Latin course for the Virtual School of Languages

Lesson 30: A second Odysseus

Back to the main page

Text
Haud raro Aeneas cum Ulixe comparatur; nam et hic et ille diu per
undas, per terras periculosas errabat, et huius et illius facta magna et
clara sunt, et huic et illi dea aderat: hunc enim Minerva adiuvare
studebat, illum autem Venus ipsa.
Et de hoc et de illo poetae clari narraverunt: Vergilius de Aenea,
de Ulixe autem ipse Homerus.
Sed hoc interest inter hunc et illum:
Ulixes callidus erat et pugnabat dolis insidiisque, quibus Troia tandem
periit; Aeneam autem pium fuisse et modestia, constantia, disciplina
cuncta mala superavisse constat.
Haec in eo imprimis laudantur, hic factis summa gloria dignus est, quod
et patrem et filium e Troia servavit, quod populo suo novam patriam
quaesivit, quod non dubitavit deorum iussis fatoque parere et ad loca
tacita ipsius Orci descendere, quod ne in extremis quidem periculis
desperavit.
---------------------------
Reading vocabulary you needn't learn:
Ulixes (Abl.: Ulixe): Odysseus, Ulysses
patrem (Acc. of pater): father


Vocabulary

loca, -orum

places, region

Practise the vocabulary of this lesson by matching it.	

Grammar
In this lesson, you'll get to know yet other pronouns (did I mention that there are
way more pronouns in Latin than in English?). But don't worry, these will be the
last ones till lesson 40.
First, the demonstrative pronoun hic / haec / hoc. Its singular forms are rather 
irregular, so I'll give you the complete scheme:

In the scheme, you'll notice several things you already know: the Genitive and Dative
singular is comparable to the Genitive and Dative of is, ea, id and ipse, ipsa, ipsum; 
and most plural forms are formed like those of the regular A/O Declensions. 
The second pronoun you'll learn today, ille / illa / illud, is even more regular, so I'll
just give you the rules:
1. Almost all forms are built as if ille / illa / illud was an adjective with the stem illus, 
-a, -um.
2. Except the Genitive and Dative singular, which are formed like the Genitive and
Dative singular of all pronouns (therefore the Genitive is illius and the Dative illi).
3. And except the Nominative forms (ille, illa, illud). Since there's the rule that the
Nominative and Accusative forms of neuter words have to be the same, that also
means that the neuter Accusative form has to be illud, not illum.
When both hic and ille are used, hic refers to the closer thing/person, the one that
was last mentioned ("the latter").


Exercise
Fill in the right demonstrative pronoun (the former / the latter) in these sentences 
comparing Marcus and Cornelia, then translate. 
1. Marcum et Corneliam comparamus: __ femina, __ vir est.
2. Ludi __ non delectant; __ gaudet, cum Barbatus adversarios superat.
3. Et __ et __ amici Claudius, Titus, Aemilia sunt.
4. Et __ et __ iuvat in theatro fabulas Plauti spectare.

Information on Aeneas
Information on Odysseus

Exercise answers:
1. haec, ille : We compare Marcus and Cornelia. This is a woman, that is a man.
2. hanc, ille : (Gladiator) games don't please her (this one); he (that one) is happy
    when Barbatus beats his opponents.
3. huius, illius : Both her (this one's) and his (that one's) friends are Claudius, Titus 
    and Aemilia.
4. hanc, illum : It delights both her (this one) and him (that one) to watch Plautus'
    stories in the theatre.