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Since I am avidly translating the first book of the Aeneid for school right now (and totally for pleasure too, because who doesn't want to spend their mornings being pius and wandering outside of Carthage and spending altogether too long trying to get to Italy?), I thought I'd share a bit of Latin-to-English action and discussion with you all! Let's get right to it! (An uninterrupted version of both the Latin and the English translation is found at the bottom of this post, because otherwise you might get a little lost).
"O dea, si prima repetens ab origine pergam,
et vacet annalis nostrorum audire laborum,
ante diem clauso componat Vesper Olympo."
"Oh goddess (o dea), if (si) first (prima) I should proceed (pergam) repeating (repetens) from the beginning (ab origine), and (et) if there be any empty times/if you are unoccupied (facet) to hear (audire) the chronicles (annalis) of our labors (nostrorum laborum), before (ante) I finish (understood) the evening (Vesper) would settle (componat) the day (diem) upon closed Olympus (clause Olympo). "
This is Aeneas, responding to his disguised mother, Venus. She has asked him who he is, and what his story has been, and he is now recounting it to her. There are two interesting things I must point out to you in this first sentence; the verb vacet and the concept of 'day settling upon closed Olympus'. The verb vacet, as you may have noticed, is difficult to translate into English. It is meant to convey a feeling of emptiness, openness, or availability. Hence the "empty times" or "Venus being unoccupied": an emptiness or availability in which she can listen to his story. This is a great example of how difficult it is to translate something from one language to the next: each language has words which express a very specific feeling, but that other languages have no matching word for. The best the translator can do, then, is to use many words to convey the one.
As for the Vesper componat diem clauso Olympo*, this is actually a reference to the Roman mythology believed at this time. (Remember that Aeneas, the demigod, is currently addressing his mother, Venus/Aphrodite) In ancient Roman mythology, Vesper was the god in charge of closing the Olympian gates. He was to close them after Apollo had driven the sun chariot into its stables for the night. Once these doors are locked, the "day" would settle upon Olympus, closing it up permanently until Apollo drove out again in the morning. Aeneas is basically saying that he'd be talking until the sun went down, and for ages and ages, but, since he's wonderful, he's being awfully poetic about it.
Shall we move on? Lovely.
"Nos Troia antique, si vestras forte per auris
Troiae nomen iit, diversa per aequora vectos
forte sua Libycis tempestas adpulit oris."
"If (si) perhaps (forte) the name of Troy (nomen Troiae) has gone (iit) through your ears (per vestras auris), a storm (tempestas) has driven (adpulit) us (nos) from ancient Troy (Troia antique), carried through various seas (per diversa aequora), to these Libyan shores (Libycis oris) by its own chance (forte sua). "
Here I shall only remind you that Aeneas is one of the only Trojans to have survived their defeat in the Trojan War (and yes, this is the war that included a giant wooden horse filled with soldiers, which was brought into a city. That city was Troy, and Aeneas and his fellows ended up regretting that decision. Big time), and that he is understandably a bit upset, and is ready to be done sailing, at least for a little while. We can all pity him, okay? That's what we are supposed to do. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Also I shall again mention the crazy word order for this sentence (see footnote). Imagine if we spoke that way in English...
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"Sum pius Aeneas, raptos qui ex hoste Penates
classe veho mecum, fama super aethera notus."
"I am (sum) pious Aeneas (pius Aeneas), who (qui) carries (veho) with me (mecum) in my fleet (classe) the household gods (Penates) that I snatched (raptos) from the enemy (ex hoste), I am known (notus) from report (fama) above the sky (super aethera)."
WOW. What a sentence! Aeneas is the coolest, and he's extremely pious. If you read the Aeneid, you're going to notice how pious he is. This does not mean, in ancient Roman culture, that you were especially dedicated to your faith. Piety, for ancient civilizations, was more akin to loyalty, patriotism, and a very civil form of righteousness. It's a fantastic word, and extremely pompous, no doubt, but nothing beats "Sum pius Aeneas" for a claim. Also note his reference to being known "above the sky". Aeneas is well known by the gods in Olympus, and he knows this. (Anyone who had listened to jealous Juno for more than 5 seconds knew who Aeneas was and, to be honest, were probably quite sick of hearing about it. Aeneas killed Juno's favorite warrior and choice hero in the Trojan war, and this made her rather grumpy. She got even more upset because she knew that Jupiter had promised that Aeneas would be the father of a great kingdom one day: Rome. The Aeneid is basically a story of how Juno tries as hard as she can to prevent Aeneas from getting to Italy. Side note: she's Hera from Greek mythology. Never liked her in either form.)
"Italiam quaero patriam et genus ab Iove summo."
"I seek (quaero) the fatherland (patriam) Italy (Italiam) and the people (et genus) (descended) from highest Jove/Jupiter (ab Iove summo)."
See above discussion of Aeneas being promised Italy, at Jupiter's command. The drama is real.
"Bis denis Phrygium conscendi navibus aequor,
matre dea monstrante viam, data fata secutus;
vix septem convolsae undis Euroque supersunt."
"I climbed (conscendi) the smooth Phrygian main (aequor Phrygium)with twice ten ships (bis denis navibus), my mother goddess (matre dea) showing (monstrante) the way (viam), I followed (sectutus) the declared destinies (data fata); scarcely (vix) do seven (septem) survive (supersunt), shattered (convolsae) by waves (undis) and the South East wind (Euroque)."
The "smooth Phrygian main" is the Mediterranean Sea, Latin people say things like "twice ten" and "declared destinies", Aeneas lost over half of his friends and companions while traveling across the sea to land upon the shores of Libya. Almost there!!
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"Ipse ignotus, egens, Libyae deserta peragro,
Europa atque Asia pulsus." (this line continues on, but in another thought.)
"I myself (ipse) unknown (ignotus), being in need (egens), travel (peragro) through the deserts of Libya (Libyae deserta), having been stricken (pulsus) from Europe and Asia (Europa atque Asia)."
This is the final complaint of Aeneas: he is stuck in a desert, where he hasn't found any people, having been banished from Europe and Asia. At this point, his mother (ever emotional Venus/Aphrodite) cuts him off, because she cannot bear to hear of his sufferings any longer. She tells him that he will find his lost companions in Carthage, and points him in the right direction.
There you have it, folks! you now know a bit about Latin, if this ramble hasn't been in vain. Some other day I shall explain to you the form and wonders of Latin poetry itself, and maybe a bit on pronunciation, and still another day, I shall share more translations. Perhaps I shall even give you an overview of the Great-Trojan-War-god-drama that is the backdrop for this tale.
Until then, goodnight, and enjoy the wonders of the Aeneid.
P.S. Here's the un-interrupted Latin and translation: perhaps it will be easier to follow.
"O dea, si prima repetens ab origine pergam,
et vacet annalis nostrorum audire laborum,
ante diem clauso componat Vesper Olympo.
Nos Troia antique, si vestras forte per auris
Troiae nomen iit, diversa per aequora vectos
forte sua Libycis tempestas adpulit oris.
Sum pius Aeneas, raptos qui ex hoste Penates
classe veho mecum, fama super aethera notus.
Italiam quaero patriam et genus ab Iove summo.
Bis denis Phrygium conscendi navibus aequor,
matre dea monstrante viam, data fata secutus;
vix septem convolsae undis Euroque supersunt.
Ipse ignotus, egens, Libyae deserta peragro,
Europa atque Asia pulsus."
"Oh goddess, if first I should proceed, repeating from the beginning, and if there be any empty times/if you are unoccupied to hear the chronicles of our labors , before I finish the evening would settle the day upon closed Olympus. If perhaps the name of Troy has gone through your ears, a storm has driven us from ancient Troy, carried through various seas, to these Libyan shores, by its own chance. I am pious Aeneas, who carries with me in my fleet the household gods that I snatched from the enemy, I am known from report above the sky. I seek the fatherland Italy, and the people (descended) from highest Jove/Jupiter. I climbed the smooth Phrygian main with twice ten ships, my mother goddess showing the way, I followed the declared destinies; scarcely do seven survive, shattered by waves and the South East wind. I myself unknown, being in need, travel through the deserts of Libya , having been stricken from Europe and Asia."
* In case you are wondering why these Latin phrases are in a different order than they appear in the poem: Latin is a very different language to English in that word order is not of much significance. You can mix up the words in a sentence in whatever way you like, generally speaking, and still end up with the same meaning. This is extremely helpful in poetry, where the words must fit a meter, but it can be confusing until you've gotten used to it. When I restate a phrase in the explanation, I'm placing it as closely to the English word order as I can, so that you can begin to see how the words translate.
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