You are here
βούλομαι with subjunctive in interrogative main clause: (inviting) deliberative question
βούλει σε θῶ φοβηθῆναι
‘Shall I assume, then, that you were shaking with fear?’ (Aeschin. 3.163)
In Attic a deliberative subjunctive may be introduced by βούλει (or βούλῃ) or βούλεσθε 'would you like to?'. Formally this construction is an interrogative clause, with regard to its content it is an invitation.
Lexical usage
In poetic language this construction also occurs with θέλεις or θέλετε. Sometimes κελεύετε is also found.
Syntactic usage
It is difficult to determine whether the form of βούλομαι is coordinate with or subordinate to the subjunctive. The subjunctive is not introduced by a subordinating conjunction, which would be unique in Greek sentence structure (but on the other hand βούλομαι, of course, usually takes the infinitive). If this is not a case of subordination, βούλει and βούλεσθε must be interpreted as parenthetical.
The meaning does not differ substantially from the normal deliberative subjunctive, although the βούλει-construction more explicitly solicits the opinion of the listener.
Historical background
In Koine this subordination is regularised by means of the conjunction ἵνα. The success of the construction θέλεις/θέλετε ἵνα + subj. is apparent from modern Greek, where θα + subj. is the standard way to express future tense.
βούλεσθε ἐγὼ σφῷν τὴν ἄτοπον ἀπόκρισιν ταύτην ἀποκρίνωμαι;
Good, do you want me to answer this strange question of yours? ֍