Lucretius III 819-829 | Dickinson College Commentaries

Quod sī forte ideō magis inmortālis habendast,

quod vītālibus ab rēbus mūnīta tenētur,820

aut quia nōn veniunt omnīnō aliēna salūtis,

aut quia quae veniunt aliquā ratiōne recēdunt

pulsa prius quam quid noceant sentīre queāmus,

* * *823a

praeter enim quam quod morbīs cum corporis aegret,824

advenit id quod eam dē rēbus saepe futūrīs825

mācerat inque metū male habet cūrīsque fatīgat,

praeteritīsque male admissīs peccāta remordent.

adde furōrem animī proprium atque oblīvia rērum,

adde quod in nigrās lēthargī mergitur undās.

notes

819-823: The suggestion that the anima has an immortal nature because it is divine and protected from the mortal condition is rejected. Unfortunately, the line in which the idea was rejected has been lost, but it must have stood after line 823 and contained the apodosis of the condition that began at si forte in line 819.

819: habendast subject is anima extracted from the lines above.

820: vitalibus ab rebus munita "protected from the living conditions", by which Lucr. clearly means the processes of birth, change, death, and decay.

821: aliena salutis "inconsistent with health", a sense in which alienus is sometimes construed with the genitive (as here) as well as with the dative, ablative, and ab.

823: queamus subjunctive because the priusquam clause is unfulfilled. quid noceant indirect question "how they are harmful"; the sense of the line is that some may suppose the blows are driven off before a person could observe their potential to cause harm.

824-829: In contrast to the suggestion of lines 819-823, the anima shares with the body many characteristics of frailty.

824: praeter ... quam (= preaterquam) quod "in addition to the fact that ..."

829: quod "the fact that ...".

vocabulary

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

vītālis –e: pertaining to life; essential to life, vital (> vita)

820

mūnītus –a –um: defended, fortified, protected, secured, safe

omnīnō: entirely, altogether [after negatives/with numerals => at all/in all]

aliquā: by any way, in any direction, any whither

pulsō pulsāre pulsāvī pulsātus: to hit, beat

queō quīre quīvī/quiī quitus: to be able

aegreo, -ere: to be ill

825

futūrus –a –um: about to be; future (> sum)

mācerō mācerāre –āvī –ātum: to make soft, make tender, soften, soak, steep, macerate

fatīgō fatīgāre fatīgāvī fatīgātus: to tire, wear out

praetereō praeterīre praeterīvī/praeteriī praeteritus: to pass/go by; disregard/neglect/omit/miss; surpass/excel; go overdue; pass over

admittō admittere admīsī admīssus: to urge on, put to a gallop; let in, admit, receive; grant, permit, let go

peccātum –ī n.: a fault, error, delinquency, sin, crime (> pecco)

remordeō –ēre — –morsus: to bite again and again; (fig.), harass, torment, vex, afflict; disturb, concern

oblīvium –iī n.: oblivion, forgetfulness (> obliviscor)

lethargus, -a, -um: drowsiness, lethargy

mergō –ere –mersī –mersus: to dip, immerse, plunge, w. abl. alone, or w. prep.; cover; (fig.), involve, overwhelm