Dedonus

Fire Emblem: Light's End

@Apollosarcher: Is it alright if I puppet Caroline so that she can heal Marius? Otherwise, I need a post where she heals all of our favorite red cavalier!

Diplomacy: A Game About Friendship

I know that you said that Demosentius botched up his unit distribution, but will his troops show up on the first IC?

Discipuli Magae (Students of the Witch, a Latin language RP)

<Snipped quote by Dedonus>
Just trying to figure out the scansion and then read it in that way. I've learned to talk more-or-less conversationally, if I have scripted sentences to follow. But I can't chant it rhythmically like poetry is designed to be read out loud.

@RomanAria

One thing I found to be helpful was to think of the long's as quarter notes and the short's as eighth notes.

Some tips that might help reading Latin Dactylic Hexameter:
1) The last five syllables (i.e. the last two feet) will usually (but not always) be - ^ ^ | - x (where - = long and ^ = short and x = anything). In all Dactylic Hexameter (abbreviated DH because I don't want to write it out any more. lol), the last syllable can be anything, but you can usually say it long. This is helpful because even if you butchered the first four feet, knowing that the last two feet usually end like ( - ^ ^ | - x ) will make it sound nice at the end.

2) I know that this might not be the most accepted advice from other educators, but when I start writing down the scansion, I usually start with the fifth and sixth feet. As the above states, the last two feet should be pretty standard. While the fifth foot sometimes can be a spondee ( - - ), usually it goes like the above. After that, you can start filling it out. Sometimes, just by getting the fifth and sixth feet done, it gives me a confidence boost for completing it.

3) While translating, look out for where there are elisions in the text. If you can spot them, mark them! That way, you know that you don't have to pronounce a syllable when you are reading the text!

Let take the first line of Vergil's Aeneid.

Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris.

From tip 1 and 2, we know that primus ab oris is scanned like ( - ^ ^ | - x ). Now we already have two of the six feet done!

Now let move onto arma. The first 'a' is long because it is followed by two consonants (r and m) and because the first syllable of DH must be long. The second 'a' must be short because it is short by nature (neuter accusative plural) and it is followed by one consonant (v in virumque) So now we have ( - ^ . | .. | .. | .. | - ^ ^ | - x )

Now that we know that the last 'a' in arma is short, we can safely assume that the 'i' in virumque is short too. The next syllable is long because it is followed by two consonants (m and qu - note that qu counts as one consonant together). So now we have ( - ^ ^ | - . | .. | .. | - ^ ^ | - x )

Now we can do the same thing with the 'a' in cano as we did with the 'i' in virumque. Therefore the 'a' is short. The 'o' is long by nature because the first person present active indicative ending is a long 'o'. So now we have ( - ^ ^ | - ^ ^ | - . | .. | - ^ ^ | - x )

The next part is tricky. Unless you know the length of the 'o' in Troiae, it might be difficult to tell what it is. However, since diphthongs are usually long, we can conclude that Troiae has two long syllables (also note that the 'i' in Troiae is a consonant). Then, since we only have one more syllable left, we can conclude that it is a long as well.

So the final scansion is ( - ^ ^ | - ^ ^ | - - | - - | - ^ ^ | - x )

Discipuli Magae (Students of the Witch, a Latin language RP)

Oh god, not scanning. I hate scansion. Hate hate HATE it. We've been doing a good deal of it this semester, since we're doing the works of Ovid and Catullus and Vergil (in a very censored, school-friendly way, of course.) And... I hate it. Well, our lessons never taught us pronunciation so I can't logic out how words "should be" pronounced.

@RomanAria

Do you hate reading it out load or just writing down the scansion?

Discipuli Magae (Students of the Witch, a Latin language RP)

Wow. @Dedonus, I sincerely thank you for the effort you put into this. I tried to do some reading of Ovid this summer and... *cringe* I'd as soon steer away from most of his stuff. But I will certainly look at the specific sources you listed... I plan on going to the library sometime this weekend anyway.

@RomanAria

No problem. Yes, Latin poetry can sometimes be tricky, especially when the poet uses Greek words and grammar. If you see some random accusative noun that is a part of the body (hair, head, arms, etc.), the syntax is called a Greek Accusative of Respect.

Also, do you know how to scan Latin poetry? The meter of the poetry helps sometimes, especially when it tells you whether a vowel is long or short.

Discipuli Magae (Students of the Witch, a Latin language RP)

@RomanAria
I took the leisure to compile some resources that might be useful.

These are the major sources on Locusta.
Tacitus (Annals 12.66 and 13.15), Suetonius ("Life of Nero", 33 and 47), and Cassius Dio (61.34 and 63.3)

Also, from what I can see, it might be interesting to superimpose Medea's character on Locusta. This link to Wikipedia has a list of the works that Medea appears in. Of all those sources, I would recommend Euripides' Medea. While it is a Greek Tragedy, it probably is the most well known depiction of the character. If you need a link to Euripides' Medea, just let me know, although I bet you could find a copy at your local library.

Other authors you should look at are Ovid and Seneca. Seneca actually has his own version of the Medea. The nice think about Ovid, Seneca, Tacitus, and Suetonius is that all their texts are in Latin, so if you find something in them that you like, you can look up the Latin and try to imitate some sections or descriptions.

Discipuli Magae (Students of the Witch, a Latin language RP)

Yay indeed. I may actually be able to get my CSes up tonight, or maybe not. We'll see.
Also, did I properly use the genitive in the title? It's been since Latin 1 since the last time we translated English-Latin.

@RomanAria

Yes. From what I can tell, it is correct.

Discipuli Magae (Students of the Witch, a Latin language RP)

Which brings me to my #1 rule. DO NOT USE GOOGLE TRANSLATE. None of us learn, least of all you, from using Google Translate, and it would terribly confuse all the other RPers involved, all the ones who may try to respond to your post.
This being said, wiktionary or whatever other Latin dictionary you might use is perfectly acceptable. I'll have to use one for much of my writing.

@RomanAria

There an even better reason why anyone should not use Google Translate. The Latin Google Translate is so terrible at doing its job correct that it is laughable. You are probably better off using a dictionary and a grammar guide than using Google Translate. While it might be able to translate straight forward sentences, it cannot do anything difficult.

Gavisa est certe sublatam Cynthia legem, qua quondam edicta flemus uterque diu, ni nos divideret: quamuis diducere amantis non queat invitos Jupiter ipse duos.

Propertius 2.7.1-4

-Men Cynthia certainly veto the law, which was once delivered each time we mourn, not divide us, although it can not break up the reluctant lover himself, he had two.

Google Translate

Certainly Cynthia was rejoicing that the law had been put struck down, at which, since it was created at one time, each of us mourned for a long time, lest it divide us: although Juppiter himself cannot divide two lovers, who are unwilling (to part ways).

real translation

Does anyone want to try RPing in Latin?

I actually like the idea (if only I wasn't so busy). Latin composition is a good way to help reinforce your knowledge of the Latin Language. If I were able to join (although I probably cannot), I would prefer something set in a mythological setting. It allows for some creative leeway because even in ancient Greece and Rome the myths were not homogeneous. Also, if I had time to do something like this, I would so throw in some Greek words (because every Roman poet loves to be esoteric and erudite).

Also, thoughts on demigod characters? I'm leaning more towards "no" but however you guys want to do it.

@RomanAria

Speaking that Locusta lived around the reign of Nero, I think having demigods would be a little out of place in this setting.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

I'll try to get something up soon. Just finished Spring Break earlier this week, so I have been getting back into the swing of things.