Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #186: One last look at deponent verbs

The focus for today's lesson is one final look at deponent verbs, the sneaky verbs that look passive but which are active in meaning, often taking accusative objects of their own — you'll see quite a few accusative objects in the sayings for today. And note: while this is the last lesson focused on deponent verbs, you'll be seeing lots more deponent verbs going forward; some of these deponent verbs are amongst the most commonly used verbs in Latin.

As usual, start with this slideshow (including cats) to review all the words you have seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Rex tuetur legem et lex tuetur ius.
(The) king defends (the) law and (the) law defends justice.
rex tu-E-tur legem et lex tu-E-tur ius.

You know all the words in this saying already!

The deponent verb here is tuetur, and it takes a direct object: legem is the accusative form of lex, and ius is the accusative form of ius (remember: neuter nouns are sneaky, because the nominative and accusative forms are always identical).

So, provided that the king defends the law then the king is also defending justice... but not all kings defend the law, unfortunately. Or would-be kings, like we have in the U.S. at the moment.

2. Legem nocens veretur, fortunam innocens.
(The) wrong-doer fears (the) law; (the) innocent (person) fears luck.
legem nocens ve-RE-tur, for-TU-nam IN-nocens.

The only new word in this sentence is innocens, "innocent," which is being used substantively as a noun here: "(an) innocent (person)." And while the adjective is new, you already know the related noun: innocentia. The adjective nocens, "doing harm, doing wrong," is also being used substantively as a noun here: "wrongdoer."

The verb veretur is deponent, and it also takes a direct object: legem is again the accusative form of lex, while fortunam is the accusative form of fortuna. The verb is implied in the second part of the saying: fortunam (veretur) innocens.
This is one of the sayings of Publilius Syrus and, like so many of his sayings, it takes the form of iambic verse: Legem nocens veretur, fortun~ innocens.

The idea is that a criminal lives in fear of the law, while a person who is innocent lives in fear of fortune, specifically misfortune or bad luck, which can make the innocent suffer despite their innocence.

3. Cum sequitur leporem testudo laborat inane.
When it pursues the rabbit, the turtle labors in-vain.
cum SE-quitur LE-porem tes-TU-do la-BO-rat i-NA-ne.

The only new word in this sentence is inane, an adverb meaning "in vain, uselessly, to no effect." This same word gives us English "inane."

The verb sequitur is one of the most common deponent verbs, and it takes an accusative object: leporem is the accusative form of lepus.
This is a saying found in the medieval dialogue of Solomon and Marcolf. No matter what Aesop says about "slow and steady wins the race," we all know that if a turtle tries to race a rabbit, the rabbit is likely to win!

4. Testis in uno falsus, in nullo fidem meretur.
(A) witness false in one (matter), deserves trust in none.
testis in uno falsus, in nullo fidem me-RE-tur.

You have three new words in this saying, but they are all related to words you have seen before: unum is the neuter form of the word you have seen as masculine unus. Likewise, falsus is the masculine form of the word you have seen as feminine falsa. And while you have not seen the noun fides, "faith, trust," before, you have seen the related adjective: fidelis.

The word fidem is the accusative form of fides, and it is the object of the deponent verb meretur.

The word uno is the ablative form of unum, used here with the preposition in, just as nullo is the ablative form of nullum.

The idea is that if someone lies about one thing, you cannot trust them to tell the truth about anything.

5. Columba amat, et quando rixatur; lupus odit, et quando blanditur.
(The) dove loves, and sometimes quarrels; (the) wolf hates, and sometimes flatters.
co-LUM-ba amat, et quando rix-A-tur; lupus odit, et quando blan-DI-tur.

There are two new words in this saying, both related to words you have seen before: rixatur, "quarrels" (deponent verb) is related to the noun rixa. Likewise, the verb odit, "hates," is related to the noun you have seen before: odium.

The word quando here is being used in place of aliquando, meaning "sometimes" or "now and then."

This saying is found in a medieval sermon, the idea being that even a dove can sometimes be quarrelsome, but when it is quarrelsome, it is quarrelsome in the way of doves: that is, not dangerous or deadly, and is easily pacified. Wolves can also surprise you: even though they are driven by ravenous hatred, they might sometimes flatter or coax you... but they do so in the way of wolves, and you should not trust them!

Here's a recap: