To have been or to be, or may be both?
Hello amazing italki community,
Could you please help me with the next two native sentences -
N1 The holy grail - is the cup believed to have been(*) used by Jesus Christ at his last meal.
N2 Galileo seems to have been(**) the first person to realize that there is no such thing as an absolute speed.
1) For some reason (I don't uderstand why) I want to say "the cup believed to BE used by..." and "Galileo seems to BE ...". Can I? or is it incorrect or maybe it slightly changes the meaning of the sentences?
2) What the writer of the sentences wanted to stress or to underline by using "have been", whether it is that the cup was used for some time, for some period before? and that Galileo is still regarded as the first person and no one doubts his achievement?

Question

To have been or to be, or may be both?
Hello amazing italki community,
Could you please help me with the next two native sentences -
N1 The holy grail - is the cup believed to have been(*) used by Jesus Christ at his last meal.
N2 Galileo seems to have been(**) the first person to realize that there is no such thing as an absolute speed.
1) For some reason (I don't uderstand why) I want to say "the cup believed to BE used by..." and "Galileo seems to BE ...". Can I? or is it incorrect or maybe it slightly changes the meaning of the sentences?
2) What the writer of the sentences wanted to stress or to underline by using "have been", whether it is that the cup was used for some time, for some period before?  and that Galileo is still regarded as the first person and no one doubts his achievement?

Answer

I agree with Robert here. Probably the reason you want to say 'believed to be used by' and 'seems to be' is because this is what we hear in everyday conversation, because we are usually talking about living people who are doing things now.

The phrase 'to have been' is very advanced English, and I don't think anyone would be confused if you said 'believed to be used' or 'seems to be' because Jesus Christ and Galileo are well-known historical figures. That being said, 'to have been' is the most correct because it tells us that these people are not doing the actions anymore. This phrase is common in museums, history books, and film documentaries; I'm sure you will hear it again.

Answer

Hi Pavel,
In the first case, 'have been' is used because Jesus used it (at the last supper) in the past. He does not continue to use it today and therefore we cannot say "the cup believed to BE used by". 
With Galileo, again it is about when the events occurred. Galileo is dead, and thus we refer to his person in the past rather than the present. In both cases BE instead of HAVE BEEN would be grammatically correct English, but the meaning would be different and factually incorrect.
On your second point, it is not case of 'have been' adding additional emphasis, but rather that it is the correct tense for these sentences. 'Seems' is in the present tense, because it SEEMS to us TODAY that he was the first person etc. 
Robert

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