In Greek mythology, Atlas supported the weight of the heavens on his shoulders. He was the son of the Titan Iapetus and the nymph Clymene and the brother of Prometheus. According to Hesiod, Atlas was one of the Titans who waged war against Zeus, and as punishment he was condemned to hold aloft the heavens. a) Herculés quamquam quiétem vehementer cupiébat, tamen Eurystheó párére cónstituit, et simul ac iússa éius accépit, proficíscí mátúrávit. Á multís mercátóribus quaesíverat quó in locó Hesperidés habitárent, nihil tamen certum reperíre potuerat. Frústrá per multás terrás iter fécit et multa perícula subiit; tandem, cum in hís itineribus tótum annum cónsúmpsisset, ad extrémam partem orbis terrárum, quae proxima est Óceanó, pervénit. Híc stábat vir quídam, nomine Atlás, ingentí mágnitúdine corporis, quí caelum (ita tráditum est) umerís suís sustinébat, né in terram décideret. Herculés tantás vírís mágnopere mírátus statim in conloquium cum Atlante vénit, et cum causam itineris docuisset, auxilium ab eó petiit.
b)
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c)
quietem – accusative case of quies, quietis, f., rest, repose. Notice that cupiebat is in the imperfect tense as it describes the state he was in, ‘he wanted a rest’, not an action.
Eurystheo – dative of Eurystheus as parere is intransitive and takes the dative, meaning he submits to, he obeys.
iussa eius – eius, the genitive case of is meaning literally ‘of him’ often translates English ‘his’ as here ‘his commands’ (meaning the commands of Eursytheus).
maturavit – third person singular, perfect tense of maturo, -are, -aví, -atus, to ripen or hasten, meaning here ‘he hastened, he hurried’.
mecatoribus quaesiverat – ‘he asked many merchants’, notice that with the verb quaessiverat from the verb quaero, quaerere, quaesíví, quaesitus, seek; ask, inquire, .the person of whom the question is asked is put into the ablative case with a
quo in loco – ‘in what/which place’ the preposition is sandwiched between the relative adjective and the noun.
habitarent – this is third person plural, imperfect subjunctive of habitare which is used when there is doubt or uncertainty as here ‘where they might be living’.
potuerat – Be careful when translating this verb: this is the pluperfect ‘ he had been able’ which is easily confused with the imperfect poterat ‘he was able’.
iter fecit – iter means ‘journey’ and fecit is the third person singular perfect of the verb facio, facere, feci factus, make, do; together iter facere, means ‘to journey’.
subiit – ‘he endured’, third person singular, perfect tense, of sub-eo, -ire, -ii, -itus, go under; undergo, submit to, sustain, bear, endure.
cum ... consumpsisset – cum, meaning when, or since, is followed here by the pluperfect subjunctive, of consumo, -sumere, -sumpsi, -súmptus, take completely, use up, consume, spend. ‘when he had consumed, or when he had spent’.
totum annum – a whole year, the accusative is used to express the duration of time.
orbis terrarum - means literally 'of the circle of lands.' but is better translated as ‘of the world’.
oceano – dative of oceanus, ‘to the ocean’.
ingenti magnitudine – this is ablative of description which always consists of a noun with some modifying word, ‘with huge size’.
ita traditum est – this is an impersonal expression ‘so it is told/reported’ from the verb trado, -dere, -didi, -ditus -give across, over, up, deliver; hand down, relate, report.’
umeris suis – this is ablative of means, literally ‘using his shoulders or with his shoulders’ but we say 'on his shoulders.'
ne in terram decideret – ne is introducing a negative clause of purpose ‘so that ... not’ and it is, as always in purpose clauses, followed by a verb in the subjunctive, decideret being the third person singular imperfect subjunctive of decido, -cidere, -cidi, ‘so that it would not fall down.’
tantas viris – we can immediately tell that viris here has noting to do with ‘men’ as it has the adjective tantas accompanying it which is of course feminine accusative plural, coming from vis, vis, f., violence, force; virtue, potency, efficacy; plur. víres, -ium, strength;
miratus, - 'wondering at.' This is the perfect participle of the deponent verb, miror, mirari, miratus and as we have seen before, the perfect participle of deponent verbs is often best rendered into English by a present participle.
Atlante – ablative after the preposition cum, of the third declension noun Atlas, -antis, m., Atlas.
cum ... docuisset – ‘when he had explained’, another example of the subjunctive after cum introducing a past tense temporal clause. Docuisset is third person pluperfect subjunctive of the verb doceo, -ere, -ui, -tus, teach, explain.
causam itineris – notice that in Latin we say the reason ‘of his journey’ i.e. we use the genitive case whereas in English we say ‘the reason for his journey’ using dative case.
ab eo petiit – notice that after the verb peto, -ere, -ivi or -ii, -itus, meaning ask the person asked is in the ablative case (eo being ablative of is) after the preposition a.
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 quamquam quietem vehementer cupiebat,
Hercules, although he really wanted a rest,
tamen Eurystheo parere constituit,
nonetheless determined to obey Eurystheus,
et simul ac iussa eius accepit,
and as soon as he received his orders
proficisci maturavit.
he made haste to set out.
A multis mercatoribus quaesiverat
He made enquiries of many merchants
quo in loco Hesperides habitarent,
in what place the Hesperides might live
nihil tamen certum reperire potuerat.
but he could find out nothing certain.
Frustra per multas terras iter fecit
In vain he journeyed through many lands
et multa pericula subiit;
and underwent many dangers;
tandem, cum in his itineribus
at length, when on his journeys
totum annum consumpsisset,
he had spent a whole year,
ad extremam partem orbis terrarum,
at the furthest part of the world,
quae proxima est Oceano, pervenit.
which is nearest to the Ocean, he arrived.
Hic stabat vir quidam, nomine Atlas,
Here was standing a certain man, called Atlas,
ingenti magnitudine corporis,
with an enormous size of body,
qui caelum (ita traditum est)
who the sky (so it is reported)
umeris suis sustinebat,
was holding up on his shoulders,
ne in terram decideret.
so that it would not fall on to the land.
Hercules tantas viris magnopere miratus statim
Hercules wondering greatly at such great strenght at once
in conloquium cum Atlante venit,
engaged in conversation with Atlas,
et cum causam itineris docuisset,
and when he had explained the reason for his journey
auxilium ab eo petiit.
asked him for help.
d) The following section is for you to copy and translate.
Hercules quamquam quietem vehementer cupiebat,
tamen Eurystheo parere constituit,
et simul ac iussa eius accepit,
proficisci maturavit.
A multis mercatoribus quaesiverat
quo in loco Hesperides habitarent,
nihil tamen certum reperire potuerat.
Frustra per multas terras iter fecit
et multa pericula subiit;
tandem, cum in his itineribus
totum annum consumpsisset,
ad extremam partem orbis terrarum,
quae proxima est Oceano, pervenit.
Hic stabat vir quidam, nomine Atlas,
ingenti magnitudine corporis,
qui caelum (ita traditum est)
umeris suis sustinebat,
ne in terram decideret.
Hercules tantas viris magnopere miratus statim
in conloquium cum Atlante venit,
et cum causam itineris docuisset,
auxilium ab eo petiit.
