Textkit Greek and Latin Forums

Hello all,

I’m afraid I’m having a some trouble with this little blighter -

Iīberī invidiā vītam agimus

Now, I see that there is another post on this, but unfortunately it only deals with the correct translation and so doesn’t really clarify things satisfactorily for me.

the point upon which I am not entirely clear, is as to the precise case and function of ‘Liberi’ in this sentence. I am assuming that the adjective ‘liberi’ here is in the nominative plural, and is being used to modify the we in the verb ‘agimus’, I’m assuming too that ‘invidia’ is an ablative of separation? The reason I’m not so sure is that I don’t remember adjectives being used by the book in this manner any time before this drill exercise, and so I’m doubting my explanation. It almost seems as though the adjective is being used adverbally since the ‘free from jealousy’ would seem to be modifying the action being carried out rather than any noun?

So: ‘we conduct life free from jealousy’

Any clarification would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

If you look back at unit three p 49 you will see that adjectives can be used as nouns so liberi can mean free men (or children) probably it means free men here. This noun is in apposition to the "we" of agimus.

The ablative invidia is indeed an ablative of separation (its the point of the drill).

I think what is confusing you is the "free" of "free men" and the "free" implied in the ablative of invidia - "free from jealousy" or "away/apart from jealousy".

So "we free men live a life free from jealousy."

Perhaps not very elegant but it illustrates the grammar. As always an idiomatic translation of the Latin departs from a literal reading. English obviously doesn't have a one word translation for the ablative invidia so you are forced to paraphrase.

I have now looked at a key and the answer given there is:

"We, free from jealosy [sic] (ablative of separation), live our lives. "

I suppose this preserves the Latin word order and could be explained as "We {who are} free from jealousy live our lives". The meaning is the same whether you take my first post or what it says in the key.

I am much obliged to you for your help. Thank you!