Decimus Canus dixit:
Here's a very sensible point from a Boris Johnson article I just stumbled across.
Suppose you are captured by cannibals in the Mato Grosso, and you find a scrap of Portuguese newspaper in your hut revealing that there is about to be an eclipse; and suppose that by successfully prophesying this event you convince your captors that you are a god and secure your release – I reckon you would be thankful for your Latin, eh?
That’s good. Very good.
Numerous reasons for me including:
1. HP Lovecraft used it in his writings (the trivial).
2. Roots was the final impetus (the introspective), but I should have started more rigorously in English.
3. Original texts in original language (the scholarly). However, to not trust the translators seems a circular logic.
4. (The holistic truth of the matter): it is a super-secret decoder ring with pinache…
…that just happens to have huge historical, military, religious, secular, social, fictional, and mystical heritage with a substantial body of extant writings. It is rewarding when I find the occasion where someone, including myself, wonders “what does that mean?” to then pull it out of the bag if only for the briefest of moments. It happens more often than I thought it would.
Its influences persisted long after the demise of its source and has likely penetrated immeasurably into a myriad of other paths on which we may find ourselves someday…including trivialities such as an esoteric reference in a book, a movie, a TV series about the Apocalypse, a grave stone, a work of art, another language, the inscription on a relic in another country, and yes, this forum of a gracious people that share a hobby and wish to bestow their knowledge (si modo causa uvandorum illorum quae volvunt corpores suum notare). A moment here: thank you to this forum’s founders and keepers and participating knowledgeable and helpful students of the language.
One of my hobbies was/is horror fiction – much of what I have read owes tribute for its ideas, directly or indirectly, to the Revelation of John. To have read this work in Latin (what I ignorantly thought at the time as its original language) was and is a thrill. Of course it also has helped me to think more on religion (the other books). Greek would be better for that particular task, but between the two, I am glad I chose Latin since it seems to touch so many paths (and even the Greek is channeled through Latin). E.g., I have recently discovered for myself the link between the founding fathers of my country and Cicero.
When people ask me why I study Latin (usually on a plane where I get most of my study time), I simply say “like some people do Sudoku, I (try to) read Latin.” Everything else sounds either trite or pompous to the non-diver.
Next time, I might try the Cannibals in the Mato Grosso line.