Wheelock, Chapter 15, pp. 100-101:
Learn vocabulary; P&R, 1-10; Sententiae, all; "Dying Words on Immortality"
Read half of Book 8 Aeneid
And an Optional Latin Challenge TBA!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Optional Latin Challenge: Aeneid, Book VII, vv. 475-482
In addition to the assigned lines of the Aeneid, I encourage you to read more on your own. Haec gloriae gratia lege (gratia is an ablative here: the ablative of gratia preceded by a genitive means "for the sake of"). The optional lines are Book VII, vv. 475-482. We will review these in class. I'm using a different text but assume ours both show the alternate 3rd-declension accusative endings which I explain in the notes below.
Bonam fortunam! (Accusative of exclamation.)
NOTES VV. 475-482:
476 Allecto: one of the Furies. This is the nominative form. (nom. f. sing.)
477 speculata: "having spied or gazed at." This is the nominative feminine singular form of a perfect deponent participle. Perfect participles are usually passive: deponent verbs have passive forms, active meanings. For information on traditional perfect passive participles (though you don't need to know this for deponents!) look here.
477 quo litore: "on which shore"
480 naris = nares This is a common alternate 3rd-declension acc. plural ending
481 ut...ardentes agerent: "so that the eager (dogs) might drive..." This is an example of ut + the subjunctive, here a purpose clause. For now you only need know how to translate it.
481 quae: "which," nom. fem. sing. of the relative pronoun, but here is better translated as "and this."
482 agrestis=agrestes: see note 480
Bonam fortunam! (Accusative of exclamation.)
NOTES VV. 475-482:
476 Allecto: one of the Furies. This is the nominative form. (nom. f. sing.)
477 speculata: "having spied or gazed at." This is the nominative feminine singular form of a perfect deponent participle. Perfect participles are usually passive: deponent verbs have passive forms, active meanings. For information on traditional perfect passive participles (though you don't need to know this for deponents!) look here.
477 quo litore: "on which shore"
480 naris = nares This is a common alternate 3rd-declension acc. plural ending
481 ut...ardentes agerent: "so that the eager (dogs) might drive..." This is an example of ut + the subjunctive, here a purpose clause. For now you only need know how to translate it.
481 quae: "which," nom. fem. sing. of the relative pronoun, but here is better translated as "and this."
482 agrestis=agrestes: see note 480
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The Sibylline Prophecy: How Long Does It Take to Learn Latin?
The pile of books in the photo above depicts a "Latin factory." The red book is my Virgil. The open book behind it is a dictionary. The shiny taped-up blue book in the back is a well-used grammar. And then of course there is the beat-up relic of my original Virgil word-list notebook, which I photographed to show solidarity with your reference-book dependence.
After my Sibylline prophecy that it will take seven years (magic number) to learn Latin, I decided I should clarify. There are stages of learning Latin. You are in one of them. You may have to look up everything in a dictionary or Wheelock at this point, but that is the respected method of classicists everywhere. Eventually, when you finish Wheelock, you may become a whiz at Caesar, Seneca, Virgil, or Catullus, but it takes practice, practice, practice, and experience. Will you reach a magic moment when all conjugations, declensions, grammar, and syntax converge? Yes, many times. But then a few sentences later you may find yourself doing hard work again. It can be humbling. It is, however, always challenging and fun. You will eventually find yourself reading paragraphs or stanzas without consciously translating.
See this faded, stained notebook? This is the ancient receptacle of my original Aeneid Book 2 word lists. When you translate a Latin author, it is necessary to keep a running word list. You look up words you don't know, and often words you do know when they express a unique meaning in a specific passage. You work from your word lists to translate. These two pages covered Book II lines 39-104. I looked up almost 60 words.
When you translate even a few lines of the Aeneid, make a word list. Once you have the vocabulary, you can use Wheelock to identify grammatical forms, which are the backbone of your translation. The word lists can also help you prove your translation, or show where you went astray.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Homework due March 30
Wheelock, Ch. 14, pp. 92-94: Practice & Review, 1-9; Sententiae, all; "Store Teeth."
Fourth Year Latin, p. 241. Translate one sentence, lines 107-11. Notes will be posted by Thursday.
Read English Aeneid, Book VII, or the following selections (which correspond to the Latin selections from Fourth Year Latin):
lines 1-161, 292-340, 475-522, 572-654, 783-815
Optional Latin Challenge TBA!
Fourth Year Latin, p. 241. Translate one sentence, lines 107-11. Notes will be posted by Thursday.
Read English Aeneid, Book VII, or the following selections (which correspond to the Latin selections from Fourth Year Latin):
lines 1-161, 292-340, 475-522, 572-654, 783-815
Optional Latin Challenge TBA!
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