Postquam poeta recitavit, magister discipulos iubet versus difficiliores iterum repetere.

The sentence has two parts:

• Postquam poeta recitavit = a subordinate time clause
• magister discipulos iubet versus difficiliores iterum repetere = the main clause

So the time clause tells when the main action happens: after the poet finished reciting, the teacher gives an order.

Postquam means after, and it often introduces an action that happened before the main action.

Here, recitavit is perfect tense, showing that the reciting was completed:

• poeta recitavit = the poet recited / has recited / finished reciting

In narrative Latin, postquam + perfect is very common for after X happened.

This is a very common Latin storytelling pattern.

• recitavit = a completed earlier action
• iubet = present tense, often a historical present

The historical present uses a present tense where English might expect a past tense, to make the scene feel more vivid. So Latin can say, literally, the teacher orders, even in a past narrative context.

Because poeta is a first-declension noun that is masculine.

That may feel strange to an English speaker, because first-declension nouns are often feminine, but some nouns for professions or roles are masculine, for example:

• poeta = poet
• agricola = farmer
• nauta = sailor

So poeta is nominative singular masculine, even though it ends in -a.

Because with iubeo (I order), Latin commonly puts the person being ordered in the accusative.

So:

• magister discipulos iubet = the teacher orders the students

But there is more: discipulos is also understood as the subject of the infinitive repetere. In other words, the students are the ones who are to do the repeating.

This is a standard Latin pattern:

• iubeo + accusative + infinitive

Because iubeo usually takes an infinitive construction in Latin.

So Latin says:

• magister discipulos iubet repetere
  = the teacher orders the students to repeat

English uses to repeat, and Latin uses the plain infinitive repetere.

So this is not a separate clause with ut. It is the normal construction after iubeo:

• person ordered = accusative
• action ordered = infinitive

Versus difficiliores is the direct object of repetere, so it is in the accusative plural.

• versus = accusative plural of versus
• difficiliores = accusative plural masculine, agreeing with versus

So the students are ordered to repeat the more difficult verses.

A useful detail: versus is a fourth-declension noun, and in this form the nominative plural and accusative plural look the same.

Difficiliores means more difficult. Latin comparatives do not always need an explicit than phrase.

So versus difficiliores can mean:

• the more difficult verses
• the rather difficult verses
• the verses that are harder than the others in context

The comparison is often just understood from the situation.

Yes, that is a good question.

Repetere already has the idea of go over again / repeat, and iterum means again. So together they may sound slightly repetitive to an English speaker.

But Latin often uses both for clarity or emphasis:

• iterum repetere = repeat again / repeat once more

So this is perfectly natural Latin usage.

Latin word order is more flexible than English because the endings show the grammatical relationships.

English depends heavily on position:

• the teacher orders the students

Latin can move words around more freely because forms like magister, discipulos, and repetere already show their roles.

In this sentence:

• magister is the subject
• discipulos is the person ordered
• versus difficiliores is what they must repeat
• repetere is the action
• iubet is the main verb

The order used here is natural and clear, and it puts the infinitive repetere near the end, which is very common in Latin.

Yes, depending on the context.

Latin perfect tense after postquam often corresponds to English:

• recited
• has recited
• sometimes had recited

English often uses had recited to make the earlier action especially clear:

• After the poet had recited, the teacher...

Latin does not need a pluperfect here, because postquam already makes the time relationship clear.