DEUCALION AND PYRRHA (PART I) 

The Greeks and Roman had their own version of the flood story. According to theirs, Jupiter, king of the Roman gods, grew angry with humanity because it had grown evil and cruel, and sent a flood to wipe it out. Two people alone were saved because of their goodness: Deucalion and Pyrrha. These two went on to recreate humanity by throwing rocks over their shoulders on the advice of an oracle. This is a rather freely adapted version of that story (the pets have been added and we swapped out the oracle for some sacred chickens. The Romans did have sacred future telling chickens that one did not mess with, but they are not a part of this story, alas.)

Words and phrases in bold are glossed for you below.

Jupiter iratus fuit. Dixit, “Sum iratus! Populus malus est! Feminae et viri mali sunt! Viri iniusti sunt. Feminae iniustae sunt. Viri feminas caedunt, feminae viros caedunt. Non humani sunt. Viri viros vendunt et emunt, feminae feminas vendunt et emunt. Sunt servi et servae. Bella gesserunt. Bella gerunt. Bella gerent. Mihi  non dona mittunt. Aurum non mittunt. Argentum non mittunt. Numquam dona mittent! Meum templum vacuum est. Templa dearum vacua sunt. Fora deorum vacua sunt. Sed vincam! Dei et deae vincent! Nam dominus deorum, dearum, feminarum, et virorum sum.”

Tunc, Jupiter dixit. “Magnum diluvium mittam. Diluvium totos viros et totas feminas caedet. Sed unum virorum et unam feminarum legam et illos duos redimam: Deucalionum et Pyrrham. Deucalionus bonus vir est. Pyrrha est bona femina. Deucalionus humanus semper fuit;  Pyrrha quoque humana semper fuit. Nec viros nec feminas emunt. Nec viros nec feminas vendunt. Advenas alunt. Deucalionus cattum lanatum, Pyrrha catulum bellum habet. Meos pullos sacros amant. Deucalionus et Pyrrha miseri sunt, sed mihi dona mittunt: Deucalionus flores dat, Pyrrha pomas dat. Diluvium mittam sed quoque carinam mittam et Deucalionus et Pyrrha defluent. Boni sunt. Salvi erunt.”

Vocabulary in order of appearance in the text above:

Jupiter: nominative singular of Jupiter (the name of the chief male god of the Roman pantheon)

Dixit: third person singular perfect indicative active of dico, dicere, dixi, dictus: ‘say’, ‘speak’

iratus: masculine nominative singular of iratus, irata, iratum (adj.): ‘angry’, ‘irate’

iniusti: masculine nominative plural of iniustus, iniusta, iniustum (adj.): ‘unjust’

humani: masculine nominative plural of humanus, humana, humanum (adj.): ‘kind’

vendunt: present indicative active of vendo, vendere, vendidi, venditus: ‘sell’

Sunt: When sunt begins a sentence translate it as ‘There are…’

mihi: ‘to me’ (dative personal pronoun)

Numquam: ‘never’ (adv.)

vacuum: neuter nominative singular, agreeing with Meum and templum of vacuus, vacua, vacuum: ‘empty’

Sed: ‘but’ (conjunction)

Nam: ‘for’

Dominus: nominative singular of dominus, -i m.: ‘master’, ‘lord’

Tunc: ‘Then’

diluvium: accusative singular; from diluvium –i n.: ‘flood’

totos: masculine accusative plural agreeing with viros of totus, tota, totum: ‘all’

unum: masculine accusative singular of unus, una, unum

illos duos redimam: ‘I will save those two’

Deucalionus, Deucalioni, m.: Deucalion (a personal name)

semper : ‘always’

quoque: ‘also’

nec…nec: ‘neither…nor’

Pyrrha, -ae f.: Pyrrha (a personal name)

Advenas alunt.: ‘they take care of strangers.’ Jupiter was the god of hospitality and thus was the god who oversaw refusal of the same to strangers, and so took an active interest in this area.

dat: third person singular present indicative active of do, dare, dedi, datum: ‘give’

cattum lanatum: ‘fluffy cat’

catulum bellum: ‘cute puppy’

pullos sacros amant: ‘they love my sacred chickens’

miseri: nominative masculine plural of miser, misera, miserum: ‘poor’

flores: accusative singular of flos, floris m.: ‘flowers’

pomas: accusative plural of poma, -ae f.: ‘apple’

carinam: accusative singular of carina, -ae f.: ‘boat’

defluent: third person plural future indicative active of defluo, defluere, defluxi, defluxus: ‘sail way’

Salvi: nominative plural of salvus, salva, salvum (adj.): ‘safe’