Monday, April 14, 2014

Latin Proverbs and Fables Round-Up: April 14

Here is a round-up of today's proverbs and fables - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. If you have not downloaded a free PDF copy of Brevissima: 1001 Tiny Latin Poems, it's ready and waiting.

HODIE (Roman Calendar): ante diem duodevicesimum Kalendas Maias.

MYTHS and LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows The Slain Patroclus; 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: Vive revicturus (English: Live to live again!).

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Spes ultima dea (English: Hope is the last goddess - this is one of my personal mottoes!).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Canis vivens potior est leone mortuo (English: A living dog is better than a dead lion).

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Omnis qui male agit, odit lucem (English: Everyone who does wicked deeds hates the light).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Claudiana tonitrua (English: The thunderbolts of Claudius; from Adagia 3.2.19 - This refers to Claudius Pulcher's invention of a stage device for making the sound of loud thunderclaps, and hence the phrase refers to someone who is very loud, but not really powerful at all).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Κέρδος αἰσχρὸν βαρὺ κειμήλιον (English: Wicked gain is a heavy treasure).

BREVISSIMA: The distich poster for today is Ad Torquatulum. Click here for a full-sized view.


And here are today's proverbial LOLcats:




TODAY'S FABLES:

MILLE FABULAE: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Cornix et Urna, the story of how the wise crow quenches her thirst.

FABULAE FACILES: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Equus Superbus et Asinus, the story of a proud horse fallen on hard times (this fable has a vocabulary list).

Equus Superbus et Asinus

Words from Mythology. For more about English chimera and the the classical chimaera, see this blog post.