is fortune the subject of this paragraph from the Aeneid

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pmda
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is fortune the subject of this paragraph from the Aeneid

Post by pmda »

I am interested in the subject of these lines from the Aeneid - I give the Latin with an English translation / suggestion as to what the subject-object relationship is.... My translation conflicts with that in the Loeb edition (Fairclough). 1. is my translation and 2. is Fairclough's

I am interested in the role of fortuna which Fairclough has as an object and I have as a subject.

Quare agite, o tectis, iuvenes, succedite nostris!
1. Why come O young men, come under our roofs!
2. Come therefore, Sirs, and pass within our halls.

Me quoque per multos similis fortuna labores
1. Disturbed, Fortune has also put me through many similar trials
2. Me, too, has a like fortune, driven through many toils

iactatam hac demum voluit consistere terra.
1. until finally wishing me to remain in this land.
2. and willed too that in this land I should, at last, find rest.

Non ignara mali miseris succurrere disco.
1. Not unaware of evil I learn to bring succour to the wretched
2. Not ignorant of ill, I learn to aid distress.

adrianus
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Re: is fortune the subject of this paragraph from the Aeneid

Post by adrianus »

Fortune is the subject in Loeb's English translation. It is "fortune has driven me", not "me has driven fortune"!
Subjectum fortunam Loeb anglicè scribit
I'm writing in Latin hoping for correction, and not because I'm confident in how I express myself. Latinè scribo ut ab omnibus corrigar, non quod confidenter me exprimam.

pmda
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Re: is fortune the subject of this paragraph from the Aeneid

Post by pmda »

So it is. Mea culpa. Gratias tibi ago.

Qimmik
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Re: is fortune the subject of this paragraph from the Aeneid

Post by Qimmik »

Some suggestions:

Me quoque per multos similis fortuna labores
iactatam hac demum voluit consistere terra.

A similar fortune has finally wanted [in other words, allowed] me to settle in this land, [after] having also been tossed through many difficulties.

Gramatically, similis could modify either fortuna or labores, but the juxtaposition of two adjectives and two nouns like this, with similis fortuna enclosed by multos labores, is extremely characteristic of Latin verse, even if the hyperbaton seems violent at first glance.

iactatam agrees with me (accusative), and fortuna (nominative) is not necessarily the grammatical agent of iactatam (but the sense would seem to make it so).

Quare is 'therefore' (qua re) here, not 'why'--it's a relative that serves as a connective from the preceding sentence, not an interrogative word.

non ignara seems better translated as 'not ignorant of,' i.e, 'not inexperienced': "not ignorant of ills [myself], I learn to aid the unfortunate [those who are unhappy] [miseris]." A famous line.

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