Friday, April 3, 2009

Round-Up: April 3

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.

HODIE: ante diem tertium Nonas Apriles. 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 PODCAST:

Heri Hodie Cras Podcast: Today's audio podcast is Fabula: De Lepore et Testudine, the famous story of the race between the tortoise and hare.

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.

Proverbiis Pipilo: You can see my Twitter feed of Latin proverbs which I "tweet" while I am online each day (in English, too). Here's a recent one that I really liked: Qui totum vult, totum perdit (English: He who wants it all, loses it all).

Audio Latin Proverb of the Day: Today's audio Latin proverb is Caput imperat, non pedes (English: The head rules, not the feet). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.

Proverbium Perbreve of the Day: Today's two-word proverb is Gradatim vincimus (English: Step-by-step we conquer - or, if you prefer: We conquer by degrees).

Proverbium Breve of the Day: Today's three-word proverb is Oleum camino addis (English: You're adding oil to the fire - or, as we would say in English, adding fuel to the fire).

Vulgate Verse of the Day: Today's verse is Omnia membra corporis, cum sint multa, unum corpus sunt (I Cor. 12:12). 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 Sicut canis ad Nilum, bibens et fugiens (English: Like a dog at the Nile, drinking and fleeing - an ancient legend made famous in an Aesop's fable).

Proper Name Proverb of the Day: Today's proper name proverb is Ille homo habet equum Seianum (English: That man has a Sejan horse - which is to say, he's got something that brings bad luck to its owner. This one even made it into Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Here's what Brewer says: "A possession which invariably brought ill luck with it. Hence the Latin proverb “Ille homo habet equum Seianum.” Cneius Seius had an Argive horse of the breed of Diomed, of a bay colour and surpassing beauty, but it was fatal to its possessor. Seius was put to death by Mark Antony. Its next owner, Cornelius Dolabella, who bought it for 100,000 sesterces, was killed in Syria during the civil wars. Caius Cassius, who next took possession of it, perished after the battle of Philippi by the very sword which stabbed Cæsar. Antony had the horse next, and after the battle of Actium slew himself.").

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Σὺν τῷ κυνὶ καὶ τὸν ἱμάντα (English: The leash together with the dog - the idea being if you lose your dog, you don't just lose the dog, but also the leash the dog was tied with, too). If you look at the Greek Proverb of the Day widget, you'll see it comes with a Latin translation, too.

TODAY'S FABLES:

Fable of the Day: Today's fable of the day from Barlow's Aesop is DE TUBICINE CAPTIVO (the story of the trumpeter captured in war). You can use the Javascript to include the fable of the day automatically each day on your webpage or blog - meanwhile, to find out more about today's fable, visit the Ning Resource Page for this fable, where you will find links to the text, commentary, and a discussion board for questions and comments.

Latin Via Fables: Simplified Fables: I'm now presenting the "Barlow Aesop" collection, fable by fable, in a SIMPLIFIED version (same story, but in simpler sentences) - with a SLIDESHOW presentation to go along with it, too. Today's Simplified fable is De Anu et Ancillis, the story of the maids who foolishly thought they could shorten the length of their working day by killing the rooster who woke them each morning, an unfortunate deed you can see illustrated here:




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