Monday, September 16, 2019
Accusatives of Exclamation
Dear Mike,
Terence's 'hancin vitam! hoscin mores! hanc dementiam!' is a useful addition to the arsenal, but I suspect that curmudgeons might be loath to part with the spleen-venting interjection 'o' before their accusatives of exclamation. If they tire of hackneyed "o tempora! o mores!", they can always try out:
Eric [Thomson]
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Terence's 'hancin vitam! hoscin mores! hanc dementiam!' is a useful addition to the arsenal, but I suspect that curmudgeons might be loath to part with the spleen-venting interjection 'o' before their accusatives of exclamation. If they tire of hackneyed "o tempora! o mores!", they can always try out:
O miseras mentes! o pectora caeca! Lucretius On the Nature of Things 2.14But then it must be back to Terence's The Brothers (302-304) for the final howl from the bunker:
O curas hominum! o quantum est in rebus inane! Persius Satires 1.1
O rem totam odiosam! Cicero Letters to Atticus 6.4.1
O fallacem hominum spem fragilemque fortunam et inanes nostras contentiones! Cicero On the Orator 3.2.7
Tot res repente circumvallant se unde emergi non potest:Best wishes,
Vis, egestas, iniustitia, solitudo, infamia.
Hocine saeclum! O scelera, o genera sacrilega, o hominem inpium!
Eric [Thomson]
