From the 38 Latin Stories - The Curse of Atreus

Atreus and Thyestes were sons of Pelops.   Thyestes seduces the wife of Atreus; then Atreus discovers the vice and could not tolerate it.  Therefore, he thinks of treachery against the brother: "I am full of anger!  Therefore, I will kill and cut up little sons of my brother.  Then, I will cook the limbs and will give the dinner to Thyestes."  He kills the boys; Thyestes sees his dead sons on the table.  O, wretched Thyestes!  You now have nothing.  But, O, Atreus, becuase of your great vices, your sons will pay the great penalties.  Your old sins will remain in the soul of your sons;  it will be everlasting.  What ought we to think about your treacheries, O, Atreus?  You could not overcome your anger;  therefore, your fame will always be bad.  A few good men will praise you and your life, but many will blame them.

From the 38 Latin Stories - The Adventures of Io

Jupiter, the king of gods, was in love with beautiful Io, but was in fear of the anger of Juno.  Therefore, he changed the form of Io: "Juno will not see a woman, but a cow," Jupiter was thinking.  Juno was no fool: "Have you got a gift, my men? Will you give the beautiful cow do Juno?  Give it to me, if you love me!"  Therefore, Jupiter gave the cow to Juno.  Great watchman, Argus, was staying with the cow.  Argus had a hundred eyes.  Mercury overcame Argus, but Io was not yet free: a bad gadfly remained with the cow.  Io was through the land; was seen by many people, but was not having her true form.  Wretched woman! Will you always have a form of cow? Is your punishment not enough?

The anger of Juno was not eternal.  Jupiter gave the human form to Io; them Io gave birth to a son.  You will see the hundred eyes of Argus in the tail of a peacock.

From 38 Latin Stories - The Tragic Story of Phaethon

Phaethon is a son of Phoebus.  A friend doubts about the rumour of divine origin of Phaethon: "No one is a son of a god.   You do not have gift of gods.  Your story is not true."  A great anger moves Phaethon: "I am a son of a god!  Phoebus, give me a sign!"  calls Phaethon.  Phoebus hears the boy and flies from the heaven without delay.  "O my son, what do you desire?"  Phoebus inquires.  "Money, wisdom? A life without cares?"  Phaethon responds, "I desire to have reins and drive a chariot to the sun."  O foolish boy!  Bad is your plan.  You ought not desire the office of the gods.  Phoebus warns his son, but boy does not see the great danger.  The horses are strong;  Phaethon is not.  A chariot without true master goes astray in the sky.  What do we see?  Phaethon falls from the sky.  O, what bad fortune!

From 38 Latin Stories - Pandora's Box

My Translation 

Iapetus has two sons, Prometheus and Epimetheus.  Prometheus is a man of great wisdom; Epimetheus is a man without wisdom.  Jupiter gives a beautiful woman, Pandora, to Epimetheus.  Prometheus often warns Epimetheus about Pandora: "O, Epimetheus, you are going astray!  You do not see the danger.  You must not accept the woman."  Epimetheus loves Pandora; he does not think about the danger.  Jupiter gives a box to Epimetheus; he is not permitted to open the box.  But Pandora is curious: "What is in the box? Much Money? A great number of jewels?"  The woman opens the box.   Many forms of evil fly out and wander away!  But Pandora saves the hope in the box.  Even if life is full of evils, we always have hope.


The original Latin text from 38 Latin Stories.

New Series - Readings and Translations of 38 Latin Stories

One of the things that I have wanted to do for long time, but have not manage to do to this day, is going through Wheelock's Latin.  Hence, as a new series of posts, I will try to post works related to my work on this great text book.

To be more specific, I will be posting my readings and translations of the stories from a wonderful companion to Wheelock's Latin - Groton's and May's 38 Latin Stories.  These are abbreviated versions of classic Greek and Roman stories that reflects the grammatical concept learn in each chapter of the Wheelock's Latin.

For those interested in learning Latin, I highly recommend these two books, and hope you enjoy these posts.