Book 1, Chapter 37
Original Latin
80 Fit etiam saepe specie quadam, saepe vocum gravitate et cantibus ut pellantur animi vehementius, saepe etiam cura et timore, qualis est illa
Flexánima tamquam lýmphata aut Bacchí sacrisCommóta in tumulis Teúcrum commemoráns suum.
Atque etiam illa concitatio declarat vim in animis esse divinam. Negat enim sine furore Democritus quemquam poëtam magnum esse posse, quod idem dicit Plato. Quem, si placet, appellet furorem, dum modo is furor ita laudetur, ut in Phaedro Platonis laudatus est. Quid? vestra oratio in causis, quid? ipsa actio potest esse vehemens et gravis et copiosa, nisi est animus ipse commotior? Equidem etiam in te saepe vidi et, ut ad leviora veniamus, in Aesopo, familiari tuo, tantum ardorem vultuum atque motuum, ut eum vis quaedam abstraxisse a sensu mentis videretur.
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the Latin in separate source-only tasks and reviewed throughout against it. Both books, all 130 chapters and 282 numbered sections; no historical English translation used. Latin transcription credited to the Perseus Project under CC BY-SA 4.0, Müller’s 1915 Teubner edition.
80 “Often, too, some vision, the solemn sound of voices, or song gives the soul a more powerful impulse; often anxiety and fear do so, as in the case of that woman,
‘Her heart distraught, as though possessed, or stirred by Bacchus' rites,Remembering her Teucer among the burial mounds.’
“That very excitement also reveals a divine power within the soul. Democritus denies that anyone can be a great poet without frenzy, and Plato says the same. Let him call it frenzy if he pleases, provided he praises that frenzy as it is praised in Plato's Phaedrus. And what of your speeches in court, what of their very delivery? Can they be forceful, weighty, and abundant unless the soul itself is stirred more intensely? Indeed, I have often seen in you—and, to turn to lighter matters, in your friend Aesopus—such fire of expression and gesture that some power seemed to have carried him beyond conscious awareness.
Plain English translation
Complete machine-assisted Plain English translation, made independently and directly from the Latin, never from the Musean edition. Both books and every numbered section; a separate Latin-source model review covered the entire text. No human specialist review is claimed.
80 “Often a certain sight, often deep voices and songs, give the mind a powerful push. Often worry and fear do too, as in these lines:
“‘Her heart unsettled, like someone driven mad or stirredBy Bacchus' rites, she remembers her Teucer among the tombs.’
“That excitement too shows that a divine power exists in our minds. Democritus says no one can be a great poet without frenzy. Plato says the same. Let him call it frenzy, if he likes, as long as it is praised as it is in Plato's Phaedrus. And what about your speeches in court? Can the delivery itself be powerful, weighty, and fluent unless your mind is deeply stirred? I have often seen this in you. And, to turn to a less serious subject, I have seen such fire in the face and movements of your friend Aesopus that some force seemed to have carried him beyond conscious thought.
About this section
Book 1, Chapter 37 is part of On Divination by Marcus Tullius Cicero. This page sets the Latin original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is chapter 37 of 130 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
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