ὅδε, κεῖνος, οὗτος

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249. The pronoun ὅδε is almost purely deictic. It marks an object as near the speaker—this here, this on my side, etc.

ναὶ μὰ τόδε σκῆπτρον
by this scepter (in my hand)

Ἕκτορος ἥδε γυνή
this is the wife of Hector

Od. 1.76 ἡμεῖς οἵδε περιφραζώμεθα
               let us here consider162.2)

Od. 1.226 οὐκ ἔρανος τάδε γʼ ἐστί
                  what I see here is not a club feast

It is especially applied to a person or thing to which the speaker turns for the first time.

Il. 3.192 εἴπʼ ἄγε μοι καὶ τόνδε, φίλον τέκος, ὅς τις ὅδʼ ἐστί

Hence the use to denote what is about to be mentioned—the new as opposed to the known. This is an approach to an Anaphoric use, in so far as it expresses not local nearness, but the place of an object in the speakerʼs thought. So in

Il. 7.358 οἶσθα καὶ ἄλλον μῦθον ἀμείνονα τοῦδε νοῆσαι

the speech is the present one, opposed to a better one which should have been made. The derivatives τοσόσδε, τοιόσδε, ὧδε, ἐνθάδε, are similarly deictic.

Ιl. 6.463 χήτεϊ τοιοῦδʼ ἀνδρός
              from want of a man such as I am now

250. The pronoun κεῖνος is sometimes used in the deictic sense, pointing to an object as distant.

Il. 3.391 κεῖνος ὅ γʼ ἐν θαλάμῳ
              yonder he is in the chamber

Il. 5.604 καὶ νῦν οἱ πάρα κεῖνος Ἄρης
              there is Ares at his side

So of an absent object.

Od. 2.351 κεῖνον ὀϊομένη τὸν κάμμορον
                 thinking of that (absent) one, the unhappy

Hence in an anaphoric use, κεῖνος distinguishes what is past or done with, in contrast to a new object or state of things.

Il. 2.330 κεῖνος τὼς ἀγόρευε
              he (on that former occasion), etc.

Il. 3.439 νῦν μὲν γὰρ Μενέλαος ἐνίκησεν σὺν Ἀθήνῃ,
              κεῖνον δʼ αὖτις ἐγώ

Od. 1 .46 καὶ λίην κεῖνός γε ἐοικότι κεῖται ὀλέθρῳ·
                ἀλλά μοι ἀμφʼ Ὀδυσῆϊ κτλ.

Here κεῖνος marks the contrast with which the speaker turns to a new case. The literal sense of local distance is transferred to remoteness in time or in the order of thought.

251. The pronoun οὗτος is not infrequently deictic in Homer, expressing an object that is present to the speaker, but not near him, or connected with him. Hence it is chiefly used (like iste in Latin) of what belongs to or concerns the person spoken to, or else in a hostile or contemptuous tone. Instances of the former use are

Il. 7.109 ἀφραίνεις, Μενέλαε διοτρεφές, οὐδέ τί σε χρὴ
              ταύτης ἀφροσύνης

Il. 10.82 τίς δʼ οὗτος κατὰ νῆας ἀνὰ στρατὸν ἔρχεαι οἶος;

Od. 2.40 οὐχ ἑκὰς οὗτος ἀνήρ
               the man γοu want is not far off

Od. 6.218 στῆθʼ οὕτω ἀποπρόθεν
                 (as you are)

Again, οὗτος is regularly used of one of the enemy.

Il. 5.257 τούτω δʼ οὐ πάλιν αὖτις ἀποίσετον ὠκέες ἵπποι

Il. 22.38 μή μοι μίμνε, φίλον τέκος, ἀνέρα τοῦτον

Similarly, with a tone of contempt.

ll. 5.761 ἄφρονα τοῦτον ἀνέντες
              (cp. 831, 879)

Od. 1.159 τούτοισιν μὲν ταῦτα μέλει
                 (of the suitors)

More commonly, however, οὗτος is anaphoric, denoting an object already mentioned or known. In later Greek it is often employed where Homer (as we shall see) would use the article.

Suggested Citation

D.B. Monro, A Grammar of the Homeric Dialect. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2014. ISBN: 978-1-947822-04-7. https://dcc.dickinson.edu/grammar/monro/%E1%BD%85%CE%B4%CE%B5-%CE%BA%CE%B5%E1%BF%96%CE%BD%CE%BF%CF%82-%CE%BF%E1%BD%97%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%82