Chapter 611A School Grammar of Attic GreekDickinson CollegeChristopher Francese
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611 In Mή clauses
a. An indicative (present, perfect, imperfect, aorist) denotes a present or past fact:
Δέδοικα μὴ πληγῶν δἐει I'm afraid yοu need
a whipping. AR. N. 493. φοβούμεθα μὴ ἀμφοτέρων
ἡμαρτήκαμεν we fear that we have failed of both.
T. III. 53.b. A subjunctive (rarely the future indicative) denotes something still future, or treated as unsettled:
Ὀκνοίην ἂν εἰς τὰ πλοῖα ἐμβαίνειν, μὴ ἡμᾶς καταδύσῃ I shοuld hesitate to go aboard the boats, lest
he sink us. AN. I. 3, 17. δεδιὼς μὴ λαβών με δίκην
ἐπιθῇ fearing that he will take and punish me. AN.
I. 3, 10. ὅρᾱ μὴ ἅμα τῷ κακῷ καὶ αἰσχρὰ ᾖ beware
lest it be (see that it be not) shameful too as well as
evil. CR. 46 a. παῦσαι, μὴ ἐφευρεθῇς ἄνους stop,
that you be not found foolish. S. AN. 281.
Note that lest and that not are often equivalent. In the
last example we might say lest you be found; μὴ οὐ ἐφευρεθῇς
would be lest you be not found-the negative of μὴ ἐφευρεθῇς.c. An optative denotes something future or treated
as unsettled at the time of the principal verb, and
also presents it as more remote from the speaker or
writer e. g, as the thought of another person, or as
belonging to a past or an improbable situation.
The optative is therefore common after a past tense
and after another optative, but is otherwise rare:
Ἔδεισαν οἱ Ἕλληνες μὴ προσάγοιεν πρὸς τὸ
κέρας the Greeks feared they would advance on their
flank. AN. I. 10, 9. ἐδόκει ἀπιέναι ἐπὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον
μὴ ἐπίθεσις γένοιτο it seemed best to go back to the
camp, lest an attack should be made. AN. IV. 4, 22. ὑπαί
τις ἀρβύλᾱς λοι, μή τις πρόσωθεν ὄμματος βάλοι
φθόνος let one undo my shoes, lest from afar an envious
look should smite me. A. A. 938.