RITCHIE’S FABULAE FACILES TRANSLATION – THE ARGONAUTS 64. - DIFFICULT DINING

64 - DIFFICULT DINING

THIS VASE PAINTING DEPICTS PHINEUS AND THE HARPIES

 a) Post haec Argonautae ad Thráciam cursum tenuérunt, et postquam ad oppidum Salmydéssum návem appulérunt, in terram égressí sunt. Ibi cum ab incolís quaesíssent quis régnum éius regiónis obtinéret, certiórés factí sunt Phíneum quendam tum régem esse. Cógnóvérunt etiam hunc caecum esse et díró quódam supplició adficí, quod ólim sé crúdélissimum in fíliós suós praebuisset. Cúius supplicí hóc erat genus. Missa erant á Iove mónstra quaedam specié horribilí, quae capita virginum, corpora volucrum habébant. Hae volucrés, quae Harpýiae appellábantur, Phíneó summam molestiam adferébant; quotiéns enim ille accubuerat, veniébant et cibum appositum statim auferébant. Quó factum est ut haud multum abesset quín Phíneus famé morerétur.
 b)

Some words have been chosen for special consideration and are listed below. For the words not included in this list please refer to the WORDLIST in PAGES TOP RIGHT SIDE BAR. If you need help with points of grammar raised in today's excerpt, consult ESSENTIAL GRAMMAR NOTES also top right side bar.

Argonautae – feminine plural as Argonauta is a feminine noun of the first declension, as is nauta, ‘sailor’.

ad Thraciam – ad before accusative to indicate motion towards.

ad Salmydessum – ad with the accusative here indicates place where, ‘at Salmydessus’.

egressi sunt – third person plural perfect of the deponent verb egredior, -gredí, -gressus go out or forth, go ashore, disembark, meaning therefore ‘they disembarked’.

cum ... quaesissent – ‘when they had asked’, as usual cum introducing a clause in the past takes the subjunctive, here the third person plural pluperfect subjunctive of quaero, quaerere, quaesivi, quaesitus, seek; ask, inquire.

quis ... obtineret – quis is a signal word here indicating that they is probably an indicect question coming, ‘who was ... etc’ and so the verb which follows in in the subjunctive, here third person imperfect subjunctive of obtinere, ‘who might possess/own.’

certiores facti – ‘they were informed’, from the phrase certiorem facere ‘to inform’; this is a very commonly used phrase.

regnum, i – second declension neuter noun, ‘royal power, rule, throne; kingdom, realm.’

obtineret – subjunctive as this is indirect discourse after ‘they had asked’.

adficit – present third person singular of the verb adficio, -ficere, -feci, -fectus, ‘do to, move, affect; visit, afflict’.

praebuisset,- third person singular pluperfect subjunctive of praebeo, -ere, -ui, -itus , hold forth, supply, furnish, give; show, present, exhibit.  We have the subjunctive here as it is in a subordinate clause of indirect discourse.

adferebant – literally ‘they were bringing’, from adfero, adferre, attuli, adlatus, bear to, bring.

summam molestiam – summam feminine accusative form of the adjective summus, summa, summum meaning ‘highest, greatest, top of etc.’ agreeing with the feimine accusative singular of molestia, -ae, feminine noun of the first declension meaning ‘annoyance’

supplici – genitive singular of the neuter noun supplicium, -í meaning ‘punishment, torture’. In the Latin writings of Nepos, Caesar, Cicero, and Vergil, the genitive singular of second-declension nouns ending in -ius and -ium ends in i, not ii; but the nominative plural ends in ii, and the dative and ablative plural in iis.

accubuerat.- he had reclined to dine.  The Romans reclined at table, supporting themselves on the left arm and taking the food with the right hand. They naturally represented others as eating in the same way.

appositum -  'which had been placed before him.'  The participle is often equivalent to

a relative clause.

Quo ... moreretur -  'and so it came to pass that Phineus was nearly dying of starvation,' literally 'that not much was wanting but that Phineus would die.'

quo factum est – and so it was, or more idiomatically ‘and so it came to pass.’

Ut haud multum abesset – this is a clause of result, the subject of factum est, literally (and so.it happened) ‘that he was not far from.’

haud ...quin ... moreretur - subjunctive verb is used after certain negative expressions such as haud ... quin ‘not ... but that’.

fame - ablative of cause, ‘by/from.hunger’. Notice that fames has a fifth declension ablative, but is otherwise declined as a noun of the third declension.

c)

Note: This section is not translated into idiomatic English but is intended, together with the notes, to give you the gist of the meaning; you can then come up with your own improved translation.

Post haec Argonautae ad Thraciam

After this the Argonauts towards Thracia

cursum tenuerunt, et postquam

held their course, and after

ad oppidum Salmydessum navem appulerunt,

at the town of Salmydessus, the put the ship in,

in terram egressi sunt.

they disembarked on to land.

Ibi cum ab incolis quaesissent

Here when they had asked the inhabitants

quis regnum eius regionis obtineret,

who held the royal power of this region,

certiores facti sunt Phineum quendam

they were informed a certain Phineus

tum regem esse. Cognoverunt etiam hunc

was king at that time.  They found out also he

caecum esse et diro quodam supplicio adfici,

was blind and afflicted with a certain harsh torment,

quod olim se crudelissimum

because once he extremely cruel

in filios suos praebuisset.

had showed himself to his sons.

Cuius supplici hoc erat genus.

His torment was of this kind.

Missa erant a Iove monstra quaedam

Certain monsters were sent by Jupiter

specie horribili, quae capita virginum,

of horrible appearance, who the heads of girls,

corpora volucrum habebant.

and the bodies of birds had.

Hae volucres, quae Harpyiae appellabantur,

These birds, which were called Harpies

Phineo summam molestiam adferebant;

brought Phineus the utmost bother,

quotiens enim ille accubuerat, veniebant

for whenever he reclined to dine, they used to come

et cibum appositum statim auferebant.

and steal the food as soon as it had been placed before him

Quo factum est ut

And the result of this was

haud multum abesset quin Phineus

that Pheneus was not far from

fame moreretur.

dying of hunger.

d) The following section is for you to copy and translate.

Post haec Argonautae ad Thraciam

cursum tenuerunt, et postquam

ad oppidum Salmydessum navem appulerunt,

in terram egressi sunt.

Ibi cum ab incolis quaesissent

quis regnum eius regionis obtineret,

certiores facti sunt Phineum quendam

tum regem esse. Cognoverunt etiam hunc

caecum esse et diro quodam supplicio adfici,

quod olim se crudelissimum

in filios suos praebuisset.

Cuius supplici hoc erat genus.

Missa erant a Iove monstra quaedam

specie horribili, quae capita virginum,

corpora volucrum habebant.

Hae volucres, quae Harpyiae appellabantur,

Phineo summam molestiam adferebant;

quotiens enim ille accubuerat,

veniebant et cibum appositum statim auferebant.

Quo factum est ut haud multum abesset

quin Phineus fame moreretur.

RITCHIE’S FABULAE FACILES TRANSLATION – THE ARGONAUTS 63. – THE LOSS OF HYLAS.

THE ARGONAUTS 63. – THE LOSS OF HYLAS

John Gibson - Hylas Surprised by the Naiades - 1827–36

 a)Postrídié éius diéí Iásón tempestátem satis idóneam esse arbitrátus (summa enim tranquillitás iam cónsecúta erat), ancorás sustulit, et pauca mília passuum prógressus ante noctem Mýsiam attigit. Ibi paucás hórás in ancorís exspectávit; á nautís enim cógnóverat aquae cópiam quam sécum habérent iam déficere, quam ob causam quídam ex Argonautís in terram égressí aquam quaerébant. Hórum in numeró erat Hylás quídam, puer fórmá praestantissimá. Quí dum fontem quaerit, á comitibus paulum sécesserat.

Nymphae autem quae fontem colébant, cum iuvenem vídissent, eí persuádére cónátae sunt ut sécum manéret; et cum ille negáret sé hóc factúrum esse, puerum ví abstulérunt.

Comités éius postquam Hylam ámissum esse sénsérunt, mágnó dolóre adfectí diú frústrá quaerébant. Herculés autem et Polyphémus, quí vestígia puerí longius secútí erant, ubi tandem ad lítus rediérunt, Iásonem solvisse cógnóvérunt.

 b)

Some words have been chosen for special consideration and are listed below. For the words not included in this list please refer to the WORDLIST in PAGES TOP RIGHT SIDE BAR. If you need help with points of grammar raised in today's excerpt, consult ESSENTIAL GRAMMAR NOTES also top right side bar.

Postridie eius diei – You could just have postridie alone to mean ‘on the following day’ but this expression ‘on the day following that day.' is a fuller expression and is more formal.

tempestatem – this doesn’t just mean storm as you might think because of tempest in English which is obviously derived from this word, it also means, as here, ‘weather’.

tempestatatem esse – we have an accusative infinitive construction here as this is an example of indirect discourse after arbitratus, perfect participle of the first declension deponent verb arbitror, -ari, -atus, meaning ‘consider, think, judge.’ literally ‘he thought the weather to be ‘etc.

ancoras sustulit – literally this means ‘he raised the anchors’;  sustulit being third person singular perfect indicative active of the irregular verb tollo, tollere, sustuli, sublatus meaning lift, raise; take away, remove; ancorás tollere is a phrase which can be conveyed with the idiomatic phrase in English ‘to weigh anchor.’

pauca milia passuum – a few thousand of miles; milia is the plural of mille and is followed by the genitive, literally this means ‘a few thousands (plural noun) of miles’.

ibi paucas horas – accusative plural to express duration of time ‘a few hours.’

in ancoris - 'at anchor.'

a nautis – ‘from the sailors’; we migh say ‘he was informed by the sailors’..

cognoverat – ‘he found out’ The pluperfect of this verb is translated as perfect in English.

haberent. – this is subjunctive being another example of indirect discourse; in direct speech they would have said ‘we think that, and this is reported as ‘they thought/considered that.’

aquae copiam – literally ‘of water (genitive of aqua) the supply (accusative of copia); we would say something like ‘the water supply’ or ‘the amount of water’.

ex Argonautis –   Quidam, like unus, often has ex or de and the ablative, instead of the partitive genitive to convey the idea of ‘out of’.

Qui – we can translate this simply as 'he.'  The relative is often used in Latin to connect a new sentence with the one preceding. When used in this way, it is generally best rendered by 'and' or 'but' and a demonstrative or personal pronoun.

dum quaerit -  'while looking for.' The present indicative with dum is often to be translated by a present participle.

fontem – accusative singular of fons, fontis the third declension feminine noun which means fountain and also, as here, ‘spring.’

a comitibus – ‘from his friends’.  You will remember that the possessive is not expressed in Latin when it is obvious that the things or people referred to are belonging or associated with the subject as here ‘his friends’.  The ablative case is used after a, indicating ‘from’ or ablative of separation.

secesserat – third person singular pluperfect indicative active of secedo, -cedere, -cessi, -cessus, ‘go apart, withdraw’ meaning therefore ‘he had gone away from’.

colebant – third person plural imperfect tense indicative active of colo, colere, colui, cultus we have translated as ‘were looking after’, but the verb implies much more; literally it means till, cultivate; inhabit; worship, and the meaning is something like ‘were carrying out their duties of looking after the spring, or something of the sort.

cum ..vidissent – ‘when they saw.’  We expect the subjunctive after cum introducing a clause in he past and here we have the third person plural pluperfect subjunctive as Latin makes it plain that the seeing the young man (and falling in love) came before the attempt to persuade him to stay.

ei persuadere – ‘to persuade him’; persuadere is an intransitive verb which takes the dative .

ut secum maneret – ‘that he remain with them’, which is in the subjunctive as the verb follows persuadere.

cum ille negare – cum meaning since is followed by subjunctive, ‘since he said he would not’.  Negare is often used instead of dico when a negative statement follows; it should be translated by 'say' with the appropriate negative, here 'said that he would not.’

puerum vi abstulerunt – ‘they took away the boy by force’. Vi is ablative singular of the third declension feminine noun vis, vis, which can be translated in many ways and has the general meaning of , violence, force; virtue, potency, efficacy in the singular, and in the plural vires –ium, means  something like strength  

comites eius – ‘his companions’; notice ‘his’ in this instance is the genitive of is (see is, ea, id in Grammar Notes), and not genitive of suus because ‘his’ does not refer to the subject of the main clause.

eum amissum senserunt – accusative infinitive after verb of perceiving (senserunt); literally ‘when they perceived him to be lost’.

magno dolore adfecti – something like ‘suffered great sadness’ or ‘felt great grief’, adfecti is the past participle of adficio, -ficere, -feci, -fectus, do to, move, affect; visit, afflict.

longius – adverb ‘longer’

secuti erant – third person plural pluperfect of the deponent verb sequor, sequí, secutus, follow, meaning therefore ‘they had followed.’.

c)

Note: This section is not translated into idiomatic English but is intended, together with the notes, to give you the gist of the meaning; you can then come up with your own improved translation.

Postridie eius diei Iason

The following day Jason

tempestatem satis idoneam esse arbitratus

thinking the weather to be suitable enough

(summa enim tranquillitas iam consecuta erat),

(for now there was a great calm),

ancoras sustulit, et pauca milia passuum

he raised the anchors, after a few miles

progressus ante noctem Mysiam attigit.

advanced he reached Mysia before nightfall.

Ibi paucas horas in ancoris exspectavit;

There for a few hours he waited at anchor;

a nautis enim cognoverat

for he knew that the sailors

aquae copiam quam secum haberent

the amount of water which they had with them

iam deficere, quam ob causam

was alrealy lacking, for which reason

quidam ex Argonautis in terram egressi

certain men from the Argonauts went out into the land

aquam quaerebant. Horum in numero

to look for water.  Of this number

erat Hylas quidam, puer forma praestantissima.

was a certain Hylas, a boy of oustanding beauty.

Qui dum fontem quaerit,

While he was looking for a spring,

a comitibus paulum secesserat.

he moved a little away from his friends.

Nymphae autem quae fontem colebant,

Now the nymphs who were looking after the spring,

cum iuvenem vidissent,

when they saw the young man,

ei persuadere conatae sunt

tried to persuade him

ut secum maneret;

to remain with them;

et cum ille negaret se hoc facturum esse,

and when he said he would not do this,

puerum vi abstulerunt.

they took the boy by force.

Comites eius postquam

His companions after

Hylam amissum esse senserunt,

they perceived that Hylas was lost,

magno dolore adfecti

felt great sadness

diu frustra quaerebant.

for a long time looked in vain.

Hercules autem et Polyphemus,

Hercules however and olyphemus,

qui vestigia pueri longius secuti erant,

who had followed the footprints of the boy longer,

ubi tandem ad litus redierunt,

when at length they returned to the shore

Iasonem solvisse cognoverunt.

realized that Jason had set sail.

d) The following section is for you to copy and translate.

Postridie eius diei Iason

tempestatem satis idoneam esse arbitratus

(summa enim tranquillitas iam consecuta erat),

ancoras sustulit, et pauca milia passuum

progressus ante noctem Mysiam attigit.

Ibi paucas horas in ancoris exspectavit;

a nautis enim cognoverat

aquae copiam quam secum haberent

iam deficere, quam ob causam

quidam ex Argonautis in terram egressi

aquam quaerebant. Horum in numero

erat Hylas quidam, puer forma praestantissima.

Qui dum fontem quaerit,

a comitibus paulum secesserat.

Nymphae autem quae fontem colebant,

cum iuvenem vidissent,

ei persuadere conatae sunt

ut secum maneret;

et cum ille negaret se hoc facturum esse,

puerum vi abstulerunt.

Hylam amissum esse senserunt,

magno dolore adfecti

diu frustra quaerebant.

Hercules autem et Polyphemus,

qui vestigia pueri longius secuti erant,

Iasonem solvisse cognoverunt.

RITCHIE’S FABULAE FACILES TRANSLATION – THE ARGONAUTS 62. - A FATAL MISTAKE.

THE ARGONAUTS 62. - A FATAL MISTAKE

a)Haud multó post Argonautae (ita enim appellábantur quí in istá náví vehébantur) ínsulam quandam, nómine Cyzicum, attigérunt; et é náví égressí á rége illíus regiónis hospitió exceptí sunt. Paucás hórás ibi commorátí ad sólis occásum rúrsus solvérunt; sed postquam pauca mília passuum prógressí sunt, tanta tempestás subitó coorta est ut cursum tenére nón possent, et in eandem partem ínsulae unde núper profectí erant mágnó cum perículó déicerentur. Incolae tamen, cum nox esset obscúra, Argonautás nón ágnóscébant, et návem inimícam vénisse arbitrátí arma rapuérunt et eós égredí prohibébant. Ácriter in lítore púgnátum est, et réx ipse, quí cum aliís décucurrerat, ab Argonautís occísus est. Mox tamen, cum iam dílúcésceret, sénsérunt incolae sé erráre et arma abiécérunt; Argonautae autem cum régem occísum esse vidérent, mágnum dolórem percépérunt.

b)

Some words have been chosen for special consideration and are listed below. For the words not included in this list please refer to the WORDLIST in PAGES TOP RIGHT SIDE BAR. If you need help with points of grammar raised in today's excerpt, consult ESSENTIAL GRAMMAR NOTES also top right side bar.

Haud – ‘not’, negative particle.

Argonautae – notice that this is feminine plural, because nauta, nautae is a feminine first declension noun, though it refers to male sailors and if it was with an adjective the adjective would be in the masculine form: e.g. nauta bonus – a good sailor.  There are not many masculine first declension nouns, another which comes to mind is agricola, farmer.

appellabantur – third person plural imperfect indicative passive of appello, appellare meaning therefore ‘they were called’.  Vehebantur is the same form, from veho, behere, vexi, vectus, third conjugation verb, meaning ‘carry, bear, transport; sail’.

in ista navi – in takes the ablative so we have ista ‘that’ and ‘navi’ which ends in i as it is one of the third declension i-stem nouns which take i in the ablative, called parasyllabic nouns which just means that they have the same number of syllables in the genitive as they have in the nominative: navis, navis (f.).  They also have ium in the genitive plural.

insulam quandam – indefinite adjective accusative case agreeing with accusative of insula, ‘a certain island’.

nomine – ablative of nomen means ‘by the name of’, or simply ‘called’.

e navi egressi – e the preposition followed by ablative case (navi of navis again); egressi is the past participle of the third conjugation deponent egredior, egredi, egressus sum adn can be translated by something like ‘having disembarked’.

illius regionis – genitive case ‘of that region’.

hospitio – ablative of hospitium, ii , neuter noun of the second declension, meaning ‘with hospitality’.

excepti sunt – third person plural passive of excipio, excipere, excepi, exceptus, meaning therefore ‘they were received’.

paucas horas – there is no need for a preposition when a time word is used for indicating duration of time, as here, the accusative case is sufficient, ‘for few hours’.

ad solus ocasum – literally towards the setting of the sun, meaning appraoching sunset, when referring to time when.

pauca milia passuum – literally translated this is ‘few’, agreeing with ‘thousands’ and the genitive plural ‘of paces’ which is how the Romans expressed a distance which we would approximate to ‘mile’, so it is better expressed as ‘a few miles’.

tanta ...ut ... non possent – tanta is one of those signal words which indicate to us that there is a subjunctive coming up which will be introduced by ut: ‘such a .... that they could not etc.’; this is called a result clause.

profecti erant – pluperfect of the deponend verb profiscor, ‘they had set out’.

deicerentur – third person plural imperfect indicative passive of deiicio, ‘they were thrown back/down’.It is third person subjunctive as it is part of the result clause following tanta tempestas...ut ... such a storm that etc.

incolae – neuter plural nominative case of another feminine noun referring to both male and females here ‘the inhabitants’.

cum nox esset obscura – cum meaning ‘since’ is followed by the subjunctive, here the third person singular of sum meaning ‘it was’, altogether ‘since it was dark night’.

navem inimicam venisse – accusative infinitive construct after ‘they thought’, meaning literally ‘they thought a hostile ship to have come’, but we would say ‘they thought a hostile ship had come’.

arbitrati - The perfect participle of deponent verbs is often best rendered into English by a present participle, for example we might put ‘thinking that’.

egredi - 'from disembarking.'

pugnatum est - 'the battle raged' or 'they fought,' literally 'it was fought,' Intransitive verbs are often used impersonally in the passive, with the subject implied in the verb itself.

senserunt se errare – after verbs of knowing, feeling and similar verbs, we have the accusative infinitive again; se is the accusative pronoun referring to the subject of the sentence , incolae ‘the inhabitants’: they perceived that they had made a mistake’.

abiecerunt – they threw down, compare this with the verb we mat earlier ‘deiecerunt and you will see that they are derived from the same source verb with prepositions prefixed.

cum iam dilucesceret – here we have the conjunction cum ‘since’ introducing a clause in the past which must have its verb in the subjunctive, here the third person imperfect subjunctive of the verb dilucesco. You may remember we have met this type of verb before, they are called inceptive or inchoative verbs, recognizable by the ‘esc’ which denote the beginning of something, ‘since it was now growing light’.

c)

Note: This section is not translated into idiomatic English but is intended, together with the notes, to give you the gist of the meaning; you can then come up with your own improved translation.

Haud multo post Argonautae

Not long after the Argonauts

(ita enim appellabantur qui

(for so are called those who

in ista navi vehebantur)

in that ship were transported)

insulam quandam, nomine Cyzicum,

a certain island, called Cyzicum,

attigerunt; et e navi egressi

they reached, and having disembarked from the ship

a rege illius regionis

by the king of that region

hospitio excepti sunt.

they were received with hospitality

Paucas horas ibi commorati

Having lingered a few hours there

ad solis occasum rursus solverunt;

towards sunset they set sail again;

sed postquam pauca milia passuum

but after a few miles

progressi sunt, tanta tempestas

they travelled, such a storm

subito coorta est

suddenly arose

ut cursum tenere non possent,

that they could not keep their course,

et in eandem partem insulae

and into that same part of the island

unde nuper profecti erant

from where they had set out

magno cum periculo deicerentur.

with great danger they were thrown down.

Incolae tamen, cum nox esset obscura,

The inhabitants however, since it was dark night,

Argonautas non agnoscebant,

did not recognize the Argonauts,

et navem inimicam venisse arbitrati

and thinking that a hostile ship had come

arma rapuerunt et eos egredi prohibebant.

seized their arms and prevented them from disembarking.

Acriter in litore pugnatum est,

There was a fiece battle on the shore,

et rex ipse, qui cum aliis decucurrerat,

and the king himself, who will the others had run down,

ab Argonautis occisus est.

by the Argonauts was killed.

Mox tamen, cum iam dilucesceret,

Soon however, since it was now growing light,

senserunt incolae se errare

the inhabitants saw that they were wrong,

et arma abiecerunt; Argonautae autem

and threw down their arms; the Argonauts however

cum regem occisum esse viderent,

when they saw the king was dead,

magnum dolorem perceperunt.

felt great grief.

d) The following section is for you to copy and translate.

Haud multo post Argonautae

(ita enim appellabantur qui

in ista navi vehebantur)

insulam quandam, nomine Cyzicum,

attigerunt; et e navi egressi

a rege illius regionis

hospitio excepti sunt.

Paucas horas ibi commorati

ad solis occasum rursus solverunt;

sed postquam pauca milia passuum

progressi sunt, tanta tempestas

subito coorta est

ut cursum tenere non possent,

et in eandem partem insulae

unde nuper profecti erant

magno cum periculo deicerentur.

Incolae tamen, cum nox esset obscura,

Argonautas non agnoscebant,

et navem inimicam venisse arbitrati

arma rapuerunt et eos egredi prohibebant.

Acriter in litore pugnatum est,

et rex ipse, qui cum aliis decucurrerat,

ab Argonautis occisus est.

Mox tamen, cum iam dilucesceret,

senserunt incolae se errare

et arma abiecerunt; Argonautae autem

cum regem occisum esse viderent,

magnum dolorem perceperunt.

RITCHIE’S FABULAE FACILES TRANSLATION – THE ARGONAUTS 61 – THE ANCHOR IS WEIGHED

THE ARGONAUTS 61. THE ANCHOR IS WEIGHED

HERE WE HAVE JASON AND PHOEBUS - WHEN YOU READ TODAY'S EPISODE IT WILL BE OBVIOUS TO YOU WHO'S WHO.

 a)Intereá is diés appetébat quem Iásón per núntiós édíxerat, et ex omnibus regiónibus Graeciae multí, quós aut reí novitás aut spés glóriae movébat, undique conveniébant. Tráditum est autem in hóc numeró fuisse Herculem, dé quó suprá multa perscrípsimus, Orpheum, citharoedum praeclárissimum, Théseum, Castorem, multósque aliós quorum nómina sunt nótissima. Ex hís Iásón quós arbitrátus est ad omnia perícula subeunda parátissimós esse, eós ad numerum quínquágintá délégit et sociós sibi adiúnxit; tum paucós diés commorátus, ut ad omnís cásús subsidia comparáret, návem dédúxit, et tempestátem ad návigandum idóneam nactus mágnó cum plausú omnium solvit.

 b)

Some words have been chosen for special consideration and are listed below. For the words not included in this list please refer to the WORDLIST in PAGES TOP RIGHT SIDE BAR. If you need help with points of grammar raised in today's excerpt, consult ESSENTIAL GRAMMAR NOTES also top right side bar.

interea – adverb meaning ‘in the meantime, meanwhile.’

dies – you will remember that dies can be masculine or feminine; here it is masculine hence agreeing with quem, ‘the day which/that.’

appetebat – second person singular imperfect indicative active of the third conjugation verb appeto, -petere, -petivi –petitus, ‘draw near’, so this means ‘it was drawing near, it was approaching.’

per nuntios – the preposition per is followed by accusative case, nuntios (the messengers/heralds), so with the verb edixerat it means (the day) ‘which he had appointed through the heralds’.

ex omnibus regionibus – ex before a vowel, otherwise e, is a preposition meaning ‘out of, from’ and governs the ablative case, ‘out of /from all the regions.’

multi – ‘many men.’

rei novitas – the little fifth declension feminine noun res, rei, pops up in all sorts of contexts with all sorts of meanings; it can be translated by thing, matter, affair, circumstance, or situation, here we have the genitive case together with novitas meaning together ‘the novelty of the thing.’

spes gloriae – similar construct to the above ‘hope of glory.’

leer; res pops up in all sorts of contexts with all sorts of meaningsnei ’.

undique -  adv., from or on all sides.

traditum est – ‘it was reported.’

conveniebant – third person plural imperfect indicative active of the fourth conjugation verb convenio, -ire, -veni, -ventus, ‘come together, assemble, gather.’

autem – conjunction, moreover; but, however; now.

fuisse Herculem – after traditum est, which is obviously past tense ‘it was reported’ we have the accusative infinitive construct also in the past tense.

de quo supra – de preposition meaning ‘concerning, about’ must be followed by ablative hence quo ‘whom’, supra adverb ‘above’, altogether meaning ‘about whom above’ (i.e. in the passages above, the episodes prior to this one).

multa perscripsimus – multa, neuter plural  nominative ‘many things’, perscripsimus, first person plural perfect of perscribo, -scribere, -scripsi, scriptus, write in full, describe fully, recount, so together ‘(about whom) we have written many things fullyl’.

citharoedum praeclarissimum – a most oustanding cithara player.  It was said that Orpheus made such sweet music on his lyre harp that wild beasts, trees, and rocks followed him as he moved. By his playing he even prevailed upon Pluto, god of the Underworld, to give back his dead wife Eurydice.

Theseum-  another hero of ancient myths, whose exploits resemble and rival those of Hercules. The most famous of them was the killing of the Minotaur. Theseus was the national hero of Athens.

Castorem - famous tamer of horses and brother of Pollux, the boxer.

arbitratus est – third person singular perfect of the deponent verb (remember they look passive but are active) arbitror, -ari, -atus, consider, think

quos – in Latin the relative frequently precedes its antecedent which sounds illogical but is not too confusing when you get used to it.  The antecedent of quos here is eos, ‘those he chose ... who were etc.’...so to turn it into idiomatic English the antecedent must be translated first.

subsidia – pl of the neuter second declension noun subsidium, -i , reserve, reinforcement, support, help.

ad navigandum – ad before the gerund of the verb navigare, indicates purpose, ‘for sailing’.

magno cum plausu – notice cum is sandwiched between the noun and ablative ‘with great applause’, plausu being ablative of the masculine fourth declension noun plausus, -us , applause.

c)

Note: This section is not translated into idiomatic English but is intended, together with the notes, to give you the gist of the meaning; you can then come up with your own improved translation.

Interea is dies appetebat

In the meantime the day was approaching

quem Iason per nuntios edixerat,

which Jason through the heralds had proclaimed

et ex omnibus regionibus Graeciae multi,

and out of all the regions of Greece many men,

quos aut rei novitas

who, the novelty of the event

aut spes gloriae movebat,

or the the hope of glory, was inspiring

undique conveniebant.

from all sides, were gathering.

Traditum est autem

Moreover it was reported

in hoc numero fuisse Herculem,

Hercules was in this number,

de quo supra multa perscripsimus,

about whom we have written many things above,

Orpheum, citharoedum praeclarissimum,

Orpheus, the oustanding lyre player,

Theseum, Castorem, multosque alios

Theseus, Castor, and many others

quorum nomina sunt notissima.

whose names are very famous.

Ex his Iason quos arbitratus est

From these Jason those whom he considered

ad omnia pericula subeunda paratissimos esse,

to be most prepared to undergo all dangers,

eos ad numerum quinquaginta

them to about the number fifty

delegit et socios sibi adiunxit;

he chose and joined them to himself as allies

tum paucos dies commoratus,

then a few days later,

ut ad omnis casus subsidia compararet,

when he was ready with reserves for all eventualties

navem deduxit, et tempestatem

he launched the ship, and the weather

ad navigandum idoneam nactus

having arisen suitable to sail

magno cum plausu omnium solvit.

with the great applause of all, he set sail.

d) The following section is for you to copy and translate.

Interea is dies appetebat

quem Iason per nuntios edixerat,

et ex omnibus regionibus Graeciae multi,

quos aut rei novitas

aut spes gloriae movebat,

undique conveniebant.

Traditum est autem

in hoc numero fuisse Herculem,

de quo supra multa perscripsimus,

Orpheum, citharoedum praeclarissimum,

Theseum, Castorem, multosque alios

quorum nomina sunt notissima.

Ex his Iason quos arbitratus est

ad omnia pericula subeunda paratissimos esse,

eos ad numerum quinquaginta

delegit et socios sibi adiunxit;

tum paucos dies commoratus,

ut ad omnis casus subsidia compararet,

navem deduxit, et tempestatem

ad navigandum idoneam nactus

magno cum plausu omnium solvit.