LINKS
(1) 09.09.24:
Level 1; Ora Maritima 10[3]; notes
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/08/090924-level-1-ora-maritima-103-notes.html
(2) 28.09.24:
Level 2; Ora Maritima [24] and [25] (7); grammar notes; reflexive constructions
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/08/280924-level-2-ora-maritima-24-and-25-7.html
(3) 28.05.25:
Level 1; readings [12] - [15]: review (3); possessive adjectives
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/03/280525-level-1-readings-12-15-review-3.html
(4) 16.07.25:
Level 3; review: the reflexive pronoun sē
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/04/160725-level-3-review-reflexive-pronoun.html
A reflexive
construction is one which refers back to the subject of the sentence.
[1] To express
‘myself’ and ‘yourself’ Latin will use the the accusative, dative or genitive
personal pronouns:
Mortī mē
obtulī. │ I have exposed myself to death.
Cūr tibi litterās
scrīpsistī? │ Why have you written a letter to
yourself?
Itaque nōmina
inter vōs permūtāstis (Plautus) │ That's how you exchanged names [ = you
changed the names between yourselves]
[2] Latin
distinguishes the reflexive construction in the 3rd person
[i] the reflexive
pronoun sē (himself, herself, itself, themselves); it has
no nominative form since it can only refer back to the subject of the sentence
Accusative: sē or sēsē
Cleopatra sē interfēcit
│ Cleopatra killed herself.
Compare: Cleopatra
eum / eam interfēcit │ Cleopatra killed him / her
Sē ex nāvī prōiēcit (Caesar) │
He threw himself from the ship
Dumnorīgem ad sē
vocat (Caesar) │ He calls Dumnorix to him [i.e. to himself]
Sēsē castrīs tenēbant (Caesar) │
They kept themselves in the camp [as opposed to: Eōs castrīs tenēbant
│ They kept them (another group) in
the camp]
Genitive: suī
Ut Seneca
philosophus dīxit, īra brevis īnsānia et impotēns suī est. │
As the philosopher Seneca said: anger is a brief madness and has no
control of itself / power over itself.
Habētis ducem …
oblītum suī │ You have a leader … forgetful of
himself
Dative: sibi
Hominem sibi cārum
audivit. │ He heard a man (who was) dear to him(self) i.e. dear to
the person who heard
Ablative: sē (or sēsē)
Caesar, postquam
hostēs superāvit, litterās ad senātum dē sē mīsit,
'Vēnī, vīdī, vīcī.' │ After he conquered the enemy, Caesar sent a letter to the
senate about himself, ‘I came, I saw, I conquered.'
As with the
ablative of the other personal pronouns, when sē is used with cum, the
preposition is attached to the end of the pronoun i.e. sēcum
Prīmum sēcum dīxit:
“Iste bombus aliquid significat.” (Winne Ille Pu) │ First of all he said to
himself “That buzzing means something” [Note: Latin literally
says with himself]
Examples:
inter sē
cōnflīgunt │ they contend with each other [ = between themselves]
in Amphitruōnis
vertit sēsē imāginem (Plautus) │ He (Jupiter) has turned himself
into the image of Amphitryon
nam ubi parturit,
deōs sibi invocat (Plautus) │ As soon as her time comes she calls on the
gods to help her [ = she summons the gods to herself]
At ut scelesta
sōla sēcum murmurat (Plautus) │ Hear the old criminal mumbling away to [
= with] herself, though!
[ii] suus, -a,
-um: declines in exactly the same way as meus, -a, -um
i.e. like a 1st / 2nd declension adjective. It means
‘his, her, its, their’ but refers back to the subject i.e. the implication,
even if not always translated, is his own, her own etc.
Like the other
possessive adjectives, suus etc. will agree in gender, number and case
with the noun ‘owned’:
Mātrem suam
amat│ (S)he / she loves his / her
(own) mother
Liberōs suōs
amant │ They love their (own)
children
Compare:
Mātrem eius
timet │ (S)he / she fears his / her
(somebody else’s) mother
Līberōs eōrum
in vinculīs habēbat │ He had their (somebody else’s)
children in chains
Examples from
Plautus:
iussit vel nōs
ātriēnsem vel nōs uxōrem suam dēfraudāre │ HE gave us orders to deceive the steward,
or else HIS wife [i.e. not the steward’s wife, but the wife of the man
who gave the order]
cupiō esse amīcae
quod det argentum suae │
I desire that HE gives some money TO HIS mistress.
Hic* nunc domī
servit suō patrī │
He is now at home, a slave to his (own) father; *note: the
translator neatly conveys hic as: “Now here he is …” i.e. pointing
to him
Tēloboae contrā ex oppidō legiōnēs ēdūcunt suās
│ And from
the city, too, the Teloboians led out their legions
Quia salūtāre
advenientem mē solēbās antidhāc, appellāre, itidem ut pudīcae suōs
virōs quae sunt solent │
Because till to-day you used to welcome me as I was arriving and greet me as modest
(women / wives) generally do their husbands
servat mē ille
suīs periūriīs │
that man is saving me by perjuring himself [ = literally: by his own
perjuries / false oaths]
Note: Unlike sē,
which has no nominative case, suus, -a, -um can also be
found in the nominative case when emphasising one’s own rather than
somebody else’s, or referring back to a person in a previous statement. In the
examples below a person is mentioned (1) and then a second statement is made
referring back to that person (2). In other words, although (1) is not the
subject of the second statement, the use of suus indicates that (2) is
referring to that person.
(1) Nōbīscum hic
perhonōrificē et peramīcē Octāvius. (2) Quem quidem suī Caesarem
salūtābant (Cicero) │ (1) Octavius is here with us on
terms of respect and friendship. (2) His own (people) address him
as Caesar
Dē frātre satis. (1)
Dē eius iuvene fīliō, indulsit illī quidem (2) suus pater semper
(Cicero) │ Enough about (my) brother. (1) As for his
young son, (2) his father has certainly always indulged him.
(1) C.
Flāminius… invītō senātū … ad
populum lēgem agrāriam ferēbat. Hunc ¦ (2) pater suus ¦ concilium
plēbis habentem dē templō dēdūxit (Cicero) │ (1) Caius
Flaminius …against the consent of the senate … proposed an agrarian law to
the people. While he was holding an assembly of the people, (2) his
own father dragged him from the temple.
Mercātor quīdam
fuit Syrācūsīs senex, eī sunt nātī (1) fīliī geminī duo, ita fōrma
similī puerī, ut (2) māter sua nōn internōsse posset (Plautus) │
There was a certain old man, a merchant from Syracuse; to him (1) two twin
sons were born so like in appearance that (2) their own mother could
not tell them apart.
(1) C. enim
Caesar vīllam in Herculānēnsī pulcherrimam, quia (2) māter sua
aliquandō in illā cūstōdīta erat, dīruit (Seneca the Younger) │
For (1) Gaius Caesar destroyed a
very beautiful villa
near Herculaneum because (2) his
mother had once been imprisoned in it
No comments:
Post a Comment