28.04.24: Review: Ecce Romani [4]; further notes on the previous text (posted again here)

Almost all of these have been discussed in earlier posts, but the fourth one is new.

[1] A litte more on case usage

[i] I have **added a sentence** showing the use of the dative case which is used to express the indirect object i.e. the person or thing to which / to whom or for whom something is done, given, said, offered etc.

**Aeneās ¦ patrī ¦ auxilium praestat.** │ Aeneas offers help ¦ to (his) father. (This was not in the original printed text; I added it to the version in the main post)

[ii] Further uses of the ablative:

[i] used to express a specific time or period of time, known in grammar as the ablative of time when

nocte (also noctū): at night

• Tandem per dolum Graecī urbem nocte intrant. │ Finally, the Greeks, through trickery, enter the city at night.

[ii] preposition ā / ab + ablative: (away) from

• Multī amīcī quoque ¦ ab urbe Trōiā ¦ effugiunt. │ Many friends also run away ¦ from the city of Troy.

[2] There are two important verbs in this text marked in italics.

[i] possum, posse: to be able; what you can or cannot do i.e. not able to do is expressed by the infinitive.

• Nōn iam urbem ¦ dēfendere ¦ Aenēās potest. │ Aeneas can no longer ¦ defend [is no longer able ¦ to defend] the city.
• Sed neque urbem neque Creūsam servāre iam possum. │ I can save neither the city nor Creusus.

Note also:

• Portāre Anchīsēn ¦ necesse est ¦ quod senex ambulāre nōn potest. │ It is necessary ¦ to carry Anchises ¦ because the old man cannot walk [is not able to walk]
• Necesse est ¦ igitur ex urbe effugere¦ et urbem novam petere. │Therefore, it is necessary ¦ to flee from the city and ¦ to seek a new city.
• “Ad amīcōs igitur ¦ redīre ¦ necesse est." │ Therefore, it is necessary to return to (my) friends.
• Mox ad Ītaliam ¦ nāvigāre ¦ parant ¦ Aenēās et amīcī. │Aeneas and (his) friends are soon preparing ¦ to sail ¦ to Italy.

This use of the infinitive can be known in grammar as the prolative or complementary infinitive and to a large extent it matches with English i.e. the infinitive is being used with another verb or construction to complete the phrase:

• Urbem ¦ dēfendere ¦ nōn possum. │ I am not able ¦ to defend the city.
• Ad amīcōs ¦ redīre ¦ necesse est. │ It is necessary ¦ to return to (my) friends.

[3] eō, īre: go; this verb can add prefixes to specify the type of ‘going’ involved:

eō, īre > redeō, redīre: return

• Aenēās … in urbem redit │ Aeneas returns to the city.
• Tum ad amīcōs redit. │ Then he returns to (his) friends.

[4] Beware the Greeks bearing case endings!

• Nominative: Aenēās et Anchīsēs … ex urbe effugiunt. │ Aeneas and Anchises escape from the city.
• Accusative: Deī Aenēān et Anchīsēn… servant. │ The gods save Aeneas and Anchises.

Small point that hasn’t been discussed before: proper nouns i.e. the names of people, sometimes come from Ancient Greek, especially ones that crop up in the mythology.

Aenēās and Anchīsēs are good examples.

Some of these nouns are known as “Greek-type” in dictionaries.

• Aenēās: (Wiktionary) first-declension noun (masculine Greek-type with nominative singular in -ās), singular only.
• Anchīsēs: (Wiktionary) First-declension noun (masculine Greek-type with nominative singular in -ēs), singular only.

Some of these nouns have case endings that are originally from Greek or the Greek ending is an alternative to the Latin; the one that stands out is an /n/ in the accusative; no Latin noun has /n/ as an accusative ending, only those that are derived from Greek names.

• Nominative: Aenēās (the nominative ending is Greek, not Latin: Αἰνείας; Aineíās)
• Accusative: Aenēam (Latin accusative which is what you would expect); Aenēān (Greek accusative: τὸν Αἰνείᾱν; tòn Aineíān)

• Nominative: Anchīsēs (from Greek: Ἀγχῑ́σης; Ankhī́sēs)
• Accusative: Anchīsēn (Greek accusative: τὸν Ἀγχῑ́σην; tòn Ankhī́sēn)

It’s just something to note: if you see a name with an -n in its accusative, it isn’t a mistake; it’s a Greek ending.