Lectitō › Fabulae Faciles › Fabulae Faciles: Hercules
Fabulae Faciles 45
The golden apples
Ritchie, Fabulae Faciles: Hercules. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
Tap any word for its meaning and grammar, save words to review, and track your reading.
Read in Lectitō45.1Eurystheus postquam bovēs Gēryonis accēpit, labōrem ūndecimum Herculī imposuit, graviōrem quam quōs suprā narrāvimus.
After Eurystheus received the oxen of Geryon, he set Hercules an eleventh labor, heavier than those which we have told above.
45.2Mandāvit enim eī ut aurea pōma ex hortō Hesperidum auferret.
For he ordered him to bring away the golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides.
45.3Hesperidēs autem nymphae erant quaedam fōrmā praestantissimā, quae in terrā longinquā habitābant, et quibus aurea quaedam pōma ā Iūnōne commissa erant.
The Hesperides were certain nymphs of outstanding beauty, who lived in a distant land, and to whom certain golden apples had been entrusted by Juno.
Note. fōrmā praestantissimā: ablative of description, 'of outstanding beauty'.
45.4Multī hominēs aurī cupiditāte inductī haec pōma auferre iam anteā cōnātī erant.
Many men, led on by greed for gold, had already tried to carry off these apples.
45.5Rēs tamen difficillima erat, namque hortus in quō pōma erant mūrō ingentī undique circumdatus erat; praetereā dracō quīdam cui centum erant capita portam hortī dīligenter custōdiēbat.
But the task was very difficult, for the garden in which the apples were was surrounded on all sides by a huge wall; besides this, a certain dragon which had a hundred heads carefully guarded the gate of the garden.
Note. cui centum erant capita: dative of possession, 'which had a hundred heads'.
45.6Opus igitur quod Eurystheus Herculī imperāverat erat summae difficultātis, nōn modo ob causās quās memorāvimus, sed etiam quod Herculēs omnīnō ignōrābat quō in locō hortus ille situs esset.
So the work which Eurystheus had ordered Hercules to do was of the greatest difficulty, not only for the reasons which we have mentioned, but also because Hercules had no idea where that garden was situated.
Vocabulary
| postquam, conj. | later than, after, when |
| bōs, bovis, gen. plur. boum, dat. and abl. plur. bōbus, m. and f. | ox, bull, cow |
| accipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | take to oneself, receive, accept; hear; suffer |
| labor, -ōris, m. | labor, toil |
| ūndecimus, -a, -um | eleventh |
| impōnō, -pōnere, -posuī, -positus | place or lay upon, impose; embark |
| gravis, -e | heavy; severe, grievous, serious |
| quam, adv. | how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| suprā, adv. and prep. with acc. | above, before |
| narrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | tell, relate, narrate |
| mandō, -dāre, -dāvī, -dātus | put in hand, intrust, commit; charge, command |
| enim, conj. | for |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| aureus, -a, -um | of gold, golden |
| pōmum, -ī, n. | fruit, apple |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| hortus, -ī, m. | garden |
| auferō, auferre, abstulī, ablātus | bear away, carry off |
| autem, conj. | moreover; but, however; now |
| nympha, -ae, f. | nymph |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| quīdam, quaedam, quoddam, indef. pron. | a certain, certain |
| fōrma, -ae, f. | form, appearance; beauty |
| praestāns, -stantis, adj. | preëminent, remarkable |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| terra, -ae, f. | land, earth |
| longinquus, -a, -um | distant, remote |
| habitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | dwell, inhabit |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| committō, -mittere, -mīsī, -missus | send together; commit, intrust; expose; proelium committere, to join battle |
| multus, -a, -um | much, great; plur., many |
| homō, hominis, m. | man |
| aurum, -ī, n. | gold |
| cupiditās, -tātis, f. | desire, longing, eagerness |
| indūcō, -dūcere, dūxī, -ductus | lead in or on, move, excite |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| iam, adv. | now, already |
| anteā, adv. | before |
| cōnor, -ārī, -ātus | try, attempt |
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| tamen, adv. | however, yet, nevertheless |
| difficilis, -e | not easy, difficult |
| namque, conj. | for |
| mūrus, -ī, m. | wall |
| ingēns, -gentis, adj. | huge, vast |
| undique, adv. | from or on all sides |
| circumdō, -dare, -dedī, -datus | put around, surround |
| praetereā, adv. | besides this, besides, moreover |
| dracō, -ōnis, m. | dragon, serpent |
| centum, indecl. adj. | one hundred |
| caput, capitis, n. | head |
| porta, -ae, f. | gate; door |
| dīligenter, adv. | carefully, diligently |
| custōdiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus | guard |
| opus, operis, n. | work, task |
| igitur, conj. | therefore |
| imperō, -perāre, -perāvī, -perātus | command, order, enjoin |
| summus, -a, -um | uppermost, highest, greatest |
| difficultas, -tātis, f. | difficulty |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| modo, adv. | only |
| ob, prep. with acc. | on account of, for; in compounds, to, against |
| causa, -ae, f. | cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of |
| memorō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | remind of, mention |
| sed, conj. | but |
| etiam, adv. | and now, also, too, even |
| quod, conj. | that, in that, because |
| omnīnō, adv. | altogether, wholly, entirely |
| ignōrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | be ignorant of |
| quī, quae, quod, interrog. pron. adj. | what? |
| locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n. | place, situation |
| ille, illa, illud, dem. pron. | that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc |
| situs, -a, -um | placed, situated |