Could someone help me with unwinding the meaning of a sentence in Lingua Latina Pars II (p.32) which reads:
Ergō parte mūrōrum dēstrūctā māchina illa hostibus armātīs plēna magnō labōre in urbem trahitur fūnibus, dum puerī puellaeque carmina sacra canunt et fūnem manū contingere gaudent.
Please include a brief descriptive grammar justifying the translation.
parte mūrōrum dēstrūctā (translation?)
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Re: parte mūrōrum dēstrūctā (translation?)
ablative absolute - after part of the walls was destroyed
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Re: parte mūrōrum dēstrūctā (translation?)
Thank you, I had tentatively come to a similar conclusion; however, I do not recall that a "part of the walls had been destroyed' (1) prior to the "horse" being brought into the city, and (2) to such an extent that the horse could be pulled through it.
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Re: parte mūrōrum dēstrūctā (translation?)
In fact, what I had tentatively concluded was:
Ergō parte mūrōrum dēstrūctā[f,abl,RPP] māchina illa hostibus armātīs plēna magnō labōre in urbem trahitur fūnibus, dum puerī puellaeque carmina sacra canunt et fūnem manū contingere gaudent.
Therefore through partly demolished walls that machine full of armed enemies is being drawn by ropes by means of great labor into the city, while boys and girls sing sacred songs and rejoice to touch the rope with [their] hands.
Ergō parte mūrōrum dēstrūctā[f,abl,RPP] māchina illa hostibus armātīs plēna magnō labōre in urbem trahitur fūnibus, dum puerī puellaeque carmina sacra canunt et fūnem manū contingere gaudent.
Therefore through partly demolished walls that machine full of armed enemies is being drawn by ropes by means of great labor into the city, while boys and girls sing sacred songs and rejoice to touch the rope with [their] hands.
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Re: parte mūrōrum dēstrūctā (translation?)
This is a paraphrase of Vergil, Aeneid 234 ff.:
diuidimus muros et moenia pandimus urbis.
accingunt omnes operi pedibusque rotarum
subiciunt lapsus, et stuppea uincula collo
intendunt; scandit fatalis machina muros
feta armis. pueri circum innuptaeque puellae
sacra canunt funemque manu contingere gaudent;
illa subit mediaeque minans inlabitur urbi.
diuidimus muros et moenia pandimus urbis.
accingunt omnes operi pedibusque rotarum
subiciunt lapsus, et stuppea uincula collo
intendunt; scandit fatalis machina muros
feta armis. pueri circum innuptaeque puellae
sacra canunt funemque manu contingere gaudent;
illa subit mediaeque minans inlabitur urbi.
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Re: parte mūrōrum dēstrūctā (translation?)
It is this passage itself which is telling you that the walls are destroyed. If I were translating this passage, I'd render the absolute phrase thus: "And so, after tearing down a section of the city walls, the machine was...."sunhawk43 wrote:Thank you, I had tentatively come to a similar conclusion; however, I do not recall that a "part of the walls had been destroyed' (1) prior to the "horse" being brought into the city, and (2) to such an extent that the horse could be pulled through it.
(obviously "city" is not in the Latin, but makes the English smoother.)
I just started reading this chapter of LL today, and found it to be much more challenging than the previous one!
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Re: parte mūrōrum dēstrūctā (translation?)
"after tearing down a section of the city walls, the machine was"
I would suggest that the "after" clause needs to stay in the passive voice because the horse didn't tear down the walls--the people of Troy did.
I would suggest that the "after" clause needs to stay in the passive voice because the horse didn't tear down the walls--the people of Troy did.
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Re: parte mūrōrum dēstrūctā (translation?)
I appreciate your (plural) comments. It just so happened that shortly after I posted the question I found a Latin version at Perseus The Latin Library [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/index.html] and in it found the lines in the Aeneid of Vergil that Qimmik cited. Since I read the story of the fall of Troy over 50 years ago, I have forgotten much of the detail; the cite in Vergil (to which Qimmik referred) was the information that I was seeking. I needed, for my own peace of mind, the antecedent proof (from Vergil, not Orberg) of the walls having been demolished to allow the entrance of the wooden horse. Again, thanks for your help and comments. It was my fault that I did not make that clearer in my query.