THIS IS A PICTURE OF PYTHIA THE DELPHIC ORACLE
HERCULES 19 - HERCULES CONSULTS THE ORACLE
a)
Herculés tantum scelus expiáre mágnopere cupiébat. Cónstituit igitur ad óráculum Delphicum íre; hóc enim óráculum erat omnium celeberrimum. Ibi templum erat Apollinis plúrimís dónís órnátum. Hóc in templó sedébat fémina quaedam, nómine Pýthia et cónsilium dabat iís quí ad óráculum veniébant. Haec autem fémina ab ipsó Apolline docébátur, et voluntátem deí hominibus énúntiábat. Herculés igitur, quí Apollinem praecipué colébat, húc vénit. Tum rem tótam exposuit, neque scelus célávit.
b)
The words below have been selected for special attention. For the words not included in this list pease refer to the WORDLIST in PAGES TOP RIGHT SIDE BAR. Points of grammar can be found in alphabetical order in ESSENTIAL GRAMMAR NOTES, also to be found in PAGES TOP RIGHT SIDE BAR.
c)
tantum - (tantus), adj., 'so much', 'so great' neut agreeing with scelus.
scelus, - gen. sceleris, neuter noun of the third declension, meaning, wickedness, crime.
Magnopere – adverb meaning 'greatly'.
Ad – preposition followed by accusative, 'to', 'towards'.
Hoc – this, see hic, haec, hoc in GRAMMAR NOTES (top left under PAGES.
Omnium – of all, genitive plural of omnis.
Celeberrimum – superlative adjective agreeing with oraculum, ‘most famous’.
Ibi - adv., 'in that place', 'there'.
Apollinis – genitive meaning 'of Appollo'.
Plurimis donis – ablative case, 'with many gifts' i.e. 'with many offerings'. Donum (gift) was often used to mean a sacrifice made.
Ornatum – adorned, adjective neuter nominative, agrees with templum.
Hoc in templo – In this temple, notice the word order, a preposition often comes in between the noun and an accompanying adjective.
Quaedam – is an indefinite adjective meaning ‘a certain’. It agrees here with femina, meaning ‘a certain lady’ and can also be used as an indefinite pronoun. See quiddam, quaedam, quoddam in GRAMMAR NOTES
colo, colere, colui, cultus, till, cultivate; inhabit; worship.
Rem – popular word with many possible translations; we have chosen ‘the whole matter’ here to translate rem totam.
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.
Herculés tantum scelus expiáre mágnopere cupiébat.
Hercules greatly desired to expiate so great a crime.
Cónstituit igitur ad óráculum Delphicum íre;
He resolved therefore to go to the Delphic oracle
hóc enim óráculum erat omnium celeberrimum.
For this oracle was of all the most famous.
Ibi templum erat Apollinis plúrimís dónís órnátum.
In that place the temple of Apollo
Hóc in templó sedébat fémina quaedam,
In this temple was sitting a certain woman,
nómine Pýthia et cónsilium dabat
called Pythia and she used to give advice
iís quí ad óráculum veniébant.
To those who came to the oracle.
Haec autem fémina ab ipsó Apolline docébátur,
This woman moreover was taught by Apollo himself
et voluntátem deí hominibus énúntiábat.
And she pronounced to men the will of the god
Herculés igitur, quí Apollinem praecipué colébat,
Hercules therefore, who worshipped Apollo especially,
húc vénit. Tum rem tótam exposuit,
Came to this place. Then he told the whole matter
neque scelus célávit.
And did not hide his crime.
d)
The following section is as a) but without the stress marks for you to copy and: i) to see if you can put the stress marks ; ii) provide your own translation.
Hercules tantum scelus expiare magnopere cupiebat. Constituit igitur ad oraculum Delphicum ire; hoc enim oraculum erat omnium celeberrimum. Ibi templum erat Apollinis plurimis donis ornatum. Hoc in templo sedebat femina quaedam, nomine Pythia et consilium dabat iis qui ad oraculum veniebant. Haec autem femina ab ipso Apolline docebatur, et voluntatem dei hominibus enuntiabat. Hercules igitur, qui Apollinem praecipue colebat, huc venit. Tum rem totam exposuit, neque scelus celavit.
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