在《我们赖以生存的隐喻》一书中，乔治·莱考夫和马克·约翰逊指出，日常交际是建立在隐喻之上的。人们会把抽象的事物和不抽象的事物相比较，以使概念的表达更加清晰。时间，作为一个无形的存在，经常通过隐喻的手段表达。在不同的语言中，这样的表达并不是随意创造的，而是建立在一个相对完善的系统之上。在不同的时间系统中，有两种格外突出——即“时间在动”和“自我在动”。在“时间在动”的系统中，时间是运动的，而人类处于静止的状态。在“自我在动”的系统中，人类是前进的，而时间是停滞的。在这个背景下，我们便可以讨论一个语言到底是建立在“时间在动”的系统上，还是建立在“自我在动”的系统上。 本研究所调查的语言为古希腊语，是几乎所有欧洲语言的基础。本文将证明古希腊语是建立在“时间在动”的隐喻系统上的语言，在古希腊人眼中，时间是时刻不停地从未来流向过去的。文章将首先讨论不同的时间观念，以作为所有讨论的基础。接着，将会重点介绍Hewson和Bubenik建立的动词——时间体系，进而将动词的体和时间隐喻结合在一起。最后，文章将讨论时间隐喻在文本中的应用，以证明古希腊人的时间观确实为“时间在动”的体系。与之前学者的研究不同的是，本文将提供一个将语法现象和语用现象相结合的分析，这将帮助人们更好地了解希腊人、希腊语言，以及他们如何谈论时间。

George Lakoff and Mark Johnson in their famous Metaphors We Live By point out that our everyday conversation is dependent on various kind of metaphors. A more abstract notion is compared to a less abstract one in order to make better understanding. As a formless existence, time is therefore referred to with metaphors. These metaphors, for each language, are not arbitrarily invented, but based on a relatively complete system. Among different time systems, two systems are most noticed – Descending Time and Ascending Time according to John Hewson and Vit Bubenik’s terms. In Descending Time, time is in motion and human keeps steady while in Ascending Time, human moves and time does not. Under the background, it is then possible to discuss whether a language is based on Ascending Time or Descending Time. In this research, the target language is Ancient Greek, a base to almost all European languages. The essay aims to prove that Ancient Greek is a language basically built on the model of Descending Time, where time is always moving from the future to the past. Different views of time will firstly be examined. Then, the verb-time system established by Hewson and Bubenik will be introduced with details, which combines verbal aspects with temporal metaphors. Finally, metaphorical languages in texts will be observed to support that Greek’s view of time is identical to the Descending Time. The research will offer a combined analysis on both the grammatical and syntactical levels that differs from the former research done by other scholars, and will help people understand Greek people, Greek languages and how they deal with time.