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214. The preposition διά seems to mean properly apart, in two. It is not used freely as an adverb; but the original sense appears in the combinations διαπρό, διαμπερές, and in tmesis and composition.

δια-στῆναι
to stand apart

δια-τάμνω
I cut asunder

διὰ κτῆσιν δατέοντο
divided the possession

From the notion of going through it means thoroughly, as in δια-πέρθω I sack utterly.

In several compounds, as δια-τάμνω, δι-αιρέω, δια-δάπτω, the notion of division is given by the preposition to the verb; e.g. δια-τάμνω I separate by cutting, etc.

215. The accusative with διά is often used to denote the space through which motion takes place.

Il. 1.600 διὰ δώματα ποιπνύοντα
                  bustling through the palace[fn]So διὰ σπέος, διὰ βήσσας, διὰ ῥωπήϊα, etc.[/fn]

Il. 14.91 μῦθον ὃν οὔ κεν ἀνήρ γε διὰ στόμα πάμπαν ἄγοιτο
                  = with which a man would not sully his mouth[fn]Cp. ἀνὰ στόμα, § 210[/fn]

Od. 9.400 ᾤκεον ἐν σπήεσσι διʼ ἄκριας
                    dwelled in caves about (scattered through)
                    the headlands

So Il. 2.40 διὰ κρατερὰς ὑσμίνας lasting through hard fights and διὰ νύκτα (chiefly in the Odyssey, and books 10 and 24 of the Iliad).

This use is distinctively Homeric. Sometimes also διά with the accusative is used in Homer to express cause or agency.

Il. 1.73 ἣν διὰ μαντοσύνην
                (Calchas led the army) by virtue of his soothsaying

Od. 8.520 διὰ μεγάθυμον Ἀθήνην
                    (to conquer) by the help of Athene

So Il. 10.497, 15.41, 71; Od. 8.82, 11.276, 282, 437, 13.121, 19.154, 523. These places do not show the later distinction between by means of and by reason of.

216. The genitive with διά implies passing through something in order to get beyond it; especially getting through some obstacle.

Il. 4.135 διὰ μὲν ἂρ ζωστῆρος ἐλήλατο

So of a gate

Il. 3.263 διὰ Σκαιῶν ἔχον ἵππους

and of lower and upper air, etc.

διʼ ἠέρος αἰθέρʼ ἵκανεν

διʼ αἰθέρος οὐρανὸν ἷκε

πεδίονδε διὰ νεφέων

So again διὰ προμάχων, διʼ ὁμίλου etc. of making way through the press.

The accusative is used where we expect this genitive in

Il. 7.247 ἓξ δὲ διὰ πτύχας ἦλθε
                 went through six folds

but this may be partly due to the metrical impossibility of πτυχῶν. Conversely, in Il. 10.185 ὅς τε καθʼ ὕλην ἔρχηται διʼ ὄρεσφι the accusative would be right, and ὄρεσφι is perhaps a false archaism: but cp. § 158.

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/%CE%B4%CE%B9%CE%AC