13.07.25: Level 3; the Labours of Hercules; [VIII] the Belt of Hippolyte, Queen of the Amazons; syncopated verb forms; elision; the descent to Hades and the dog Cerberus

[VIII] THE BELT OF HIPPOLYTE, QUEEN OF THE AMAZONS

Gēns Amāzonum dīcitur omnīnō ex mulieribus fuisse. Hae cum virīs proelium committere nōn verēbantur. Hippolytē, Amāzonum rēgīna, balteum habuit pulcherrimum. Hunc balteum possidēre fīlia Eurystheī vehementer cupiēbat. Itaque Eurystheus iussit Herculem impetum in Amāzonēs facere. Ille multīs cum cōpiīs nāvem cōnscendit et paucīs diēbus in Amāzonum finīs pervēnit, ac balteum postulāvit. Eum trādere ipsa Hippolytē quidem cupīvit; reliquīs tamen Amāzonibus persuādēre nōn potuit. Postrīdiē Herculēs proelium commīsit. Multās hōrās utrimque quam fortissimē pugnātum est. Dēnique tamen mulierēs terga vertērunt et fugā salūtem petiērunt. Multae autem captae sunt, in quō numerō erat ipsa Hippolytē. Herculēs postquam balteum accēpit, omnibus captīvīs lībertātem dedit.

[1] Gēns Amāzonum │ the race of the Amazons / the Amazonian race

Amāzōn, Amāzonis [3/f]: Amazon, female warrior

[2] Gēns … dīcitur … fuisse

See the previous post:

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/03/220625-level-3-i-infant-hercules-and.html

[3] vereor, verērī, veritus sum [2/deponent]: fear; be afraid

[4] impetum in Amāzonēs facere │ to make an attack on / against the Amazons

[5] paucīs diēbus: within a few days; ablative of time within which:

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/03/300525-level-3-summary-of-of-uses-of.html

[6] Amāzonibus persuādēre nōn potuit

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/02/180425-level-3-verbs-with-dative-case-2.html

[7] petiērunt = petīvērunt; this is an example of a syncopated verb form which you often – but not exclusively – come across in poetry.

‘Syncopated’ means that one or more sounds are omitted from a verb; the term ‘contraction’ is also used.

[i] Image: loss of -v- in perfect tense forms although some are very rare; good examples are evident in 4^th conjugation verbs, many of which have a perfect tense stem in –(ī)v–. Therefore: petīvērunt > petiērunt

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/05/290524-level-2-perfect-tense-10-eo-ire.html

[ii] often seen in the 3^rd person plural of perfect tense verbs where -ērunt is written as -ēre:

laudāvērunt > laudāvēre

mansērunt > mansēre

dūxērunt > dūxēre

fēcērunt > fēcēre

[iii] -ris [2nd person singular ending of passive verbs] > -re

present passive: laudāris > laudāre

imperfect passive: laudābāris > laudābāre

future passive: laudāberis > laudābere

At first sight, [ii] and [iii] could be misread as infinitives, but take a second look because the stems are still clear as is the distinctive ending of the passive

laudāv¦ērunt > laudāv¦ēre

dūx¦ērunt > dūx¦ēre

laudār¦is > laudār¦e

laudābār¦is > laudābār¦e

laudāber¦is > laudāber¦e

[iv] Like the English contractions he + is > he’s, we + have > we’ve, in older Latin writing e.g. Plautus, you will come across contractions of adjacent sounds i.e. one at the end of the first word and one at the beginning of the second:

Ubi is homōst [= homō + est] quem dīcis? (Plautus) │ Where is this person whom you mention?

Where contractions occur in literary texts, they will be noted.

[v] Elision: this loss of adjacent vowel sounds, known as elision, is an integral feature of Classical Latin poetry and is essential when [i] identifying the metre of a poem in order and [ii] reciting it correctly. That is not the focus here, but below is one example from Catullus:

Vīvāmus mea Lesbia atque amēmus │ Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love

Note the adjacent vowel sounds at [i] the end of Lesbia and beginning of amemus, and [ii] the end of atque and the beginning of amēmus

Although both vowel sounds are written they are not pronounced separately but elided i.e. they are pronounced as one vowel sound or two vowel sounds effectively ‘fused’ i.e. blended into single sound.

The line is recited as follows:

Vivāmus mea Lesbi’atqu’amēmus

The metre for this poem is hendecasyllabic i.e. comprising eleven syllables; at first sight, since the vowels are all written, it looks as if there are more, but, through elision, the eleven syllables are maintained. The vowels marked in brackets [ ] are not pronounced but elided with the vowels that follow them.

1 Vī- 2 vā- ¦ 3 mūs 4 mĕ- 5 ă ¦ 6 Lēs- 7 bĭ-[a] ¦ 8 āt- 9 qu[e] ă- ¦ 10 mē- 11 mŭs

THE DESCENT TO HADES AND THE DOG CERBERUS

Iamque ūnus modō ē duodecim labōribus relinquēbātur sed inter omnēs hic erat difficillimus. Iussus est enim canem Cerberum ex Orcō in lūcem trahere. Ex Orcō autem nēmō anteā reverterat. Praetereā Cerberus erat mōnstrum maximē horribile et tria capita habēbat. Herculēs postquam imperia Eurystheī accēpit, statim profectus est et in Orcum dēscendit. Ibi vērō nōn sine summō perīculō Cerberum manibus rapuit et ingentī cum labōre ex Orcō in lūcem et ad urbem Eurystheī trāxit.

Sīc duodecim labōrēs illī intrā duodecim annōs cōnfectī sunt. Dēmum post longam vītam Herculēs ā deīs receptus est et Iuppiter filiō suō dedit immortālitātem.

Cerberus, or Cerberos, -ī [2/m]: the dog Cerberus which guarded the gate of Orcus, the abode of the dead.

Orcus, -ī [2/m]: the underworld; (Etruscan and Roman mythology): Orcus, the god of the Underworld