Syntax & Usage

2501. A relative pronoun agrees with its antecedent in gender, number, and person; its case is determined by the construction of the clause in which it stands.

οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀνὴρ ὃς ἦλθε this is the man who came, αὕτη ἐστὶν γυνὴ ν ἐζητοῦμεν this is the woman whom we were looking for, λαβὼν τοὺς ἱππέας οἳ ἦσαν ατῷ taking the cavalry which he had, ἔχων τοὺς ὁπλίτας ὧν ἐστρατήγει having the hoplites which he commanded, τριῶν θυρῶν οὐσῶν, ἃς ἔδει με διελθεῖν there being three doors through which I had to go.

a. If the main clause as a whole is regarded as the antecedent, the relative stands in the neuter singular with or without a demonstrative. Thus, πλεῖν ἐπὶ Σελινοῦντα πάσῃ τῇ στρατιᾷ, ἐφ᾽ ὅπερ μάλιστα ἐπέμφθησαν to sail for Selinus with all their force, for which purpose especially they had been sent T. 6. 47.

b. The person of the verb in a relative clause, in which the relative pronoun is the subject, is regularly determined by the person of the antecedent pronoun expressed or implied. Thus, οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὅστις ἄνθρωπος γεγένημαι I do not know what sort of a person I have become X. C. 1. 4. 12, καὶ οἰκία γε πολὺ μείζων ἡ ὑμετέρα τῆς ἐμῆς, οἵ γε οἰκίᾳ χρσθε γ τε καὶ οὐρανῷ and your habitation is much larger than mine since you occupy both heaven and earth as a habitation 5. 2. 15. The third person rarely follows a vocative (P 248).

2502. Variations from the law of agreement are, in general, the same as in the case of other pronouns (926).

a. The construction according to sense (950, 1013) often occurs, as φίλον θάλος, ὃν τέκον αὐτή my dear child, whom I myself bore X 87; so with collective nouns, as τὰ δόξαντα πλήθει, οἵπερ δικάσουσι what is approved by the multitude, who will judge P. Phae. 260 a.

b. A relative in the plural may follow a singular antecedent denoting a whole class: θησαυροποιὸς ἀνήρ, οὕς . . . ἐπαινεῖ τὸ πλῆθος a man who lays up a store, the class of men which the multitude approves P. R. 554 a. This construction is less common in prose than in poetry; as ἦ μάλα τις θεὸς ἔνδον, οἳ οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἔχουσιν in truth there is within some one of the gods who occupy the wide heaven τ 40.

c. A relative in the singular having a collective force may have its antecedent in the plural; as τούτους ἐπαινεῖν, ὃς ν ἑκὼν μηδὲν κακὸν ποι to commend those who voluntarily do nothing evil P. Pr. 345 d, ᾧτινι ἐντυγχάνοιεν . . . πάντας ἔκτεινον they slew all whom they met X. A. 2. 5. 32. Here ὅς with the indicative is rare.

d. The relative may stand in the neuter, in agreement with the notion implied in the antecedent rather than with the antecedent itself; as διὰ τὴν πλεονεξίαν, ὃ πσα φύσις διώκειν πέφυκεν ὡς ἀγαθόν for the sake of profit, a thing which every nature is inclined to pursue as a good P. R. 359 c.

e. The relative may agree in gender and number, not with the antecedent but with a following predicate noun. This is common with verbs of naming; as λόγοι μήν εἰσιν ἐν ἑκάστοις ἡμῶν, ἃς ἐλπίδας ὀνομάζομεν; assuredly there are propositions in each of us which we call hopes? P. Phil. 40 a, εἶπεν ὅτι . . . διαγεγένηται πράττων τὰ δίκαια καὶ τν ἀδίκων ἀπεχόμενος, ἥνπερ νομίζοι καλλίστην μελέτην ἀπολογίας εἶναι he said that he had continued to do what was just and to refrain from what was unjust, which he thought was the best practice for his defence X. M. 4. 8. 4.

f. A relative may agree with a predicate noun when it follows that noun immediately and not its own substantive: καὶ δίκη ἐν ἀνθρώποις πῶς οὐ καλόν, ὃ πάντα ἡμέρωκε τὰ ἀνθρώπινα; and justice among men, how is not that something beautiful, which civilizes all human things? P. L. 937 d.