Hi Jason,
oh well, these files are a mess, a random collection of funny
and not so funny stuff... I dislike this one, too, for several
reasons.
1. While "ad astra per aspera" sometimes occurs, the word order
"per aspera ad astra" is much more commonly used. It sounds
much better - not only because it respects the logical
chronological order, but even more so for metric reasons:
"per aspera ad astra" follows a loosely trochaic rhythm
" - | X- (x)- X- " while "ad astra per aspera" has no
discernible metric whatsoever: " - | X- | - X-- ".
2. It doesn't actually appear to be an antique or even medieval
latin proverb but merely a modern invention.
3. According to my latin dictionary, "ad astra" did occur in
antiquity, in a strongly metaphoric sense where "astra = heaven,
immortality, sphere and home of the gods" rather than "stars" -
though the only source cited there is Vergilius, Aeneis:
Macte nova virtute, puer, sic itur ad astra.
literal (hence somewhat misleading) translation:
Blessings on your young courage, boy; that's the way to the stars.
free translation, capturing the meaning and register better:
Go on and increase in valor, O boy! this is the path to immortality.
See e.g. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aeneid
Seneca also appears to use it in the context of a demi-god
(Hercules) interacting with the Olympians.
So "ad astra" appears to be a rather unsual phrase, highly poetic,
suited to heroic legends about gods and super-human men interacting
directly with the greatest gods.
4. According to my latin dictionary, "asper" is a very common
adjective with a wide range of everyday concrete meanings:
rough, uneven, sharp, coarse, gruff, wild, disagreeable,
sorrowful, severe, rancorous, ... and more.
It was sometimes - but much less commonly, it appears -
used as a noun, though usually with a qualification in the
genitive, e.g. "aspera maris" = tempests (Tacitus).
When used alone as a noun, it appears to have a relatively
narrow, figurative, relatively mild meaning of "tribulations,
annoying trouble, misfortune"; translations like "hardship" or
"adversity" appear to exceed the severity of "asper(a)",
making it sound too much like serious emergency and distress.
So a fitting translation of "per aspera ad astra", approximating
the meaning and stylistic register of both parts, might be
"overcoming annoying problems to be elevated immortality"
which sounds, yes, ridiculous.
The word "aspiration" is definitely a blatant mistranslation.
So if you want to keep the entry, i'd recommend
Per aspera ad astra. (Through hardship to immortality.)
because that is probably how it is commonly understood today, with
a weakened sense of "immortality" = "greatness, being remembered
for one's achievements after death", and it is also a compromise
not too far deviating from the actual meaning of the latin words,
even if sharpening "aspera" a bit and weakening "astra" somewhat
to smooth out content and and stylistic register.
I think while the literal translation "to the stars" might work in
a heroic legend, it is quite misleading out of context and ought
to be fixed.
Yours,
Ingo
P.S.
I don't know why i looked at this so closely given my disdain for
these files - but from time to time, it appears i fail to sufficiently
tame my appetite for literature.
> i agree "aspiration" looks like a mistake. i suspect the intention
> was "asperity", which means harshness and rigour. there is a verb,
> asperate, but i think it's a bit obsolete.
"Asperity" certainly matches the *adjective* "asper", but it matches
the *noun* "aspera" much less than "hardship" or "adversity" or
simply "trouble".
> i'm a bit reluctant to just follow wikipedia blindly. i think the
> latin is pural, and "hardships" doesn;t sound awesome when plural.
The grammatical form is unimportant for the translation in this
case. "aspara" (pl.) = "hardship, adversity" (sing.) is OK, just
like you can translate "glasses" (pl.) to "Brille" (german, sing.).
The idea in the Latin word is that it is plural because more than
one unfortunate element is required to cause hardship, but that
is already adequately expressed in the singular form "hardship".
> also i prefer "by" to "through": since it's latin, a little
> archaicism is good.
Not really. It is fake latin, not a real proverb, but a modern
invention. So it should sound natural and modern.
> "adversity" would be easily understood and have the correct meaning
> (i think). but the translation you recommend (by Finn) restructures
> the phrase. i think it should begin "To the stars" (that's a minus
> for wikipedia too). so "To the stars by adversity."
You should really invert the order to improve the metric
and follow chronologic order as well as the usual wording.
> though i suspect "asperity" would have most of us reaching for our
> dictionaries, it's not neccessarily a bad thing. it seems the
> best fit to me.
No, it only creates a mysterious aura around something that is
actually quite profane and simplistic and maybe even slightly
presumptous in some contexts.
