According to the Center for Disease Control, traumatic events are marked by “a sense or horror, helplessness, serious injury, or the threat of serious injury or death.” By the time Aeneas utters these words, he and the rest of the Trojans have already experienced events that evoked a sense of horror and extreme helplessness. The difference between hard times and actual trauma is an important one. While it might be pleasant to look back on challenging circumstances, no amount of time makes it pleasant to recall traumatic events. When high school students look at this line with fresh eyes, invariably, they translate iuvabit as “it will help.” Year after year, I reply, “Here iuvo means ‘please,’ not ‘help.’” Occasionally for good measure I add, “Sometimes you have to look beyond the first entry in the dictionary.” Do we really, though? Some events, however, are never pleasant to recall. Aeneas’ words make perfect sense in these scenarios. When an experience is simply difficult, the passage of time can indeed help us view it in a more positive light. In our vernacular, this phrase is often used to describe situations that are difficult, not traumatic. Judith Hallett’s succinct summary reflects a long and pervasive tradition: “With these words, Aeneas tries to cheer a dispirited band of comrades by the observation that their painful present struggles may well become - over time and through memory - sources of pleasure.” In addition to translations, analysis of the line always focuses on the future pleasantness of the memories. Sarah Ruden (2008): “Someday you may recall today with pleasure.”ĭavid Ferry (2017): “Perhaps there will come a time when you remember these troubles with a smile.” Robert Fitzgerald (1983): “Some day, perhaps, remembering this even will be a pleasure.” Rolfe Humphries (1953): “Some day, perhaps, remembering even this will be a pleasure.” 1930): “Some day it will be pastime to recall this woe.” Theodore Williams (1910): “It well may be some happier hour will find this memory fair.”Ĭ.S. John Conington (1866): “This suffering will yield as yet a pleasant tale to tell.”
John Dryden (1667): “An hour will come, with pleasure to relate your sorrows past, as benefits of Fate.” Thomas Phaer (1550) “To think on this may pleasure be another day.” After all, editions of the Aeneid from “ the most influential Renaissance Aeneid” by Thomas Phaer up through the most widely acclaimed modern editions make this exact same choice: Our instinct to ignore “help” as a viable option and instead translate iuvo as “please” is grounded in centuries of precedent. I know I am not alone in advising students in deference to the scores of translators who have all made the same choice. “Help” makes much more sense and renders this line much less perplexing.ĭespite other options, “please” has become a reflexive choice for readers of Aeneas’ famous speech to his despondent men. The passage was one of the most famous in “The Aeneid.” In Latin it reads, “Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit.”įagles renders this line, “A joy it will be one day, perhaps, to remember even this.” Is it really pleasing to think about a traumatic event? A reason this line bedevils readers is because “please” is only one of the possible translations of iuvo. He got up, knelt on the carpet in front of his file cabinet and pulled out some pages. (Fagles) asked if it would be acceptable for him to read a passage that bedeviled him. In a 1997 New York Times interview, celebrated translator Robert Fagles singled out this line as one that “bedeviled” him: Not only is this line famous, it is also confusing. Even outside of Classics, the line has been widely referenced everywhere from articles about Pirates baseball to the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. They reach dry land where Aeneas tries to lift their spirits, giving a speech in which he utters some of the most famous words in Latin, “forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit” (1.203). ( source)Īfter losing to the Greeks, fleeing their burning city, and wandering around the Mediterranean en route to fulfill their leader’s destiny of founding Rome, the Trojans endure a horrifying ordeal at sea. When Aeneas (with swirled shield) recalls this moment, will it be with pleasure? (From Andreas Rumpf’s “Chalkidische Vasen,” from a lost Greek vase).
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