morsels of classical translation part 2
all translated by me (nan)
<καί ποτέ τις εἴποι ‘πατρός γ᾽ ὅδε πολλὸν ἀμείνων’> or “and at some point may someone say ‘this one is much better than his father’” Homer, Iliad 6, line 479
pedibus timor addidit alas- ‘fear gave wings to his feet’ Vergil, Aeneid 8, line 224
cum primis se intendentibus tenebris- literally ‘with the first shadows stretching themselves out,’ referring to the beginnings of dusk, as the sun sets. Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 1.57
ingenti percussus amore- literally ‘having been struck through by a mighty love,’ describing the force of the devotion the speaker now holds. Vergil, Georgics 2, line 476
de tenero ungui- literally ‘from her tender fingertips,’ referring to either something temporal or physical, ‘from a very young age’ or ‘with every fiber of her being.’ Horace, Odes 3, line 24
ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἤδη ὥρα ἀπιέναι, ἐμοὶ μὲν ἀποθανουμένῳ, ὑμῖν δὲ βιωσομένοις: ὁπότεροι δὲ ἡμῶν ἔρχονται ἐπὶ ἄμεινον πρᾶγμα, ἄδηλον παντὶ πλὴν ἢ τῷ θεῷ.- But now it is time to depart, for me to die, and for you to live. And whichever one of us has the better fortune is unclear to everyone except the god. Plato, Apology, 42a
use of the verb πάλλω (sway) both to describe Hector brandishing his spear and rocking his son in his arms- πάλλων δ᾽ ὀξέα δοῦρα (6.104) brandishing his sharp spears and ὃν φίλον υἱὸν ἐπεὶ κύσε πῆλέ τε χερσὶν (6.474) after he kissed his dear son and rocked him in his arms
ἔρρε κακὴ γλήνη (Iliad 8, line 164)- 'go away, you worthless puppet,' a taunt that Hector gives to Diomedes.
γλήνη is a strange word choice though, because if we were trying to be very literal, this word means eyeball, and is also used to mean eyeball in one of the most grotesque death scenes in the Iliad (at least to me personally): ἐκ δ᾽ ὦσε γλήνην (Iliad 14, line 494)- 'he thrust the eyeball out.'
The first two quotes are ones I wrote down very early on in my classical studies, and are ones where I'm like wow, yeah, this is why I love doing this. The others touch on this feeling also, but it's just very much true for the first two. They simply take my breath away.
-nan