Monday, October 5, 2009

Round-Up: October 5

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. You can keep up with the latest posts by using the RSS feed, or you might prefer to subscribe by email.

NOVITAS: You will see that I have a new widget premiering today: Latin Animal Proverbs from Erasmus. This is my fourth proverb widget with the English translations included. There is some overlap here between Erasmus and my other animal proverb widget, but Erasmus's Adagia are often more like emblems or cliches rather than true proverbs, so there are plenty of new items here, too!

HODIE: ante diem tertium Nonas Octobres. You can add a Roman calendar as a widget in your blog or webpage, or display it as a Google Calendar: here's how.

TODAY'S POEM: Here is today's little poem, from the Poetry Widget. This is the moral to one of the iambic fables of Phaedrus, with a word list for the complete fable at NoDictionaries.com.
Quamvis sublimes debent humiles metuere,
vindicta docili quia patet sollertiae.
English: "Those in high places nevertheless should fear those who are humble, because revenge is accessible to their quick cleverness." The eagle learned this to her own cost, thinking that her loftiness would keep her safe from the lowly fox - but she did not count on the fox's cleverness!

TODAY'S TWITTER:

Vita Caesaris: You can see my IVLIVS CAESAR feed with a sentence from Plutarch's Life of Caesar each day in Greek, Latin and English. Today's Latin portion contains one of Caesar's most famous sayings! serio respondisse, malle se hic primum quam Romae secundum esse.

Proverbiis Pipilo: You can see my Proverbia feed of Latin proverbs which I "tweet" while I am online each day (in English, too). Here's one from today about luck - bad luck, in particular: Stulti timent fortunam, sapientes ferunt (English: Fools fear bad luck, while wise men bear it).

TODAY'S PROVERBS:

You can get access to all the proverb of the day scripts (also available as random proverb scripts) at the SchoolhouseWidgets.com website.

Audio Latin Proverb of the Day: Today's audio Latin proverb is Anulus aureus in naribus suis (English: A gold ring in a pig's nose). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.

Maxims of Publilius Syrus: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Supplicem hominem opprimere, virtus non est, sed crudelitas (English: To crush the man already on his knees is not courage but cruelty).

Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb in Leonine verse form is: De re terrena procedunt mille venena (English: From the earth come forth a thousand poisons).

Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Canis revertitur ad vomitum (English: The dog comes back to its vomit - an unpleasant notion, both in fact and metaphorically!).

Proverbium Perbreve of the Day: Today's two-word proverb is: Nebulas diverberas (English: You're beating the clouds… a proverbial fool's task).

Proverbium Breve of the Day: Today's three-word proverb is: Audite et intellegite (English: Listen and understand!).

Vulgate Verse of the Day: Today's verse is Bonus pastor animam suam dat pro ovibus (John 10:11). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

Latin Animal Proverb of the Day: Today's animal proverb is Adulatio est hamus quo magni capiuntur pisces (English: Flattery is a hook on which big fish are caught).

Latin Animal Proverb of the Day from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb is Tragica simia (English: A monkey dressed for the stage; from Adagia 2.8.95 - this refers to someone who is putting on airs, claiming a seriousness or grandeur, like an actor on the stage, which hardly suits him).

Proper Name Proverb of the Day: Today's proper name proverb is Improbe Neptunum accusat qui iterum naufragium facit (English: It's wrong to blame Neptune/Poseidon for the second shipwreck… a divine version of "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me"). For Neptune, see the image below!

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Ἐχθρῶν ἄδωρα δῶρα (English: An enemy's gifts are non-gifts - with that wonderful alpha privative here used on a noun!).

TODAY'S FABLES:

Ictibus Felicibus: Today's fable with macrons and accent marks is Mus Urbanus et Mus Rusticus, the famous story of the city mouse and the country mouse.

Fable of the Day: Today's fable of the day from Barlow is DE LEAENA ET VULPE, the debate between the fox and the lioness about quality versus quantity.

For an image today, I wanted to use this lovely photo of a Neptune statue - in honor of the proverb above, Improbe Neptunum accusat qui iterum naufragium facit. The statue is located in Virginia Beach, where they hold an annual Neptune Festival! You can find many more views of this wonderful statue with this Google Image Search; this image was taken by Neal Rattican:




Aesop's Fables in Latin now available at Amazon.com.