδήμηκε τρίτην ἤδη ἡμέρᾱν
he has been in the city since day before yesterday Pr. 309d. (b) ἀπηγγέλθη Φίλιππος τρίτον ἢ τέταρτον ἔτος τουτῑ̀ Ἡραῖον τεῖχος πολιορκῶν
this is the third or fourth year since it was announced that Philip was besieging fort Heraeum 3.4.
Time and degree are often expressed by prepositions with the accusative. See Prepositions under ἀμφί, ἀνά, διά, ἐπί, κατά, παρά, πρός, ὑπό.
In the index: Time · Accusative case · Dative case · Extent · Genitive case · Locative dative · Month · Festivals · Comparative · Degree