Thursday, December 17, 2009

Round-Up: December 17

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 sextum decimum Kalendas Ianuarias. 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 a famous little epigram by Catullus, with a word list at Diictionaries.com as usual:
Odi et amo; quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.
Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.
English: "I hate and aI love; perhaps you ask why I do it. I don't know, but I feel it happening, and I am torn in two." This is one of the items which Orff included in his Carmina Catulli.

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 portion describes Caesar's excellent horsemanship: Equitare ab ineunte aetate didicerat, ac se assuefecerat ut retro abductis manibus et tergo applicatis summo impetu equum citaret.

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: Gratis accepistis, gratis date (English: You have taken freely; give freely - what you might call the philosophy of share-and-share-alike on the Internet).

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.

2-Word Mottoes: Today's 2-word motto is: Deo iuvante (English: With God's help - these little ablative absolutes make for very expressive 2-word mottoes).

3-Word Mottoes: Nouns: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Victoria vel mors (English: Victory, or death).

3-Word Mottoes: Verbs: Today's 3-word motto with verb is Fac aut tace. (English: Do, or be silent - in other words, don't talk about doing something: just do it).

2-Word Proverbs: Today's 2-word proverb is: Hylam vocat (English: You're shouting for Hylas - but, like poor Heracles, you will not get a response, since the water-nymphs have taken him!).

3-Word Proverbs: Nouns: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Sale nihil utilius (English: Nothing is more useful than salt).

3-Word Proverbs: Nouns: Today's 3-word proverb with verb is Contra stimulum calcas (English: You're kicking again the prick of the spur).

Audio Latin Proverb: Today's audio Latin proverb is Camelum saltare doces (English: You're teaching a camel to dance). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.

Latin Animal Proverb: Today's animal proverb is Scelerosum mordeat et mus (English: Even a mouse would bite a rogue - and not the very nice use of the adverbial et).

Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Rebus tranquillis, metuas adversa sub illis (English: When the situation is peaceful, watch out for dangers lurking).

Maxims of Publilius Syrus: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Felicitatem in dubiis virtus impetrat (English: Courage achieves a happy outcome when things look doubtful).

Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Ferrum ferro acuitur (English: Iron is sharpened with iron).

Vulgate Verse: Today's verse is Si regnum in se dividatur, non potest stare regnum illud (Mark 3:24). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

Animal Proverb from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is E cantu dignoscitur avis (English: You know the bird by its song; from Adagia 4.2.21 - there are some birds, though, whose songs I recognize from hearing them in the woods, but I don't know what the bird itself looks like!).

Proper Name Proverb from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Herculana scabies (English: Hercules's itch; from Adagia 2.4.26 - supposedly Athena was nice enough to supply Heracles with a bath which was able to cure the itch).

Elizabethan Proverb Commentary: Here is today's proverb commentary, again by Conybeare: Graculo cum fidibus nihil: The Jaye hath nought to doe with the harpe, spoken of them which lacking eloquence or good letters, do skorne them that have good learning.

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Ἐν τοῖς τόποις τυφλῶν λάμων βασιλεύει (English:In the places of the blind, the blear-eyed man is king - the word λάμων there is a variant of γλάμων).

TODAY'S FABLES:

Ictibus Felicibus: Today's fable with macrons and accent marks is Vulpis ad Personam, the story of the fox who found an actor's mask.

Gaudium Mundo: Today's Latin holiday songs from the Gaudium Mundo blog are: Orientis Reges Tres, a Latin version of "We Three Kings of Orient Are," along with Nascitur cum Christus, a Latin version of the Polish carol, "Gdy się Chrystus rodzi."




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