Perfect Tense

Chapter 7b, exercise 7g: Theseus on coming home finds out that his father has died = is dead
   ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ τέθνηκεν

Chapter 10b: The fighting youths are drunk because they have drunk a lot of wine
   πολὺν οἶνον πεπώκασιν 

In chapter 5b they see the wolf lying motionless on the ground
Why?  ὁρῶσιν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῇ γῇ κείμενον 
Why?  τέθνηκεν. (He has died, i.e. he is dead)
Why?  (I die: θνήσκω - τέθνηκα, I've died, am dead)
How?   ὁ Φίλιππος ἀπέκτονεν αὐτόν  
How?   has killed, not just wounded or stunned, killed. Philip is the killer!
How?     Grandad sees the result: a dead wolf, here and now.
How?   (I kill: ἀπο-κτείνω - ἀπεκτονα, I have killed)

I find a dead peacock. What killed it? I don't know.
When did it get killed? I don't know.
What I do know, because I see it, is this:
   ὁ ταὼς τέθνηκεν 
 
This verb form is called "perfect" Indicative active:

• indicative because it indicates fact, reality,
• active because Philip, Aegeus and the youths have all actively done something
• perfect because it is finished, done with, perfect NOW, there is a result in the present. There was an action in the past, but the action (killing/dying/drinking....) itself is not important as such, the result is.

I have typed this (so you can see it now)
I have eaten too much (and so feel sick now)
I have slept well (and am feeling full of energy as a result)

As far as morphology is concerned, in English (French, German, Spanish...) we use a compound form whereas the Greeks use a different verb-stem instead, and a special set of endings.

Like in English, many verbs are predictable (I have walked, rested, canned, knitted, tried....), quite a number are irregular (I have taught, sung, ridden....) and have to be learnt separately.. But the endings are always regular.

• Predictable perfect formation.
• Perfect endings