Ducentesimum Vicesimum Sextum Latinum Verbum Diei: November 7, 2010
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Christina Wallin
Nov 8, 2010, 3:29:50 AM11/8/10
to Latinum Verbum Diei
Theme for this month: Moralistic words
Just as a warning, the theme for this month might shift slightly, but
in finding this week's word, I just had to highlight it in the LVD.
Many philosophical and religious texts also have been published in
Latin, hence allowing for a wide range of these moralistic sorts of
words.
captivus, captivi
Definition: one taken captive (either literally, as a prisoner-of-
war, or morally, as of anger or lust.)
Sententia: Seneca, De Ira I.8.2
In primis, inquam, finibus hostis arcendus est, nam cum intravit et
portis se intulit, modum a captivis non accipit.
I say, the enemy [i.e. anger] must be kept away at the borders
especially, for when he has entered and has brought himself inside the
city gates, he does not obey a restriction set by its prisoners.
Seneca the Younger was a Stoic philosopher of the Silver Age of Latin
literature who lived from around 3 B.C. to 65 AD. The whole premise
of his work De Ira is that you ought to ward off anger as best you
can, since it is not a useful emotion, and distorts your sense of
reason. Thus, this passage in particular states this with the
metaphor of an enemy: you ought to repel enemies at the border, before
they gain entry to your city and take you captive, at which point it
will of course not obey you at all. I really enjoyed this work, which
you can read in Latin at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Sen.+Ira+1&fromdoc=Perseus:text:2007.01.0014
and in English translation at http://www.stoics.com/seneca_essays_book_1.html#ANGER1.
This word was often used by Stoic philosophers and Christian writers
with words like irae, “of anger,” and libidinis, “of lust,” and even
diabolis, “of the devil,” which caused the word to be connected with
wickedness. It was in fact associated with this concept to such an
extent that one French word for “wicked” is “chetif,” a descendant of
today's word. (Thanks go to "Latin Alive," by Joseph Solodow, for
this word, like many others previously featured in the LVD!)
Just as a warning, the theme for this month might shift slightly, but
in finding this week's word, I just had to highlight it in the LVD.
Many philosophical and religious texts also have been published in
Latin, hence allowing for a wide range of these moralistic sorts of
words.
captivus, captivi
Definition: one taken captive (either literally, as a prisoner-of-
war, or morally, as of anger or lust.)
Sententia: Seneca, De Ira I.8.2
In primis, inquam, finibus hostis arcendus est, nam cum intravit et
portis se intulit, modum a captivis non accipit.
I say, the enemy [i.e. anger] must be kept away at the borders
especially, for when he has entered and has brought himself inside the
city gates, he does not obey a restriction set by its prisoners.
Seneca the Younger was a Stoic philosopher of the Silver Age of Latin
literature who lived from around 3 B.C. to 65 AD. The whole premise
of his work De Ira is that you ought to ward off anger as best you
can, since it is not a useful emotion, and distorts your sense of
reason. Thus, this passage in particular states this with the
metaphor of an enemy: you ought to repel enemies at the border, before
they gain entry to your city and take you captive, at which point it
will of course not obey you at all. I really enjoyed this work, which
you can read in Latin at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Sen.+Ira+1&fromdoc=Perseus:text:2007.01.0014
and in English translation at http://www.stoics.com/seneca_essays_book_1.html#ANGER1.
This word was often used by Stoic philosophers and Christian writers
with words like irae, “of anger,” and libidinis, “of lust,” and even
diabolis, “of the devil,” which caused the word to be connected with
wickedness. It was in fact associated with this concept to such an
extent that one French word for “wicked” is “chetif,” a descendant of
today's word. (Thanks go to "Latin Alive," by Joseph Solodow, for
this word, like many others previously featured in the LVD!)
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