"et te, Caeni1, feram? nam tu mihi femina semper, Meta 12.470
tu mihi Caenis eris. nec te natalis origo
commonuit, mentemque subit, quo praemia facto
quaque viri falsam speciem mercede pararis?
(This is the scene in the battle of the Lapiths vs. the Centaurs, where Caenis, the woman, had been raped by Neptune, who had offered her one wish to try to make up for his act, and she wished to be a man so she could never be raped like that again, and Neptune granted her wish and made her a man. In this scene Latreus insults "him" because of this.)
D. E. Hill's translation:
"Am I to endure you too, Caenis? For to me you will always be a woman, to me you will always be Caenis. And has not your start at birth reminded you, and does it not enter your mind for what act you were rewarded, for what price you have obtained the false appearance of a man?"
Apparently pararis (paraveris) is 2nd person singular perfect active subjunctive in its contracted form, and is supposed to be supplied also to "quo praemia facto" where it is not expressed. But why is the subjunctive needed here? I'm aware of relative clauses of purpose with quo which take the subjunctive, but that doesn't seem to me to be what is happening here. He has in fact obtained the appearance of a man. He now IS a man, thanks to Neptune. So why wouldn't the verb be "paravisti" or maybe "parasti"? Would someone please explain this?
Thanks in advance!
why is this verb in the subjunctive?
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Re: why is this verb in the subjunctive?
It’s standard indirect question.
But how very topical. And how anti-woke!
But how very topical. And how anti-woke!
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Re: why is this verb in the subjunctive?
Wow. I totally missed that. Thanks, Michael!
Though I did think about how relevant this section is to current events....
Though I did think about how relevant this section is to current events....