Thanks to the many of you that responded. Several had context and translations.
I was pleased to see that the "context" responses for the most part were
from library people!
I'm sorry for not posting sooner- our staff is cut in half this year due to
budgets.
** A student asked me what the dedication in Michael Scott's The Magician
meant : Hoc opus, hic labor est)**
It is a quote from Virgil's Aeneid. It is the last line of four in the quote:
THE LATIN -
Facilis descensus Averno;
Noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis;
Sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras,
Hoc opus, hic labor est.
THE ENGLISH -
The descent to hell is easy;
Dis's* gates lies open night and day;
but to retrace your steps and to escape to the air above,
this is the work, this is the task.
* Dis is another name for Pluto (god of the Underworld)
Essentially, the author is using this line to set the background for his
story... he is preparing to lay out his 'Gordian Knot" for the reader and then
have his characters work on its solution.
********************************************************************
It is a quotation from Vergil's Aeneid (VIII). Aeneas needs to visit the land of
the dead, to speak to his father Anchises. He finds getting to Hades easier than
he had expected.
But when Aeneas tries to escape from Death, he finds this is much more
difficult:
The way down to Hell is easy, the doors of Death stand open night and day. But
to retrace one's steps, to find one's way back to where they breathe air - that
is the problem, that is the hard task.
*********************************************************************
"hoc opus hic labor est “ can be loosely translated as: this is the
problem, this is the hard task.
It is a quotation from Vergil's Aeneid (VIII). Aeneas needs to visit the
land of the dead, to speak to his father Anchises. He finds getting to Hades
easier than he had expected.
But when Aeneas tries to escape from Death, he finds this is much more
difficult:
The way down to Hell is easy, the doors of Death stand open night and day. But
to retrace one's steps, to find one's way back to where they breathe air - that
is the problem, that is the hard task."
You could translate the words literally, but since this is a quote from Vergil's
Aeneid, it would be translated as a whole phrase, rather than word-by-word,
which explains the differences you're finding at the various sites.
******************************
It is a quotation from Vergil's Aeneid (VIII). Aeneas needs to visit the land of
the dead, to speak to his father Anchises. He finds getting to Hades easier than
he had expected.
But when Aeneas tries to escape from Death, he finds this is much more
difficult:
The way down to Hell is easy, the doors of Death stand open night and day. But
to retrace one's steps, to find one's way back to where they breathe air - that
is the problem, that is the hard task.
Thanks again to all of you!
Katherine Mayberry,
Teacher-Librarian
TravelersRestHigh School
301 North Main Street
Travelers Rest SC 29690
kmayberr@greenville.k12.sc.us
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