anim?s?

Here you can discuss all things Latin. Use this board to ask questions about grammar, discuss learning strategies, get help with a difficult passage of Latin, and more.
Post Reply
LatinGirly
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2008 7:30 am

anim?s?

Post by LatinGirly »

I'm wondering what all the ways are that I can translate anim?s . I know the plural translations of this word are courage, pride, high spirits. But could it also be translated as the plural of it's singular meaning, i.e. Minds, souls, spirits?

Thanks
Hannah

Twpsyn
Textkit Member
Posts: 126
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:30 am
Location: Head: in the clouds

Post by Twpsyn »

Yes.

cdm2003
Textkit Fan
Posts: 309
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2006 2:54 pm
Location: Kansas City, Missouri, USA

Post by cdm2003 »

Hi Hannah...

To add examples to Twpsyn's assent, animus is really quite flexable:

Short examples from LL:

ita verba Lydiae animum Medi turbaverunt ("in this way the words of Lydia disturbed the mind of Medus")

At bonum animum habete! ("But be of good cheer!" or "Don't let it get you down!" or even "Cheer up!" and "Don't worry!")

From the very beginning of book IV of the Aeneid, where the subject is, more or less, Queen Dido's thoughts:

...multa viri virtus animo multusque recursat gentis honos. ("the great courage of the man and the pride of his line kept returning to her mind")

degeneres animos timor arguit. ("fear exposes the weak man" or "fear exposes weak minds")

si mihi non animo fixum immotumque sederet ("if my mind was not already made up and immobile")

My translations are not meant to be verbatim...just illustrative. Be on the lookout, however, for the similar word anima hidding in the shadows. Though both words relate to humans, anima is the "living" part of the person whereas animus is more of the "cognitive" part, vis a vis, body vs. soul.

Hope this helps,
Chris
Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae

User avatar
thesaurus
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 1012
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:44 pm

Post by thesaurus »

cdm2003 wrote:My translations are not meant to be verbatim...just illustrative. Be on the lookout, however, for the similar word anima hidding in the shadows. Though both words relate to humans, anima is the "living" part of the person whereas animus is more of the "cognitive" part, vis a vis, body vs. soul.
For what it's worth, it seems that some Romans thought there was a connection between 'animus' and 'anima.' Here Cicero goes as far to say that "animus itself is named from 'anima'":

Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes I.19:
animum autem alii [philosophi dicunt esse] animam, ut fere nostri declarat nomen: nam et 'agere animam' et 'efflare' dicimus et 'animosos' et 'bene animatos' et 'ex animi sententia'; ipse autem animus ab anima dictus est
Horae quidem cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur nec quid sequatur sciri potest. Quod cuique temporis ad vivendum datur, eo debet esse contentus. --Cicero, De Senectute

cdm2003
Textkit Fan
Posts: 309
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2006 2:54 pm
Location: Kansas City, Missouri, USA

Post by cdm2003 »

thesaurus wrote:For what it's worth, it seems that some Romans thought there was a connection between 'animus' and 'anima.' Here Cicero goes as far to say that "animus itself is named from 'anima'":

Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes I.19:
animum autem alii [philosophi dicunt esse] animam, ut fere nostri declarat nomen: nam et 'agere animam' et 'efflare' dicimus et 'animosos' et 'bene animatos' et 'ex animi sententia'; ipse autem animus ab anima dictus est
Carl Jung also wrote on a similar distinction, but I wasn't aware that Cicero mentioned the idea first...thanks for sharing this.
Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae

User avatar
Lucus Eques
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 2037
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2004 12:52 pm
Location: Pennsylvania
Contact:

Post by Lucus Eques »

I recommend a different view of ANIMVS versus ANIMA:

ANIMA: the vital principle. It can mean, in its most stripped sense, "breath," "wind," "air," and in this way has more in common with the Greek cognate ἅνεμος. All living things, or at least all animals, can be said to possess "anima."

ANIMVS: the spiritual or rational principle. This in the seat of feeling, and therefore of mind and character, even personality; from personality, into self-identification and thence ego, and from ego into arrogance and pride. Not all animals have an "animus," only thinking ones, and Romans would probable relegate that just to humans.

We can understand the anima always to be in operation while a person lives, the life force operating through its autonomic intelligence. But that anima can also drive the formation of and be driven into the animus, the mind, which is an extension of that life force, and intimately connected with it (that is, the "animus" mind has governance and control over the "anima" life-force that brings it into being). The animus however does not operate all the time; there are instances when our minds are clear of thought and our hearts of feeling, and we merely observe; such times include during, say, a car accident when one just reacts, petting a cat, free of thought, or even putting the full concentration on one's breath, as in yoga and meditation. Interestingly, the animus can be deactivated by concentrating on the anima, the breath.
L. Amādeus Rāniērius · Λ. Θεόφιλος Ῥᾱνιήριος 🦂

SCORPIO·MARTIANVS

Post Reply