Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Latin Proverbs and Fables Round-Up: May 21

I'm a bit late today getting out the Bestiaria post. Many people have written to ask me if I am okay, so I should explain that while I teach for the University of Oklahoma, I actually am living right now in North Carolina (I teach online courses which allows me to be here in NC for family reasons). The tornado was one of the worst ever to hit the Oklahoma City area, and a good friend of mine who lives in Moore lost her house yesterday (she was out of town, but her husband managed to hide in a closet and was rescued from the rubble by their neighbors). It is a very sad day for Oklahoma.

HODIE (Roman Calendar): ante diem duodecimum Kalendas Iunias.

MYTHS and LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows Polyxena and Troilus; you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here.


TODAY'S MOTTOES and PROVERBS:

TINY PROVERBS: Today's tiny proverb is: Domus optima (English: Home is best).

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Scite, citissime, certe (English: Skillfully, swiftly, and surely).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Ulula cum lupis, cum quibus esse cupis (English: Howl with the wolves if you want to be one of them).

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: i quis non vult operari, non manducet (English: If someone does not want to work, let him not eat).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Diomedis et Glauci permutatio (English: The exchange of Diomedes and Glaucus; from Adagia 1.2.1 - the exchange is famously unfair: the two warriors swapped armor, but Diomedes gave Glaucus armor made of bronze, while Glaucus gave Diomedes armor made of gold; more here).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Μηδὲ μέλι, μηδὲ μελίσσας (English: Neither the honey nor the bees).

BREVISSIMA: The distich poster for today is De Munere. Click here for a full-sized view; the poem has a vocabulary list and an English translation, too.


And here are today's proverbial LOLcats:






TODAY'S FABLES:

MILLE FABULAE: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Luscinia, Accipiter, et Auceps, a story of predatory karma in the world of birds.

FABULAE FACILES: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Muli et Latrones, the wonderful story of the proud mule and the humble one (this fable has a vocabulary list).

Muli Duo

Greek Bible Art - and Latin and English, too. Below is one of my Greek Bible Art graphics; for the individual Greek, Latin and English versions of the graphic, see the blog post: μὴ φοβοῦ, μαριάμ. Ne timeas, Maria. Fear not, Mary.