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The optative may express a concession or mild command. E. g. 3.74, “ναίοιτε Τροίην”, ‘you may dwell in Troy’; cf. 3.257, “ναίοιμεν”. 3.255, “τῷ δέ κε νι_κήσαντι γυνὴ καὶ κτήμαθ᾽ ἕποιτο”, ‘let the woman and the treasures fall to whoever conquers.’ Cf. 24.149, and Xen. Anab. III, 2, 37. This use is probably to be classified under the optative of wish.

Selections from Homer's Iliad, with an introduction, notes, a short Homeric grammar, and a vocabulary. Allen Rogers Benner. New York. Irvington Publishers, Inc. 1903.

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