Have always wondered about this. This is such an enormously famous quote although the exact choice of words has always perplexed me. Initially figured it is an artifact of translation, but then, wouldn’t you translate it into the new language in a way that is grammatical? Or maybe there is some intention behind this weird phrasing that is just lost on me? I’m not a linguist so eli5
In: 1806
It is in fact grammatically correct.
Both „have“ and „be“ stress the state that you are in now, rather than the action. So „i have arrived“ emphasizes that you are no here, rather than the act of arriving.
The difference lies in the time. „I have become death“ means that you are death and you became it some time ago. The becoming doesn‘t matter, it‘s just about the fact that you are death. „I am become death“ means that you became death in the moment you said it. Like before it stresses that you are death, not that you‘re becoming.
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