48.7 'rogo' inquit 'Agamemnon mihi carissime...'

[Phoebus Apollo]

'rogo' inquit 'Agamemnon mihi carissime, numquid duodecim aerumnas Herculis tenes, aut de Ulixe fabulam, quemadmodum illi Cyclops pollicem poricino extorsit?

Petronius' Satyricon chapter 48.7

I'm not sure how to translate rogo, nor how mihi fits in gramatically. Lots of translations put it as 'pray' or 'tell me', though I think they are paraphrasing it (rather than this is an idiomatic use/set phrase of rogo + dative or something?) - so does it literally just mean 'I ask...', and does mihi does go with carissime ('dearest to me')?

 

[Araneus]

Rogo + numquid occurs a few times in the Satyricon, where direct questions are posed. (Mihi in your sentence goes with carissime). As in ch. 7: "Rogo, inquam, mater, numquid scis ubi ego habitem?" I guess a more or less direct translation of Rogo numquid could be "I ask if/whether...", but "tell me..." is probably a better, more natural way to put it in English. There is no exact equivalent of numquid in English, at least not in the way it is used here.

 

[Phoebus Apollo]

Rogo + numquid occurs a few times in the Satyricon, where direct questions are posed. (Mihi in your sentence goes with carissime). As in ch. 7: "Rogo, inquam, mater, numquid scis ubi ego habitem?" I guess a more or less direct translation of Rogo numquid could be "I ask if/whether...", but "tell me..." is probably a better, more natural way to put it in English. There is no exact equivalent of numquid in English, at least not in the way it is used here.

Thanks, Araneus

 

[Mafalda]

but "tell me..." is probably a better, more natural way to put it in English

I pray thee

 

[Araneus]

A wee bit old fashioned though, but it works as well.