Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Round-Up: November 4

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: pridie Nonas Novembres. 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. Today's saying is one of the distichs attributed to Cato, with a word list at NoDictionaries.com:
Quae potus peccas, ignoscere tu tibi noli;
Nam crimen vini nullum est, sed culpa bibentis.
English: Don't cut yourself any slack for the mistakes you make when drunk, for there is no fault in the wine - it's the fault of the of the drinker! Now there is some very wise advice indeed, just as true now as two thousand years ago! :-)

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 Latin portion describes Caesar's plans to ally himself with Pompey by marriage: At Casar, quo magis potentiam Pompeii suam faceret, Iuliam filiam suam, Seruilio Caepioni desponsatam, Pompeio nuptum dedit, promissa huic Pompeii filia, quae et ipsa Fausto Sylla filio pacta erat.

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: Fruere praesentibus; futura diis committe (English: Make use of things present; entrust things future to the gods).

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.

Audio Latin Proverb of the Day: Today's audio Latin proverb is Inflat se tamquam rana (English: He's puffing himself up like a frog). 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: Ubi coepit ditem pauper imitari, perit (English: When the poor man begins to imitate the rich, he is ruined - quite a commentary on our hyper-consumerist society).

Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb in rhyming verse form is: Modicus cibi medicus sibi (English: If you can limit your food, you can be your own doctor).

Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: In Samo lac gallinae (English: There's hen's milk in Samos - this makes the island of Samos an almost mythical place, since "hen's milk" is one of those impossible substances to find in the everyday world).

Proverbium Perbreve of the Day: Today's two-word proverb is: Ranae aquam (English: Water for a frog - with the verb implied, giving water to a frog, offering water to a frog - which is one thing a frog does not need you to supply).

Proverbium Breve of the Day: Today's three-word proverb is: Amat victoria curam (English: Victory loves care - which is to say: be careful and attentive if you want to win).

Vulgate Verse of the Day: Today's verse is Noli esse sicut leo in domo tua, opprimens subiectos tibi (Sirach 4:30). 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 Avis matura vermem capit (English: The timely bird - a.k.a. the early bird - catches the worm).

Latin Animal Proverb of the Day from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb is Dat veniam corvis, vexat censura columbas (English: The judgment absolves the crows and troubles the doves; from Adagia 3.5.73).

Proper Name Proverb of the Day from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb is Multa Syrorum olera (English: Many are the vegetables of Syria; from Adagia 1.8.56 - this may refer to garden-variety vegetables, but it might also refer to plants with medicinal or magical uses, for which ancient Syria was famous).

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Ὦ ὁῖα κεφαλὴ, καὶ ἐγκέφαλον οὐκ ἔχει (English: O what a head, and it has no brains - a saying put to good use in the little Aesop's fable about the fox and the mask).

TODAY'S FABLES:

Ictibus Felicibus: Today's fable with macrons and accent marks is Aquila et Testudo, the story of the tortoise and the eagle - which is very much like the more famous fable of the tortoise and the hare!

Fable of the Day: Today's fable of the day from Barlow is DE VULPE ET AQUILA, another story in which the eagle is bested by a supposedly lesser creature!

In honor of the Greek proverb today - Ὦ ὁῖα κεφαλὴ, καὶ ἐγκέφαλον οὐκ ἔχει - I thought I would include this fun image of the fine face with no brains, from Joseph Jacobs's edition of the fables, illustrated by Richard Heighway:




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