[III] HERCULES
BECOMES SUBJECT TO EURYSTHEUS; HE STRANGLES THE NEMEAN LION
Itaque Herculēs Pȳthiae tōtam rem dēmōnstrāvit
nec scelus suum abdidit. Ubi iam Herculēs
finem fēcit, Pȳthia iussit eum ad urbem Tiryntha discēdere
et ibi rēgī Eurystheō sēsē committere. Quae ubi audīvit,
Herculēs ad illam urbem statim contendit et Eurystheō sē in servitūtem trādidit
et dīxit, "Quid prīmum, Ō rēx, mē facere iubēs?"
Eurystheus, quī
perterrēbātur vī et corpore ingentī Herculis et eum occīdī studēbat,
ita respondit: "Audī, Herculēs! Multa mira nārrantur dē leōne saevissimō
quī hōc tempore in valle Nemaeā omnia vāstat. Iubeō tē, virōrum omnium
fortissimum, illō mōnstrō hominēs līberāre." Haec verba Herculī
maximē placuērunt. "Properābō," inquit, "et pārēbō
imperiō tuō." Tum in silvās in quibus leō habitabat statim iter
fēcit. Mox feram vidit et plūris impetūs fēcit; frūstrā tamen, quod neque
sagittīs neque ūllō aliō tēlō mōnstrum vulnerāre potuit. Dēnique
Herculēs saevum leōnem suis ingentibus bracchiīs rapuit et faucīs eius omnibus
vīribus compressit. Hōc modō brevī tempore eum interfēcit. Tum corpus leōnis ad
oppidum in umerīs reportāvit et pellem posteā prō veste gerebat.
Omnēs autem quī eam regiōnem incolēbant, ubi fāmam dē morte leōnis ingentis
accēpērunt, erant laetissimī et Herculem laudābant verbīs amplissimīs.
[1] Tyrins; this
is an example of a Greek-type noun; some of these nouns have case endings that
are originally from Greek or the Greek ending is an alternative to the Latin:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Tiryns
Notes on
Greek-type nouns:
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/06/080824-level-2-practice-in-reading.html
https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/473759851901955/
[2] Eurystheus was
king of Tiryns, a Grecian city, whose foundation goes back to
prehistoric times.
[3] Quae ubi
audīvit │ and when he heard these things
When we see forms
of quī, quae and quod, the immediate translation which
comes to mind is ‘who’ or ‘which’; in grammar this is known as a relative
pronoun as it is referring back to a person / thing in the same sentence (the
antecedent) i.e. they introduce a relative clause.
Tum in [i] silvās
[antecedent] ¦ [ii] in quibus leō habitabat [relative clause] ¦ statim
iter fēcit. │ Then he immediately travelled into the [i] forests ¦ [ii] in which
the lion lived.
[i] Omnēs [antecedent]
¦ [ii] quī eam regiōnem incolēbant [relative clause] ¦ erant laetissimī
│[i] Everyone ¦ [ii] who inhabited that region ¦ was very happy.
However, the
relative pronouns quī etc. can also start a sentence referring to
[a] a specific person or thing in the previous sentence or [b] the
entire idea of the previous sentence.
The relative pronoun, therefore, is making a connection with the preceding sentence which is why, in grammar, it is known as a connecting relative.
In this position
it is not translated as “who” or “which” but by a pronoun or demonstrative that
refers to the antecedent.
(a)
[i] Caesar
Rubicōnem trānsiit. [ii] Quī posterā diē adversus Rōmam profectus est. │
[i] Caesar crossed the Rubicon. On the next day [ii] he set out
towards Rome.
It is common in
translation to connect the two sentences with ‘and’:
Caesar crossed the
Rubicon, and he set out towards Rome on the next day.
[i] Ancilla
tandem advēnit. [ii] Quam ubi vīdī, laetissimus eram │ [i] The slave
girl arrived. When I saw [ii] her, I was very happy, or The slave
girl arrived, and when I saw her, I was very happy.
[i] Ille servus
effugit. [ii] Quem posteā captum graviter pūnīvī. │ [i] That slave escaped,
and afterwards, when he had been caught [ii] I punished him severely.
(b)
In the following
examples, the connecting relative does not refer to a specific noun, but to the
entire statement made in the preceding sentence:
[i] Canis equum
adiūvit. [ii] Quod ubi vīdimus, mīrātī sumus │ The dog helped the
horse. When we saw that, we were amazed, i.e. the connecting relative is
not referring to the dog or to the horse, but to the whole event.
Similarly:
[i] Mīlitēs
nostrī omnēs effūgērunt. [ii] Quod ubi vīdimus, laetissimī erāmus. │
[i] All our soldiers escaped. [ii] When we saw that, we were very
happy.
Note in the next
example the inclusion of verbīs to indicate that the connecting relative
is referring to something that was heard.
[i] Victōria
tandem Rōmae relāta est. [ii] Quibus verbīs audītīs omnēs
gāvīsī sumus. │ [i] The victory was finally reported in Rome, [ii] and with
these words having been heard [= and when these words had
been heard, we all rejoiced.
In the text we are
dealing with (b) i.e. the connecting relative referring to the whole preceding
sentence.
Pȳthia iussit eum ad urbem Tiryntha discēdere
et ibi rēgī Eurystheō sēsē committere. │ Pythia commanded him to depart to the
city of Tiryns and there commit / entrust himself to Eurystheus.
> Quae ubi audīvit, Herculēs ad illam urbem
statim contendit │ and when he heard these things Hercules
immediately hurried to that city.
[4] eum occīdī studēbat
│ was eager for him to be killed
occīdī: present
passive infinitive
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/10/110125-level-2-passive-voice-19-present.html
[5] illō
mōnstrō hominēs līberāre │ to free people from that monster; the ablative
of separation
neque ūllō aliō
tēlō mōnstrum vulnerāre potuit │ nor was he able to wound the monster with any
other weapon
[6] ūllus, -a, -um: any
[7] alius, -a, -ud: other
[8] prō: instead
of
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