It would be good to revive this thread - but I'm now in the beginning of Liber III of De Bello Gallico. This Metamorphoses actually sounds very interesting, though.
I'm early on, in the part where (if I'm reading this correctly) Galba gets attacked by the Seduni and Veragrori. I've been feeling my comprehension ability rise as I read the first two books. I still don't think I could give a word-for-word translation, but I'm almost always getting the gist of the text.I can warmly recommend the third book of De bello Gallico to everyone. It tells the troubles Caesar has been going through in conquering the Bretons. If you follow french politics and the troubles they are having with the Bretons on a regular basis, this book seems very modern! Moreover the cat and mouse strategy of the Bretons is quite amusing. If anyone would like some help in reading this book (or any other from the BG) feel free to ask.
You might want to consider trying exactly this. I found it enormously helpful when I was working through Somnium Scipionis -- not that I set out to translate the whole thing, LOL, but I needed help with a couple paragraphs early on and so I translated what I could from them; and then I just kept going...I still don't think I could give a word-for-word translation
Those are ways to render it into normal English, but the literal meaning of this sort of quod is something like "with regards to which".– The phrase 'quod si' appears, if I am not mistaken, seven times. This 'quod' apparently can have the meaning of 'but, though, now'. This meaning surprised me mightily when I looked it up L&S and in Gildersleeve's grammar.
You got that the wrong way round, gedwimere; it's the history textbooks that complement Caesar's Commentaries.– Overall, it was a very interesting and educational reading, a great complement of history textbooks.
Right, this may suffice for a literal translation, but it's a very vague and wordy expression, which in a less literal translation should probably be rewritten anyway with something more precise, on a case by case basis. It still seems to me that quod is overloaded with meanings: quod the relative pronoun, quod meaning 'because', and now this quod. But I think I will get used to it soon. 'That' in English and 'que' in French are, after all, no less multifunctional.Those are ways to render it into normal English, but the literal meaning of this sort of quod is something like "with regards to which".
It's a very beautiful thought, and very true. Now I feel even all the more motivated to read works of ancient authors.You got that the wrong way round, gedwimere; it's the history textbooks that complement Caesar's Commentaries.
I think you misinterpreted the intention of my post. I wasn't at all suggesting "with regards to which" as a "normal"/"good English" translation, but it was only to explain how the Latin worked. As you expressed your surprise at it being translated as "though", "but", etc., I imagined that you were a bit confused because you thought those were literal translation and you didn't understand how it really worked. But maybe I was wrong to think so.Right, this may suffice for a literal translation, but it's a very vague and wordy expression, which in a less literal translation should probably be rewritten anyway with something more precise, on a case by case basis.
No, I did not misinterpret it. I was thankful (thought it is true that I failed to express it) for your post, which confirmed what I had read earlier in Gildersleeve, that this 'quod' can indeed be thought about like this. You wrote in your post that it was literal translation, not normal English, and I repeated the same, only adding some more ramblings about from how many English words one has to choose when translating 'quod'.I think you misinterpreted the intention of my post. I wasn't at all suggesting "with regards to which" as a "normal"/"good English" translation, but it was only to explain how the Latin worked. As you expressed your surprise at it being translated as "though", "but", etc., I imagined that you were a bit confused because you thought those were literal translation and you didn't understand how it really worked. But maybe I was wrong to think so.