RITCHIE'S FABULAE FACILES RITCHIE'S SIMPLE STORIES: 52 RITCHIE’S FABULAE FACILES TRANSLATION - HERCULES 52

HERCULES 52 - HERCULES CROSSES THE STYX

THESE PAINTINGS ARE OF MERCURY AND MINERVA, HERCULES COMPANIONS ON THIS PART OF HIS JOURNEY TO THE UNDERWORLD. BY HENDRICK GOTZIUS, FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS.

a)Herculés postquam imperia Eurystheí accépit, in Lacóniam ad Taenarum statim sé contulit; ibi enim spélunca erat ingentí mágnitúdine, per quam, ut trádébátur, hominés ad Orcum déscendébant. Eó cum vénisset, ex incolís quaesívit quó in locó spélunca illa sita esset; quod cum cógnóvisset, sine morá déscendere cónstituit. Nec tamen sólus hóc iter faciébat, Mercurius enim et Minerva sé eí sociós adiúnxerant. Ubi ad rípam Stygis vénit, Herculés scapham Charontis cónscendit, ut ad últeriórem rípam tránsíret. Cum tamen Herculés vir esset ingentí mágnitúdine corporis, Charón solvere nólébat; mágnopere enim verébátur né scapha sua tantó pondere oneráta in medió flúmine mergerétur. Tandem tamen minís Herculis territus Charón scapham solvit, et eum incolumem ad últeriórem rípam perdúxit.

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.

imperia – plural of the second declension neuter noun imperium, -í, command; sway, rule.

Laconia - also known as Lacedaemonia, is one of the regions of Greece, in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula whose capital is Sparta. The word laconic, meaning abrupt, short or curt, derives from this and reflects the Athenians opinion of the Spartan pronunciation.

Taenarus, -í, m. - a place in Southern Greece where there was a cave which gave access to the Underworld.

se contulit – from se conferre, ‘he took himself off’.

ingenti magnitudine – of/with a huge size, ablative of description.

per quam – through which, accusative after per, quam is feminine singular as it refers to spelunca, a feminine singular noun, in ohter words spelunca is the antecedent.

ut tradebatur – ut here means ‘as’ and is followed by tradebatur, imperfect passive indicative third person singular of trado, tradere, tradidi, traditus, which can mean hand over, surender, deliver or as here relate, so the translation could be, ‘as was related’, or ‘as was told’.

eo- ablative of is, meaning ‘at this place’

ex incolis – from the inhabitants, e ex before vowel or h, is followed by the ablative.

cum cognovisset – cum here means when, ‘when he had found out’.

ex.incolis – ex followed by ablative plural of incola ‘from the inhabitants’.

Mercurius, -í, m. – Mercury, son of Jupiter and one of the gods.

Minerva – ae, f. Roman goddess, daughter of Jupiter, associated with wisdom and crafts.

socios – accusative plural of the second declension masculine noun socius, ‘companion, comrade, ally’.

se ei socios – se = themselves, ei = dative of is, to him, socios = (as) companions: se refers to the subject of the main clause which is Mercury and Minerva ‘they joined themselves as companions’, se is accusative of direct object and socios predicate accusative respectively.

adiunxerant – third person plural, pluperfect active indicative of adiungo, adiungere, adiunxi, adiunctus – join to, join, meaning therefore ‘they had joined’.

scapham – accusative singular of the first declension noun scapha, -ae, boat, skiff.

ad ulteriorem ripam – ad, motion towards followed by accusative case of ulterior, the farther, to the farther ripam, shore.

ut ... transiret – purpose clause introduced by ut requires a verb in the subjunctive mood, here the third person singular imperfect subjunctive of transeo, transire, to cross, meaning therefore, ‘that he might go’ or ‘in order to go’

ingenti magnitudine corporis – ablative of description ‘with a huge size’ corporis ‘of body’.

solvere – this is the present infinitive of solvo, solvere, solvi, solutus, which can mean to loosen, unbind, release; or pay; it can also mean, as here, to cast off, set sail, put to sea and can be used in this sense with or without navem.

verebatur – this is the third person singular of the deponent verb vereor, vereri to fear which look passive in form but are active in meaning so it means ‘he was fearing, he feared’

ne ... mergeretur – after verbs of fearing, ne means that, and is followed by a verb in the subjunctive mood megeretur, from mergo, mergere, mersi, mersus, dip, plunge, sink, so it could be translated ‘lest it sink or that it might sink’.

minis – ablative plural of the feminine noun mina, -ae threat, being here the ablative of cause, ‘because of the threats’

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.

Hercules postquam imperia Eurysthei accepit,

after Hercules had received his orders from Eurysthei,

in Laconiam ad Taenarum statim se contulit;

he made his way at once into Laconia to Taenarus,

ibi enim spelunca erat ingenti magnitudine,

for there was a cave of enormous size there,

per quam, ut tradebatur,

through which, so it was said,

homines ad Orcum descendebant.

men descended to the Underworld.

Eo cum venisset, ex incolis quaesivit

When he had arrived there, he asked the inhabitants

quo in loco spelunca illa sita esset;

in what place that cave was situated;

quod cum cognovisset,

which, when he had found out,

sine mora descendere constituit.

he resolved to go down without delay.

Nec tamen solus hoc iter faciebat,

However not alone was he making this journey,

Mercurius enim et Minerva

for Mercury and Minerva

se ei socios adiunxerant.

had joined themselves to him as allies

Ubi ad ripam Stygis venit,

when he came to the bank of the Styx

Hercules scapham Charontis conscendit,

Hercules climbed into the boat of Charon,

ut ad ulteriorem ripam transiret.

so that he might go across to the other shore.

Cum tamen Hercules vir esset

Since however, Hercules was a man

ingenti magnitudine corporis,

with a huge size of body,

Charon solvere nolebat;

Charon did not want to cast off

magnopere enim verebatur

for he was very afraid

ne scapha sua tanto pondere onerata

that his boat laden with such weight

in medio flumine mergeretur.

might sink in the middle of the river.

Tandem tamen minis Herculis territus

At length however terrified by the threats of Hercules

Charon scapham solvit,

Charon cast off the boat,

et eum incolumem ad ulteriorem ripam perduxit.

and carried him across safe to the farther river bank.

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