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Sapiens dominabitur astris

 
 
KeithF
 
Reply Mon 20 Mar, 2017 11:35 am
I am struggling to find a "proper" translation of this phrase. It is usually given as "The wise man rules the stars".

But I've seen at least one disagreement, pointing out that "dominabitur" is future passive and "astris" is ablative, so it should read "The wise man will be ruled by the stars".

This is plainly wrong, since, "dominor" is a deponent verb - passive in voice but active in meaning, so "Sapiens dominabitur..." at least means "The wise (man) will rule..."

"Astris" could be either dative or ablative plural , so "to the stars" or "by the stars". I have discovered that a number of deponent verbs in Latin take the object of the sentence in the ablative, but "Dominor" does not seem to be one of them.

"The wise man will rule the stars" should be "Sapiens dominabitur astra" in Latin. My best guess for "Sapiens dominabitur astris" is " The wise (man) will rule by the stars".

As an aside, there is a saying that "The wise man rules his stars; the fool is ruled by them" but I doubt there is a connection!

Can anyone shed light on this, please?
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George
 
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Reply Mon 20 Mar, 2017 04:20 pm
Dominor may take the ablative.
Consider Vergil's Aeneid 6,766 and 7,70.
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George
 
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Reply Mon 20 Mar, 2017 04:25 pm
@KeithF,
"The wise man rules his stars; the fool is ruled by them"
I remember the late great Cosmic Muffin saying that.
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