Myths and Legends: Tityus

Tityus. To find out more about the punishment of the giant Tityus, see this Wikipedia article: link; for information about the image: image source.

At first glance you might think this is the Titan Prometheus, but instead it is someone else who was condemned to have his liver gnawed on by a vulture: the giant Tityus, who raped the goddess Latona. The children of Latona, Apollo and Artemis, killed Tityus, and then in the afterlife he was condemned to have his liver perpetually eaten away by not one but two vultures; you can find out more at Wikipedia, and you can learn more about Titan's painting at the Web Gallery of Art.

You can also find more myths and legends for the week of January 15-21 here. For more information and links to the actual javascript code, see the Myths & Legends Widget Reference Page.

Myths & Legends: January 15-21

Jan. 8-14 - Jan. 15-21 - Jan. 22-28

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For more information and links to the actual javascript code, see the Myths & Legends Reference Page.

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Europa and the Bull. To find out more about Europa, see this Wikipedia article: link; for information about the image: image source.

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Tityus. To find out more about the punishment of the giant Tityus, see this Wikipedia article: link; for information about the image: image source. There's also a post here.

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Actaeon the Stag. To find out more about the life and death of Actaeon, see this Wikipedia article: link; for information about the image: image source.

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Dirce. To find out more about Dirce and the sons of Antiope, see this Wikipedia article: link; for information about the image: image source. There's also a post here.

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Dionysus and Ariadne. To find out more about Ariadne, the bride of Dionysus, see this Wikipedia article: link; for information about the image: image source.

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Antigone. To find out more about Antigone, see this Wikipedia article: link; for information about the image: image source. There's also a post here.

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Hypsipyle and Thoas. To find out more about Hypsipyle and her father Thoas, see this Wikipedia article: link; for information about the image: image source.

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Round-Up: January 15

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. Plus, you can find some Latin "pipilationes" at my Proverbia Latina feed and at the IVLIVS CAESAR feed (Plutarch's Life of Caesar twittered trilingually).

HODIE: ante diem duodevicesimum Kalendas Februarias. 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 FABLES: Here are today's fables from the Ictibus Felicibus project. These fables ALL have long marks, plus stress marks for easy reading, and the poems have meter marks, too, along with an easy-to-read prose presentation of the story:

• Tantalus, one of Alciato's moral emblems.
• Cerva et Leaena, the story of the deer who fled from a hunter into what she thought, wrongly was a safe retreat.
• Capones et Cocus, the story of how the cook chose the chickens to kill for supper.
• Lupus Pastoris Partes Agens, the wolf who pretended to be a shepherd.
• De Viro Avaro et Sacculo, an account of a conversation between a greedy man and his sack of money.

I've picked out my favorite one, Capones et Cocus, to share with you here in the blog:

Vir quīdam complūrēs cāpōnēs in eōdem ornīthobosciō inclūsōs largō nūtrīcāverat cibō, quī pinguēs effectī sunt omnēs praeter ūnum, quem ut macilentum irrīdēbant frātrēs. Dominus, nōbilēs hospitēs lautō et sumptuōsō acceptūrus convīviō, imperat cocō ut ex hīs interimat coquatque quōs pinguiōrēs invēnerit. Hoc audientēs corpulentī sēsē afflictābant dīcentēs, "Quantō praestitisset nōs macilentōs esse."

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS: You can get access to ALL the "proverb of the day scripts" (also available as random proverb scripts) at the SchoolhouseWidgets.com website.

Tiny Mottoes: Today's tiny motto is: Virtute doloque (English: By strength and by stealth).

3-Word Proverbs Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Iuniores ad labores (English: The younger ones to the tasks... good advice - and it rhymes!)

Audio Latin Proverb: Today's audio Latin proverb is Nemo est supra leges (English: No one is above the laws). 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: Iratus, cum ad se rediit, sibi tum irascitur (English: When an angry person comes to his senses, he gets angry at himself).

Animal Proverb from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Nunquam efficies, ut recte ingrediantur cancri (English: There's no way you'll be able to make crabs walk straigh; from Adagia 3.7.38 - and it's also the basis for an Aesop's fable, too!).

For an image today, here is an illustration of the fable De Lupo Pastoris Partes Agente:

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

Round-Up: January 14

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. Plus, you can find some Latin "pipilationes" at my Proverbia Latina feed and at the IVLIVS CAESAR feed (Plutarch's Life of Caesar twittered trilingually).

HODIE: ante diem undecimum decimum Kalendas Februarias. 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 FABLES: Here are today's fables from the Ictibus Felicibus project. These fables ALL have long marks, plus stress marks for easy reading, and the poems have meter marks, too, along with an easy-to-read prose presentation of the story:

• Testudo et Ranae, the story of the lesson a tortoise learned by watching the nimble frogs.
• Capra et Lupus, the sad fate of the she-goat forced to nurse a wolf-cub.
• Cerva et Vitis, the story of a deer who bit the vine that saved her!
• Vulpes et Mulieres, about how the fox rebuked some women who were eating a chicken.
• Serpens et Lima, the story of a snake foolish enough to bite a metal file.

I've picked out my favorite one, Vulpes et Mulieres, to share with you here in the blog:

Vulpes iuxtā villam quandam trānsiēns, cōnspexit catervam mulierum plūrimās gallīnās opiparē assātās altō silentiō comedentem, ad quās conversa: "Quī clāmōrēs (inquit) et canum lātrātūs contrā mē essent, sī ego facerem quod vōs facitis!" Cui rēspondēns quaedam anus, "Pessima animālium (inquit), nōs quae nostra sunt comedimus; tū aliēna fūrāris."

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS: You can get access to ALL the "proverb of the day scripts" (also available as random proverb scripts) at the SchoolhouseWidgets.com website.

3-Word Mottoes: Today's 3-word motto is Ludere, non deludere (English: To play, but not play false - a rendering which tries to capture the word-play of the Latin at least!).

3-Word Proverbs: Today's 3-word proverb is Spem successus alit (English: Success nourishes hope - although English can't imitate the very nice Latin word order).

Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Est iam potata, sed erat cerevisia grata (English: The beer has now been drunk, but it was very nice indeed… a nice saying, provided you are sober enough to remember it after drinking the beer!).

Vulgate Verse: Today's verse is Ecce et naves, cum magnae sint, circumferuntur a modico gubernaculo (James 3:4). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

Elizabethan Proverb Commentary: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Taverner: Heroum filii noxae: The children of most renowned and noble personages, be for moste parte destructions to a common welth. Verelye our elders have observed from time to time, that the children of most excellent and wise men have growne much out of kinde from the vertues and prowesse of theyr progenitours.

Today's Poem: Today's poem is an elegant couplet from Ovid (Amores 3.9), with a word list at NoDictionaries.com:

Cum rapiunt mala fata bonos - ignoscite fasso! -
sollicitor nullos esse putare deos.

English: "When wicked fate snatches away good people - forgive my confession - I am shaken to think that there are no gods." The context is Ovid's elegy for the poet Tibullus.

For an image today, here's the emblem for the story of the goat and the wolf, Capra et Lupus, from a 1541 edition of Alciato:

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

Myths and Legends: The Abduction of Helen

The Abduction of Helen. To find out more about Helen and Paris, the prince of Troy, see this Wikipedia article: link; for information about the image: image source.

These are two panels from a three-panel illustration in the 14th-century Chroniques de Saint-Denis; the left shows King Priam of Troy sending Paris away (it was prophesied that Paris would bring about the destruction of Troy, but his parents could not bear to kill him), and then Paris abducting Helen (his prize for having awarded the golden apple to Aphrodite in the contest between the three goddesses), and finally the war between the Greeks and Trojans that results (and in which Paris will lose his life, mortally wounded by Philoctetes):

You can also find more myths and legends for the week of January 8-14 here. For more information and links to the actual javascript code, see the Myths & Legends Widget Reference Page.

Round-Up: January 13

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. Plus, you can find some Latin "pipilationes" at my Proverbia Latina feed and at the IVLIVS CAESAR feed (Plutarch's Life of Caesar twittered trilingually).

HODIE: Idus Ianuariae, the Ides of January. 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 FABLES: Here are today's fables from the Ictibus Felicibus project. These fables ALL have long marks, plus stress marks for easy reading, and the poems have meter marks, too, along with an easy-to-read prose presentation of the story:

• De Agricola, the story of a farmer who tried his hand at soldiering and import-export, much to his regret.
• Vespertilio, a moral interpretation of the bat's bad behavior..
• Auceps, Columba et Anguis, the story of a birdcatcher who ended up getting caught himself.
• Asinus et Vitulus, the donkey and the calf.
• Ligna Natantia, a story about driftwood, and how appearances can be deceiving.

I've picked out my favorite one, the story, Asinus et Vitulus, to share with you here in the blog - I have a lot of sympathy for this cynical donkey:

Asinus et vitulus in eōdem pascentēs prātō, sonitū campanae hostīlem exercitum adventāre praesēnserant. Tum vitulus: "Fugiāmus hinc, ō sodālis (inquit), nē hostēs nōs captīvōs abdūcant." Cui asinus: "Fuge tū (inquit) quem hostēs occīdere et ēsse cōnsuēvērunt; asinī nihil interest, cui ubīque eadem ferendī oneris est prōposita conditio."

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS: You can get access to ALL the "proverb of the day scripts" (also available as random proverb scripts) at the SchoolhouseWidgets.com website.

Tiny Proverbs: Today's tiny proverb is: Varietas delectat (English: Variety is pleasing - or, as we say in English, "variety is the spice of life.").

3-Word Mottoes Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Post proelium praemium (English: After the war, the reward - and with this one, the sound-play comes through in the English, too!)

Latin Animal Proverb: Today's animal proverb is Qualis sit quilibet pastor, lupus adveniens indicat (English: You can see what kind of shepherd someone is when the wolf approaches).

Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus (English: Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus grows cold - which is to say, if you decode the gods: without bread and wine, love grows cold).

Proper Name Proverb from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Compositus melius cum Bitho Bacchius (English: Better matched than Bacchius and Bithus; from Adagia 2.5.97 - a proverb based on two famous gladiators of ancient Rome).

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Πλείους προσκυνοῦσι τὸν ἥλιον ἀνατέλλοντα ἢ δύνοντα (English: More men bow down to the sun as it rises than when it is setting).

For an image today, here is the illustration (image source) for the fable Auceps, Columba et Anguis, and if you look closely you'll see the snake that the birdcatcher has stepped on!

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