CODEX 3.2
Please make your selection from the above CODEX menu options for Episode 3.2
KEY-TEXT A
Herculēs nāscitur
ōlim Juppiter multās fēminās amābat. Juppiter multās fēminās cupiēbat. Juppiter iam uxōrem, Jūnōnem, habēbat sed tamen multās fēminās amābat.
ūnō diē, Juppiter fēminam mortālem pulchram, Alcmēnam, spectābat. Juppiter Alcmēnam cupiēbat sed Alcmēna erat uxor fidēlis et iam marītum habēbat. nōmen marītī erat Amphitryōn.
mox Juppiter cōnsilium cēpit et Alcmēnam dēcēpit. Juppiter sē in marītum Alcmēnae mūtāvit! Jūnō erat īrātissima ob crīmen Jovis. sed Jūnō Jovem pūnīre nōn poterat. Jūnō tamen Alcmēnam pūnīre poterat. Alcmēnam pūnīre voluit quod Juppiter eam amābat.
Alcmēna fīlium habuit, nōmine Herculēs. Jūnō adhūc erat īrātissima. Jūnō tandem īnfantem Herculem interficere temptāvit sed nōn poterat. Jūnō duōs serpentēs ad īnfantem Herculem mīsit. Herculēs serpentēs rapuit et eōs strangulāvit. Herculēs perīculum nōn timēbat. Herculēs erat fortis!
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mox Herculēs erat iuvenis fortis. Herculēs contrā multōs hostēs pugnāvit. Herculēs quoque uxōrem habēbat. nōmen uxōris erat Megara. Herculēs quoque fīliōs habēbat et erat laetus. Jūnō Herculem spectābat et adhūc Herculem pūnīre voluit. Jūnō adhūc īrātissima erat quod Juppiter Alcmēnam amābat. Jūnō cōnsilium cēpit.
Jūnō furōrem ad Herculem mīsit et Herculēs furōrem accēpit. uxōrem et fīliōs interfēcit. Herculēs tunc ad vātem in Delphīs fūgit quod Herculēs auxilium Apollinis voluit. vātēs Apollinī dīcere poterat.
vātēs dīxit, “Herculēs, deī sunt īrātī quod familiam tuam interfēcistī. ergō necesse est tibi duodecim labōrēs cōnficere. ad rēgem Eurystheum īre dēbēs. Eurystheus tibi labōrēs dabit.” itaque Herculēs ad rēgem Eurystheum iit.
Visual Walkthrough
KEY-TEXT B
Mūrī Trōiae
ōlim Apollō et Neptūnus vīdērunt Lāomedontem. Lāomedon erat rēx et aedificābat mūrōs magnōs. hī mūrī erant circā suam urbem. haec urbs erat Trōia.
labor erat difficilis atque Apollō et Neptūnus dēsīderāvērunt adiuvāre Lāomedontem. Lāomedon erat fessus et nōn dēsīderābat labōrāre. illī deī mūtāvērunt sē in hominēs et ad Lāomedontem vēnērunt. Lāomedon dīxit, “ō hominēs bonī, adiuvāte mē! habeō multam pecūniam et labor est difficilis!”
Apollō et Neptūnus mōvērunt magna saxa et aedificāvērunt mūrōs magnōs. Lāomedon tamen nōn dēsīderābat dāre pecūniam Apollinī Neptūnōque.
atque Apollō et Neptūnus mīsērunt mōnstrum ad Trōiam. ōrāculum dīxit, “Lāomedon dēbet sacrificāre suam fīliam!” Lāomedon tamen nōn dēsīderābat sacrificāre suam fīliam. Lāomedon rogāvit, “ubī sunt hērōes? habeō equōs immortālēs!”
Herculēs advēnit, contrā mōnstrum pugnāvit, et servāvit fīliam Lāomedontis. Lāomedon tamen nōn dēsīderābat dāre equōs immortālēs Herculī.
atque Herculēs interfēcit Lāomedontem. modo ūnus fīlius Lāomedontis mānsit. hic fīlius erat Priamus. nunc Priamus erat rēx Trōiae.
Visual Walkthrough
KEY-TEXT: FABULA HERCULIS
Fabula Herculis
Labōrēs I-III
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ōrāculum Herculem ad Eurystheum mīsit. nunc necesse erat Herculī labōrēs prō rēge agere. rēx Eurystheus dīxit, “Herculēs, mihi duodecim labōrēs cōnficere dēbēs. necesse est tibi Nemeaeum leōnem interficere et mihi pellem suam dāre.”
Herculēs ad leōnem ambulāvit et leōnem magnum spectāvit. Herculēs temptāvit sagittās ad leōnem ēmittere. ēheu! sagittae leōnem nōn vulnerāvērunt! Herculēs nunc erat cōnfūsus. nūllum tēlum trānsfīgere pellem leōnis poterat!
Herculēs igitur cōnsilium cēpit. baculum in manū dextrā tenēbat et caput leōnis verberābat. Nemeaeus leō erat cōnfūsus, et tum Herculēs in tergum saliit. leō edere Herculem nōn poterat! tum Herculēs leōnem strangulāvit. Herculēs nunc erat vīctor!
Herculēs leōnem ad Eurystheum portāvit, sed rēx Eurystheus erat territus! rēx ā Hercule fūgit, et Herculēs erat laetus quod nunc habēbat novum pallium. nunc Herculēs semper pellem leōnis gerēbat, et pellis Herculem dēfendere poterat.
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mox Eurystheus revēnit et dīxit, “Herculēs, nunc Lernaeam hydram interficere dēbēs. Lernaea hydra multa capita habet. hydra quoque est venēnāta.” Herculēs erat territus quod audīvit dē capitibus hydrae. sed haec hydra erat difficilis: ubi Herculēs ūnum caput amputāvit, statim duo capita appārēbant. Herculēs igitur cōnsilium novum cēpit.
Herculēs nepōtem suum, Iolāum, vocāvit et facem eī dedit. Herculēs caput amputāvit et Iolāus facem in vulnere posuit. iterum Herculēs caput amputāvit et iterum Iolāus facem in vulnere posuit. tandem Herculēs caput fīnāle immortāle amputāvit atque sub saxō magnō posuit. iterum Herculēs erat vīctor! Herculēs quoque sagittās suās in sanguine hydrae posuit, quod sagittās venēnātās habēre dēsīderābat.
Herculēs ad Eurystheum revēnit. Eurystheus dīxit Herculī, “habeō tertium labōrem tibi. necesse est tibi invenīre et capere cervam Ceryneam. ego dēsīderō cornua cervae quod cornua sunt aurea.”
Herculēs tamen erat cōnfūsus: dēbet cervam capere quod rēx cervam dēsīderat, sed nōn dēbet cervam capere quod cerva est sacra Diānae. multōs diēs Herculēs cervam Ceryneam quaerēbat. Herculēs tandem cervam in silvīs cōnspēxit et sagittam ad cervam mīsit. ille hērōs tunc cervam sustulit et in tergō suō portābat. Herculēs per silvās ambulābat, sed mox Diāna eum invēnit. dea dīxit, “cūr tū habēs cervam meam sacram? sum īrāta!”
Herculēs respondit, “ita vērō, dea. intellegō: tū es īrāta. necesse est mihi duodecim labōrēs rēgī perficere, et ille rēx cervam tuam dēsīderat. ego cervam ad rēgem portābō. rēx cervam vidēbit. tum ego cervam līberābō. ego prōmittō.”
atque Herculēs cervam ad rēgem portāvit et statim cervam līberāvit. Diāna nunc erat laeta. Eurystheus quoque erat laetus quod nunc cervam vidēre poterat.
Labōrēs IV-VI
Eurystheus iterum labōrem Herculī dedit. dīxit, “Herculēs, habeō quārtum labōrem tibi. nunc ad Montem Erymanthum ambulāre dēbēs et aprum magnum vīvum capere dēbēs.” atque Herculēs ad Montem Erymanthum ambulāvit, quod necesse erat sibi aprum magnum capere.
mōns Erymanthus erat mōns altus et nivem multam in vertice habuit. Herculēs aprum petīvit et aper ad verticem montis fūgit. aper autem nōn bene in nive ambulāre poterat. mox aper erat fessus et ad terram cecidit. Herculēs aprum magnum capere poterat, sed ubi rēx Eurystheus aprum magnum vīdit, rēx in urnā magnā sē cēlāvit! Herculēs rīsit, quod Eurystheus erat territus!
mox Eurystheus ex urnā exiit. rēx Eurystheus amīcum, rēgem Augēam, habēbat. rēx Augēās stabula magna habēbat et multī equī in stabulīs habitābant. numquam rēx Augēās stabula pūrgāvit atque stabula erant sordidissima! ēheu! rēx Eurystheus dīxit, “Herculēs, dēbēs stabula magna Augēae pūrgāre! hic est quīntus labor tuus!”
Herculēs erat trīstis quod nōn poterat stabula pūrgāre. Minerva tamen ad Herculem advēnit et eum adiuvābat. Herculēs duōs rīvōs movēbat et multa aqua per stabula fluēbat! nunc stabula erant nōn iam sordida.
tum Eurystheus dedit sextum labōrem Herculī. dīxit, “sunt malae avēs prope lacum Stymphālium. tū dēbēs ad lacum Stymphālium īre et tū dēbēs avēs interficere.” Herculēs erat territus quod avēs pennās ēmittere poterant et quoque hominēs edēbant. Herculēs autem sagittās venēnātās habuit. Herculēs ad lacum Stymphālium ambulāvit et avēs quaesīvit. Herculēs in arbore sē cēlāvit et sagittās ad avēs ēmittēbat. Herculēs omnēs avēs interfēcit et nunc Eurystheus erat laetus. sīc Herculēs sex labōrēs perfēcit, sed adhūc sex labōrēs remanēbant.
Labōrēs VII-IX
Herculēs sex labōrēs in Graeciā perfēcit. tum rēx Eurystheus Herculem extrā Graeciam circum tōtum mundum mīsit. prīmus Eurystheus Herculem trāns mare ad īnsulam Crētam mīsit, quod taurum magnum vidēre dēsīderāvit. Herculēs in nāvem saliit et ad īnsulam Crētam nāvigāvit. mox ille taurum magnum invēnit et celeriter taurum cēpit. ille fortis hērōs ad Graeciam revēnit et taurum Eurystheō dēmōnstrāvit. Eurystheus erat laetus et statim Herculēs taurum līberāvit. taurus magnus ad Marathōnem ambulāvit.
nunc Eurystheus novum labōrem Herculī habuit. rēx Diomēdēs, quī in Thrāciā habitābat, equōs magnōs habuit. hī equī saepe hominēs edēbant! dī immortālēs! Eurystheus dīxit Herculī, “necesse est tibi ad Thrāciam īre et equōs magnōs capere!” Herculēs erat territus quod hī equī hominēs edēbant.
Diomēdēs multōs custōdēs prope equōs posuit. custōdēs erant fortēs, sed Herculēs celeriter custōdēs superāvit. Diomēdēs autem clāmōrem magnum audīvit. Diomēdēs Herculem interficere temptāvit, sed Herculēs erat fortissimus! Herculēs celeriter rēgem interfēcit et tunc corpus Diomēdis equīs dēdit. ecce! equī corpus Diomēdis edērunt, sed mīrābiliter equī nōn iam hominēs edere dēsīderāvērunt! Herculēs nōn iam erat in perīculō. Herculēs equōs ad Eurystheum dūxit et nunc Eurystheus equōs novōs habuit. hic erat octāvus labor.
fīlia Eurystheī, Admeta, zōnam pulchram rēgīnae Amāzoniae cupiēbat. zōna erat pulcherrima antīquaque. rēgīna Amāzonia erat Hippolyta et in Asiā habitābat. omnēs Amāzoniae erant fēminae! Eurystheus fīliam suam laetam facere dēsīderābat. Eurystheus dīxit Herculī, “necesse est tibi ad Asiam īre.” Herculēs amīcōs suōs vocāvit et omnēs hērōes ad Asiam nāvigāvērunt. in Asiā Herculēs et amīcī suī contrā Amāzoniās pugnābant. Herculēs tandem contrā rēgīnam pugnāvit. erat bellum longum, sed Herculēs Hippolytam superāvit et zōnam pulchram cēpit. Herculēs ad fīliam Eurystheī revēnit et zōnam pulchram puellae dēdit. Admeta erat laeta quod nunc zōnam novam habuit! hic erat nōnus labor.
Labōrēs X-XII
rēx Eurystheus iterum erat īrātus quod Herculēs semper labōrēs cōnfēcit. ille Herculem spectāvit et dīxit, “Herculēs, mōnstrum Gēryon vaccās magnificās habet. illās vaccās habēre dēsīderō. necesse est tibi illās vaccās capere!”
Herculēs gemuit et ad īnsulam Erytheiam iter fēcit. necesse erat Herculī trāns harēnam Libycam ambulāre, et Herculēs erat īrātissimus! Herculēs erat valdē calidus et īrātus. Herculēs sagittam ad sōlem mīsit! deus sōlis Herculem spectāvit, Herculem laudāvit, et currum aureum Herculī dēdit. Herculēs ad īnsulam Erytheiam nāvigāvit.
in īnsulā Herculēs canem magnum spectāvit. canis Gēryonis erat mōnstrum et duo capita habuit. Herculēs baculum in manū dextrā tenēbat et ferōciter canem verberāvit. Herculēs canem Gēryonis interfēcit.
Gēryon clāmōrem audīvit et ad Herculem currēbat. Herculēs erat stupefactus quod Gēryon erat mōnstrum horribile. Gēryon habuit tria corpora, tria capita, sex bracchia, et sex crūrēs. Gēryon in manibus trēs hastās et trēs clipeōs tenēbat. erat difficile Herculī contrā Gēryōnem pugnāre, atque Herculēs arcum suum tenēbat. Herculēs tunc sagittam venēnātam ad Gēryōnem mīsit. sagitta venēnāta frontem Gēryōnis trānsfīxit et ad terram Gēryon cecidit. Gēryon erat mortuus.
Herculēs ad Eurystheum revēnit et vaccās Eurystheō dedit. Eurystheus Herculī labōrem ūndecimum dedit. necesse erat Herculī invenīre et rapere māla Hesperidum. Herculēs erat īrātus quod locum Hesperidum nōn sciēbat. cōnsilium cēpit et Nereum, senem maris, quaerēbat, quod Nereus dē hortō Hesperidum sciēbat. Nereus locum hortī Herculī narrāvit.
itaque Herculēs ad hortum Hesperidum iit, sed māla capere nōn poterat. ad Atlantem ambulāvit et dē mālīs rogābat. Atlās, quī mundum in umerīs tenēbat, respondit, “possum māla capere, sed, ēheu, necesse est mihi mundum tenēre. fortasse tū potes mundum tenēre et ego māla capiam?”
Herculēs dīxit, “certē,” et accēpit mundum ab Atlante. mundus erat gravis, sed Herculēs poterat mundum tenēre. Atlās māla ab hortō cēpit, sed nōn dēsīderāvit mundum ab Hercule recipere. Herculēs erat trīstis et nōn dēsīderāvit in aeternum mundum tenēre. Herculēs cōnsilium cēpit et Atlantem dēcēpit. Herculēs dīxit, “ēheu! pallium meum lāpsum est! necesse est mihi pallium meum movēre. potesne mundum recipere brevī tempore? ego mundum recipiam.”
Atlās recēpit mundum, sed Herculēs tunc māla cēpit et ab Atlante fūgit! Atlās erat trīstis quod iterum mundum tenēre erat necesse. Herculēs erat laetus quod nunc māla Hesperidum habuit! Herculēs ad Eurystheum revēnit.
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Eurystheus rīdēbat et labōrem terminālem Herculī dedit. necesse erat Herculī ad terram mortuōrum īre et canem Plūtōnis, Cerberum, capere. Mercurius auxilium Herculī dedit et Herculem per terram mortuōrum dūxit. Herculēs Cerberum superāvit et in tergō suō ad rēgem Eurystheum portāvit. rēx Eurystheus erat territus, sed nunc Herculēs cōnfēcit omnēs labōrēs.
Herculēs nunc erat immortālis! Herculēs nunc in Monte Olympō habitābat.
GRAMMATICA
Operatives, keep your attunement on the nominative plural endings (-ae, -ī, -ēs) and the third-person plural verb ending (-nt) from your last briefing. This module adds something new.
-ba-
So far every verb you have used has been in the present tense: the action is happening now. But not every action is happening now. In this module the Demiurge introduces a past tense called the imperfect tense.
A verb in the imperfect tense describes action that was going on in the past. Translate it as "was ___ing," "used to ___," or "kept ___ing." You will recognize the imperfect by the marker -bā- (sometimes shortened to -ba-) sitting just before the personal endings you already know:
| Present | Imperfect (singular) | Imperfect (plural) |
| ambulat | ambulābat | ambulābant |
| rīdet | rīdēbat | rīdēbant |
| contendit | contendēbat | contendēbant |
The familiar -t and -nt still mark singular and plural. The new piece is only the -bā- in front of them.
erat, erant
One verb hides its past tense differently. The verb esse (to be), which gives you est (is) and sunt (are), has no -bā-. Its imperfect is simply:
| Present | Imperfect |
| est (is) | erat (was) |
| sunt (are) | erant (were) |
You will see erat and erant constantly in your readings. Recognize them as the past of esse: was and were.
For now it is enough to recognize the imperfect when you meet it. Its finer shades of meaning come in a later module.
VERBA
| Latin | English | Part of Speech |
| caput | head | noun |
| locus | place | noun |
| mare | sea | noun |
| tempus | time | noun |
| videt | she/he sees | verb |
CULTURALIA
Operative, you have just walked through the deep past of Troy, generations before the great war the city is famous for. These early myths are worth more than their plots, and the Demiurge wants you to evaluate them: to ask not only what happened, but what they meant to the Romans who told them.
Start with why a Roman cares about Troy at all. Rome traced its own founding back to a Trojan refugee, Aeneas, who fled the burning city and whose descendants would one day build Rome. So Troy's early kings are, in a sense, Rome's own backstory. When a Roman evaluates Laomedon's Troy, he is examining the soil his own city grew from.
Laomedon is remembered as the archetypal oath-breaker. He cheats the gods Apollo and Neptune, who raise his walls, and then cheats the hero who saves his daughter. To a Roman, fidēs, keeping your word, was a defining virtue, the glue of contracts, alliances, and family. Laomedon embodies its opposite, and the myths treat his broken promises as the reason Troy is marked for ruin long before Paris is ever born. You saw this firsthand when he tried to wriggle out of paying.
Hercules is harder to sort, and that is the point. The same strength that strangled serpents in his cradle and completed the twelve labors is the strength that, driven mad, destroyed his own wife and children; the labors themselves are his penance. Romans revered him, with an ancient cult at the Ara Maxima in Rome, as the model of virtus won through suffering. But the myths never hide his capacity for terrible violence. You watched both the hero and the destroyer in a single afternoon.
Of all Laomedon's sons, only Priam survives to rule, and Priam's Troy is the Troy of the war you will meet in the next mission. Evaluating these early myths means holding both halves: Laomedon as a warning about broken faith, Hercules as a meditation on strength and its cost, and Troy itself as the place where Rome's story quietly begins.
ATTUNEMENT
Attunement, Episode 3.2
Preview each exercise, then copy it into your own Google Drive to complete it.
3.2.a - Present or Imperfect?
form · 10 verbs3.2.b - Build an Imperfect Sentence
form · 5 sentences3.2.c - Hidden Sentences (carta collectionis)
collection · 7 items3.2.d - CULTURALIA Comprehension
comprehension · 5 questions3.2.e - Herculēs nāscitur: Put It in Order
sequence · 10 events3.2.f - Mūrī Trōiae
comprehension · 7 questions3.2.g - The Twelve Labors
extraction · 12-labor grid + 3 questions3.2.h - Hercules Ought To...
form · dēbet + infinitiveMemorātiō
reflect · recall your pathA glow from Sextus's villa pulled you somewhere far older than Pompeii. In your own words, set down where the Demiurge sent you and why: what was hidden in the walls of Troy, and whom Jupiter sent to guard it? You struck a bargain with a king and fought beside a lion-skinned hero, and then watched that bargain go very wrong. Who broke his word, and what did the hero do about it?
One boy was left standing at the end. Hold on to his name and what you handed him, because what is buried in those walls is now his to keep.
