Ancient Witnesses on Deponency in Greek1 STRATTON L. LADEWIG Deponency has been the focus of investigation in the last decade. Some grammarians have questioned and/or denied the validity of deponency in Greek. One of the arguments used to support such a conclusion is based in ancient history. I investigate the writings of three ancient grammarians (Dionysius Thrax, Apollonius Dyscolus, and Macrobius) to determine the grammatical Sitz im Leben of voice in the ancient Greek. This inquiry estab- lishes that deponency in Greek is a concept with roots that run deep into the ancient period, thereby refuting the challenge to Greek deponency. Keywords: deponency, deponent, Greek voice, Dionysius Thrax, Apollo- nius Dyscolus, Macrobius 1. Introduction Recent literature has been dismissive of the concept of deponency, even to the point of denying its validity in Hellenistic Greek2. One of the 1 This article was originally a portion of a chapter in my Ph.D. dissertation that was completed at Dallas Theological Seminary: “Defining Deponency: An Investigation into Greek Deponency of the Middle and Passive Voices in the Koine Period” (Ph.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 2010) 21-41, 99-102. It has been revised and supplemented slightly, and the discussion has been framed for the current presentation. I am grateful for the per- ceptive insights that I received from my committee: Daniel B. Wallace (supervisor), Joseph D. Fantin, and Richard A. Taylor. 2 See N.F. Miller, “Appendix 2: A Theory of Deponent Verbs”, in B. Friberg, T. Friberg, and N.F. Miller, Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament (Baker’s Greek New Testament Library; Grand Rapids 2000) 423-30; B.A. Taylor, “Deponency and Greek Lex- icography”, in B.A. Taylor et al. (eds.), Biblical Greek Language and Lexicography: Essays in Honor of Frederick W. Danker (Grand Rapids 2004) 167-76; R.J. Allan, The Middle Voice in Ancient Greek: A Study in Polysemy (Amsterdam Studies in Classical Philology 11; Amsterdam 2003); J.T. Pennington, “Deponency in Koine Greek: The Grammatical Question and the Lexicographal Dilemma”, TJ 24NS, no. 1 (2003) 55-76; J.T. Pennington, “Setting Aside ‘Deponency’: Rediscovering the Greek Middle Voice in New Testament Stud- ies”, in S.E. Porter and M.B. O’Donnel (eds.), Linguist as Pedagogue: Trends in the Teaching and Linguistic Analysis of the Greek New Testament (New Testament Monographs 11; Sheffield 2009) 181-203. Carl Conrad should also be listed as one who opposes the validity of deponency; however, he does not defend his claims systematically: C.W. Conrad, “Propo- sitions Concerning Ancient Greek Voice”, web page, rev. October 13, 2005, http://www.ioa. Filología Neotestamentaria - Vol. XXV - 2012, pp. 3-20 Facultad de Filosofía y Letras - Universidad de Córdoba (España)