The Latin Translating Extravaganza

nova civis hic

Fri, 15 Jul 2005 16:41:35 GMT

Oh man, finding this community reminds me of how much I miss being a latin nerd. I haven't touched anything latin (okay, except my "Vergil Vivit!" shirt) all summer....stupid deli job. >.<

But anyway, I was wondering out of idle curiousity...anybody here a rabid Sychaeus fangirl like myself? He's my second favorite character in the entire work, despite only showing up/being mentioned maybe three times. He's just....squee! *takes a baseball bat and beats up her inner fangirl*

All right, before she gets out again...

You AP latin students are probably all familiar with Barbara Boyd's AP Aeneid textbook and the (sometimes whacky) notes it contains. While translating Book VI.450-476 (the scene with Dido in Hades), I came across this note.

"Talibus Aeneas ardentem et torva tuentem
lenibat dictis animum lacrimasque ciebat." <---the lines in question

"The expression is unusually contorted---how can one's mind or anger be imagined as watching? Vergil implies that Dido is effectively consumed by her anger---it is all the remains of her."

But I disagree. Just a few lines later, we get this:

"Tandem corripuit sese, atque inimic refugit
in nemus umbriferum, coniunx ubi pristinus illi
respondet curis aequatque Sychaeus amorem."

Sychaeus "responds to her care/grief" and "matches her love." Both "respondet" and "aequat," but especially "aequat," imply that Dido feels love for Sychaeus as well as anger at Aeneas. Sychaeus isn't alone in his feelings.

I believe that, rather than "animum" implying that Dido's anger has consumed her, it simply makes Dido stand out. She is, after all, a ghost at this point, and the underworld is composed of both shadows and ghosts, both of which go by the name "umbra." Being the same word implies that the ghosts blend in with the shadows. "Animum," however, stands out, because it is a word traditionally associated with the living. Dido is not simply a part of the scenary.

Okay, looking over what I wrote again, I suppose it doesn't quite contradict what the book was saying. But I really don't think that Dido was consumed by her anger; I think she and Sychaeus get a bittersweet happy ending in the underworld. Maybe I'm reading too much into three words, or maybe I'm simply interpreting them wrong. But who cares? ^_^

Sorry for....er...well...being me. I just couldn't resist joining and posting --- I miss Vergil! TT_TT And my college doesn't offer latin. TT_TT And I'll shut up now.

help - a quotation from Aeneid

Tue, 14 Jun 2005 16:39:26 GMT

Hi everybody,

As a matter of fact, I am translating a text (social sciences) the author of which cites a line from "Aeneid" - MISQUOTING it!
It goes as following: "The goddess can be recognized by her step" (Aeneid, I, 405)"

Have you got any idea where exactly this line is from?

Thank you very much for your attention!

the big scary score thing

Sat, 24 Jul 2004 23:46:45 GMT

ummmm.... soo. scores. people do well? i'm sorta existing in a scary vacuum of ignorance here, b/c i got a 4, and my friend got a 5, and all my other friends are away, leaving me with the nightmarish feeling that everyone else got 5's and i'm the only 4. and there will be pointing and laughing. so should i be excited? my first ap course, so no basis for comparison here...

Troy in Fifteen Minutes

Sat, 22 May 2004 14:59:15 GMT

Veni, legi, risi.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/cleolinda/99710.html

the AP!!!!!

Sun, 16 May 2004 21:11:26 GMT

soooo... what did you guys think? the multiple choice bit me on the butt, as expected, but the essays weren't too bad. and i knew the translations, for, like, the first time all year. which was unbelievable luck and NOT skill or preparation. if i get a three, i'll be happy, though, because it's such a ridiculous test. legend has it that the latin APs are harder than most... by the way, no zeugma. sob. and on the pallas bit, i completely had a brain fart and forgot what hyberbaton was, and ended up putting a little asterisk in the space where i should have written "hyperbaton" and adding a footnote saying "that thing where there's two nouns and it should really be a noun and an adjective only virgil was beinf a freak" or something to that effect. slick.

Sun, 16 May 2004 02:06:53 GMT

Vergil exam: awful. I didn't even answer free-response question #3.
Troy: wonderful. I made a very loud squeak when Priam was killed. I was NOT expecting that.
Go see it!!

Aeneid stick-figure quotes

Sat, 15 May 2004 05:40:40 GMT

in honor of our Latin AP: Vergil test, my friend eala and I composed a set of quotations attributed to our favorite Aeneid characters. I cannot post the stick figures which we drew to accompany these quotes, unfortunately, as they are half the fun.

I warn you all now: these are raunchy. What can I say, we are teenagers on a high from a BEAUTIFUL Vergil exam. That said, the one vocab note anyone taking Vergil might need (but one taking Catullus would not...): futuo, futuere, fututi, fututus (I'm guessing on the 3rd and 4th parts) will not appear in most dictionaries. It means what facio sounds like.

Moving on: the quotations! I encourage all who see to add, modify, steal, plagiarize, and otherwise make our little idea their own.

-Sum pius Aeneas! Meae feminae semper moriuntur. Solus sum. Futue me, Achates!

-Sum fidus Achates. Te amo, Aeneas, sed meus amor purus est. Non te futuam.

-Sum puer Ascanius. Pulcher et formosus sum, et quoque sapiens in modis amoris. Te faciam stridere, Pallas! (btw, anyone know what the vocative of Pallas is?)

-Sum iuvenis Pallas. Innocentis sum, sed esse nolo. Doce me, Ascani - Aeneas - aliquis!

-Sum ingens Turnus. Volo te, Aeneas... INTERFICERE te! INTERFICERE!

-Sum pater Anchises. Senex sum, et ergo nemo me futuere vult. Sic, illas rapiam. Futuete me, seu vultis sive non vultis!

-Vir Aeneadis sum. Semivir sum, et ergo nemo me futuere vult. Futue Iarban et eius mirabilis modus videndi verum!

-Sum miserrima et pulcherrima Dido. Cur nemo me futuere vult? Futue te, Aeneas, et natum pulchrum quoque!

-Sum Phoebus Apollo. Amo pueros, sed eos semper perdo. Eheu!

-Sum Phoebe Diana. Amo puellae, sed viris semper similes sunt, et ergo in bello semper moriuntur. Eheu!

-Dira Allecto sum. Facio populos se interficere. Vita bona est.

-Venus sum. Omnia accidere facio. Adorate me! (Futuete me quoque!)

-Saeva Iuno sum. Femina canis sum, et nemo me futuere vult. Futue illud! Futuere me eos faciam. Dea sum!

-Omnipotens Iuppiter sum. Metrosexualis sum, et ergo futuo omnes quibus femures sunt et spatium inter eos. Bonus esse rex est!

Thu, 13 May 2004 01:34:33 GMT

Does anyone have a translation of Catullus 10? my translation of 9-13 (all one sentence) is unhelpful, since not only is it totally illiteral, I'm not sure which phrases I crossed out.

Ack. I'm writing like a Latin poet, with a confusing proliferation of clauses.

*hides from the clauses*

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

Fri, 07 May 2004 02:48:10 GMT

one thousand, eight hundred, and fifty-six lines. that is all i have to say. that is as many lines as if you lined up a whole bunch of pencils... well, anyway, it's a LOT of lines. and a LOT of studying for me to do. my friends and i are having a big, ice-cream filled party saturday and basically retranslating the entire aeneid. on a more positive note, did anyone else notice the awesome coincidence (or is it?) that the movie Troy is coming out on may 14th, the day of the AP? my whole class is going to go together after we take it, and cheer our heads off if Aeneas is shown onscreen. everyone will think we're crazy, but hey, 1856 lines is not the ambition of a sane mind, so that's ok. orlando bloom will comfort me and my awful translation skills (ten cool points to anyone who can Name This Rhetorical Device!).

p.s. it's ZEUGMA, the most fabulous of all rhetorical devices! and if you got that right, you get an honorary 5 on your AP, just from me.

latin makes me giddy.

Thu, 08 Apr 2004 02:55:50 GMT

I taking AP Vergil/Virgil and we're only on Book X and I feel like barfing.
SO MUCH LATIN, SO LITTLE TIME.
:(

Sat, 13 Mar 2004 03:16:24 GMT

Hey boys and girls!
I thought I'd share a little story, just for amusement.
I was at the NJJCL Certamen(statewide Latin quiz bowl) on the Upper Level team, and in the 3rd round there was a question that made me think directly of this community.

Q: Neptune exclaims "Quos ego!" in The Aeneid. What figure of speech is this an example?

Oh, I wanted to knock my head right through the wall. The word was on the tip of my tongue-Magistra explained this to us in class once, because I thought Quos ego! was such a stupid phrase to cut off-and I couldn't think of it. None of the three teams(Collingswood, us[Atlantic City], and Egg Harbor) got the answer, so here it is, in ALL its stupid glory:

A: Aposiopesis!

Yeah, well. Maybe it doesn't roll RIGHT off the tongue, but the thing that frustrated me was I had my figures of speech definitions IN MY BINDER, which was IN MY BOOKBAG right next to me!! *head explodes* Oh well.
OH QUOSEGO, HOW YOU TORMENT ME
In other, less interesting news, I got accepted to University of Mary Washington, where the National Latin Exam takes up residence. I'm quite happy, it was my first choice and now I'm in. Very nice.
And also!! The National Latin Exam was today, speaking of. I don't know how the Latin IIIs did. I did okay, I hope. I took the Latin I test just for fun in hopes that I'd get them all right. And of COURSE, I ended up with 6 wrong out of 40! Aren't you proud? I'm so pathetic. But then, some of the questions were on culture and I'm really, really bad with culture. Like the Forum and rooms of the house and all. Riiiiight.
Okay, I'm rambling.
Valete omnes!

Wed, 04 Feb 2004 19:44:27 GMT

I'm having some problems translating Book 4, lines 136-137. Does anyone know what is going on?

EDIT: For those playing along at home, we (my translating partner and I) got the following:

"Finally, he advances the great surrounding crowd
with the border of the Sidonian cloak having been painted;"

There are probably reasons why one should be at least somewhat awake when translating.

confusing passage

Fri, 30 Jan 2004 01:55:31 GMT

i'm having trouble with a passage that doesn't translate smoothly into english. it's in bk 4, lines 68-73, the metaphor comparing dido to a wounded deer. i can't seem to pack it into one english sentence. my sucky translation is something like "unlucky Dido is consumed and wanders raging through all the city, just as a deer with an arrow having been shot, [a deer ] whom far off and unsuspecting amongst the cretan wood a shepherd pierced (i can't translate agens telis) and he leaves the swift iron unknowing: she flees the woods and wanders through the Cretan pasture ; the fatal arrow clings to her side." help!!! i do love that last phrase, though - haeret lateri letalis harundo. gorgeous

ICON!

Sat, 27 Dec 2003 20:05:24 GMT

I just realized that I've been remiss in giving quosego! the community icon it so deserves. And so, I made one from Andrew Weatherhead's pictures of our time in Italy. Consequently, it's of some European, shirtless, and in capris, in Pompeii.

You're all happier now? Maybe?

vergil...

Sat, 27 Dec 2003 06:26:52 GMT

has anyone seen any books for AP latin-vergil?
like, "get a 5 on the ap vergil exam!"

been looking for some and have been quite unsuccessful.
thanks

Ecce Aeneas!

Sat, 27 Dec 2003 00:29:42 GMT

Hey all-
Book I, lines 198-207. Aeneas' speech to his buddies when they are downtrodden. Or something.

"O allies- and indeed we are not as ignorant as we were before evil-
you who have suffered worse, god will give this an end as well.
You have seen the fury of Scylla, the deep echoing coming near
the cliffs,and you have experienced the caves of the Cyclops:
call back your spirits, and banish your fear and sadness:
maybe one day we shall remember our troubles with pleasure.
Through various mishaps, through so many of fortune's perils
we will make our way to Latium, where the fates hold out
quiet in their seats; that is heaven's will, for the kingdoms
of Troy to rise again. Endure, and you will observe more
favourable events."

Probably my favourite part of Book I. Aeneas had a great speechwriter.

Fri, 07 Nov 2003 02:42:27 GMT

Hi, I'm new. I'm Jess, in Latin AP, trying really hard to maintain the Latin Club that is falling apart around me, and loving Latin a little more every day. I'll plunge right in with my really lame translation of Book I lines 142-156. It's not in meter or anything, I just wrote it so it would fit on my paper for credit in class.

So said, faster than word of mouth did he
please the swollen sea, gather back the fleeing clouds,
and lead back the sun. Together, Cymothoe & Triton
struggled to haul the ships off the sharp rocks in
the sea, as Neptune himself lifted his trident to
open the vast sandbanks and soothe the sea-and
so he swiftly glided over to the highest point of the
cycling waves. And so, even as in great nations riot
often breaks out, and turns obscure souls of
the crowd savage, now the flames and rocks fly,
and rage attends to arms. Then, with massive devotion,
so proper if any strong man looks around tranquilly,
with his ears standing upright, he rules the commands
of minds, and he strokes souls-so all together the loud
sea became silent, after which Neptune,
scanning the cloudless sky, turned the reins to
the flying horses of his gliding chariot.

Yep. Most of it-especially the simile-makes no sense, but I love the last few lines. Good stuff!

Bad Latin!

Tue, 04 Nov 2003 01:35:12 GMT

Yeah, I know it isn't the Aeneid, or even Vergil, but hey, Catullus writes in Latin and this translation is so awful as to be funny.

Carmen 107

If anything wanting longing occurs even
for not expecting, this is particularly pleasing for the soul.
Therefore this is pleasing and for a more dear breeze
which you, Lesbia, my desire, restore.
You restore desire and not expecting,
you bring yourself back to us. Oh light with a more gleaming mark!
Who also lives more happily than me, or who is better
able to say this by choosing life?

Yeah, I started to give up by the end.

Book 13

Sun, 25 May 2003 20:10:47 GMT

ooc:just announcing my presence. who wants a code?

Vergil, fanfic extraordinaire!

Sat, 12 Apr 2003 16:30:23 GMT

While searching the internet, I came accross this quote:

"The Aeneid is just fanfic!"

This made me laugh, but then I started thinking more about it, and would like to submit Vergil as the greatest fanfic author of all time! Any thoughts?

Sun, 30 Mar 2003 17:46:11 GMT

Chocolate

Terrible translation contest!

Wed, 19 Mar 2003 03:02:46 GMT

This translation is bad enough that the line numbers don't matter, but I'll give them for reference anyways: Book 4 314-319.

This is Dido, by the way

"I deserve through these tears and your right hand since I relinquish another misery now to me myself nothing through our wedding, through marriage having been begun, if well what of you, or anything of sweet me was for you, pity me with the house slipping and that mouth if who still in this prayer place, discard the mind."

Sheesh!

Bah

Wed, 12 Mar 2003 06:32:35 GMT

I've missed Latin Class for the last three school days, and I missed the National Latin Exam. Please someone have pity on my poor latin-deprived soul, and let me borrow the translations I missed!

i forget what the hw is for tomorrow or err today, and I prolly won't get it finished in time, perfect, just perfect!

The Aeneid: the movie

Sun, 09 Mar 2003 20:59:32 GMT

Hmm, so I was reading about Mercury swimming through clouds bringing orders from Jupiter himself to Aeneas, and I thought to myself: If Hollywood were to make a movie of the Aeneid, like they're making Troy and all sorts of other classic themed movies at the moment, who would they cast to play all of the parts?

Here's what I'm thinking-

Dido: Gwynith Paltrow
Aeneas: ? (I'm really not sure, Mark Hammil embodies his whiny qualities so well, but do i really want to suffer that?)
Jupiter: Bill Clinton
Juno: ?
Mercury: Hugo Weaving (wheee! swimming through clouds!)
Venus: Guy Pierce in drag... oh wait, that's another movie...
Fidus Achates: Ioan Gruffudd
Anchises: Anthony Hopkins
Neptune: Ozzy Osbourne (I like the picture of his "placid head" rising from the waves and him mumbling something about his godhead.... lol)
Iarbus: Colin Farrell

Thu, 06 Mar 2003 19:33:28 GMT

On a whim, I ran an interest search on "latin language" and found myself flung right back to 11th grade when I came across your community. Ahh, Aeneas, how I've missed you...

Anyway, please consider this my little self-introduction to your community.