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flectere si nequeo superos, A acheronta movebo

English translation: See below

09:25 Sep 15, 2000
Latin to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary
Latin term or phrase: flectere si nequeo superos, A acheronta movebo
from Freud's Interpretation of Dreams
Aden Evens
English translation:See below
Explanation:
It should be just "Acheronta", not "A Acheronta".

It's a quotation from Virgil's Aeneid, Book VII, 312.

A fairly literal translation would be:

"If I cannot bend the Higher Powers, I will move the Acheron"

- the Acheron being the river the dead must cross to get to the underworld (in Charon's boat).

Instead of "the Acheron", you could say "the underworld" or even "the infernal powers".

A slightly more modern rendering:

"If I cannot move Heaven, then I will stir up the underworld."

If you want a poetic rendering, there is a translation of the Aeneid by the English 18th-century poet Dryden, which has:

"If Jove and Heav'n my just desires deny,
Hell shall the pow'r of Heav'n and Jove supply."


Selected response from:

Randi Stenstrop
Local time: 02:30
Grading comment
Though I had found most of this information on the web, there are a couple of additional points I had not found. Thanks for the thorough analysis.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
naIf Heaven I may not move, on Hell I call
Branka Arrivé
naSee below
Randi Stenstrop


  

Answers


33 mins
If Heaven I may not move, on Hell I call


Explanation:
From Vergil's Aeneid, 7.312
"If Heaven I may not move, on Hell I call." (trans. Theodore C. Williams)




    Reference: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atex...
Branka Arrivé
Local time: 02:30
PRO pts in pair: 12
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr
See below


Explanation:
It should be just "Acheronta", not "A Acheronta".

It's a quotation from Virgil's Aeneid, Book VII, 312.

A fairly literal translation would be:

"If I cannot bend the Higher Powers, I will move the Acheron"

- the Acheron being the river the dead must cross to get to the underworld (in Charon's boat).

Instead of "the Acheron", you could say "the underworld" or even "the infernal powers".

A slightly more modern rendering:

"If I cannot move Heaven, then I will stir up the underworld."

If you want a poetic rendering, there is a translation of the Aeneid by the English 18th-century poet Dryden, which has:

"If Jove and Heav'n my just desires deny,
Hell shall the pow'r of Heav'n and Jove supply."





    Reference: http://www.unk.edu/people/umlands/Freudream.html
Randi Stenstrop
Local time: 02:30
Native speaker of: Danish
PRO pts in pair: 24
Grading comment
Though I had found most of this information on the web, there are a couple of additional points I had not found. Thanks for the thorough analysis.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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