Saturday, September 24, 2011

Round-Up: September 24

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. There are notices also at Twitter - look for Aesopus and AesopusEnglish.

HODIE: ante diem octavum Kalendas Octobres.

SCALA SAPIENTIAE: Today you can find sayings that go up to Diederich frequency ranking 87 - so the proverbs contain nothing but words found among the 87 most commonly used words in Latin. Here is one of the items in today's list: Cum dixeris quod vis, audies quod non vis, "When you say what you want, you will hear what you don't want."

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Tarpeia, the story of Tarpeia from whom the Tarpeian Rock gets its name!

VERBUM HODIERNUM: Today's NEW word is SOLUS - read a brief essay about the word at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in the essay: Solus non est quem diligant dii, "He whom the gods love is not alone."

VERBUM WIDGET: The word from the daily widget is PLUS - which also has a brief essay at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in that essay: Vincere cor proprium plus est quam vincere mundum, "To conquer one's own mind is greater than conquering the world."

FABULAE FACILES: The NEW easy-to-read fable is Taurus et Culex, a funny little story about a self-important gnat.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Ranae Duae et Puteus, the story of two frogs who are looking for a new home.

MILLE FABULAE: ILLUSTRATIONS: The NEW fables with images are Alexander et Lacedaemonii, a story about Alexander claiming to be a god, and Annon et Aves, a hilarious story about an otherwise unknown man named Annon who also decided he would be a god.

MILLE FABULAE: ILLUSTRATIONS: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Asinus Animalia Fugans et Leo, a story about the partnership between the donkey and the lion.

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Dodd's Epigrammatists and Hieroglyphics of Horapollo Nilous.

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

Tiny Proverbs: Today's tiny proverb is: Experto credite (English: Trust someone with experience).

3-Word Mottoes Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Virtutis praemium felicitas (English: Happiness is the reward of excellence).

Latin Animal Proverb: Today's animal proverb is Equo currenti non opus calcaribus (English: There's no need to spur a running horse).

Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Hilarem datorem diligit deus (English: God loves someone who gives cheerfully).

Proper Name Proverb from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Stupidior Praxillae Adonide (English: More stupid than the Adonis of Praxilla; from Adagia 2.9.11 - This refers to a poetess Praxilla who wrote a poem about Adonis in which Adonis foolishly said that the most beautiful things in the world were the sun, apples, and pumpkins; including pumpkins in that list made Adonis look so foolish that he became a byword for foolishness).

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Χελώην Πεγάσῳ συγκρίνεις (English: You're comparing a tortoise to Pegasus - like apples and oranges, but this time it's a slow tortoise and the air-borne Pegasus).

For an image today, Here is a Republic Roman coin showing Tarpeia being crushed by the shields of the Sabines: Populi illi, quorum virgines raptae erant, bellum adversus raptores susceperunt. Cum Romae appropinquarent, forte in Tarpeiam virginem inciderunt, quae in arce sacra procurabat. Hanc rogabant, ut viam in arcem monstraret, eique permiserunt ut munus sibi posceret. Illa petiit ut sibi darent quod in sinistris manibus gererent, annulos aureos et armillas significans. At hostes in arcem ab ea perducti scutis Tarpeiam obruerunt; nam et ea in sinistris manibus gerebant. (source)