2018 Fall ICA Latin
3 Ritchie 1 The Ark Course Notes
Haec nárrantur á poétís dé
Perseó. Perseus fílius erat Iovis, máximí deórum; avus éius Acrisius
appellábátur. Acrisius volébat Perseum nepótem suum necáre; nam propter
óráculum puerum timébat. Comprehendit igitur Perseum adhúc infantem, et cum
mátre in arcá lígneá inclúsit. Tum arcam ipsam in mare coniécit. Danaé, Perseí
máter, mágnopere territa est; tempestás enim mágna mare turbábat. Perseus autem
in sinú mátris dormiébat.
Haec, is a pronoun, neuter plural, ‘these
things’, can be translated as ‘this’.
Narrantur, is present tense, third person plural
passive = they are told. The present tense is often used for dramatic effect
when telling a story’.
A poetis and de Perseo:
'a' and 'de' are followed by the ablative case. Also 'in', as 'in sinu' in the
last line and 'cum' as in 'cum matre'.
filius … Iovis: son (nominative case) Iovis
(genitive case = of Juppiter); matris in the last line is also in the genitive
case ‘of (his)mother’. Latin doesn't put in possessive adjectives (his, her
etc)when it is obvious; here it is obvious Perseus is on 'his' mother's lap.
maximi ‘greatest’ is a superlative adjective.
avus eius appellabatur: his grandfather was called (passive).
nepotem suum: his grandson, suum is used here because it
is the subject of the verb to kill: he wanted to kill = same subject.
Danae is a name borrowed by Latin from Greek.
Igitur often comes second in the sentence as
does enim (see below) and autem in the last line.
turbabat and dormiebat are
in the imperfect tense because they describe the state of things existing at a
past time and are not reporting a completed action.
Haec
nárrantur á poétís dé Perseó.
“haec” is nominative neuter plural
of hic,haec,
hoc. “narrantur” is third person
plural present indicative passive of narro, narrare, narravi, narratum (1). “a” controls the ablative. “poetis” is ablative plural of poeta,
poetae f. (1), “poet.” “de”
controls the ablative. “Perseo” is ablative
of Perseus,
Persei m. (2), “Perseus.”
Perseus
fílius erat Iovis, máximí deórum; avus éius Acrisius appellábátur.
“filius” is nominative singular of filius,
filii m. “son.” “erat” is third
person singular imperfect indicative active of sum, esse, fui, futurus. “Iovis” is genitive singular of Iuppiter,
Iovis m. “Jupiter.” The superlative
adjective “maximi,” modifying “Iovis,” is genitive singular of maximus,
maxima, maximum, “greatest.” “avus”
is nominative singular of avus, avi m., “grandfather.” “eius” is masculine genitive singular of is,
ea, id. “appellabatur” is third
person singular imperfect indicative passive of appello, appellare, appellavi,
appellatum (1), “to call by name.”
Acrisius volébat Perseum nepótem suum necáre; nam propter
óráculum puerum timébat.
“volebat” is third person singular
imperfect indicative active of volo, velle, volui [irr.; no passive],
“to wish.” “Perseum” is accusative of Perseus,
Persei m. (2), “Perseus.” “nepotem”
is accusative singular of nepos, nepotis m. “grandson,
descendant.” The reflexive possessive adjective
“suum” is masculine accusative singular of suus, sua, suum. NB: The choice of gender is determined by the noun possessed, and
not by the gender of the person who possesses the object. AG 145:
“These [possessive pronouns]
are really adjectives of the 1st and 2nd Declensions, and are so declined
“necare” is infinitive of neco,
necare, necavi, necatum, “to kill, slay.” The conjunction “nam” = “because.” The preposition “propter” + accusative = “because,
on account of.” “oraculum” is accusative
singular of oraculum, oraculi n. (2)
“oracle.” “puerum” is accusative singular of puer, pueri m. (2) “boy.” “timebat” is third person singular imperfect
indicative active of timeo, timere, timui [no passive] (2),
“to fear.”
Comprehendit igitur Perseum adhúc infantem, et cum mátre in
arcá lígneá inclúsit.
“comprehendit”
is third person singular perfect indicative active of comprehendo, comprehendere,
comprendi, comprensum, “to grasp, seize.” The conjunction “igitur” = “therefore.” The adverb “adhuc” = “thus far, still.” “infantem” is accusative singular of infans,
infantis m. “youth.” The
preposition “cum” + ablative = “with.” “matre”
is ablative singular of mater, matris f. “mother.” The
preposition “in” + ablative = “in.” “arca”
is ablative singular of arca, arcae f. “chest, box.”
The adjective “lignea,” modifying “arca,” is ablative feminine
singular. “inclusit” is third person
singular perfect indicative active of include, includere, inclusi, inclusum,
“to close in, shut in.”
Tum arcam ipsam in mare coniécit.
The
adverb “tum” = “then.” “ipsam” is
accusative feminine singular of the ipse, ipsa, ipsum. “coniecit” is third person singular perfect
indicative active of conicio, conicere, conieci, coniectum,
“to throw, hurl.” The preposition “in” + accusative = “into.” “mare” is accusative singular of mare,
maris n. (3), “sea.”
Danaé, Perseí máter, mágnopere territa est; tempestás enim
mágna mare turbábat. Perseus autem in sinú mátris dormiébat.
“Persei” is genitive of Perseus,
Persei m. “Perseus.” “mater” is
nominative singular of mater, matris f. “mother.” The adverb “magnopere” = “greatly.” “territa
est” is third person singular perfect indicative passive of terreo,
terrere, terrui, territum, “to terrify, scare.” “tempestas” is
nominative singular of tempestas, tempestatis f. (3), “storm.” The conjunction “enim” = “for, truly.” The adjective “magna,” agreeing with “tempestas,”
is feminine nominative singular of magnus, magna, magnum. “turbabat” is third person singular imperfect
indicative active of turbo, turbare, turbavi, turbatum, “to
disturb, stir up.” “sinu” is ablative
singular of sinus, sinus m. “bosom, lap.”
“dormiebat” is third person singular imperfect indicative active of dormio,
dormire, dormivi, [no passive] (4), “to sleep.”
Haec
nárrantur á poétís dé Perseó.
These
things are told by the poets about Perseus
Perseus fílius erat Iovis,
máximí deórum;
Perseus
was the son of Juppiter, the greatest of the gods;
avus éius Acrisius
appellábátur.
his
grandfather was called Acrisus.
Acrisius volébat Perseum
nepótem suum necáre;
Acrisius
wanted to kill Perseus his grandson;
nam propter óráculum puerum
timébat.
for,
on account of an oracle, he feared the boy
Comprehendit igitur Perseum
adhúc infantem,
He
therefore seized Perseus, when still an infant,
et cum mátre in arcá lígneá
inclúsit.
and
with his mother closed him up in a wooden ark.
Tum arcam ipsam in mare
coniécit.
Then
that same ark, he hurled into the sea.
Danaé, Perseí máter,
mágnopere territa est;
Danae,
Perseus’ mother, was very frightened;
tempestás enim mágna mare
turbábat.
for
a great storm was stirring up the sea.
Perseus autem in sinú mátris
dormiébat.
Perseus
however, on his mother’s lap, was sleeping.