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Would anyone be able to help me translate some lines of Virgil’s Aeneid book 4

Hi my teacher did the translation in class but it’s recommended that we know each word individually so we can work it out in the exam. Just need help with lines 285-287
‘atque animum nunc huc celerem nunc dividit illuc in partisque rapit varias perque omnia versat. haec alternanti potior sententia visa est:’

She translated it as ‘and he changes his mind quickly, now this way and now that way. He seized upon different options and considers all possibilities in his mind. This decision seemed preferable to him in his hesistation’ I changed the last sentence to this decision seemed preferable to him as he considered the alternatives.

I just want help know what words mean what like ‘different options’ or ‘considers all possibilities’ or ‘this decision’
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by standardproduct
Hi my teacher did the translation in class but it’s recommended that we know each word individually so we can work it out in the exam. Just need help with lines 285-287
‘atque animum nunc huc celerem nunc dividit illuc in partisque rapit varias perque omnia versat. haec alternanti potior sententia visa est:’

She translated it as ‘and he changes his mind quickly, now this way and now that way. He seized upon different options and considers all possibilities in his mind. This decision seemed preferable to him in his hesistation’ I changed the last sentence to this decision seemed preferable to him as he considered the alternatives.

I just want help know what words mean what like ‘different options’ or ‘considers all possibilities’ or ‘this decision’


It's a bit of a loose translation for my liking. Something closer to the Latin would be "and he divides his rapid thoughts [atque animum celerem dividit] now here, now there [nunc huc ... nunc ... illuc], whirls them in different directions [in partesque rapit varias] and turns over everything [perque omnia versat]. While weighing up the alternatives [alternanti] this idea [haec sententia] seemed preferable (to him) [potior visa est].

Hope this helps!
Original post by Classics_Teacher
It's a bit of a loose translation for my liking. Something closer to the Latin would be "and he divides his rapid thoughts [atque animum celerem dividit] now here, now there [nunc huc ... nunc ... illuc], whirls them in different directions [in partesque rapit varias] and turns over everything [perque omnia versat]. While weighing up the alternatives [alternanti] this idea [haec sententia] seemed preferable (to him) [potior visa est].

Hope this helps!


Ah this seems so much better compared to the teachers even after I confronted her about it she still said it was right but yeh thank u x

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