Hi all,
this sentence is bugging me greatly.
"Videtisne, quos nobis poetae tradiderunt patris ulciscendi causa supplicium de matre sumpsisse, cum praesertim deorum immortalium iussis atque oraculis id fecisse dicantur, tamen ut eos agitent Furiae neque consistere umquam patiantur, quod ne pii quidem sine scelere esse potuerunt?"
I get the gist of what he is saying (i.e: a reference to parricide in Greek tragedy), however I don't understand the syntax of "ulciscendi...sumpsisse" (indirect statement initiated by "tradiderunt"?) nor what function "quod" (causal?) has here.
My attempt:
"Do you see what people the poets have handed down to us as having exacted their punishment on their mother for the sake of avenging their father, [but] although they are said to have done it because of the oracular commands of the immortal gods especially, [do you see] how the Furies tormented them and did not allow themselves to stop because (?) not even dutiful individuals were able to be without wickedness/crime?
oro atque obsecro ut me adiuvetis!
this sentence is bugging me greatly.
"Videtisne, quos nobis poetae tradiderunt patris ulciscendi causa supplicium de matre sumpsisse, cum praesertim deorum immortalium iussis atque oraculis id fecisse dicantur, tamen ut eos agitent Furiae neque consistere umquam patiantur, quod ne pii quidem sine scelere esse potuerunt?"
I get the gist of what he is saying (i.e: a reference to parricide in Greek tragedy), however I don't understand the syntax of "ulciscendi...sumpsisse" (indirect statement initiated by "tradiderunt"?) nor what function "quod" (causal?) has here.
My attempt:
"Do you see what people the poets have handed down to us as having exacted their punishment on their mother for the sake of avenging their father, [but] although they are said to have done it because of the oracular commands of the immortal gods especially, [do you see] how the Furies tormented them and did not allow themselves to stop because (?) not even dutiful individuals were able to be without wickedness/crime?
oro atque obsecro ut me adiuvetis!