Traditional grammars are criticized as having obscured or omitted many significant features of negation patterns in classical Greek. The author demonstrates that negation in Greek extensively involves semantic and syntactic factors. Certain of the factors are thoroughly embedded in the traditional approach to grammar, while others are derived from concepts totally unfamiliar to philology. The need for a complete and total description of negative patterns is called for, and it is suggested that the description include a negative conversion rule, a formal description of abstract syntax, and an in depth discussion of inherently negative verbs into two classes on the basis of the behavior of the negative in their complements. (RL)