Alexander the Great and the Power of Literature
Magnus ille Alexander multos scriptores factorum suorum secum semper habebat. Is enim ante tumulum Achilllis olim stetit et dixit haec verba: "Fuisti fortunatus, O adulescens, quod Homerum laudatorem virtutis tuae invenisti. Et vere! Nam, sine Iliade illa, idem tumulus et corpus eius et nomen obruere potuit. Nihil corpus hamanum conservare potest; sed litterae magnae nomen viri magni saepe conservare possunt.
Alexander the Great always had many writers of his achievements with him. For at one time he himself stood before the tomb of Achilles and said these words: "O young man, you have been fortunate, because you found Homer, a praiser of your virtue." And really! For without that Iliad, the same tomb could have destroyed both his body and name. Nothing was able to preserve the human body; but great literature is often able to preserve the name of a great man.
??
edits:
edits: could obruere potuit translate to "could have destroyed"? I think this is what the author means, but I am thinking that a phrase "would have/ should have/ could have" would have to be a subjunctive verb??
Magnus ille Alexander multos scriptores factorum suorum secum semper habebat. Is enim ante tumulum Achilllis olim stetit et dixit haec verba: "Fuisti fortunatus, O adulescens, quod Homerum laudatorem virtutis tuae invenisti. Et vere! Nam, sine Iliade illa, idem tumulus et corpus eius et nomen obruere potuit. Nihil corpus hamanum conservare potest; sed litterae magnae nomen viri magni saepe conservare possunt.
Alexander the Great always had many writers of his achievements with him. For at one time he himself stood before the tomb of Achilles and said these words: "O young man, you have been fortunate, because you found Homer, a praiser of your virtue." And really! For without that Iliad, the same tomb could have destroyed both his body and name. Nothing was able to preserve the human body; but great literature is often able to preserve the name of a great man.
??
edits:
edits: could obruere potuit translate to "could have destroyed"? I think this is what the author means, but I am thinking that a phrase "would have/ should have/ could have" would have to be a subjunctive verb??
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