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The death of Laocoon and Troy

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 1:56 am
by LatinGirly
Hi- I am translating the above named passage in wheelock and have two weird sentences in it. Wondering if I can get any corrections/ sugesstions. Thanks!

Latin:Nec se vulneribus defendere nec fugere potest, et ipse, ut taurus saucius as aram, clamores horrendos ad caelum tollit. Eodem tempore serpentes fugiunt, petuntque perfugium in acre Minervae acris.


My Translation:By wounds neither is he able to defend himself nor flee, and HIMSELf?/The very thing?, while the wounded bull on the altar, lifts horendus screams to heaven. In the same time the serpents flee, and seek refuge in bitter Minerva of bitter?

Latin: Et quoque guademus nis miseri, quibus ille dies fuit ultimus ac quibus numquam erit ullum solacium.
My Translation: And not only/also we rejoice , we wretched people (?), who those gods have been farthest and who never will be any comfort.

Re: The death of Laocoon and Troy

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:15 am
by modus.irrealis
1. It's "se a vulneribus defendere" where you have "defendere a" = "defend from".

Generally you can translated ipse (which is always masculine) as "he himself".

"ut" here means "like" or "as", so it's comparing him to a wounded bull.

It's "in arce", which should be clearer.

2. "Et quoque" = "and also", and "we wretched people" is fine.

It's "dies" "day". And "quibus" is dative, so something like "for whom that day was the last and for whom there will never be any comfort."

Re: The death of Laocoon and Troy

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:16 pm
by LatinGirly
Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

~LatinGirly