Thursday, January 14, 2016

Gladiator: Are you not entertained?! / Nonne estis oblectati?!

I've seen attempts on the internet to produce Latin versions of some of the classic lines from the movie Gladiator, such as "What we do in life echoes in eternity." I'll eventually venture into all that territory, but I was surprised to see no attempts to render that interesting line, after Maximus has obliterated opponents in North Africa:

Are you not entertained?!

A Latin translation of this is relatively easy.

He's speaking to the entire stadium, which means we need to use the 2nd person plural form of the verb "to be."

He's asking a question which expects the answer "Yes." 

The verb "to entertain," in the meaning "to amuse" is oblectare.

And so, "Are you not entertained" would be in Latin:

Nonne estis oblectati?

The answer is, yes I am, Mr. Crowe. I show this movie to my Latin I class every year. We just finished it today. And I never tire of it. 

Gratias tibi ago, Mr. Crowe. Et Deus te benedicat...


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