Download Summer Latin Revival #4

Summer Latin Revival #4
(From Latin Stories by Groton and May, Bolchazy-Carducci, 1989)
How the Aegean Got its Name
In this myth, a victory by the Athenian hero Theseus is tarnished by the tragic event that follows.
Athenis vivebant Theseus eiusque pater, rex Aegeus. Illo tempore cives regi insulae Cretae
poenas dabant: VII pueros et eundem numerum puellarum ad eum mittebant. Hae miserae victimae
Minotauro suas vitas dabant. Suo patri Theseus dixit, "Hunc malum morem tolerare non possum! Ego ipse
Minotarum non timeo. Istum inveniam et, si potero, meis viribus vincam. Dis meam fortunam committo.
Alba bela videbis, o mi pater, si mortem fugiam." Itaque Theseus se cum aliis victimis iunxit et trans mare
ad Cretam navigavit. Ibi suo labore Minotaurum superare et arte Ariadnae, suae amicae, fugere poterat.
Aegeus suum filium in scopulo diu exspectaverat; nunc navem ipsam sui filii videre poterat. Sed
vela nigra, non alba sunt! Stultus Theseus suum consilium memoria non tenuerat; vela non mutaverat.
Miser Aegeus sine mora se iecit in mare "Aegaeum."
Athenae, -arum--Athens
Velum, I, n; sail
Scopulus, -I, rock
Aegaeus, a, um: Aegean
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Theseus and his father, king Aegeus, were living in Athens. At that time, the people of the island kingdom
Crete were demanding a penalty: the Athenians were sending seven young men and the same number of
girls to there. These pitiful victims were giving their lives to the Minotaur. Theseus said to his own father,
"I can't put up with this evil custom! I myself am not afraid of the Minotaur. I will find it and, if I can, I
will conquer it with my strength. I entrust my fortune to the gods. You will see the white sails, o my
father, if I escape death." Thus, Theseus blended in with the other victims and sailed across the sea to
Crete. There he was able to conquer the Minotaur with his own effort and by the skill of Ariadne, his own
girlfriend, and to flee.
Aegeus awaited his own son on a cliff for a long time; now he could see the very ship of his own son.
However, the sails were black, not white! Foolish Theseus had not kept his own plan in mind; he did not
change the sail. Sad Aegeus threw himself into the "Aegean" sea without delay.
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