Prose Translation Question, Ch. 13
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:16 pm
I'd appreciate any help translating the following passage from Chapter 13 ("Alexander the Great and the Power of Literature").
With especial regards to the sentence in bold, I expect a direct object given the transitive verb obruere [to bury, overwhelm]. So why am I having so much difficulty finding it? Have I got the cases wrong or is the direct object only implicit? I think the sentence means the same grave and its body could bury your name, but if that's the case, shouldn't "et nomen" be "tuum nomen"? Please help.Magnus ille Alexander multos scriptores factorum suorum secum semper habebat. Is enim ante tumulum Achillis olim stetit et dixit haec verba: "Fuisti fortunatus o adulescens, quod Homerum laudatorem virtutis tuae invenisti." Et vere! Nam, sine Iliade illa, idem tumulus et corpus eius et nomen obruere potuit. Nihil corpus humanum conservare potest; sed litterae magnae nomen viri magni saepe conservare possunt.
Here's my translation: "...Indeed, he once stood before the grave of Achilles and uttered these words: "You were lucky, young man, because you discovered Homer, the chronicler of your courage. And verily! For, without that [epic] Iliad, the same grave and its body and name could bury [you?]...."