21
The Middle Voice
Introduction
So far, all verbs that we have discussed have been in the ACTIVE VOICE. In this lesson, we introduce the MIDDLE VOICE. Voice, you will recall, indicates the role that the subject plays in the action of the verb.
- ACTIVE VOICE: The subject causes the action.
- I move the car.
- PASSIVE VOICE: The subject receives the consequences of the action.
- The car was moved.
- MIDDLE VOICE: The subject is part or all of the action. In other words, the subject is both the cause and the focus, the agent and experiencer, of a verbal action.
- I moved (myself).
Verbs in the MIDDLE VOICE are extremely common in Greek, and appear in most Greek sentences. A clearer picture of how the MIDDLE VOICE works can be seen if we compare it to the other two voices.
Active vs. Middle Voice:
To see the distinction that Greeks made between the ACTIVE and MIDDLE VOICE in transitive verbs, let’s consider the following example. Say you have a horse. If someone frees or unties your horse, then the verb is in the ACTIVE VOICE in Greek:
- λύει τὸν ἵππον μου.
- He frees my horse.
But if you untie your own horse so that you can ride it, this would be in the Greek MIDDLE VOICE:
- λύομαι τὸν ἵππον.
- I free (my own) horse.
Oftentimes, verbs that are intransitive and ACTIVE in English are rendered in the MIDDLE VOICE in Greek, particularly if there is a reflexive quality about them (e.g. I move; I stop). That said, to a native speaker of Greek, the action of some intransitive verbs made sense ONLY in the MIDDLE VOICE.
For example, some verbs that mean come and go in Greek occur only in the MIDDLE VOICE. A subject is inevitably participating in the action of coming or going, so it just seemed natural that some of these verb should be in the MIDDLE VOICE.
Finally, for some Greek verbs, there can be an important distinction in meaning between the ACTIVE and MIDDLE VOICES (S 1728, 1734). For example:
- αἱρέω in the ACTIVE: I take
- in the MIDDLE: I choose
- σταθμάω in the ACTIVE: I measure
- in the MIDDLE: I calculate
- σκοπέω in the ACTIVE: I look at
- in the MIDDLE: I consider
- πορεύω in the ACTIVE: I carry
- in the MIDDLE: I march, go
- λανθάνω in the ACTIVE: I escape notice of
- in the MIDDLE: I forget
Such distinctions, when they occur, are noted in your lexicon.
Passive vs. Middle Voice:
It is tempting, as English speakers, to think of the ACTIVE and PASSIVE VOICE as opposing poles, between which is located the MIDDLE VOICE. Certainly the English terminology for the three voices suggests this conception. It is important to understand, however, that the fundamental dichotomy for Greeks was actually between ACTIVE and MIDDLE.
Greek originally inflected verbs to indicate ACTIVE and MIDDLE VOICES. There were no distinct PASSIVE forms, nor does that voice seem to have been used. As the need for the PASSIVE VOICE emerged, Classical and Koine Greek used the MIDDLE VOICE forms of the verb to represent also the PASSIVE VOICE (S 1735). This makes sense, when we