5/26/2023 0 Comments Latin translation affectusA state of body, and especially of mind produced in one by some influence.Ģ. The key word here is “affectus,” which Seneca spelled in the archaic fashion, “adfectus.” My Latin-English dictionary says this about it:ġ. Ego non video quomodo salubris esse aut utilis possit ulla mediocritas morbi.” Nostri illos expellunt, Peripatetici temperant. “Utrum satius sit modicos habere adfectus an nullos saepe quaesitum est. Spock from Star Trek!Īh, but of course, appearances are sometimes deceiving, and occasionally one needs to dig deeper, in this case going to the original Latin: I, however, do not understand how any half-way disease can be either wholesome or helpful.” (CXVI.1)īut hold on! “Philosophers of our school reject the emotions”? Are our critics right after all? It seems hard to find a more clear statement of the idea that Stoics really should try to behave like Mr. Philosophers of our school reject the emotions the Peripatetics keep them in check. “The question has often been raised whether it is better to have moderate emotions, or none at all. Seneca begins by contrasting the Stoic position with the Peripatetic (Aristotelian) one: The last letter I wrote about is XVIII, on festivals and fasting, but I wish to jump ahead all the way to CXVI, on self-control, because it touches on one of the perennial issues faced by prokopontes (and reliably brought up by critics of Stoicism): how to deal with emotions. The project is to eventually publish posts on most (though not all) of the letters. The chance of prosperity and of virtue is not now mine whether willing or not, a man is always liable for Fortune's service.Occasionally I get back to Seneca’s Letters to Lucilius ( I have commented on 11 so far), because they are one of the most complete and organic sources we have about ancient Stoicism. O Fortune, like the moon of ever changing state, you are always waxing or waning hateful life now is brutal, now pampers our feelings with its game poverty, power, it melts them like ice.įate, savage and empty, you are a turning wheel, your position is uncertain, your favour is idle and always likely to disappear covered in shadows and veiled you bear upon me too now my back is naked through the sport of your wickedness. angaria the last word signifies the service (usually in the form of manual work) which a medieval serf was obliged to render to his lord.Īffectus et defectus apparently means willingness and unwillingness: in the translation the concrete has been substituted for the abstract.Ĭordae pulsum tangite lit. Status malus this seems to refer to the instability of Fortune.Įst affectus. Mentis aciemin Classical Latin the words would mean mental perception, but this seems wholly out of place here perhaps feelings, sensibilities, is what the author meant. It is, however, considerably enhanced by the musical setting which Orff has given it. Of the several poems in the Carmina Burana on this subject the following is certainly not the best its vagueness suggests that some expressions may have been chosen simply through the demands of rhyme. The uncertainty of Fortune was a regular motif in medieval literature various symbols and examples of her caprice became commonplace.
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