Abstract

Homeric Greek, East Ionic, and many other dialects (but not Attic-Ionic) continue the Indo-European subjunctive of athematic stems (the ‘short-vowel subjunctive’), while Classical Greek replaces all athematic types of subjunctive with the subjunctive of thematic stems (the ‘long-vowel subjunctive’). The subjunctive is most typically used in subordinate clauses and expresses a hortatory, a prohibitive, or a deliberative meaning.