Round-Up: June 21 PLUS An Announcement :-)

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - plus an announcement about this summer's project. I've now got a basic, very preliminary first draft done of the Scala Sapientiae: Latin Vocabulary Through Proverbs. Using a database program and some fancy algorithms, I've found a way to organize 5000 Latin proverbs in a kind of ladder, so that you can move through the proverbs "step by step" (hence the ladder) with no more than one new vocabulary word needed as you move through the proverbs one by one. To see how this works, take a look at Scala Proverbs 1-50, 51-100 and 101-150 which I've published today in blog format. I hope to add about one hundred proverbs each day for the rest of the summer as I make my own way through the ladder. You can find out more about the project here: Climbing the Scala Sapientiae. I'm curious what people think about this - it's a project I have gotten really fascinated with, and I hope it will end up being useful to others, too!

HODIE: ante diem undecimum Kalendas Iulias.

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Cerberus, perhaps the most difficult of Heracles' labors.

FABULAE FACILES: The new easy-to-read fable is Ursus et Apes, the story of a very angry bear.

MILLE FABULAE: FABLE OF THE DAY: The fable for today is Anser et Ova Aurea, the famous story of the goose who laid the golden eggs.

MILLE FABULAE: ILLUSTRATIONS: The latest fables with images are Luscinia et Cicindela, the story of a boastful glowworm, and Perdix, Gallus, et Venator, the story of a doomed rooster.

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Potts & Darnell's Aditus Faciliores and Jacobs' The Self-instructing Latin Classic .

DISTICHA: Today's little poems are Utilis est nulli semet qui negligit; omni / vix usquam spreta est utilitate bonus (from Campion) and Quaerit avarus opes, Linus ambitiosus honores. / Nanus avaritia est, ambitione gigas (from Owen).

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS: Widgets available at Schoolhouse Widgets.

Tiny Proverbs: Today's tiny proverb is: Futurum invisibile (English: The future is invisible).

3-Word Mottoes Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Celeritas et veritas (English: Swiftness and truth - although I guess it might be better to say "truthfulness" to capture the sound pattern of the Latin).

Latin Animal Proverb: Today's animal proverb is Sicut canis ad Nilum, bibens et fugiens (English: Like a dog at the Nile, drinking and fleeing - he is fleeing to escape the crocodiles, as the Aesop's fable explains).

Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Qui ignorat ignorabitur (English: He who is ignorant will be ignorant in the future).

Proper Name Proverb from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Attici Eleusinia inter sese (English: The Athenians keep the Eleusinian mysteries to themselves; from Adagia 2.5.66; you can read what we know today about the Eleusinian Mysteries in this Wikipedia article).

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Δυεῖν ἐπιθυμήσας, οὐδετέρου ἔτυχες (English: Trying to get two, you end up with neither one).

For an image today, here's that angry bear: 133. Ursus et Apes. Ursus, ab ape ictus, tanta ira incensus est ut alvaria unguibus discerperet. Tunc autem apes universae ursum aggressae sunt aculeis et paene necaverunt. Cum vix effugisset, secum “Sane,” inquit, “melius erat unius apis tolerare aculeum quam tot in me hostes excitare iracundia mea.” (source - easy fable)