This is from an etching by Gustave Dore 1861 showing Charon crossing the Styx. (from Wikipedia commons)
a)
Dé Orcó, quí ídem Hádés appellábátur, haec tráduntur. Ut quisque dé vítá décesserat, mánés éius ad Orcum, sédem mortuórum, á deó Mercurió dédúcébantur. Húius regiónis, quae sub terrá fuisse dícitur, réx erat Plútó, cui uxor erat Próserpina, Iovis et Cereris fília. Mánés igitur á Mercurió déductí prímum ad rípam veniébant Stygis flúminis, quó régnum Plútónis continétur. Hóc tránsíre necesse erat antequam in Orcum veníre possent. Cum tamen in hóc flúmine núllus póns factus esset, mánés tránsvehébantur á Charonte quódam, quí cum parvá scaphá ad rípam exspectábat. Charón pró hóc offició mercédem postulábat, neque quemquam, nisi hóc praemium prius dedisset, tránsvehere volébat. Quam ob causam mós erat apud antíquós nummum in óre mortuí pónere eó cónsilió, ut cum ad Stygem vénisset, pretium tráiectús solvere posset. Ií autem quí post mortem in terrá nón sepultí erant Stygem tránsíre nón potuérunt, sed in rípá per centum annós erráre coáctí sunt; tum démum Orcum intráre licuit.
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.
c)
Orco – ablative of Orcus as following the preposition ‘de’ ‘concerning, or about which takes the ablative case. Orcus is another name for the Underworld in Greek mythology.
qui idem – literally ‘which the same’, ‘which ...also'.
appellabatur – second person imperfect passive indicative of appello, appellare, ‘call’ meaning therefore ‘it was called’.
Ut – means in this context 'when.'
decesserat – second person pluperfect of decedo, decedere, -cessi, -cessus, ‘go away, depart’, therefore ‘he/she/it had departed, left
de vita – ablative of separation, ‘from life’ so with the previous ‘he/she had departed from life’ means quite simply ‘when he/she had died’.
manes eius – the shade (ghost, spirit) from the third declension masculine plural noun manes, manium with eius ‘of him’ which together mean – ‘his shade/ghost’.
ad Orcum – to Orcus, accusative case when motion towards in involved.
sedem mortuorum – sedes, sédés, -is [sedeó], f., seat, abode.
a Mercurio – ablative of Mercurius after a meaning ‘by’. Mercurius, i – masculine noun second declension, Mercury, a mythological god and messenger of the gods.
ducebantur – third person imperfect passive indicative of ducere, meaning therefore ‘they were led, or they used to be led’ (to indicate customary or habitual action).
quae sub terra fuisse dicitur – quae ‘which’ is feminine as it refers to region, dicitur ‘is said’, sub terra fuisse ‘to have been underground’.
cui uxor – cui here is dative of possessor, ‘to whom’ so this phrase means literally ‘to whom the wife’, or as we would say ‘whose wife’.
I expect yu
Stygis fluminis – genitive case of Styx, stygis , Styx and flumen –inis, ‘of the river Styx’. The river Styx separates the land of the living from the Underworld.
quo ... continetur – quo, ablative of means ‘by which’, (the realm of Pluto) is contained.
antequam ...possent. - The third person present subjunctive of possum (be able) is used here with antequam to show that the action is intended. ‘before they can come’
cum ... nullus pons factus esset – when cum meaning ‘since’ introduces a clause the verb must be in the subjunctive as here, factus esset is third person pluperfect subjunctive passive of facere; the meaning therefore is ‘since/as ...no bridge had been made’.
transvehebantur – passive again, this time third person impefect tense indicative of the third conjugation verb transvehere, meaning therefore ‘they were carried across’.
a Charante quodam – a ‘by’ governs the ablative therefore we have Charonte and in agreement quodam meaning ‘by a certain Charon’.
nisi.... prius.dedisset – nisi ‘unless’ .... prius ‘before’ (latin uses the comparative here as two actions are spoken of ; one to pay, two to be carried over; dedisset is second person imperfect subjunctive of dare, dedi, datus, ‘give’; the subjunctive is used here because this is an example of indirect.discourse: Charon’s words would have been “Nisi dederis (future perfect – literally, ‘unless you shall have given’ which is used to indicate an action in the future which must happen before another action, which is quite logical when you think about it, whereas in English we would just say ‘unless you give me’ in the present tense, which is not logical really ), “non transveham” ‘ I will not (take you) across.’
mortui – of a dead man.
eo consilio – to this end, with this purpose.
licuit – impersonal ‘it was permitted’ but we would probably say ‘they were allowed.’
coacti sunt – they were compelled, perfect passive of cogo, cogere, coegi, coactus.
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.
De Orco, qui idem Hades appellabatur,
Concerning Orcus, which Hades was also called,
haec traduntur. Ut quisque de vita decesserat,
these things are said. When whoever had left life,
manes eius ad Orcum, sedem mortuorum,
his shade to Orcus, the abode of the dead,
a deo Mercurio deducebantur.
by the god Mercury, they were led down
Huius regionis, quae sub terra fuisse dicitur,
Of this region, which is said to have been under the ground,
rex erat Pluto, cui uxor erat Proserpina,
the king was Pluto, whose wife was Prosperine,
Iovis et Cereris filia. Manes igitur
daughter of Jove and Ceres. The shades therefore
a Mercurio deducti primum ad ripam
by Mercury led down first to the bank
veniebant Stygis fluminis,
they used to come, of the river Styx,
quo regnum Plutonis continetur.
by which the realm of Pluto is contained.
Hoc transire necesse erat
It was necessary to go across this
antequam in Orcum venire possent.
before they could come into Orcus.
Cum tamen in hoc flumine
Since however on this river
nullus pons factus esset,
no bridge had been made,
manes transvehebantur
the shades used to be taken across
a Charonte quodam,
by a certain Charon,
qui cum parva scapha
who with a small boat
ad ripam exspectabat.
used to wait on the river bank.
Charon pro hoc officio
Charon, for this service
mercedem postulabat,
used to ask for a reward,
neque quemquam,
and no one,
nisi hoc praemium prius dedisset,
unless he paid this reward before,
transvehere volebat.
did he want to take across.
Quam ob causam mos erat
Because of this, it was the custom
apud antiquos nummum in ore mortui
with the ancients, a coin in the mouth of a dead man
ponere eo consilio,
to put, with this purpose,
ut cum ad Stygem venisset,
so that when he came to the Styx
pretium traiectus solvere posset.
he could pay the price of the crossing.
Ii autem qui post mortem
those however who after death
in terra non sepulti erant
in the gound were not buried
Stygem transire non potuerunt,
could not go across the Styx,
sed in ripa per centum annos
but on the river bank for one hundred years
errare coacti sunt;
were compelled to wander
tum demum Orcum intrare licuit.
then at long last they were allowed to enter Orcus.
De Orco, qui idem Hades appellabatur,
haec traduntur. Ut quisque de vita decesserat,
manes eius ad Orcum, sedem mortuorum,
a deo Mercurio deducebantur.
Huius regionis, quae sub terra fuisse dicitur,
rex erat Pluto, cui uxor erat Proserpina,
Iovis et Cereris filia. Manes igitur
a Mercurio deducti primum ad ripam
veniebant Stygis fluminis,
quo regnum Plutonis continetur.
Hoc transire necesse erat
antequam in Orcum venire possent.
Cum tamen in hoc flumine
nullus pons factus esset,
manes transvehebantur
a Charonte quodam,
qui cum parva scapha
ad ripam exspectabat.
Charon pro hoc officio
mercedem postulabat,
neque quemquam, nisi hoc praemium
prius dedisset, transvehere volebat.
Quam ob causam mos erat
apud antiquos nummum in ore mortui
ponere eo consilio,
ut cum ad Stygem venisset,
pretium traiectus solvere posset.
Ii autem qui post mortem
in terra non sepulti erant
Stygem transire non potuerunt,
sed in ripa per centum annos
errare coacti sunt;
tum demum Orcum intrare licuit.
