]. CONSTRUCTION OF VERBS OF PERCEIVING AND OF FINDING
Verbs of Perception.—Verbs signifying to see, perceive, hear, learn (i.e. learn by inquiry, hear of), when they denote physical (actual) perception take the participle. When they denote intellectual perception they may take the participle or ὅτι or ὡς with a finite verb. (The Homeric usage is less strict.)
Such verbs are, in Attic, ὁρῶ see, αἰσθάνομαι perceive, ἀκούω hear, πυνθάνομαι learn.
The participle may stand either not in indirect discourse or in indirect discourse.
a. Not in Indirect Discourse.—Here verbs of perceiving denote physical perception—the act perceived or heard of. With ἀκούω and πυνθάνομαι the participle stands in the genitive; with αἰσθάνομαι it usually stands in the accusative (as with ὁρῶ), but sometimes in the genitive. (See cross1361, cross1367.)
X. A. 1.5.12;
εἶδε Κλέαρχον διελαύνοντα he saw Clearchus riding through
X. M. 2.2.1, ᾔσθησαι πώποτέ μου ἢ ψευδομαρτυροῦντος ἢ συ_κοφαντοῦντος; have you ever noticed me either bearing false witness or playing the part of an informer? 4. 4. 11;
αἰσθόμενος Λαμπροκλέα_ πρὸς τὴν μητέρα χαλεπαίνοντα perceiving Lamprocles angry with his mother
X. S. 3. 13;
ἤκουσαν αὐτοῦ φωνήσαντος they heard him speaking
ὡς ἐπύθοντο τῆς Πύλου κατειλημμένης when they learned of the capture of Pylos
N. Verbs of physical perception, ὁρῶ (especially) and ἀκούω, regularly take the present participle in Attic prose, which usually refuses to distinguish between I see a house burning and I see a house burn. The complexive aorist, summing up the action, does however occur, as
X. C. 1.4.8. Cp. πεσόντα εἶδον Hdt. 9.22.
ὡς εἶδεν ἐλαφον ἐκπηδήσα_σαν . . . ἐδίωκεν when he saw a hind break cover he gave chase
b. In Indirect Discourse.—Here verbs of perceiving denote intellectual
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perception—the fact that something is perceived or heard of. With ἀκούω and πυνθάνομαι the participle stands in the accusative (as with ὁρῶ, αἰσθάνομαι). Cp. cross1363, cross1365, cross2144, cross2145.
X. A. 5.5.24,
ὁρῶμεν πάντα ἀληθῆ ὄντα ἃ λέγετε we see that everything you say is true
X. M. 3.5.5,
αἰσθάνομαι ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχοντα I perceive that this is so
X. A. 1.4.5,
ἤκουσε Κῦρον ἐν Κιλικίᾳ ὄντα he heard that Cyrus was in Cilicia
S. El. 293,
ὅταν κλύῃ τινὸς ἥξοντ' Ὀρέστην when she hears from any one that Orestes will return
πυθόμενοι Ἀρταξέρξην τεθνηκότα having learned that Artaxerxes was dead
Verbs of Finding.—Verbs of finding and detecting (εὑρίσκω, (κατα) λαμβάνω; pass. ἁλίσκομαι) in their capacity as verbs of perceiving take the participle (a) not in indirect discourse, of the act or state in which a person or thing is found; or (b) in indirect discourse, of the fact that a person or thing is found in an act or state.
a. κῆρυξ ἀφικόμενος ηὗρε τοὺς ἄνδρας διεφθαρμένους the herald, on his arrival, found the men already put to death T. 2.6,
εὕρηται πιστῶς πρά_ττων he has been found to have dealt faithfully
P. R. 389d, ἢν ἐπιβουλεύων ἁλίσκηται if he be detected in plotting X. Ag. 8. 3.
ἂ_ν ἄρ' ἄλλον τινὰ λαμβάνῃ ψευδόμενον if then he catch anybody else lying
διὰ τὴν Ἰ_λίου ἅλωσιν εὑρίσκουσι σφίσι ἐοῦσαν τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἔχθρης they conclude that the beginning of their enmity was on account of the capture of Ilium
It is often difficult to distinguish the two constructions of 2113. Thus, καταλαμβάνουσι νεωστὶ στάσει τοὺς τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐναντίους ἐκπεπτωκότας (T. 7.33) may mean they found that the anti-Athenian party had been recently expelled by a revolution (ind. disc.) or them recently expelled (not in ind. disc.). So
T. 1.59 (that they had revolted would be possible). In the meaning discover, find καταλαμβάνω does not take the aorist participle.
καταλαμβάνουσι . . . τἆλλα ἀφεστηκότα they found the other cities in a state of revolt
ποιῶ meaning represent has the construction of the verbs of 2113. Thus, πλησιάζοντας τοὺς θεοὺς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις οἷόν τ' αὐτοῖς ποιῆσαι it is possible for them (poets) to represent the gods as drawing nigh to men I. 9.9. Cp. cross2142.