Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #36: More Third-Declension Genitives

We'll practice some more genitive phrases today, so I'll start by reviewing the genitive phrases from yesterday:

signum pacis: sign of peace
frater mortis: brother of death
latro hominis: thief of man
finis veri amoris: end of true love

Notice that this phrase has the genitive first; because Latin word order is free (unlike English!), the genitive can come anywhere in its phrase:

pacis deus: god of peace

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Damoclis gladius.
(The) sword of-Damocles.
DA-moclis GLA-dius

The genitive Damoclis is from Damocles, "Damocles," an ancient Greek name.

You've seen gladius before in this saying: Fames est gladius acutissimus.

Damocles was a courtier of King Dionysius of Syracuse. When Damocles expressed envy for the king's life of luxury, the king offered to switch places with him for one day. Damocles sat on the king's throne, feasting and drinking, but then he looked up: there was a sword over his head, dangling by a single thread. He was terrified! That was how King Dionysius taught Damocles what it was really like to be king. You can read more about this story at Wikipedia: Damocles.

2. Matris imago filia est.
(The) daughter is (the) image of-(the)-mother.
matris i-MA-go FI-lia est

The genitive matris is from mater, "mother," which you've seen in this saying already: Qualis mater, talis et filia, another saying about mater and filia which has essentially the same meaning as this saying.

You've also seen imago before: Vultus imago animi.

3. Luna oculus noctis.
(The) moon (is the) eye of-(the)-night.
luna O-culus noctis

You've seen luna before in this saying, where it appears in the genitive: Est rota fortunae variabilis, ut rota lunae.

You've also seen oculus in a saying similar to this one: Sol oculus mundi.

The genitive noctis is from nox, "night," which you've already seen in this saying: Nunc nox, mox lux.

4. Virtutis iter arduum.
(The) way of-virtue is steep.
vir-TU-tis iter AR-duum

The genitive virtutis is from virtus, which gives us English "virtue." The Latin word is derived from vir, "man," and in classical Latin, virtus means "manliness, strength, bravery," but in the later Christian Latin tradition, it took on the meaning of "goodness, moral worth."

The neuter noun iter, "way, journey," whose stem is itiner-, which gives us English "itinerary."

The neuter adjective arduum, "steep, difficult," gives us English "arduous."

The image is of a steep uphill climb; metaphorically, it means a journey that is difficult and strenuous. Living virtuously is not easy! If you don't want the Christian connotations of virtue, this could also be translated as "The path to excellence is steep."

5. Militia est vita hominis.
Man's life is (a) war.
mi-LI-tia est vita HO-minis

The word militia means "warfare, battle, a soldier's life," and it is from the word miles, "soldier" (stem: milit-). You can see this root in the English word "military."

You've seen vita before in this saying: Vita est somnium.

The genitive hominis is from homo, a form you saw yesterday: Mors est latro hominis.

These words come from the Latin translation of the Biblical Book of Job. The Latin translation of the Bible is called the Vulgate, and the English translation of the Vulgate is known as the Douay-Rheims translation.

Here's a recap: