23.02.27: Level 1-2 (review): Julia (a Latin Reader) [10] (1)

ĪPHIGENĪA (1)

In Graeciā frātrēs duo, Agamemnōn et Menelāus nōmine, ōlim habitābant. Graecī frātrēs Atrīdās vocābant, quod Atreī fīliī erant, Agamemnōn omnium Argīvōrum rēx erat. Menelāus Lacedaemoniōs regēbat. Helenē, uxor Menelāī, praeclāra et fōrmōsa rēgīna, cum virō in rēgiā multōs annōs habitābat. Sed tandem Paris, Troiānōrum prīnceps, ad hospitium Menelāī vēnit.

Perfidus et ignāvus erat hospes, sed pictīs vestīmentīs, nitidīs capillīs fulgēbat. Diū in rēgiā manēbat, et grātus rēgīnae animō erat hospes fōrmōsus. Tandem nocte obscūrā Helenam fūrtim raptāvit et in nāvem imposuit. Vēla candida ventīs secundīs dedit, et trāns mare ad urbem Trōiam properāvit.

Agamemnōn, -onis [3/m]: Agamemnon, king of Argos

Argīvus, -ī [2/m]: Argive, native of Argos

Atreus, -ī [2/m]: Atreus, father of Agamemnon and Menelaus

Atrīdae, -ārum [1/m pl]: sons of Atreus

Graecia, -ae [1/f]: Greece

Helenē, -ēs [1/f]: Helen of Troy, wife of Menelaus

Lacedaemonius, -ī [2/m]: a Lacedaemonian, Spartan

Menelāus, -ī [2/m]: Menelaus, king of Sparta

Paris, -idis [3/m]: Paris, a prince of Troy

Trōia, -ae [1/f]: Troy, a town at the entrance to the Dardanelles

Trōiānus, -ī [2/m]: a Trojan

[i]

hospes, -itis [3 m/f]: guest, host

hospitium, -ī [2/n]: hospitality

nox, noctis [3/f]: night

rēgia, -ae [1/f]: palace

vestīmentum, -ī [2/n]: dress, garment

[ii]

nitidus, -a, -um: shining

obscūrus, -a, -um: dark, dim

perfidus, -a, -um: treacherous

pictus, -a, -um: painted, embroidered

[iii]

veniō, -īre [4]: come

____________________

Once upon a time in Greece there lived two brothers named Agamemnon and Menelaus. The Greeks called the brothers the Atreidae because they were the sons of Atreus. Agamemnon was king of all the Argives. Menelaus ruled the Lacedaemonians (Spartans).

Helen, the wife of Menelaus, a famous and beautiful queen, lived with her husband in the royal palace for many years. But at last Paris, prince of the Trojans, came as a guest to the house of Menelaus.

The guest was treacherous and cowardly, but he shone in colourful clothing and with gleaming hair. He stayed in the palace for a long time, and the handsome guest was pleasing to the queen's heart. At last, on a dark night, he secretly abducted Helen and placed her on a ship. He gave the white sails to favourable winds and hastened across the sea to the city of Troy.

22.02.27: Level 1; step-by-step; scaffolding [3] singular and plural

[B]

ūna ūva | one grape

duae ūvae | two grapes

multae ūvae | many grapes

Latin nouns change in the plural. At this stage, focus only on three types:

[1] ending in -a

-a > -ae

ūva: grape / a grape / the grape [Latin does not have words for ‘the’ or ‘a(n)’]

ūna ūva: one grape

ūvae: grapes

duae ūvae: two grapes

multae ūvae: many grapes

[2] ending in -us

-us > -ī

equus: (a/the) horse

ūnus equus: one horse

equī: (the) horses

duo equī: two horses

multī equī: many horses

[3] ending in -um

-um > -a

ōvum: (a/the) egg

ūnum ōvum: one egg

ōva: (the) eggs

duo ōva: two eggs

multa ōva: many eggs

Exercise

Practise the patterns with the following nouns:

(1) nouns ending in -a

__________a | (a/the) __________

ūna __________a | one __________

duae __________ae | two __________

multae __________ae | many __________

• amīca: friend (female)
• ancilla: maidservant
• fēmina: lady
• fenestra: window
• galea: helmet
• puella: girl

(2) nouns ending in -us

__________us

ūnus __________us

duo __________ī

multī __________ī

• amīcus: friend (male)
• discipulus: pupil (male)
• gladius: sword
• hortus: garden
• mūrus: wall
• servus: slave

(3) nouns ending in -um

__________um

ūnum __________um

duo __________a

multa__________a

• mālum: apple
• oppidum: town
• pirum: pear
• pōculum: cup (in Ancient Rome, a type of goblet e.g. for drinking wine)
• scūtum: shield
• templum: temple

21.02.27: Level 1; First Latin Lessons (5); dative case: 1st declension; singular and plural [i]

I: Māter mea epistulam scrībit et epistulam parvae puellae dat. Parva puella epistulam agricolae dat. Agricola epistulam legit. Agricola mihi epistulam dat. Pecūniam agricolae dō. Agricola parvae puellae pecūniam dat. Parva puella pecūniam Cornēliae dat. Cornēlia est māter parvae puellae.

II: Māter mea dōnum parvīs puellīs dat. Parvae puellae laetae sunt. Māter mea parvās puellās amat.

III: Nautae epistulās dō. Nauta epistulās incolīs īnsulārum dat. Incolae īnsulārum pecūniam nautae dant.

IV: Agricola epistulam poētae dat. Poēta pecūniam agricolae dat. Dōnum puellīs dō. Parvae puellae mihi epistulam dant. Fīlia tua pecūniam nautae dat. Nauta mihi pecūniam dat.

(1) vocabulary

• dō: I give
• dat: (he / she / it) gives
• dant: they give
• dōnum: gift
• laeta: happy
• legit: (he / she / it) reads
• māter: mother
• mihi: to me (dative case)

(2) The dative case expresses the indirect object, the person to whom, for example, something is given or said.

Poēta [A] pecūniam ¦ [B] agricolae ¦ dat.

• The poet gives [A] money ¦ [B] to the farmer.

[A] pecuniam: the direct object [accusative]

[B] agricolae: the indirect object [dative]

English can change the word order by putting the indirect object first:

The poet gives ¦ [B] the farmer [indirect object] ¦ [A] money [direct object].

At the early stages of studying Latin it is better to use the translation with to so that the Latin dative case is clearly identified.

Nauta ¦ mihi ¦ pecūniam dat.

• The sailor gives ¦ me [indirect object] ¦ money [direct object] = The sailor gives money [direct object] ¦ to me [indirect object].

Dōnum puellīs dō.

• I give the girls [indirect object] ¦ a gift [direct object] = I give a gift [direct object] ¦ to the girls [indirect object].

(3) This text deals with the dative case of 1^st declension nouns:

1^st declension: nouns end in -a

Nominative singular: puella

[i] Dative singular: puellae

Nominative plural: puellae

[ii] Dative plural: puellīs

(4)

[i] dative case singular: -ae

Parva puella epistulam agricolae dat.

[ii] dative case plural: -īs

Dōnum puellīs dō.

(5) The same endings apply to 1^st / 2^nd declension adjectives:

Māter mea … epistulam ¦ parvae puellae ¦ dat.

• My mother … gives a letter ¦ to the little girl.

Māter mea dōnum ¦ parvīs puellīs ¦ dat.

• My mother gives a gift ¦ to the little girls.

LINKS

06.03.24: introduction to the dative case

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/060324-introduction-to-dative-case.html

06.03.24: further practice in the dative case of first declension nouns

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/060324-further-practice-in-dative-case.html

all posts:

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/dative%20case

____________________

I: My mother writes a letter and gives the letter to the little girl. The little girl gives the letter to the farmer. The farmer reads the letter. The farmer gives the letter to me. I give money to the farmer. The farmer gives money to the little girl. The little girl gives money to Cornelia. Cornelia is the mother of the little girl.

II: My mother gives a gift to the little girls. The little girls are happy. My mother loves the little girls.

III: I give letters to the sailor. The sailor gives letters to the inhabitants of the islands. The inhabitants of the islands give money to the sailor. The sailor gives money to me.

IV: The farmer gives a letter to the poet. The poet gives money to the farmer. I give a gift to the girls. The little girls give a letter to me. Your daughter gives money to the sailor.

20.02.27: Topic / Level 4; animals at work (1)

NOTE: the topic can be used simply to make a list of vocabulary and the basic translations. However, to illustrate the vocabulary a large number of excerpts from original literature are used.

Here, and in the next posts, we look at animals as a means of transporting either goods or people, pulling some form of vehicle or farming equipment, as well as their use in war.

[1] One of the first words you would encounter when learning Latin is equus and it is by far the most common. There are, however, some other terms which should be noted even if they rarely occur.

[i] equus, -ī [2/m]: horse

Note: vehō, -ere, vēxī, vectus [3]: convey; commonly used when referring to how somebody was transported:

Alexander equō [ablative] vehebātur  (Quintus Curtius Rufus)

literally: Alexander was conveyed by a horse, i.e. Alexander travelled by horse / rode on horseback

[ii] equa, -ae [1/f]: mare

[iii] caballus, -ī [2/m]: pack-horse; nag; workhorse

The term refers to an inferior horse; in CL caballus is found in poetic works, but its use is evident in prose from the Late Latin period, hence the derivatives cheval in French and caballo in Spanish.

Old English already had firmly established vocabulary for domestic animals: hors; mīere. However, the Latin words are evident in English derivatives e.g. equine and, via French, cavalier and chevalier < Late Latin: caballārius, -ī [2/m]: horseman; rider

[iv] canthērius, -ī [2/m]: a gelding i.e. a castrated horse;  in a transferred sense, it can refer to an impotent old man

Three quotations from Plautus, none of which present the horse (or its human equivalent!) in a positive light:

(1) This first quotation from Plautus emphasises their low value:

ego faxim mūlī, pretiō quī superant equōs, sint vīliōrēs Gallicīs canthēriīs

• I’d see to it that the mules that cost more than horses, would be cheaper than Gallic geldings.

(2) Likewise, the horses are associated with the negative portrayal of fish-sellers:

Tum piscātōrēs quī praebent populō piscēs foetidōs, quī advehuntur quadrupedantī cruciantī canthēriō,  …

• Then the fishermen that offer the people stinking fish, that are carried around on a trotting, jolting [lit: torturing] gelding, …

(3) He may be an old lecher, but he still thinks he’s in with a chance …

quamquam vetus canthērius sum, etiam nunc, ut ego opīnor, adhinnīre equolam* possum ego hanc, …

• Although I’m an old gelding, even now, I think, I can still whinny at this little mare / little filly, …

*Plautine spelling: equulus, -ī [2/m]: foal; equula, -ae [1/f]: a little mare / filly

[v] verēdus, -ī [2/m]: a fast or light breed of horse; courier’s horse; hunting-horse

From Martial:

l1: Pārcius ūtārīs, moneō, rapiente verēdō, | You should use more sparingly, I advise you, the rushing hunting-horse,

l2: Prīsce, nec in leporēs tām violentus eās. | and you should not, Priscus, go so furiously after the hares,

ll3-4: Saepe satisfēcit praedae vēnātor, et ācrī / Dēcidit excussus, nec reditūrus, equō. | The hunter has often made amends to the prey, and, shaken off, has fallen – never to return - from the fierce horse.

[2]

[i] asinus, -ī [2/m]: donkey; ass

[ii] asellus, -ī [2/m]: small donkey

[iii] asina, -ae [1/f]: female donkey; she-ass

[iv] mūlus, -ī [2/m]: mule

[v] pullus, -ī [2/m]: although the noun can refer to a chicken or any young fowl, its meaning encompasses any young animal e.g. a foal

(1) Īte in castellum, quod contrā vōs est, et statim introeuntēs illūc, inveniētis pullum ligātum, super quem nēmō adhūc hominum sēdit: solvite illum, et addūcite. (Vulgate)

• “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.” 

(2) ecce rēx tuus veniet tibi iūstus et salvātor ipse pauper et ascendēns super asinum et super pullum fīlium asinae (Vulgate)

• Behold, your king comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; Lowly, and riding on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

19.02.27: Level 3+ (review); correlatives [6] making comparisons (3); totiēns … quotiēns …

[xi] totiēns … quotiēns … [or: totiēs … quotiēs …] | as often … as …

Unlike most other correlatives which can be ‘neatly’ conveyed, you cannot always mechanically translate but need to consider the most fluent rendering while retaining the underlying meaning: with totiēns … quotiēns … two actions take place with the same frequency.

The first two quotations do conform to dictionary translations of the correlative:

[A] cum tū eī contumēliōsissimē totiēns male dicās [B] quotiēns tē illī adfīnem esse dīcis (Cicero)

• since [A] you abuse him in the most insulting manner as many times [B] as you say that he is associated with you

[A] totiēns, [B] quotiēns praescrībitur, … [A] hymnum recitārimus (Cicero)

• [A] we shall recite … a hymn as often [B] as is prescribed

The order of the correlative construction may be reversed and variations in form can occur:

quotiēnscumque dīcō, totiēns mihi videor in iūdicium venīre (Cicero)

• As often as / however often I speak, I seem just as often to be brought into judgment …

At this level of Latin, you will encounter more flexible and fluent translations which will avoid awkwardness and still convey the sense of the correlative in context without rendering it so literally:

quotiēns ībis, totiēns magis placēbit quod bonum erit

[Lit: However often you go, what will be good will just as often please you more.]

In context, the quotation is from Cato’s Dē Agricultūrā:

• However often you go, a good piece of land will please you more at each visit.

Likewise, in this example, you encounter Cicero’s style of the tricolon i.e three statements which, here, are structurally identical:

(1) quotiēns coniugem, (2) quotiēns domum, (3) quotiēns patriam vidēret, totiēns sē beneficium meum vidēre (Cicero)

[Lit: [A] As often as he saw his wife, as often as his home, as often as his country, [B] so often he saw my kindness. ]

A fluent translation needs to retain the emphatic idea that both [A] and [B] happened with the same frequency. At the same time the translation should avoid clumsiness:

Every time he saw his wife, or his home, or his native land, he always recognised my kindness.

• He never saw his wife’s face, or his home, or his native land, without recognizing the debt he owed to me. [transl. Winstedt]

There is no “answer” and this correlative is only an example to show that, when translating Latin, you need to be flexible and not always use verbatim definitions from a dictionary.

In other words, dictionary definitions are a starting point, but not necessarily a solution.