Discussion of accent rules for the particle ἦ in disjunctive (alternative) and interrogative constructions: first member becomes acute/barytone, second takes a circumflex or preserves it if it gains an -ε; when purely interrogative without disjunction, forms may take a circumflex; examples with line citations.
ἠὲ νέον μεθέπεις ἦ καὶ πατρώϊός ἐσσι (α 175). διαζευκτικῆς οὖν οὔσης τῆς τάξεως τῶν διαπορητικῶν, ὁ μὲν πρότερος ὀξύνεται, ὁ δὲ δεύτερος περισπᾶται. οὗτος δὲ ὁ περισπώμενος, ἐὰν προσλάβῃ τὸ 'ε', φυλάττει τὴν περισπωμένην. οἷόν ἐστιν· ἢ ὅγε φάσγανον ὀξὺ ἐρυσσάμενος παρὰ μηροῦ τοὺς μὲν ἀναστήσειεν, ὁ δ´ Ἀτρείδην ἐναρίζοι, ἦε χόλον παύσειεν ἐρητύσειέ τε θυμόν (Α 190–192). τὸν μὲν πρότερον σύνδεσμον βαρυτονητέον, τὸν δὲ δεύτερον περισπαστέον. διαπορητικὴ γάρ ἐστιν ἡ σύνταξις. Ὅτε δὲ μόνως ἐρωτηματικός ἐστιν ὁ ἦ χωρὶς διαζεύξεως, κἂν ἅπαξ κἂν πολλάκις παραληφθῇ, περισπᾶται, μὴ οὔσης τῆς ἐρωτήσεως ἐν διαζεύξει. ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῷ «ἢ δολιχὴ νοῦσος ἦ Ἄρτεμις ἰοχέαιρα» διαζευκτικὸν τὸ αἰφνιδίως τελευτῆσαι τοῦ μακροχρονεῖν. ὅθεν ὁ πρῶτος ἐγκλίνεται, ὁ δὲ δεύτερος περισπᾶται. ἐν μέντοι τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις ἔπεσι πάντες περισπῶνται ἐρωτηματικοὶ ὄντες, οὐκ ἐν διαζεύξει· ἦέ τι Μυρμιδόνεσσι πιφαύσκεαι ἦ ἐμοὶ αὐτῷ; ἦ τῷ Ἀχιλλεῖ ἦ τοῖς Μυρμιδόσιν, ἀντὶ τοῦ τούτῳ κἀκείνοις.
Either are you pursuing something new, or are you even of your father’s line (α 175). Since, then, the arrangement of the dubitative particles is disjunctive, the first is accented with an acute, while the second is circumflexed. And this circumflexed one, if it takes on the ‘ε’, keeps the circumflex. For example: ἢ ὅγε φάσγανον ὀξὺ ἐρυσσάμενος παρὰ μηροῦ τοὺς μὲν ἀναστήσειεν, ὁ δ´ Ἀτρείδην ἐναρίζοι, ἦε χόλον παύσειεν ἐρητύσειέ τε θυμόν (Α 190–192). The first conjunction must be given a grave accent, and the second must be circumflexed; for the construction is dubitative. But when ἦ is only interrogative, without disjunction, whether it is taken once or many times, it is circumflexed, since the question is not in a disjunction. For in «ἢ δολιχὴ νοῦσος ἦ Ἄρτεμις ἰοχέαιρα» the disjunction is between dying suddenly and lingering long; hence the first is enclitic, while the second is circumflexed. In the verses set out below, however, all are circumflexed, being interrogative, not in disjunction: ἦέ τι Μυρμιδόνεσσι πιφαύσκεαι ἦ ἐμοὶ αὐτῷ; ἦ τῷ Ἀχιλλεῖ ἦ τοῖς Μυρμιδόσιν, in place of ‘to this man and to those’.