Latin course for the Virtual School of Languages

Lesson 11: "Just to the Gods"

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Text
(The conversation from last lesson is continued)
Sed Marcus: "Sine dubio templa deorum summa diligentia curamus,
deos sacrificiis praeclaris placamus.
Certe nos ceteros populos iustitia superamus.
Nam nos iusti sumus in deos.
Vos Graeci autem deos fabulis irridetis.
Pro veris deis scurras habetis."
Tum Demaratus: "Cur nos vituperas, Marce, quod deos interdum
fabulis irridemus?
Sine dubio veri dei ira vacant, et certe bonis iocis gaudent et rident."
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Reading vocabulary you needn't learn:
in (with Accusative): to, towards
scurra: clown

Vocabulary

iustitia

justice

justice

Practise the vocabulary of this lesson by matching it.	

Grammar
As promised in the last lesson, in this lesson we'll deal with Ablatives that
are not behind a preposition. Some examples from the text: summa diligentia,
fabulis, ira, bonis iocis.
Let's deal with them one by one and in context. Ablatives always have to
be translated in context. 
First: "templa summa diligentia curamus". Templa and curamus is clear: 
"We take care of the temples". Summa diligentia means literally "highest 
diligence". Now, how can we combine the two? "We take care of the temples
with highest diligence" or, more freely, "We take care of the temples very 
diligently." So we have translated the Ablative as mode, the way we take care
of the temples. 
Second: "deos fabulis irridetis". Deos irridetis -> "You laugh at/deride the gods",
fabulis -> "stories". Logically combined, this can be translated as "You deride
the gods in (your) stories", or "You deride the gods with (your) stories". This
time, there's the possibility to translate the Ablative as a place or means.
Next: "dei ira vacant". Dei vacant -> "the Gods lack/are free ", ira -> "anger, 
rage". Translation: "the Gods lack/are free of anger". The Ablative is there
to show the separation between gods and anger.
Last: "bonis iocis gaudent". Gaudent -> "they are happy". Bonis iocis = "good
jokes". Translation: "they are happy about good jokes" or "they enjoy good jokes".
In this case, the Ablative shows the reason (why the Gods are happy).
Let's summarise this: The Ablative can be translated as:
mode (modalis) - how is something done? 
  e. g. "Laborat summa diligentia" -> he works very diligently.
means (instrumentalis) - with what (with which help) is something done?
	 e. g. "Deos donis placant" ->  they reconcile the gods with presents.
separation (separationis) - without what is something done?
	 e. g. "Dei ira vacant" -> Gods are free of anger.
place (localis) - where is something done?
  e. g. "Colosseo sedet" -> He sits in the Colosseum.
reason (causalis) - why is something done?  
  e. g. "Dei donis gaudent" -> The gods are happy about the presents.
The Ablative case takes the place of the English prepositions in many cases. 
Since there are so many different ways to translate an Ablative (as shown
above), you need to consider the sentence and the Ablative separately and 
try to form the logical connection, as shown above.

Now would be a good time to review translation technique, taking into account the new
grammar you have learned since lesson 7, especially the Ablative. 


Exercise
Translate these sentences:
1. Femina cum amicis templum intrat.
2. Sacrificio deam placant.
In both cases, you could translate the Ablative with "with".
What is the difference between these Ablatives?

A mosaic of Roman theatre, that did not "ridicule" the gods.

Exercise answers:
1. The woman enters the temple with (her) friends.
2. They reconcile the goddess with a sacrifice.
In the first sentence, the Ablative is modalis, describing the way she enters.
In the second sentence, the Ablative is instrumentalis, describing with which
  means they reconcile the goddess.