01.09.24: Follow-up; Level 2; Perseus cartoon [2]; perfect passive

Referring to: https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/07/010924-level2-story-of-perseus.html

What you see in these extracts from the cartoon are all the key points of the perfect passive. This post is simply giving an overviewof how this form of the verb works; it will be covered in greater detail later.

Image #1: Danaē, Perseī māter, magnopere territa est.│Danae, the mother of Perseus, was greatly frightened.

Present tense of the verb sum, esse + the perfect passive  participle: 

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/07/280824-follow-up-on-previous-post-how_79.html

This is an example of the perfect passive, the equivalent of English “This book was written by Charles Dickens” or “He has been injured by an arrow.”

The participle will agree with the subject: Danaē, Perseī māter, magnopere territa est.

The major difference between Latin and English is that, while English uses “was” plus the past participle, Latin uses the present tense of the verb sum, esse (to be).

Some further examples from the entire text:

Image #2: Postquam arca ad lītus appulsa est, … │ After the chest / ark was driven on to the shore, …

Images #3 and #4: The perfect passive with the passive agent i.e. the person by whom the action was performed; the passive agent is expressed by ā / ab + the ablative case:

Postquam breve tempus ¦ ā piscātōre quōdam ¦ reperta est, … │ After a short time she was found ¦ by a certain fisherman.

… et ad domum rēgis Polydectis adducta est. │ … and (was) brought to the house of King Polyectes.

Image #5

Cēterae Gorgōnēs [feminine plural] statim ē somnō excitātae sunt [feminine plural], et … ¦ īrā ¦ commōtae sunt [feminine plural]. │ The rest of the Gorgons were immediately awakened from (their) sleep and … were filled with rage [= literally: moved by anger]. 

Note here that they are filled with rage i.e. it is not a person who is performing this action but the means by which they became angry; Latin uses no preposition here.

[i] Postquam breve tempus ¦ ā piscātōre quōdam ¦ reperta est, … │ After a short time she was found ¦ by a certain fisherman.

[ii] Gorgōnēs … ¦ īrā ¦ commōtae sunt. │ The Gorgons were (literally) moved ¦ by anger.

Image #6: There are two possibilities of translation depending upon context:

Referring to the Gorgons …

Capita enim eārum anguibus omnīnō contēcta erant. Manus etiam ex āere factae erant.

Here, the imperfect tense of sum, esse is being used:

For their heads were completely covered with snakes. Their hands were also made of bronze.

The participles are acting like adjectives here, simply describing what they looked like rather than something that happened to the Gorgons. However, using the imperfect tense can also convey “had been (done)” i.e. the first part of the sentence could equally translate as: “Their heads had been completely covered with snakes.”

From the text:

Tum ad rūpem vēnit ubi Andromeda vīncta erat. │ Then he came to the rock where Andromeda had been tied.

Some more examples from the text of the perfect passive without further comment:

ā deō iussus est │ he was commanded by the god

in āera sublātus est. │ he was carried up into the air

Mox tamen ¦ ā Perseō ¦ ictū graviōre ¦ vulnerāta est. Tum iterum sē in undās mersit, neque posteā vīsa est. │ Soon, however, it was wounded ¦ by a more serious / heavier blow ¦ from Perseus. Then again it plunged itself into the waves, and afterwards was not seen again.

01.09.24: Follow-up; Level 2; Perseus cartoon [1]; passive - present, imperfect, future

Referring to: https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/07/010924-level2-story-of-perseus.html

The cartoon uses an adapted story from Ritchie. This book, first published in 1884, was titled “Fabulae Faciles (simple stories): A First Latin Reader”. The words “first” and "simple" tell you a lot about the amount of time devoted to the teaching of Latin when the book was initially published. Nowadays, I doubt very much that “Fabulae Faciles” could ever be considered an easy book for beginners. However, looking back through the posts both here and on the other site, it is certainly a book for those reaching the end of Level 2.

At this stage I only want to comment on one aspect of Latin that is in the text: the passive. I’ll divide this into two posts. The entire text is in the third person i.e. talking about what a person or people did. For our purposes that makes it easier to handle: we’re dealing with parts of the jigsaw, not all of them.

The opening sections give you an overview; we’ll look in this post at the first two:

[1]

Present passive

Poēta fābulam nārrat. │ The poet tells a story.

This is an active sentence i.e. the subject (poēta) is performing the action.

Now we turn it around:

The story [i] is told │ [ii] by the poet.

This is a passive sentence i.e. [i] the subject (fābula) is not performing the action but experiencing the action and [ii] the person by whom the action is performed – known in grammar as the passive agent – is expressed by ā / ab + the ablative case.

Fābula ¦ ā poētā ¦ nārrātur.

For the 3rd person singular and plural present tense, all that happens is that -ur is added to the verb.

From the entire text:

Image #1: Haec nārrantur ¦ ā poētīs ¦ dē Perseō. │ These (things) are told ¦ by the poets about Perseus.

Image #2: Dum haec geruntur, fremitus terribilis audītur; simul mōnstrum horribilī speciē procul cōnspicitur. │ While these things are happening [= literally: are being carried out], a terrible roar is heard; at the same time a monster of terrible appearance is spotted from afar.

This is a feature of Latin that is common in the literature i.e. the use of the present tense rather than the past to make the action appear more vivid. In the cartoon, the translation uses the past tense even though the verbs are in the present.

The same applies to this example from the text:

Mare autem intereā undique sanguine īnficitur. │ Meanwhile, however, the sea is [transl. was] contaminated everywhere with blood.

[2] The addition of -ur to the 3rd person present tense also applies to [i] the imperfect tense and [ii] the future tense

Poēta carmen scrībēbat. │ The poet was writing a song.

Carmen ¦ ā poētā ¦ scrībēbātur. │ A song was being written ¦ by the poet.

Image #3: Avus eius Ācrisius appellābāt¦ur. │ His grandfather was called Acrisius.

[ii] Although there are no future passives in the text, the same rule applies i.e. add -ur to the 3rd person singular or plural of the future tense:

Poētae multās fabulās dē Perseō nārrābunt. │ The poets will tell many tales about Perseus.

> Multae fābulae dē Perseō nārrābunt¦ur│ Many tales will be told about Perseus.

 

01.09.24: Level2; the Story of Perseus

 

31.08.24: Level 2; Practice in reading the perfect tense; A First Latin Reader (Vincent) [16]

Proximō annō Hannibal, ubi cōpiās dūxit ex hībernīs, iter Cannās fēcit et castra prope oppidum posuit. Posteā, quia Rōmānī cōpiās contrā Poenōs dūcēbant, Hannibal Gallōs et Hispānōs in cornū laevō locāvit, Numidās in cornū dextrō, agmen medium cum peditibus tenuit. Poenī Rōmānōs magnā cum caede superant, multōs necant aut vulnerant aut capiunt. Magnus est timor inter Rōmānōs. Sed Hannibal mīlitēs nōn contrā Rōmam, sed Capuam dūxit. Mora Poenōrum oppidum servāvit.

cornū, -ūs [4/m]: (here) the wing of an army

hībernum, -ī [2/n]: winter; (here) in plural: winter quarters

Cannās [accusative plural] │ to Cannae; Cannae is a plural noun; when expressing movement to a town, the accusative alone is used without a preposition. Similarly: Athēnās [accusative plural of Athēnae] │ to Athens

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The next year Hannibal, when he had led the troops from (their) winter quarters, marched to Cannae and placed a camp [encamped] near the town. Afterwards, because the Romans were leading troops against the Carthaginians, Hannibal placed the Gauls and the Spaniards in the left column / wing, the Numidians in the right column / wing, and held the middle column with the infantry. The Carthaginians overcome / overcame the Romans with great slaughter, they kill(ed) or wound(ed) or capture(d) many [killing or wounding or capturing many]. There is / was great fear among the Romans. But Hannibal led the soliders not against Rome, but (against) Capua. The delay of the Carthaginians saved the town.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cannae

https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Cannae

“Cannae is the greatest ambush in ancient history”