“Athematic verbs” (aka “μι verbs”) send chills down the spine of most students of Ancient Greek: ἵημι, τίθημι, δίδωμι,… Among these, ἵστημι is arguably one of the nastiest: Even my best students tend to get confused with it. ἀλλὰ μὴ φοβοῦ! We will try to gain some clarity!
What Is the Difference Between ἵστημι and ἵσταμαι?
ἵστημι and ἵσταμαι are two forms of the same verb. They are both related to the English word “stand”, but have distinct usages:
- ἵστημι is transitive, i.e. it takes an object:
“I make somebody/something stand” - ἵσταμαι is intransitive, i.e. it does not take an object:
“I come to stand” or: “I stand”
Each of these has their own grammatical forms, so let’s take a closer look at them!
ἵσταμαι – “I come to stand” (intransitive)
ἵσταμαι means “I come to stand”. For example: when you are walking and then stop, you can say: “ἵσταμαι”. We call this usage “intransitive”, since nobody forced you to stop: It was your own decision and nobody else was involved or affected.
Now, the act of “coming to stand” is not something people talk about very often. For this reason, the most frequent form of ἵσταμαι you will find in Ancient Greek texts is actually the perfect ἕστηκα “I am standing” and its related forms (like the pluperfect εἱστήκειν “I was standing”).
Principal Parts
- Present: ἵσταμαι
- Future: στήσομαι
- (Root) Aorist: ἔστην
- Perfect: ἕστηκα
- Pluperfect: εἱστήκειν
→ Note how this verb changes between middle endings (in the present/future) and active endings (in the aorist/perfect)!
Example
Alcibiades, Socrates’ admirer, recounts the following story which happened during a joint military campaign:
συννοήσας γὰρ [ὁ Σωκράτης] αὐτόθι ἕωθέν τι εἱστήκει σκοπῶν, καὶ ἐπειδὴ οὐ προυχώρει αὐτῷ, οὐκ ἀνίει ἀλλὰ εἱστήκει ζητῶν. καὶ ἤδη ἦν μεσημβρία, καὶ ἅνθρωποι ᾐσθάνοντο, καὶ θαυμάζοντες ἄλλος ἄλλῳ ἔλεγεν ὅτι Σωκράτης ἐξ ἑωθινοῦ φροντίζων τι ἕστηκε.
τελευτῶντες δέ τινες τῶν Ἰώνων, ἐπειδὴ ἑσπέρα ἦν, δειπνήσαντες—καὶ γὰρ θέρος τότε γ’ ἦν—χαμεύνια ἐξενεγκάμενοι ἅμα μὲν ἐν τῷ ψύχει καθηῦδον, ἅμα δ’ ἐφύλαττον αὐτὸν εἰ καὶ τὴν νύκτα ἑστήξοι. ὁ δὲ εἱστήκει μέχρι ἕως ἐγένετο καὶ ἥλιος ἀνέσχεν· ἔπειτα ᾤχετ’ ἀπιὼν προσευξάμενος τῷ ἡλίῳ.
“Immersed in some problem at dawn, he (Socrates) stood (εἱστήκει) in the same spot considering it; and when he found it a tough one, he would not give it up but stood (εἱστήκει) there trying. The time drew on to midday, and the men began to notice him, and said to one another in wonder: ‘Socrates has been standing (ἕστηκε) there in a study ever since dawn!’
The end of it was that in the evening some of the Ionians after they had supped— this time it was summer—brought out their mattresses and rugs and took their sleep in the cool; thus they waited to see if he would go on standing (ἑστήξοι) all night too. He stood (εἱστήκει) till dawn came and the sun rose; then walked away, after offering a prayer to the Sun.”
(transl.: Fowler)
Image: “Philosopher with a Mirror” (Workshop of Ribera)
ἵστημι – “I make stand” (transitive)
ἵστημι means “to make somebody/something stand”. It takes an accusative object. As you might guess, this form is not quite as common as “I stand” (ἵσταμαι/ἕστηκα). It is mostly used in the contexts like:
- erecting monuments (frequent in Thucydides),
- halting an army (Xenophon),
- fixing the eyes when dying (Plato when he describes the death of Socrates).
Principal Parts
- Present: ἵστημι
- Future: στήσω
- Aorist: ἔστησα
- Perfect: [there is none]
→ ἵστημι can also be used in the middle voice (“I set sth. up for myself”) or in the passive (“I get set up”). For all the charts and forms, you can visit Wiktionary.
Example
μετὰ δὲ τὴν μάχην τροπαῖον ἔστησαν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι.
“After the fight the Athenians set up a monument of victory.” (Thucydides 1.63.3)
Image credit: Sandra Delgado
Do you have more questions about ἵστημι vs ἵσταμαι? Let me know in the comments!
