Horace, Odes, 4,4

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hlawson38
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Horace, Odes, 4,4

Post by hlawson38 »

Context: Horace glorifies the warlike prowess of the Roman people. This quatrain is part of an imagined oration attributed to Hannibal.
non hydra secto corpore firmior
vinci dolentem crevit in Herculem
monstrumve submisere Colchi
maius Echioniaeve Thebae.
"Never did the Hydra with its body hacked
more stoutly rise up against Hercules, who would not accept defeat
and never did the Colchians bring forth from Echion's Thebes
a greater monster."

I'm not sure I have unwound correctly the proper names, Colchi, Echioniaeve, Thebae.
Hugh Lawson

Hylander
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Re: Horace, Odes, 4,4

Post by Hylander »

[non] monstrumve submisere Colchi
maius Echioniaeve Thebae

Colchi and Echoniaeve Thebae are both nominative and parallel in construction, joined by the conjunction -ve; the name of the city Thebae, "Thebes" is always plural (as it is, at least in form, in English), like Athenae, "Athens", Mycenae, etc.

"nor did the Colchians or Echonian Thebes bring forth a greater monster"

The epithet Echoniae is derived from Echion, one of the warriors who sprang up when Cadmus sowed the dragon's teeth, who married Cadmus' daughter, and so is one of the founding fathers of Thebes.

Colchi is a reference to the Jason and Medea story. Jason sowed the dragon's teeth and a band of warriors sprang up and killed one another off.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason

In both myths, a race of fierce warriors springs from the teeth of a slain dragon sown by the hero.
Bill Walderman

hlawson38
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Re: Horace, Odes, 4,4

Post by hlawson38 »

Thanks Hylander.

Something distracted me from assessing correctly the -ve ending.
Hugh Lawson

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