Lucretius III 711-740 | Dickinson College Commentaries

quāpropter neque nātālī prīvāta vidētur

esse diē nātūra animae nec fūneris expers.

Sēmina praetereā linquontur necne animāī

corpore in exanimō? quod sī lincuntur et īnsunt,

haut erit ut meritō inmortālīs possit habērī,715

partibus āmissīs quoniam lībāta recessit.

sīn ita sincērīs membrīs ablāta profūgit,

ut nūllās partīs in corpore līquerit ex sē,

unde cadāvera rancentī iam viscēre vermēs

expīrant atque unde animantum cōpia tanta720

exos et exanguīs tumidōs perfluctuat artūs?

quod sī forte animās extrīnsecus īnsinuārī?

vermibus et prīvās in corpora posse venīre

crēdis nec reputās cūr mīlia multa animārum

conveniant unde ūna recesserit, hoc tamen est ut725

quaerendum videātur et in discrīmen agendum,

utrum tandem animae vēnentur sēmina quaeque

vermiculōrum ipsaeque sibī fabricentur ubī sint,

an quasi corporibus perfectīs īnsinuentur.

at neque cūr faciant ipsae quārēve labōrent730

dīcere suppeditat. neque enim, sine corpore cum sunt,

sollicitae volitant morbīs algūque famēque;

corpus enim magis hīs vitiīs adfīne labōrat,

et mala multa animus contāge fungitur eius.

sed tamen hīs estō quamvīs facere ūtile corpus,735

cum subeant; at quā possint via nūlla vidētur.

haut igitur faciunt animae sibi corpora et artūs.

nec tamen est ut quī [cum] perfectīs īnsinuentur

corporibus; neque enim poterunt suptīliter esse

cōnexae neque cōnsēnsū contāgia fīent.740

notes

713-740: To understand this argument, bear in mind that Lucr. has previously argued (in book II) that worms (vermes, here obviously "maggots") are born spontaneously, not through sexual reproduction. Accordingly, it seems obvious to him that the rotting corpse of a larger animal is a promising location for the production of worms, for the dead animal's anima is dissolved into constituent parts that furnish abundant material for the worms.

715: ut merito inmortalis possit haberi a substantive clause of result acting as apparent subject of impersonal erit; the subject of possit is an understood anima.

717: sinceris membris: "intact;" obviously the anima has no membra in the way that the corpus does.

721: exos et exanguis both modify copia; exos , exossis (adj. < ex + os, ossis) "boneless" seems to be a Lucretian coinage.

723: privas (animas) .

725: hoc, the subject of videatur, points to the indirect question that follows. est impersonal and existential in the sense of "it is the case," followed by a substantive clause of result (ut ...videatur) in which videatur authorizes the infinitives quaerendum [esse] and agendum [esse]: "... you don't wonder why so many thousands of animae come together where one anima has departed. Still, it is the case that the following [question] seems to be necessary to ask and bring into dispute: whether …." 738 contains a similar use of est.

727: venentur semina quaeque / vermiculorum: "hunt for the individual seeds of the wormettes."

728: sibi fabricentur "construct for themselves" ubi sint = haec corpora ubi sint similar to the fused relative construction: "those bodies where they are found."

731: neque negates suppeditat. dicere suppeditat: dicere is infinitive as subject of suppeditat "to say is not easy."

734: mala multa object of fungitur (often with accusative instead of ablative in Lucr. and early writers). contage ablative of cause, but note the quantity of the final syllable (-ē). eius refers to corpus in line 733.

735: esto quamvis facere utile corpus "may it be howsoever useful." esto (future imperative) < sum.

736: possint relative clause of characteristic.

738: utqui an emphatic form of ut.

740: consensus genitive singular with contagia "the touches of shared sensation."

vocabulary

quāpropter: for what, wherefore, why; therefore

nātālis –e: of or belonging to one's birth, birth–, natal

prīvō prīvāre prīvāvī prīvātus: to deprive of

expers expertis: lacking

sēmen sēmenis n.: seed

linquō linquere līquī: to leave, relinquish; to remain

necne (in Indirect Question): or not

exanimō exanimāre exanimāvī exanimātus: to deprive of life; p., exanimatus, a, um, without breath, breathless; disheartened; terrified (> ex and anima)

quod: because, the fact that, which

īnsum inesse īnfuī: to be in

715

meritum meritī n.: punishment, reward

immortālis immortālis immortāle: immortal, not subject to death; eternal, everlasting, perpetual; imperishable

lībō libāre libāvī libātus: to pour, taste

sincērus –a –um: clean, pure, sound, not spoiled, uninjured, whole, entire, real, natural, genuine, sincere

profugiō profugere profūgī: to flee, escape

cadāver –eris n.: a dead body, carcass, corpse (> cado)

rancēns, -ntis: rancid, stinking, putrid rancid, stinking, putrid

vīscus vīsceris n.: innards, viscera, guts

vermis –is m.: a worm

720

exspīrō exspīrāre exspīrāvī exspīrātus: to breathe out; to expire, die

animō animāre: to enliven, quicken, animate; to endow with, to give

exos, -ossis, m., f. or n.: boneless, without bones

exsanguis –e: without blood; lifeless; pale with terror, terrified

tumidus –a –um: swollen

perfluctuo, perfluctuāre, perfluctuāvi, perfluctuātus: to flow through, to swarm over

artus artūs m.: limb, leg

extrīnsecus: from abroad, from without; externally, extrinsically

īnsinuō īnsinuāre īnsinuāvī īnsinuātus: to embosom; to penetrate

prīvus, -a, -um: each, every individual; single

reputō reputāre reputāvī reputātus: to think, consider

mīlia mīlium n.: thousands

725

ūnā: together, together with; at the same time, along with

discrīmen discriminis n.: division, crisis

venōr venārī venātus sum: to hunt, go hunting; to arrive

quīque quaeque quodque: each, every

vermiculus, - ī m.: a grub, a tiny worm

fabricō fabricāre fabricāvī fabricātus: to construct, frame, build (> fabrica, structure)

730

perficiō perficere perfēcī perfectus: to complete, accomplish

suppeditō –suppeditāre: to give in abundance, furnish bountifully, provide, supply freely

sollicitus –a –um: concerned, worried; upset, troubled, disturbed, anxious, apprehensive

volitō volitāre volitāvī volitātus: to fly around

algus -ūs m.: the feeling of cold

affīnis –e: a connection by marriage or other close relationship

735

contāges -is f.: contact, touch

fungor fungī fūnctus sum: to perform, occupy oneself; to catch

740

subtīlis –e: fine–textured, delicate