Lucretius III 94-135

94-116: Lucr. argues that animus, that which gives human beings (and other sentient beings) sensation, is composed of physical parts spread out in the body. Furthermore, animus is not simply a name given to a property arising from several other parts’ working together, as is “health,” for example. The conception of animus as the cooperative functioning of several parts is called harmonia, a term that should properly belong only to the beauty that arises from the proper inter-functioning of notes in music (see lines 131-135). ]

96: nihilo minus ac (“no less than”) compares esse (line 96) to extant (line 97) “the animus/mens is (esse) no less a part of the body than are (extant) the hands, etc. parts of the entire organism”. For ac where quam might be expected cf. 1093.

97: oculei = oculi

97A: Missing here is a single line, the sense of which must have been “but some people incorrectly argue that. . .” Accordingly, the sentence starting at line 98 is in indirect discourse.

99: habitum quendam vitalem “a certain living condition.”

100: quod introduces either (1) a fused relative construction, in which the antecedent of quod (hoc, or aliquid) is not expressed, the whole clause functioning as an appositive to harmoniam, or (2) a causal clause advancing the remainder of line 100 and all of 101 as a reason for the Greeks’ assertion. Bailey as well as Leonard and Smith consider option (1) the more likely. In both readings faciat is subjunctive because the clause asserts not what Lucr. considers to be objectively true, but what the Greeks’ assert to be true. Grai = Graeci

101: The infinitive vivere, in faciat nos vivere (“brings it about that we live”), makes for an unusual construction. siet = sit.

103: non est tamen haec pars ulla valentis “this (haec = valetudo (line 102)) is not, nevertheless, any part of a person who is well (valentis).”

105: magno opere .. videntur (“they seem to err greatly”). Five times in the six books of De Rerum Natura Lucr. uses variants of this line to disagree with the assertions of others. The adverb magno opere ("a lot") is common in classical writers.

106-116: The mens and corpus cannot form a harmonia, since the one can be sick or suffering while the other is healthy and happy. Furthermore, consciousness, in the form of dreams, continues even when we are asleep.

106: in promptu corpus quod cernitur “the body that is seen right in front of us.” In promptu is an adverbial prepositional phrase meaning “in plain sight.”

110-111: non alio pacto quam si “in no other way than if,” a common expression in Latin for the perhaps more logical “in no other way than when.” Here, si is complemented by forte and sit in line 111 “if by chance”; si forte with the subjunctive is a common way of expressing “as they case may be” or “as it sometimes happens.” cum is temporal. aegri is genitive, singular, masculine of the substantive “of a sick man.”  

113: honustum = onustum. The adjective onustus usually means “weighed down” or “burdened.” Here the meaning is probably either (1) “weighed down (with food and wine),” and hence “sated,” or (2) weighed down (by the exertions of the day),” and hence “exhausted” (so Leonard and Smith).

117-120: The destruction of a large segment of the body does not always lead to immediate loss of signs of life in all parts of the body, as it would were the animus a harmonia.

117: animam Lucr. introduces the anima in contrast to the animus. Here, he describes the individual physical particles that give rise to life, as opposed to the particles that constitute mind or state of consciousness, i.e., animus. Further discussion of the relationship between the two follows at lines 136-160. ut … possis is a purpose clause of the “speech act” variety. That is to say, the clause does not provide a purpose for what is (fit line 119), but rather expresses the reason for the speaker’s saying what he does.

118: sentire “to have sensation”

119: principio marks the first step in the argument, an argument that will be further developed following atque … rursum (line 121)

121-135: The anima is not evenly distributed through the body, for death may follow the expulsion of only a small amount of warm air. Thus, the anima must be especially concentrated in the breath (along with particles of warmth), which therefore has a special role in preserving life.

121: eadem refers to vita in line 120.

122: diffugere is perfect indicative; note the long penultimate -e-.

124: ut hinc possis is a clause of result that follows naturally from a reader’s comprehending the fact described in lines 121-123 (to which hinc points). The noun phrase omnia … corpora (line 125) is subject of habere, of which the object is aequas partis “equal roles” or “functions.” Leonard and Smith point out that this image is taken from theatre performance (L&S page 434). The indirect discourse following noscere has as its verbs habere, fulcire (of which two the subject is omnia corpora), and curare (of which the subject is haec (corpora) line 126).

125: ex aequo “equally”

128: ventus vitalis is the breath, which is taken together closely with calor, the entire concept being treated grammatically as singular.

131: redde “give up,” “stop clinging to”

132: organicos < organicus is a Lucretian word for a musician

133: sive stands alone in a purely disjunctive sense (see Lewis and Short) with a sense like “or maybe.” illam refers to the rem incorporated in the following relative clause, meaning the musicians’ use of the word harmonia to refer to a fitting-together of notes.