The Roman Family on Holiday: The Story of the Trojan Horse: Circe’s Island Part 1
This weeks’s session included Cambridge Book 1, Section 4, The Roman Family on holiday, and two “unseens”, the Trojan Horse, and Ulysses on Circe’s Island
Cambridge Latin Course Book 1 Section 4
The pictures to go with these phrases are in your book Page 40, or online
| 1. Grumio: ego sum coquus . ego cenam coquo. | Grumio : I am the cook. I cook dinner. |
| 2. Caecilius: ego sum argentarius | Caecilius: I am a banker. I have money. |
| 3. Pantagathus: ego sum tonsor. ego barbam tondeo | Pantagathus: I am a barber, I am cutting a beard. |
| 4. Syphax: ego sum venalicius. ego servum vendo. | Syphax: I am a slave dealer. I sell a slave. |
| 5 poeta: ego sum poeta. ego versum recito | Poet: I am a poet. I recite verse. |
| 6. Celer: ego sum pictor. ego leonem pingo. | Celer: I am an artist. I paint a lion. |
| 7. Quintus: quid tu coquis? Grumio: ego cenam coquus. | Quintus: What are you cooking? Grumio: I am cooking dinner. |
| 8. Quintus: quid tu habes? Caecilius: ego pecuniam habeo. | Quintus: What do you have? Caecilius: I have money |
| 9. Quintus: quid tu tondes? tonsor: ego barbam tondeo. | Quintus: What are you cutting? Barber: I am cutting a beard |
| 10. Quintus: quid tu vendis? venalicius: ego servum vendo. | Quintus: what are you selling? Slave Dealer: I am selling a slave. |
| 11. Quintus: quid tu recitas? poeta: ego versum recito. | Quintus: What are you reciting? Poet: I am reciting verse |
| 12. Quintus: quid tu pingis? pictor: ego leonem pingo | Quintus: What are you painting? Artist: I am painting a lion |
| 13. Metella: quis es tu? ancilla: ego sum Melissa. | Metella: Who are you? Slave Girl: I am Melissa. |
| 14. Metella: quis es tu? venalicius: ego sum Syphax. | Metella: who are you? Slave Dealer: I am Syphax. |
| 15. Metella: quis es tu? Servus: ego sum Clemens | Metella: Who are you? Slave: I am Clemens. |
I find the above a little odd, as I was taught that you did not say ego sum, as that is saying I, I am, the pronoun is already contained in the verb form. e.g. I would have said coquus sum for I am the cook.
There are three translation pieces in this Section.
Hermogenes
| Caecilius est in foro. Caecilius in foro argentariam habet. | Caecilius is in the forum. Caecilius has a bank in the forum |
| Hermogenes ad forum venit. Hermogenes est mercator Graecus. mercator navem habet. mercator Caecilium salutat. | Hermogenes comes to the forum. Hermogenes is a Greek merchant. The merchant has a ship. The merchant greets Caecilius. |
| ‘ego sum mercator Graecus’ inquit Hermogenes. ego sum mercator probus. ego pecuniam quaero.’ | ‘I am a Greek merchant’ says Hermogenes. I am an honest merchant. I am looking for money. |
| ‘cur tu pecuniam quaeris?’ inquit Caecilius. ‘tu navem habes.’ ‘sed navis non adest’, respondit Hermogenes. Navis est in Graecia. | ‘Why do you need money?’ enquired Caecilius. ‘You have a ship.’ ‘ But the ship is not here’ replied Hermogenes. ‘The ship is in Greece.’ |
| ego pecuniam non habeo. ego tamen sum probus. ego semper pecuniam reddo.’ | I have no money. however, I am honest. I always repay money.’ |
| ‘ecce!’ inquit Caecilius.’ego ceram habeo.tu anulam habes?’ ego anulam habeo’ respondet Hermogenes. anulus signum habeo.’ | Look, says Caecilius. I have a wax tablet. Do you have a ring? I have a ring replied Hermogenes. I have a signet ring. |
| ecce! ego signum in cero impimo’. Caecilius pecuniam tradit. mercator pecuniam capit et e foro currit. | See! I imprint my signature in the wax. Caecilius hands over the money. The mercahnt takes the money and runs from the forum. |
| eheu! Hermogenes non revenit. mercator pecuniam non reddit. Caecilius Hermogenem ad basilicam vocat. | Oh dear! Hermogenes does not come back. Caecilius calls Hermogenes to court. |
in basilica
| iudex: quis es tu? Caecilius: ego sum Lucius Caecilius | Judge: Who are you? Caecilius: I am Lucius Caecilius |
| iudex: tu es Pompeianus? Caecilius: ego sum Pompeianus | Judge: Are you a Pompmeian? Caecilius: I am a Pompeian |
| iudex: quid tu in urbe agis? Caecilius: ego cotidie ad forum venio. ego sum argentarius. | Judge: What do you do in the city? Caecilius: Every day I come to the forum. I am a banker. |
| iudex: cur tu hodie ad basilicam venis? Caecilius: Hermogenes multam pecuniam debet. Hermogenes pecuniam non reddit. | Judge: Why have you come to the court today? Cacilius: Hermogenes owes a great deal of money. Hermogenes is not repaying it. |
| Hermogenes: Caecilius est Mendax! iudex: quis es tu? Hermogenes: ego sum Hermogenes. | Hermogenes: Caecilius is a liar! Judge: Who are you? Hermogenes: I am Hermogenes. |
| iudex: Hermognes, quid yu in urbe agis? Hermogenes: ego in foro negotium ago. ego sum mercator. | Judge: Hermogenes, what do you do in the city? Hermogenes: I make deals in the forum. I am a merchant. |
| iudex: quid tu respondes? tu pecuniam debet? Hermognes: ego pecuniam non debeo. amicus meus est testis. | Judge: What do you reply? Do you owe the money. Hermogenes: I do not owe the money. My friend is a witness. |
| Amicus: ego sum testis. Hermogenes pecuniam non debet. Caecilius est meandax. | Friend: I am a witness. Hermogenes does not owe the money. Caecilius is the liar! |
| Caecilius: tu, Hermogenes, es mendax. tu pecuniam non reddis … | Caecilius: you, Hermogenes are a liar. You do not repay the money … |
| iudex: satis! tu Hermogenem accusas, sed tu rem non probas. Caecilius: ego ceram habeo. tu signum in cera vides. | Judge: Enough! You accuse Hermogenes, but you do not prove the case. Caecilius: I have a wax tablet. you can see the signature in the wax. |
| Hermogenes: Eheu! | Hermogenes: Oh dear! |
| iudex: Hermogenes, tu anulam habes? Caecilius: ecce! Hermogenes anulam celat. iudex: ubi est anulus? ecce! anulus rem probat. ego Hermogenem convinco. | Judge: Hermogenes, do you have a ring? Caecilius: Look! Hermogenes is hiding the ring. Judge: Where is the ring? See, the ring proves the case. I convict you Hermogenes. |
Grumio et leo
| Celer in villa laborat. Celer picturam in trinculinio pingit. magnus leo est in pictura. Celer e villa discedit. | Celer is working in the villa. Celer is painting a picture in the dining room. There is a huge lion in the picture. Cler goes from the villa. |
| Grumio e taberna revenit. et villam intrat. Grumio est ebrius. Grumio picturam videt. Grumio est perterritus. | Grumio returns from the pub and enters the villa. Grumio is drunk. Grumio sees the picture. Grumio est perterritus. |
| ‘eheu!’ inquit Grumio. ‘leo est in trinclinio. leo me spectat. leo me ferociter petit’ | ‘Heavens’ exclaimed Grumio. A lion is in the dining room. the lion sees me. the lion fiercely attacks me. |
| Gr.umio e trinclinio currit et culinam intrat. Clemens est in culina. Clemens Grunionem spectat. | Grumio runs from the dining room and into the Kitchen. Clemens is in the kitchen. Clemens sees Grumio. |
| ‘cur est tu perterritus?’ inquit Clemens. ‘eheu!’ leo est in trinclinio’, inquit Grumio. | ‘Why are you terrified?’, asks Clemens. ‘Blimey!’ says Grumio, ‘there is a lion in the dining room’. |
| ‘ita vero’ respondet Clemens, ‘et servus ebrius est in culina’. | Yes indeed, replies Clemens, ‘ and there is a drunken slave in the kitchen.’ |
In Rome Marcus is Describing the FamilyHoliday The verb tense moves from past to present to future.
| iam aestas est. calor est magnus in urbe. | It is now summer. The heat in the city is great. |
| heri ad mare ego et pater et mater et soror iter fecimus. | Yesterday myself, father, mother and sister made the journey to the sea. |
| hic enim prope mare calor lenior est. | Here near the sea the heat is indeed gentler. |
| quanta laetitia fuit. primum per omnes partes oppida Baiarum , deinde per litus ego et soror erravimus; cras pisces captabimus. | How great was happiness. First through all parts of the town of Baiae. Next my sister and I will wander all over the beach; tomorrow we will catch fish. |
| undas amamus et maris asperginem. | We love the waves and the spray of the sea. (the sea spray). |
| per ferias cottidiae natabimus et multa et mira in mare videbimus. | Through the holidays we shall swim every day and many and wonderful (things) we shall see in the sea. |
| heri simul, dum nos Baiaes petimus, ad montes avunculus et amita et quattuor consobrini discesserunt. | At the same time yesterday, while we made for Baiae, (our) uncle, aunt and four cousins left for the mountains. |
| avunculus,vir opulentus, multa villas habet, sed villam Tiburtinam semper maxime amavit. | Uncle, a rich man, has many country houses, but he always loved the Tiber (Tivoli) house most (best) |
| non est magna sed pulchra et inde prospectus campi est gratus. | It is not big but beautiful and from there the view of the plain is pleasing. |
| ibi avunculus canes venaticos alitet et feras per ferias captabit. | There uncle breeds hunting dogs and through the holidays will catch wild animals. |
The Trojan Horse After a ten year destructive siege of Troy, the Greeks finally listen to the advice of Ulysses and by deceit finally triumph, and Troy is destroyed.
duces Graecorum, quod Troiam decem obsederant neque capere potuerant.
The leaders of the Greeks who had besieged Troy for ten years and not (been) able to capture it.
sacerdotem Appolinis vocaverunt et ita dixerunt
They spoke to (called upon) the priest of Apollo and said to him.
“urbem Troiam capere non possumus. domum igitur discedemus.”
“We are not able to capture the city of Troy, therefore we will leave for home.”
quomodo tuti ad Graecem venire poterimus?”
How will we be able to come to (make it, achieve) Greece in safety?
tum sacerdotos – Calchas nomen erat – homo perfidio – ita respondit
Then the priest – Calchas was his name – a treacherous man, replied to them.
(My note: it was the same Calchas who told Agamemnon he must make a sacrifice of his daughter Iphiginea in order to have favorable winds to sail to Troy. His wife Clytemnestra, Helen’s sister, never forgave him, and she and her lover murdered him and his prize, Cassandra when he returned to Greece.) … and that wasn’t the end of it!
“si sanguine iuvenis Graeci, Sinon, deos placaveritis,tuti ad patriam venietis.”
If you placate the Gods with the blood of a young Greek man, Sinon, all will safely come to the homeland.
primo duces perturbati sunt, tum Ulixes, bellator sapiens dixit.
At first the leaders were perturbed, but then Ulysses, the wise warrior spoke.
hic iuvenem non occidebimus. Audite, equum lignum magnum aedificabimus.
We will not kill this young man. Listen, we will build a great wooden horse.
in equo paucis militibus celebo. Tum castram delebitis et ad iuxa Tenedon navigabitis.
I will hide in the horse with a few soldiers. Then you will destroy the camp and sail to nearby Tenedos.
Sinonem et equum relinquetis. Sinon perfidiam simulabit.
You will leave behind Sinon and the horse. Sinon will pretend treachery.
duces consentiunt et consilium Ulixis effantur.
The leaders agree and carry out Ullyses’ plan/advice
Sinon in agris celavit. Pastores Troiani se inveterunt et ad regem duxerunt.
Sinon hid in the fields. Trojan shepherds captured him and lead him to the king.
tum Priamus “amicus” inquit, “non captivus noster eris, si de equo ligneo omnia narraveris.”
Then Priam said “friend, you will not be our prisoner if you tell us all about the wooden horse.”
Sinon – o perfidia!- “equus” inquit, “sacer est deae Palladi, si equum deleveritis, magna erit deae ira;”
Then Sinon – oh treachery! – said “the horse is a sacrifice to the goddess Athene, great will be the goddess’s anger if you destroy it”
si in urbe traxerunt. Nocte, dum custodes dormiunt, milites Graeci ex equo descedunt et portas aperiunt.
So they dragged it into the city. At night, when the guards were sleeping, the Greek soldiers descended from the horse and opened the gates.
Sinon navibus Graecis signum dat. celeriter a Tenedo discedunt et ad Troiam festinant.
Sinon gave a signal to the Greek Ships. Speedily they left Tenedos and hurried to Troy.
mox Graeci, in viis, in arce, in templis, in domibus sunt.
Then the Greeks are in the streets, in the citadel. In the temples In the houses.
urbem incenderunt,viros omnes occiderunt, infantes et feminas ad Graeciam duxerunt.
They burned the city, killed all the men, lead away (abducted) the women and children to Greece.
ecce, de misero exitio Troiae, audivistis.
Now you have heard of the miserable end of the Troy.
I do wonder a bit about the Trojans? They swallowed the story about the horse in spite of being warned by the priest Lacoon that it was a trick (beware of Greeks bearing gifts). He even pierced the side of the horse with his spear, and groans came from inside, and they still didn’t twig.
Unfortunately two sea serpentscame up out of the water and strangled him and his two children, servants of Athene (Minerva) of course.
They also ignored the warnings of Cassandra, Priam’s daughter who had second sight. But because she had been cursed by Apollo, that nobody would ever believe her prophesies she was ignored.
Again you would think that once she had been proved right a few times they would begin to believe her. Poor Cassandra had a rough deal altogether, she was taken back to Greece as a prize of war by Agamemnon, but was murdered along with him by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegesthes. (well he had been away ten years, and he had sacrificed one of their daughters to get favourable winds when they set out for Troy)
Circe’s Island – Part 1 Ulysses took ten years to travel the two hundred odd miles back from Troy to his home in Ithaca. During this time he arrived in the island home of the sorceress Circe.
itaque cursum tenebant ad insulam qua Ciece, filia Solis, habitabat.
And so they continued the journey to the island where Circe, daughter of the Sun God was living
ubi eo pervenerunt, omnes Ulixis socii cupiebant e nave exire et insulam explorare.
When they arrived at that place all of Ulysses’ associates were wishing to leave the ship and to explore the island.
tandem Ulixes Eurylochum et socios virginti duos in terram exposuit et aquam et cibum ad navem reportare iussit.
At length Ulysses ordered Eurylochum and twenty two crew members into the land and asked them to carry back food and water.
post longum iter procul in valle magnam Circes domum conspexerunt et ante portam multas feras quas arte domuerant.
After a long journey they noticed the house of Circe at a distance in a great valley, and before the door many wild animals that she had subdued by means of her art.
in domo sedebat dea ,quae simul pulchram telam texebat et voce cantabat dulcissima.
In the house sat the goddess, who was weaving a beautiful web(cloth) and singing in the sweetest voice.
itaque portae appropinquaverunt omnes praeter Eurylochum qui unsidias timebat.
And so they all approached the door except Euryolochum who was afraid of an ambush.
dea autem, ubi portam aperuit, eos intrare et cenare iussit.
Meanwhile the goddess, who had opened the door, invited them to enter and to dine.
in sellis eos collocavit et vinum didit, sed primus medicamenta infuderat.
She placed them in chairs (she sat them down) and gave them wine. But first she infused, (dissolved) a drug.
ubi ea biberunt dea viros tetigit et statem facti sunt porci.
When they drank it the goddess touched the men and at once they are made pigs (turned into pigs)
nunc voce porcina grunnetant, sed mentum retinebant humanum.
Now they grunt with pig voices, but they retain human minds. (verb order moved to emphasise strong meaning)
in haram inclusi sunt cum aliis quos dea arte eam mutaverat.
They are imprisoned in a pigsty with others that the goddess has transformed.
interea Eurylochus dubius ac perterritus ad navem festinavit et omnia Ulixi nuntiavit;
Meanwhile Eurylochus wavering (fearful?), in fact terrified hurried to the ship and told Ulysses everything.
qui, quod mirabilem artem timebat, Eurylochum locum statim se ducere iussit, sed ille ad pedes Ulixes provolvit et per omnes deos oravit: “minime vero, Ulixes.
Who because he feared magic art, at once ordered Eurylochus to lead him to the place, but he threw himself at the feet of Ulysses and called on all the gods. “ No indeed Ulysses
noli nos omnes obicere morti!” Ulixes ei respondit iratus, ad navem igitur tu manebis Euryloche.
Do not wish to condemn us all to death”. Ulysses replied angrily, “then you will remain on the ship Eurylochus ;
ego periculum solus adibo.
I will approach (face) the danger alone”.
Circe – a similar story occurs in Spenser’s Fairie Queen when an enchantress changes men into pigs. When Arthur rescues them, one knight, Grylls is furious, because he really liked being a pig!
to be continued in Session 5