Santiago Matamoros, mounted on his white horse, with the infidels beneath his hooves.

[gookenhaim]

"He was reminded of the image of Santiago Matamoros, mounted on his white horse, with the infidels beneath his hooves."



It's from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, but I am wondering why it took the form of expression "mounted," not "mounting".

It seems more appropriate to use "mounting" with my limited grammar understanding since
the rider is the one who chose to mount on a horse using his own willpower.

But I think there is some more nuance to it, which I don't know of.
Why is "mounted" used in this context? Is it because the author wanted to point out the fact that the horse rider
are just following orders and customs(culture), meaning that the behavior lacked the will and it's just a predestined action?

 

[Raymott]

Do you mean Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho? It can help us if you get the title and author right.

"He was reminded of the image of Santiago Matamoros, mounted on his white horse, with the infidels beneath his hooves."

"Mounted" makes sense. When he remembers Santiago, he (Santiago) was mounted on his horse. If he remembered Santiago mounting (getting on) his horse, that's what the line would say. But Santiago was mounted, and that's how he is remembered.

 

[gookenhaim]

Do you mean Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho? It can help us if you get the title and author right.

"He was reminded of the image of Santiago Matamoros, mounted on his white horse, with the infidels beneath his hooves."

"Mounted" makes sense. When he remembers Santiago, he (Santiago) was mounted on his horse. If he remembered Santiago mounting (getting on) his horse, that's what the line would say. But Santiago was mounted, and that's how he is remembered.

Yes, it's The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and I will edit my article to avoid further confusion

You mean if it was "mounting", it's focused on depicting the motion of getting on the horse(making that action),
but "mounted" is more of just depicting the state of the doer(Santiago), which is the finished action?

Thank you for your reply though

 

[jutfrank]

mounting means getting on. Obviously, the image here is not of Santiago Matamoros getting on his horse.

mounted means on. That's the correct image. Santiago Matamoros is on the horse, riding it.


You seem to think that mounting means being on. That's the mistake you're making.

 

[Tdol]

You mean if it was "mounting", it's focused on depicting the motion of getting on the horse(making that action),
but "mounted" is more of just depicting the state of the doer(Santiago), which is the finished action?

Yes- broadly speaking, the progressive denotes a process and the perfect denotes completion.