10.04.25: Level 3; The story of Arion [2]

Hī autem eum in mare prōicere cōnstituērunt; pecūniā enim potīrī cupiēbant. Tum vērō Arīōn cōnsilium intellēxit. Trīstis ad precēs cōnfūgit.* Pecūniā omnī nautīs oblātā, vītam dēprecātus est. Nautae vērō precibus virī nōn commōtī, mortem eī statim minātī sunt.

vocabulary

com¦moveō, -ēre, -mōvī, -mōtus [2]: move (violently); stir; (here) ‘move’ in the sense of influence emotionally

cōnstituō, -ere, cōnstituī, cōnstitūtus [3]: decide

prō(i)iciō (sometimes written with one /i/), prōicere, prōiēcī, prōiectus [3-iō]: throw

*Trīstis ad precēs cōnfūgit.

• cōnfugiō, -ere, -fūgī [3-iō]: flee; take refuge; (here) have recourse to
• prex, precis [3/f]: prayer; entreaty

Literally: He, sad, had recourse to prayers; remember that Latin may use an adjective (tristis) to describe the person performing the action whereas English would prefer an adverb i.e. ‘He, sadly, could only turn to prayers / entreaties.’

questions

1. What did these men want to do to Arion and why? (3)
2. What was offered to the sailors? (1)
3. How did they react? (2)

notes

[1] ablative absolute; verb: ferō, ferre, tūlī, lātus

pecūniā omnī ¦ (nautīs) oblātā: a further example of the ablative absolute discussed in the previous post

The verb is: offerō, offere [3] < ob + ferō: bring before; (here) offer

It is a compound of the verb ferō, ferre [3]: bear; carry, and is known in grammar as a suppletive verb, the term used to describe parts of a verb that are not connected to the main form of the verb itself, an example of which in English would be: go – goes – going – gone, but … went

ferō, ferre, tūlī, lātus [3] i.e. the perfect tense and perfect passive participle bear no relation to the main parts of the verb

offerō, offerre, obtūlī, oblātus [3]: offer

pecūniā omnī ¦ (nautīs) oblātā │ with all (his) money ¦ having been offered (to the sailors) = after all his money had been offered to the sailors

A more detailed post will be given later on the verb ferō and its compounds since the verb can have multiple meanings.

[2] deponent verbs

dēprecor, deprecārī, dēprecātus sum [1/dep]: pray / plead for

minor, minārī, minātus sum [1/dep]: threaten; mortem (acc.) ¦ eī (dat.) … minātī sunt │ literally: they threatened ¦ death ¦ to him = they threatened him with death / they threatened to kill him

potior, potīrī, potitus sum [4/dep]: take possession (+ abl.); pecūniā … potīrī cupiēbant │ they desired to possess / take possession of the (his) money

[3] Note the use of the perfect passive participle functioning as an adjective to describe the sailors:

Nautae vērō precibus virī nōn commōtī, … │ But the sailors (who were) not moved / not having been moved [= unmoved] by the man’s prayers …

____________________

These (men), however, decided to throw him into the sea. But then / then, in fact Arion understood the plan. He, sadly, had recourse to prayers. After all (his) money had been offered to the sailors, he pleaded for his life. But the sailors, not moved [= unmoved] by the man’s prayers immediately threatened him with death.