Breakdown of Postea Marcus dicit se carmen novum de mari componere velle.
Questions & Answers about Postea Marcus dicit se carmen novum de mari componere velle.
Se is the reflexive pronoun in the accusative singular, and here it refers back to Marcus.
So:
- Marcus dicit = Marcus says
- se ... velle = that he wants ...
Latin uses se in this kind of construction when the subject of the reported statement is the same as the subject of the main verb.
So Marcus dicit se ... velle means Marcus says that he wants..., where he = Marcus.
If it referred to someone else, Latin would normally use a different pronoun, not se.
This is a very common Latin pattern called the accusative-and-infinitive construction for indirect statement.
After a verb like dicit (says), Latin often does not use a word like that plus a finite verb. Instead, it uses:
- a subject in the accusative
- a verb in the infinitive
So:
- se velle = that he wants
- se componere velle = that he wants to compose
Here, velle depends on dicit, and componere depends on velle.
You can think of the structure like this:
- Marcus dicit
- se velle
- carmen novum de mari componere