A help with the essay in Chap. 22

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zhongv1979
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A help with the essay in Chap. 22

Post by zhongv1979 »

On translation of the essay "On ambition and literature, both Latin and Greek", I have some trouble with this sentence:

Trahimur omnes studio laudis et multi gloria ducuntur, quae aut in litteris Graecis aut Latinis inveniri potest.

I translated it as such:

All of us are dragged by the enthusiasm of the praise and many are led by the glory, which can be found not only in the literature of the Greeks but also that of the Latins.

Is that right to translate the "omnes" as "all of us"? I cannot find any other way to make sense of it. Moreover, is there any other problem with my translation.

The next sentence:

Qui, autem, videt multum fructum gloriae in versibus Latinis sed non in Graecis, nimium errat, quod litterae Graecae leguntur in omnibus fere gentibus, sed Latinae in finibus suis continentur.

I translated it as:

On the other hand, who sees many fruits of glory in the Latin verses but not in the Greek ones, errs greatly, because the Greek literature is read in almost all the nations, but the Latin one is restrained in their own territories.

Is that right? I thought I had translated everything right, but I could not work out the logic between this sentence and the preceding one. What is the author talking about here?
Last edited by zhongv1979 on Thu Jan 26, 2006 8:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Deudeditus
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Post by Deudeditus »

when omnes is used with a first person plural verb, it seems appropriate to translate it as all of us.
Connexion between the two, I think:
Although there is both glory and praise in latin and greek literature, Greek literature is greater because of it's wider geographical range.

fierywrath
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Post by fierywrath »

all of us occurs to you before we all?

zhongv1979
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Post by zhongv1979 »

I do not think it could be directly translated as "we all" since "omnes" is obviously not an adverbial form...

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Deudeditus
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Post by Deudeditus »

we all would be correct, since we all are the subjects of the verb trahimur. We all are dragged ... All of us are dragged... same diff.

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