RITCHIE'S FABULAE FACILES RITCHIE'S SIMPLE STORIES: 61 RITCHIE’S FABULAE FACILES TRANSLATION – THE ARGONAUTS 61

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.

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.