14
votes
Accepted
How to say "We are waves of the same sea, leaves of the same tree, flowers of the same garden" in Latin?
Actually, despite being "internet wisdom", this quote doesn't seem to appear in any of Seneca's works.
It is likely just inspired by his literary production*, and much resembles a quote by Bahá'u'...
- 4,528
10
votes
Accepted
Quid est differentia inter «opus est» et «necesse est»?
One translation of the Seneca letter you refer to begins to suggest a difference:
Moreover, the precepts which are given are of great weight in themselves, whether they be woven into the fabric of ...
- 16.6k
7
votes
Accepted
What does "illos" refer to in this passage from Seneca?
I would translate literally as 'Feel the loss of those men with [not 'in'] the attitude/frame of mind/spirit/courage of those men themselves' and take this as a compressed way of saying, 'Show the ...
- 20.5k
7
votes
Accepted
Clarifications regarding translation of the phrase "Id agendum est ut satis vixerimus"
Id agendum est…
This is a construction called the gerundive of obligation. Literally, this means "it must be done" or "it should be done"; the "it" here is somewhat ...
- 69k
7
votes
Finding the original Latin text of Seneca ("No tree becomes rooted and sturdy unless many a wind assails it.")
It is to be found in Seneca the Younger, De Providentia (On Providence), book 1, chapter 4, section 16
Non est arbor solida nec fortis nisi in quam frequens ventus incursat
- 11.7k
6
votes
Accepted
Is "Heaven decreed better!" a correct translation for "Di melius!"
It literally means "[The] gods better!": di is the nominative plural of deus 'god', melius is the comparative adverb of bonus 'good'. The verb is omitted and will have to be deduced from ...
- 10.8k
6
votes
Accepted
Translation of "Mors dolorum omnium exsolutio est et finis"
Your assumption is correct!
Moving the words around to correspond to the English word order:
Mors est
Death is…
exsolutio et finis
…a release and an end…
dolorum omnium
…of all pains.
You could ...
- 69k
6
votes
Translation question for a Seneca epistle
It refers back to the basic idea of being always restless, as expressed by eos qui semper inquieti sunt in the previous sentence. So the basic clause in English is 'That isn't industry.' Although we ...
- 20.5k
6
votes
Translation question for a Seneca epistle
I would translate it thus:
For that which rejoices in tumult is not industry.
What may be confusing is the feminine gender of illa: in English (and some other Germanic languages), we'd use a ...
- 20.2k
6
votes
Accepted
Seneca, Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales - Translation Explanation
I think the key here is first to match the participle (really verb in deponent) rati to its subject.
rati cannot be related to humanae (which is also an adjective) as the case and/or the number/gender ...
- 11.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Are “magna” and “maxima” incorrectly translated in these examples? (Seneca Epistula I)
You're generally correct - only the German translation corresponds to the Latin magna pars vitae elabitur [...], maxima... What underlies the other translations is a different manuscript reading where ...
- 6,004
5
votes
Syntax of Ille: "numquam est ille miser cui facile est mori"
In this case, ille is the subject of the sentence: just generically "he", or "that man", or "that person" (since masculine gender is sort of a default in Latin), or even just "the one".
You can split ...
- 69k
4
votes
Accepted
"Extinguat et me, ne manu nostra cadat!"
This is line 174 of the Octavia. From context, the subject of extinguat and cadat is understood to be Nero. (In the preceding lines, the Nurse had traced the trail of blood that led to Nero's becoming ...
- 20.5k
4
votes
What does "illos" refer to in this passage from Seneca?
What if ipsorum is a partitive genitive?
In this reading ipsorum illos means roughly "those of them".
The relevant part could be parsed as follows:
Vide quomodo quisque illorum tulerit et, si ...
- 116k
3
votes
"Extinguat et me, ne manu nostra cadat!"
@cnread's answer is already quite complete. I would only specify that in view of the construction "ne + subjunctive", ne manu nostra cadat means "so as not to be killed by me", or maybe more literally ...
- 4,528
3
votes
Quid est differentia inter «opus est» et «necesse est»?
Well, my understanding is that the difference is pretty much like between "need" and "necessary", so it's not that much of a difference actually, but
"necesse est" is a bit stronger.
- 214
2
votes
Is "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" correctly attributed to Seneca (the younger)?
Seneca the Younger frequently contemplated the beginnings and ends of things and the larger meaning of this in multiple letters and essays.
The given sentence is closest in thought to some of the ...
- 7,453
2
votes
Grammatical analysis of comparative parts (i.e. "tam … quam", etc.)
It's adverbial in both cases. The demonstrative adjective-modifier(?) tam modifies the adverb audaciter, which is the core of the adverbial phrase expressing how you should talk with people; and quam.....
- 20.2k
1
vote
Are “magna” and “maxima” incorrectly translated in these examples? (Seneca Epistula I)
Welcome to the site!
I am reading the Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium by Seneca, both in the
original Latin and in various translations for
comparison/understanding (English, French, Italian, German). ...
- 2,710
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible