Sunday, July 13, 2025

22.10.25: Level 3; the trial of Sophocles

Sophoclēs ad summam senectūtem tragoediās fēcit: vidēbātur autem rem familiārem negligere propter studium. Itaque ā fīliīs in iūs vocātus est. iūdicēs ōrābant hīs verbīs: "Patrem dēsipientem ā rē familiārī removēte." Tum senex dīcitur tragoediam, illam praeclāram, Oedipum Colōnēum, recitāsse iūdicibus, et quaesīsse, "Num hoc carmen dēsipientis vidētur?" Hoc recitātō, sententiīs iūdicum est līberātus.

dēsipiēns, dēsipientis: foolish; silly

iūdex, iūdicis [3/f]: judge

iūs, iūris [3/n]: [i] law [ii] (here) court (of law)

Oedipus Colōnēus: Oedipus at Colonus, title of a play by Sophocles

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

Notes:

[i] ad summam senectūtem

summus, -a, -um: greatest; highest; utmost

However, the literal translation does not always work:

summus mōns │ the top of the mountain

(here) summa senectūs │ very / extreme old age

[ii] rēs familiāris

rēs, reī [5/f]: [i] ‘thing’ (object) [ii] matter; issue; event

familiāris, -e: pertaining to the household / family / servants

> rēs familiāris: family matter(s), household affairs; ‘property’; family estate

[iii] iūdicēs ōrābant: careful! It is not *these judges* but ‘these (men / boys) / they implored the judges’

[iv] senex dīcitur tragoediam … recitāsse [recitāvisse] iūdicibus, et quaesīsse [quaesīvisse] … │ the old man, therefore, is said to have recited the tragedy to the judges and to have asked

See the previous post:

19.10.25: Level 3; Spartan boys: the contempt of pain

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/07/191025-level-3-spartan-boys-contempt-of.html

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Sophocles wrote tragedies up to extreme old age: but he seemed to be neglecting his affairs through his application to study. Therefore he was summoned before the court by his sons. These (boys / men) / they implored the judges with these words: ‘Remove our foolish father from (the care of) his property.’ Then the old man is said to have recited that splendid tragedy, the ‘Oedipus Coloneus,’ to the judges, and to have asked, ‘Does this poem seem (the work) of a fool?’ When this had been recited, he was freed by the sentences of the judges.


Oedipus at Colonus, Jean-Antoine-Théodore Giroust, 1788 (Dallas Museum of Art)

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