Friday, April 8, 2011

mantic

mantic [ˈmæntɪk] a.

1.) Of or pertaining to divination, or to the condition of one inspired, or supposed to be inspired, by a deity; prophetic (GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English).

Etymology: Adaptation of Greek µαντικός, from µάντις prophet, diviner, literally one affected by divine madness, from root man-.

"And the men who held the land of Apaesus and Adrestia,
men who held Pityea, Terea's steep peaks—the units led
by Adrestus joined by Amphius trim in linen corslet,
the two good sons of Merops out of Percote harbor,
Merops adept beyond all men in the mantic arts.
He refused to let his two boys march to war,
this man-killing war, but the young ones fought him
all the way—the forces of black death drove them on" (Iliad, Tr. Robert Fagles, 1990).

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I know the Iliad wasn't originally written in English, but I think Fagles's translation is worthy of being an exception to the rule.

4 comments:

ExoticBlogger said...

i like this one.

Anonymous said...

I must learn the mantic ways!

Lemmiwinks said...

great background on this

Coco said...

grate read.. nice post!

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