Tag Archives: satires

Datophilic Verb Phrases

Verbs Takings the Dative (p7/7)

Datophilic Phrases

Phrases with Corresponding Verbs

There are a variety of phrases that take the dative, corresponding in sense to more basic categories of verbs that take the dative

  • I am on hand to aid Caesar: iuvendī Caesaris praestō sum. (cf. adsum)
  • She will humor his request: precī eius mōrem geret. (cf. mōrigeror)
  • Let us all do favors for our loved ones: omnēs amantibus grāta faciāmus. (cf. grātificor)
  • The dog is only obedient to me: iste canis solum mihi dictō audiēns est. (cf. oboedīre)
  • I held confidence in her prophecy: suō effatī fidem habuī. (cf. cōnfidō)

Indepedent Phrases

Other phrases take the dative according to their own, particular sense

  • The Furies inflict their injuries upon the men: Eumenides eīs damna dant.  
  • This slave did me an injury: hīc servus mihi iniūriam fēcit!
  • They brought the slave to trial: servō diem dixērunt.
  • They set the day of the election: comitibus diem dixērunt.
  • They were told to thank the father: grātiās agere patrī iussī sunt.
  • I am thankful to Pompey: grātiam Pompeiō habeō.
  • I must repay Pompey the favor: grātiam Pompeiō mihi referendum est.
  • There is need of action: gerendō opus est.
  • Children too rarely honor their parents: liberī parentibus rarius honōrem habent.
  • He is given credit: acceptum eō ferre est.

The Poetic Dative

The poets put the dative in numerous places were strict Latin syntax suggests some other, more regular, case

  • Nor would I dare to tear the clinging crown from that highly lauded head: nēque egō illī detrahere ausīm / haerentem capitī cum multā laude corōnam (Horace, Satires, 1.10.48-9) [prō abl.]
  • Scorning Iarbas, and the leaders of other men, whom the rich soil of Africa nourishes in triumph–will you also fight a pleasing lover: dēspectus Iarbas / ductorēsque aliī, quōs Āfrica terra triumphīs / dīves alit: placitōne etiam pugnābis amorī? [prō cum + abl. or in + acc.]
  • She filled the wound with tears, and mixed mourning with blood: vulnerā supplēvit lacrimīs flētumque cruōrī / miscuit [Ovid, Metamorphoses, 4.139-140] [prō abl.]

The Essential AG: 367 n2, 368.3a, 413a

Famous Phrase: prīus quam incipiās, consultō et, ubī consuluerīs factō opus est

[before you being, there is need of planning, and where you’ve consulted–of action!]

Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, 1.6

verbs_dative_7.pdf

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Verbs with Rare Dative Uses

Verbs Taking the Dative (p5/7)

To be honest, I’m not sure why these were offered as a set in Allen and Greenough. There are a few common ties between this or that verb, but nothing to make them a set. The grammar also re-listed studeō, which was already listed on the previous page.

Some of the these verbs have a more common meaning that takes some other case (grātulor, plaudō, probō, excello), but grātificor, nūbō and supplicō are stand-alone dative verbs. 

Verbs with Irregular Dative Uses

  • We will oblige her request: eius postulatiōnī grātificābimur.
  • Let us congratulate the married couple: coniugiō grātulēmur!
  • They will marry the Cretans: Crētensibus nūbent.
  • But who would marry my daughter: sed quī meae filiae nūbat?
  • She approved the dancers: saltātōribus plausit.
  • She convinces the judges: iudicibus probat.
  • The witch refused to supplicate the king: praecantrix rēgī nōluit supplicāre.
  • She surpassed the king in wisdom: sapientiā rēgī excelluit. 

Exceptions and More Common Case Usage

  • Grātulor often takes dē + abl
  • Plaudō, where it means ‘to strike, beat,’ takes an acc.
  • Probō more often means ‘to prove, show, demonstrate or test, and takes an acc.
  • Note the a synonym of supplicō, obsecrō, takes an acc.
  • Excellō also means ‘to elevate, raise’ and takes an acc.

Verb Summary

  • Grātificor, grātificārī, grātificātus sum: to gratify, oblige
  • Grātulor, grātulārī, grātulātus sum: to congratulate, rejoice for
  • Nūbō, nūbere, nūpsī, nūptum: to marry, wed
  • Plaudō, plaudere, plausī, plausum: to applaud, approve, or (w/ acc.) to beat, strike
  • Probō, probāre, probāvī, probātum: to convince, or (w/ acc.) to test, prove, show
  • Supplicō, supplicāre, supplicāvī, supplicātum: to pray, supplicate, beg
  • Excellō, excellere, excelluī, (no passive): to surpass

The Essential AG: 368.3

Famous Phrase:

‘sic solitus: ‘populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo /

ipse domi, simul ac nummos contemplor in arca”

(Thus he [the miser] says, “the people hiss at me, yet at home

I praise myself, and so too the wealth I watch in my chest.”)

-Horace, Satires, 1.1

dative_verbs5b.pdf