21

The Middle Voice

Introduction

So far, all verbs that we have discussed have been in the ACTIVE VOICE. In this lesson, we introduce the MIDDLE VOICE. Voice, you will recall, indicates the role that the subject plays in the action of the verb.

• ACTIVE VOICE: The subject causes the action.
  • I move the car.
• PASSIVE VOICE: The subject receives the consequences of the action.
  • The car was moved.
• MIDDLE VOICE: The subject is part or all of the action. In other words, the subject is both the cause and the focus, the agent and experiencer, of a verbal action.
  • I moved (myself).

Verbs in the MIDDLE VOICE are extremely common in Greek, and appear in most Greek sentences. A clearer picture of how the MIDDLE VOICE works can be seen if we compare it to the other two voices.

Active vs. Middle Voice:

To see the distinction that Greeks made between the ACTIVE and MIDDLE VOICE in transitive verbs, let’s consider the following example. Say you have a horse. If someone frees or unties your horse, then the verb is in the ACTIVE VOICE in Greek:

• λύει τὸν ἵππον μου.
  • He frees my horse.

But if you untie your own horse so that you can ride it, this would be in the Greek MIDDLE VOICE:

• λύομαι τὸν ἵππον.
  • I free (my own) horse.

Oftentimes, verbs that are intransitive and ACTIVE in English are rendered in the MIDDLE VOICE in Greek, particularly if there is a reflexive quality about them (e.g. I move; I stop). That said, to a native speaker of Greek, the action of some intransitive verbs made sense ONLY in the MIDDLE VOICE.

For example, some verbs that mean come and go in Greek occur only in the MIDDLE VOICE. A subject is inevitably participating in the action of coming or going, so it just seemed natural that some of these verb should be in the MIDDLE VOICE.

Finally, for some Greek verbs, there can be an important distinction in meaning between the ACTIVE and MIDDLE VOICES (S 1728, 1734). For example:

• αἱρέω in the ACTIVE: I take
  • in the MIDDLE: I choose
• σταθμάω in the ACTIVE: I measure
  • in the MIDDLE: I calculate
• σκοπέω in the ACTIVE: I look at
  • in the MIDDLE: I consider
• πορεύω in the ACTIVE: I carry
  • in the MIDDLE: I march, go
• λανθάνω in the ACTIVE: I escape notice of
  • in the MIDDLE: I forget

Such distinctions, when they occur, are noted in your lexicon.

Passive vs. Middle Voice:

It is tempting, as English speakers, to think of the ACTIVE and PASSIVE VOICE as opposing poles, between which is located the MIDDLE VOICE. Certainly the English terminology for the three voices suggests this conception. It is important to understand, however, that the fundamental dichotomy for Greeks was actually between ACTIVE and MIDDLE.

Greek originally inflected verbs to indicate ACTIVE and MIDDLE VOICES. There were no distinct PASSIVE forms, nor does that voice seem to have been used. As the need for the PASSIVE VOICE emerged, Classical and Koine Greek used the MIDDLE VOICE forms of the verb to represent also the PASSIVE VOICE (S 1735). This makes sense, when we realize that the difference between the MIDDLE and PASSIVE could at times be almost indistinguishable for Greeks.

Consider, for example, the following pairs of sentences:

• He mows his lawn. (middle voice).
• He has his lawn mowed by the neighbor. (passive voice).

• Socrates gets hit with a rock. (middle voice).
• Socrates got hit by us with a rock. (passive voice).

• The cup breaks. (middle voice).
• Cups keep getting broken by him. (passive voice).

Distinguishing voice can be difficult for speakers of English who have been taught that there are only two voices: active and passive. What voice is used, for example, in the following sentences?

• The bread is baking in the oven.
• She takes good pictures.
• He got himself fired today.
• “The soup that eats like a meal.”

Consequently, while all the Greek verbs in this chapter are parsed – and almost always translated – in the MIDDLE voice, they can occasionally be translated with an English PASSIVE when context demands. One clue to identifying a PASSIVE use of a middle form is to look for ὑπό followed by a genitive; when modifying a passive verb, this construction indicates the agent of the verb. This construction is called the GENITIVE OF AGENT.

Note the following examples:

• τὸ βιβλίον ὑπὸ τοῦ ποιητοῦ γράφεται.
  • The book is being written by the poet.
• αἱ πόλεις ὑπὸ τῶν Περσῶν λύονται.
  • The cities are being destroyed by the Persians…

Athematic and Thematic Verbs

Middle Voice Personal Endings

Recall that there are two types of Greek verbs in the present tense:

• –μι verbs (athematic)
• –ω verbs (thematic)

In the ACTIVE VOICE, present tense athematic and thematic verbs use somewhat different endings to designate person and number, as well as the infinitive. In the MIDDLE VOICE, both types of verbs use exactly the SAME PERSONAL ENDINGS to designate person and number, as well as the infinitive mood. All endings are short.

If a verb is athematic (-μι verb), then these endings are added directly to the tense stem.

–σθαι signals that a verb is in the infinitive. The persistent accent of the infinitive is on the ANTEPENULT.

If a verb is thematic (-ω verb), then a thematic vowel (-ο/-ε) is added before its endings. Note that the second person singular regularly appears in one of two contracted forms that result from the loss of the INTERVOCALIC SIGMA (S 628).

–εσθαι signals that a verb is in the infinitive.

Present, Indicative, Middle

To begin building a Greek verb, we start with the VERB STEM, which tells the action that a verb describes.

• δεικ show
• λυ loosen, destroy
• λαβ take

Recall that some verbs add a marker (often a ν) to the stem to indicate that the verb is in the present tense. If so, these markers are retained in the MIDDLE VOICE:

• δεικνυ show (present tense stem)
• λυ loosen (present tense stem = verb stem)
• λαμβαν take (present tense stem)

The Present, Indicative, Middle of δείκνυμι (athematic; S 418; GPH p. 156)

Present Indicative Middle Infinitive: δείκνυσθαι

The Present, Indicative, Middle of λύω (thematic; S 383; GPH p. 69)

Present Indicative Middle Infinitive: λύεσθαι

The Present, Indicative, Middle of λαμβάνω (thematic)

Present Indicative Middle Infinitive: λαμβάνεσθαι

Future, Indicative, Middle

Recall that adding –σ– to the verb stem marks a verb as in the FUTURE TENSE. So now the stem looks and sounds like this:

• λυ + σ = λυσ loosen (future tense stem)
• δεικ + σ = δειξ show (future tense stem)

Remember: ALL VERBS, whether they be –μι verbs or –ω verbs in the present, use –ω verb endings in the future tense. This is true in both the ACTIVE and MIDDLE VOICES.

The Future, Indicative, Middle of δείκνυμι 

The Future Indicative Middle Infinitive: δείξεσθαι

The Future, Indicative, Middle of λύω (S 383; GPH p. 75)

Future Indicative Middle Infinitive: λύσεσθαι

Contract Verbs

The rules of vowel contraction operate in verbs when the stem ends in one of the vowels α, ε or ο. In these cases, this final vowel of the stem contracts with the thematic vowel of –ω verbs. Observe the following inflections, paying close attention to the contractions that result in the 2nd person singular. Note also that the accent of the infinitive is on the antepenult of the uncontracted form.

The Present, Indicative, Middle of λαλέω (S 385; GPH p. 110)

Present Indicative Middle Infinitive: (λαλέεσθαι →) λαλεῖσθαι

The Present, Indicative, Middle of ἐρωτάω (S 385; GPH p. 101)

Present Indicative Middle Infinitive: (ἐρωτάεσθαι →) ἐρωτᾶσθαι

The Present, Indicative, Middle of δηλόω (S 385; GPH p. 118)

Present Indicative Middle Infinitive: (δηλόεσθαι →) δηλοῦσθαι

Vocabulary Notes

1. The vocabulary for this chapter introduces a number of verbs that were used by the Greeks only in the MIDDLE VOICE. The term DEPONENT VERBS (Latin for put down, lay aside) is often used to describe these verbs, since to English speakers it appears that they somehow lost their ACTIVE forms (S 356). These verbs, however, never lost their ACTIVE forms, for they never had any. They are, and were meant to be, MIDDLE VERBS in Greek. As you study the vocabulary, consider why it made sense to Greeks that these particular verbs were best rendered in the MIDDLE VOICE.
2. If the vocabulary entry ends in –ομαι, then it has a thematic vowel and is an –ω verb.  Otherwise, it is athematic.

– τὸ τέλος –