Mighty gods, hearken to my curse!

Latin translation: Di magni, exaudite imprecationem meam!

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English term or phrase:Mighty gods, hearken to my curse!
Latin translation:Di magni, exaudite imprecationem meam!
Entered by: Joseph Brazauskas

19:12 Jul 18, 2008
English to Latin translations [PRO]
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English term or phrase: Mighty gods, hearken to my curse!
I'm looking for a Latin phrase that translates into something like "Mighty gods, hearken to my curse!" It's for a fiction story I'm editing, and it's presented as a sort of invocation in the story. You can be a bit creative, as I realize this a pretty specific English phrase. But it gives you the idea.

Many thanks in advance.
BrettMN
Local time: 05:54
Di magni, exaudite imprecationem meam!
Explanation:
'Magni' is a standing epithet of the gods which means 'great, powerful'. Cf., e.g., Ennius, 'Annales', 5.207 Vahlen ('cum magnis dis'), Ibid., 482 ('Saturnia [i.e., Iuno] magna dearum'), Catullus, 53.5 (di magni, salaputium diesrtum!), etc.

'Exaudire' has the force 'hear (favourably)' = 'hearken', as we would say in older English.

'Imprecatio' may mean simply 'prayer' (as in Jerome, 'Epistulae', 130), but far more often it means 'curse, imprecation'.

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Note added at 3 hrs (2008-07-18 23:05:52 GMT)
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Other possible translations of 'curse' are 'maledictum' and 'exsecratio'.
Selected response from:

Joseph Brazauskas
United States
Local time: 06:54
Grading comment
Thank you for your help!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +1Di magni, exaudite imprecationem meam!
Joseph Brazauskas
5Dii potentes, incantationem meam audite!
Luciano Eduardo de Oliveira


  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
mighty gods, hearken to my curse!
Dii potentes, incantationem meam audite!


Explanation:
It's not very creative, but at least it's correct.

Luciano Eduardo de Oliveira
Brazil
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in PortuguesePortuguese

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Gad Kohenov: Maybe even omnipotentes :))
1 min

neutral  Joseph Brazauskas: The best orthography has 'di' or 'dei', while 'incantationem' means any 'enchantment' or 'spell', not necessarily a malicious one, i.e., not necessarily a 'curse'./According to the usage of authors of the best period, as witnessed by inscriptions and MSS.
3 hrs
  -> The best orthography is di or dei according to whom? The fact is that the three were used. I agree, though, with what you said about incantatio, that was the best I could come up at the moment, but that doesn't mean it's wrong.
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
mighty gods, hearken to my curse!
Di magni, exaudite imprecationem meam!


Explanation:
'Magni' is a standing epithet of the gods which means 'great, powerful'. Cf., e.g., Ennius, 'Annales', 5.207 Vahlen ('cum magnis dis'), Ibid., 482 ('Saturnia [i.e., Iuno] magna dearum'), Catullus, 53.5 (di magni, salaputium diesrtum!), etc.

'Exaudire' has the force 'hear (favourably)' = 'hearken', as we would say in older English.

'Imprecatio' may mean simply 'prayer' (as in Jerome, 'Epistulae', 130), but far more often it means 'curse, imprecation'.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2008-07-18 23:05:52 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Other possible translations of 'curse' are 'maledictum' and 'exsecratio'.

Joseph Brazauskas
United States
Local time: 06:54
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 24
Grading comment
Thank you for your help!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sergey Kudryashov
14 hrs
  -> Thank you, Sergey.
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