Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #166: More passives, more datives

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with the passive verbs (-tur ending) and more practice with the dative case (-ae, -o, and -i endings). And here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before; more and more of the vocabulary is repeating!

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Dum aetatis ver agitur, consule brumae.
While (the) springtime of-life is-happening, ponder winter.
dum ae-TA-tis ver A-gitur, CON-sule brumae.

The verb agitur is the passive form of agit. You can translate agitur as passive in English, "is led, is driven," but you can also translate it as an intransitive active verb in English: "is happening," so ver agitur, "spring is happening." The word aetatis is the genitive of aetas: aetatis ver, "the spring of life."

The word consule is the imperative form (remember the imperative?) of the verb consulit, which gives us English "consult." The verb takes a genitive complement, and brumae is the dative form of the noun bruma, "winter." This word has a very interesting etymology: it is a shortening of the Latin word brevissima, "shortest," in the sense of brevissima dies, "the shortest day," referring to the winter solstice! Hence bruma comes to mean "winter."

This proverb uses the seasons of the year as a metaphor for human life, with spring standing for youth and winter standing for old age.

2. Amare et sapere vix deo conceditur.
To-love and to-be-wise barely is-allowed to-a-god.
a-MA-re et SA-pere vix deo con-CE-ditur.

The verb conceditur, "is yielded, is allowed" is the passive form of concedit, which gives us English "concede" and also "concession." The verb has two subjects, amare and sapere. Even though these are two different infinitives, they are treated as one thing, amare et sapere, "to love and to be wise."

The word deo is the dative of deus.

The implication is that if a god can barely manage to keep his wits when he is in love, then it would be totally impossible for mere mortals like us. You've seen another saying about how lovers lose their minds: Amans amens.

3. Non rete accipitri tenditur nec milvo.
(A) net isn't stretched for-a-hawk nor for-a-kite.
non rete ac-CI-pitri TEN-ditur nec milvo.

The verb tenditur, "is stretched," is the passive form of tendit. From this Latin root, we get English words like "extend" and "tendency." You haven't seen this verb before, but you have seen a related word: tensus. The subject of the verb is rete.

The words accipitri and milvo are both in the dative case: accipitri is the dative of accipiter, a 3rd-declension noun, while milvo is the dative of milvus, "kite (bird)," a 2nd-declension noun.

This saying is found in the play Phormio by the Roman comic playwright, Terence. The idea is that the law doesn't persecute the big criminals (like hawks and kites who steal our chickens!); instead, only the harmless little birds are trapped and caught in the net (of the law), even though they have committed no crime.

4. Virtuti melius quam fortunae creditur.
(Something) is-entrusted better to-excellence than to-luck.
vir-TU-ti ME-lius quam for-TU-nae CRE-ditur.

The verb creditur is the passive form of credit. This passive verb doesn't have an expressed subject, which makes it hard to translate directly into English, but you can get the same effect in English by using the infinitive: "To trust in excellence is better than to trust in luck."

The words virtuti and fortunae are both in the dative: virtuti is the dative of virtus, a 3rd-declension noun, and fortunae is the dative of fortuna, a 1st-declension noun.

The word melius is a neuter adjective, and here it is being used as an adverb; neuter adjectives often work like adverbs in Latin.

The Latin word virtus has a wide range of meaning in classical Latin, not just limited to the Christian notion of "virtue." I have translated it here as "excellence," but it can also mean "bravery, strength, courage," etc. The root of the word is vir, so literally virtus means "manliness."

5. Mel nimium saturo muri censetur amarum.
Honey is-considered bitter for-the-mouse who-has-eaten too-much.
mel NI-mium SA-turo muri cen-SE-tur a-MA-rum.

The verb censetur, "is judged, is considered" is the passive form of censet. From this Latin root we get English words like "census" and "censor." The subject of the verb is mel, a neuter noun, and the adjective amarum is also neuter, agreeing the noun: mel censetur amarum, "honey is considered bitter." You haven't seen this masculine adjective before, but you have seen its neuter form: amarum.

The word muri is the dative of mus, a masculine noun, and the adjective saturo is the dative of the adjective satur, "full, having eaten," agreeing with muri. You haven't seen this Latin word before, but you have seen a word with the same root: satur.

Notice how this main part of the sentence, Mel censetur amarum, wraps around the dative phrase: nimium saturo muri.

Of course the honey is not bitter; honey is sweet! But because the mouse has stuffed himself on other food and isn't hungry, he disdains the honey, claiming that it is bitter.

Here's a recap: