# Ego relictus in tenebris, tenebrae factus



## Katerina R.

Hello! I was told that this phrase - "Ego relictus in tenebris, tenebrae factus" - can be read both as "I, having become darkness, was left in the darkness" and "I, having been left in the darkness, became darkness", which would suit me just fine. But I'm not sure - is it simply vague, or is there a mistake in the phrasing?


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## Scholiast

привёт! et ad Forum Latinum, bene venisti Katerina.


Katerina R. said:


> Ego relictus in tenebris, tenebrae factus


As it stands, the sentence is not quite complete (no finite verb), but like Russian, Latin can sometimes omit the verb 'to be', and the emphasis seems clear enough: 'Having been left in the shadows, I have become/been made a shadow'. But would Katerina care, please, to give us a source or context for this saying?
Σ


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## Katerina R.

It's meant to be an inscription for a fictional painting  Is it possible to make this phrase vague enough so that it would have a double meaning (see above)?


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## Scholiast

Greetings again

Ahah. I see. Not much wrong with it then, as it stands. But you may like to consider a couple of alternatives.

First, the character of the fictional painting. If it is a woman, you need to make the adjectives/participles feminine (_relicta_, _facta_).

Secondly, you might like to conjure the wording into a poetic metre, as if it were a quotation from a Latin poet. Here is a stab:

_in tenebris lictus et tenebrosus ero
_
That is a Latin pentameter. Again, if you could tell us more of (even if fictional) the context, it might help.

Σ


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## Katerina R.

Thank you so much! I suppose masculine adjectives/participles will do. I was thinking of something like this: Jay Aheer


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## Scholiast

Dear Miss Katerina


Katerina R. said:


> Jay Aheer


If this is supposed to be a 'terrifying', sorry, read Homer's _Iliad_ instead.
Σ


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## Katerina R.

Rereading Homer is always a good idea, although it has not much to do with Latin, unless I find a Latin translation


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## Pietruzzo

Scholiast said:


> _in tenebris lictus et tenebrosus ero
> _
> That is a Latin pentameter.


But then, you have changed the sentence to future tense, which is not a minor shift.


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## bearded

Scholiast said:


> That is a Latin pentameter


A question by someone whose study of Latin metrics goes back to many years ago:
is the u in 'lictus' short or long? I think that syllable should be long in a pentameter.


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## Scholiast

salve bearded (# 9)

Two points.
(1) it is necessary to distinguish between the length of the _vowel_ and that (metrically) of the _syllable_. And yes, _-u-_ in _lictus_ is a short vowel.
(2) Metrical rules permit, however, 'short' syllables in this position ('in arsi' (!!!)) to be regarded as long for scansion purposes. I'm sorry I cannot immediately supply a reference, but will look for one.

Σ


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## bearded

Salve, Scholiast
Thanks for reminding me of those points I had in fact forgotten - and I once more admire your ability to construct elegant verses in classical languages!


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