Lucretius III 136-181 | Dickinson College Commentaries

Nunc animum atque animam dīcō coniūncta tenērī

inter sē atque ūnam nātūram cōnficere ex sē,

sed caput esse quasi et dominārī in corpore tōtō

cōnsilium, quod nōs animum mentemque vocāmus.

idque situm mediā regiōne in pectoris haeret.140

hīc exultat enim pavor ac metus, haec loca circum

laetitiae mulcent: hic ergō mēns animusquest.

cētera pars animae per tōtum dissita corpus

pāret et ad nūmen mentis mōmenque movētur.

idque sibī sōlum per sē sapit et sibi gaudet,145

cum neque rēs animam neque corpus commovet ūna.

et quasi, cum caput aut oculus temptante dolōre

laeditur in nōbīs, nōn omnī concruciāmur

corpore, sīc animus nōnnumquam laeditur ipse

laetitiāque viget, cum cētera pars animāī150

per membra atque artūs nūllā novitāte ciētur;

vērum ubi vēmentī magis est commōta metū mēns,

cōnsentīre animam tōtam per membra vidēmus

sūdōrēsque ita pallōremque existere tōtō

corpore et īnfringī linguam vōcemque aborīrī,155

cālīgāre oculōs, sonēre aurīs, succīdere artūs,

dēnique concidere ex animī terrōre vidēmus

saepe hominēs; facile ut quīvīs hinc nōscere possit

esse animam cum animō coniūnctam, quae cum animī

percussa est, exim corpus prōpellit et īcit.160

Haec eadem ratiō nātūram animī atque animāī

corpoream docet esse; ubi enim prōpellere membra,

corripere ex somnō corpus mūtāreque vultum

atque hominem tōtum regere ac versāre vidētur,

quōrum nīl fierī sine tāctū posse vidēmus165

nec tāctum porrō sine corpore, nōnne fatendumst

corporeā nātūrā animum cōnstāre animamque?

praetereā pariter fungī cum corpore et ūna

cōnsentīre animum nōbīs in corpore cernis.

sī minus offendit vītam vīs horrida tēlī170

ossibus ac nervīs disclūsīs intus adāctā,

at tamen īnsequitur languor terraeque petītus

suāvis et in terrā mentis quī gignitur aestus

inter dumque quasi exsurgendī incerta voluntās.

ergō corpoream nātūram animī esse necessest,175

corporeīs quoniam tēlīs ictūque labōrat.

Is tibi nunc animus quālī sit corpore et unde

cōnstiterit pergam ratiōnem reddere dictīs.

prīncipiō esse aiō persuptīlem atque minūtīs

perquam corporibus factum cōnstāre. id ita esse180

hinc licet advertās animum, ut pernōscere possīs.

notes

136-176: The relationship of the animus (mind or consciousness) and the anima (the special particles that bring about life and consciousness). The animus is a special collocation of anima, one located in the chest. Both are composed of physical particles, as are all things in the universe

136: coniuncta is neuter plural, referring to both animum and animam. naturam is here something like "component" (of a human). Further down, Lucr. describes each of the four component parts of the anima as a natura.

138: esse is existential "but there exists a so-called (quasi) head.” caput is used in a figurative sense.

140: media regione in pectoris, the preposition falls between the two elements of its noun phrase object with the whole phrase neatly framed by the modifiers of regione.

141-142: exultat (line 141) and est (line 142) are both singular because their subjects, all singular, can be felt as if they were in parallel clauses. animusquest = animusque est (prodelision).

144: paret here is used absolutely or as a stative verb ("is obedient,") lacking its usual dative complement.

146: The sense must be that nothing else, other than the animus, impels the anima and corpus. Although a reader can infer this meaning from the given words in context, it is tempting to think that una may here be a copyist's error that obscures an original ulla.

147-151: A beautiful and chiastic ordering of thought: quasi cum ("just as when") . . . sic (so) ... cum ("when"); the three main verbs are enclosed by cum temporal clauses.
150: laetitiaeque we might most naturally translate "or" here instead of the "and" that -que often suggests. The idea is the animus can be injured or swell with happiness when the rest of the anima feels no novel sensation.

152-160: When the mind is moved, the anima throughout the body is in turn moved, and we can observe many physical changes in various parts of the body.

152: magis can be taken either with commota est, "but when the mind is moved more by a powerful fear" (i.e., as opposed to the lighter shocks of pain and joy suggested by laeditur and laetitiaque viget in lines 149-50), or with vementi, "by a more powerful fear" (i.e., as opposed to a fear implicit in laeditur in line 149). The former reading seems to better capture the flow of Lucretius' thought insofar as laeditur does not naturally imply "fear,” but rather, at least in this context, any emotion or response that contrasts with laetitita.

164: videtur the subject is suggested by naturam animi atque animai (line 161). Clearly, the mind and animating force seem to do these things.

165: quorum neuter plural, the antecedent being the actions suggested by the preceding string of infinitives.

166: nec tactum porro sine corpore continues the posse videmus construction from the previous line with tactum (esse) as the second complement of posse, along with fieri. "... and we can see see that nothing without body is able to be touched..."

167: corporea natura is ablative of description. constare is stronger than "are,” and perhaps closer to "are manifestly" (compare line 180).

168: una is the adverb meaning "together"

169: nobis is dative of reference. The phrase nobis in corpore is roughly, "in our bodies.”

170: minus "not quite,” the use is the one Lewis and Short call "softened negation.”

172: at tamen marks the start of the protasis. terraeque petitus/suavis is an evocative noun phrase in which terrae is objective genitive and suavis seems to suggest that the injured body longs for the ground. in terra mentis qui gignitur aestus is an example of intricate interlocked word order. aestus is the group's head-word, which is modified by both mentis and the relative clause qui in terra gignitur, the whole being subject of insequitur, as is the next noun phrase headed by voluntas.

176: corporeis ...telis ictuque ablatives of cause. Translate, "on account of. . . "

177-322: The particles that make up the animus.

178: constiterit (from consisto not consto (compare lines 180 and 186)) is here what linguists call a "stative" verb. That is, it ascribes a condition or predicate (unchanging in time) to the subject, rather than asserting that the subject performs a dynamic (changing over time) action. Here, we might translate, "from what source it [the animus] has come into existence.” constiterit and sit (line 177) are both primary-sequence subjunctives in the indirect questions dependent on reddere. constiterit suggests completed action (hence, "has come into existance" from Lewis and Short's meaning "exists" (II. B. 2.)), while sit suggests incomplete or continuing action.

180: constare "it [the animus] is evidently;" this verb is not impersonal. It is one of the two main infinitives in indirect discourse that are dependent on aio (line 179), the other being esse. Both esse and constare have as subject animum (suggested by animus in line 177). factum is then a predicative complement conjoined to animum by constare. "I say that the animus .... is clearly composed of a corporeal substance."

vocabulary

dicō dicāre dicāvī dicātus: to devote, consecrate; pronounce (rel. to dico)

coniungō coniungere coniūnxī coniūnctus: to connect, join/yoke together; marry; connect/compound (words) (w/conjunctions); unite (sexually); place/bring side–by–side; juxtapose; share; add; associate

dominor -ārī -ātus: to be lord or master; rule, reign, be supreme; take possession, overrun, prevail (> dominus)

140

haereō haerēre haesī haesūrus: to stick to, hang on to

exsultō exsultare exsultāvī exsultātus: to be ecstatic, run riot, exult

pavor pavōris m.: fear, trembling

circum: about, around; round about, near; in a circle; in attendance; on both sides

laetitia laetitiae f.: joy, happiness

mulceō –ēre –mulsī –mulsus or mulctus: to stroke; lick; (fig.), soothe, caress, comfort; mitigate, soften, calm; to make harmonious, charm

disserō –serere –sēvī –situm: To fix in the earth at intervals, to plant here and there scatter

mōmen –inis n.: movement, motion

145

sōlum –ī n.: base, bottom, earth

sapiō sapere sapivī: to perceive, discern

commoveō commovēre commōvī commōtus: to shake/stir up, agitate; displace, disturb, trouble/worry, upset; jolt; excite; waken; provoke; move (money/camp); produce; cause, start (war); raise (point)

tentō tentāre tentāvī tentātus: to try, test

concrŭcĭo –āre: torment, rack, torture severely

nōnnumquam: sometimes

150

laetitia laetitiae f.: joy, happiness

vigeō –ēre –uī: to flourish

artus artūs m.: limb, leg

novitās –ātis f.: newness (> novus)

cieō –ēre –cīvī –citus: to cause, to move; stir; agitate, move; excite, kindle, rouse; raise; call upon, invoke; call up, exhibit; of tears, shed

vērum: but indeed, but yet, yet, but

vehemēns: violent, severe, vehement; emphatic, vigorous, lively

commōtus –a –um: excited; moved; upset

cōnsentiō cōnsentīre cōnsēnsī consensus: to agree, consent

sūdor sūdōris m.: sweat

pallor –ōris m.: paleness, pallor (> palleo)

exsistō –sistere –stitī: to emerge, appear, be visible, be

155

īnfringō –ere –frēgī –frāctus: to break in; break; (fig.), to break down, subdue; dishearten, paralyze (> in and frango)

aborior –īrī –ortus sum: disappear, pass away

cālīgō cālīgāre cālīgāvī cālīgātus: to be dark, darken (> caligo)

succīdō –ere –cīdī –cīsus: to cut beneath; cut, sever (> sub and caedo)

artus artūs m.: limb, leg

concidō concidere concidī: to fall down, fall faint, fall dead, fall victim, fall to earth, fall short, collapse; drop, subside; decline; perish, be slain/sacrificed; lose one's case, fail, give out, lose heart, decay

terror terrōris m.: fear, terror

quīvīs quaevīs quodvīs or (subst.) quidvīs: who or what thou pleasest; any whatever, any; anyone

hinc: from here, hence; henceforth

160

percutiō percutere percussī percussum: to hit, strike

exinde (abbrev. exin): from that place; thence, of place; of time, thereafter; thereupon, then

prō–pellō –pellere –pulī –pulsum: to drive forward, drive forth, drive away, drive out

icō and iciō –ere –īcī –ictus: to smite, hit, strike; of treaties or leagues, make, ratify

corporeus –a –um: bodily, corporeal (> corpus)

corripiō corripere corripuī correptum: to seize, plunder

versō versāre versāvī versātus: to keep turning/going round, spin, whirl; turn over and over; stir; maneuver

165

tāctus –ūs m.: a touching; touch (> tango)

porrō: forward, of space, time, or of mental operations, far off; afterwards, in process of time, then; further

nōnne: introduces a direct question expecting the answer "yes"

corporeus –a –um: bodily, corporeal (> corpus)

partier: alike, likewise, at the same time

fungor fungī fūnctus sum: to perform, occupy oneself

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

cōnsentiō cōnsentīre cōnsēnsī consensus: to agree, consent

170

offendō offendere offendī offēnsus: to offend, give offense (to); displease/annoy/vex; trouble/upset, hurt (feelings); strike/knock against; bump into; stumble upon; spoil/harm; meet, find, encounter, be faced with; run aground; violate/wrong

horridus –a –um: rough, shaggy, trembling

nervus –ī m.: muscle, tendon; cord, string

disclūdō –ere –clūsī –clūsus: to open; loosen (> dis– and claudo)

intus: within, on the inside, inside; at home

adigō adigere adēgī adāctus: to drive to, compel

īnsequor īnsequī īnsecūtus sum: to follow after, pursue

languor –ōris m.: faintness, feebleness, weariness, sluggishness, languor, lassitude

pĕtītus –a –um: inclining towards, desire, request

suāvis suāve: agreeable, pleasant, gratifying, sweet; charming, attractive

aestus aestūs m.: heat; agitation, passion, seething

exsurgō –ere –surrēxī: to rise up; rise; stand

incertus –a –um: unsure, uncertain, unreliable

175

corporeus –a –um: bodily, corporeal (> corpus)

dictum dictī n.: word; saying

persubtīlis –e: delicate, subtle, ingenious

minūtus –a –um: small

180

perquam: as much as possible, extremely, exceedingly

hinc: from here, hence; henceforth

pernosco pernoscere pernōvi pernōtum: examine thoroughly, learn thoroughly, become acquainted with