Bestiaria Latina Blog

Round-Up: January 26

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

TODAY'S DISTICHS & EMBLEMS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Contemptus Mundi, Felicem vitam vis vivere? Spernito vitam. / Vivit enim misere, cui sua vita placet; and Herculis Bivium, Sunt qui in quadriviis triviisque insigniter errent: / Herculis in bivio maximus error inest. (These come with vocabulary lists.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Non Quam Crebro Sed Quam Bene, Non tu quam crebro iaculeris, quam bene refert; / Contingat metam missa sagitta suam; and Consequitur Quodcumque Petit, Consequitur quodcumque petit Dictynna sagittis, / Et mens consequitur quod pia cumque petit. (These come with vocabulary, too.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are In Tempore Munit, Non bene firmum animum abripient vanissima rerum; / Quare hunc doctrina constabilito gravi; and Nec Caesus Cedam, Nunquam, caesa licet, linquit canis Inda leonem / Nec, licet accisus, facta decora bonus. (These also have vocabulary lists.) The emblem shows the famous "dog of India" which not only attacks a lion but refuses to let go even when its legs are chopped off - tenacious indeed!

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word motto is Sapere aude, incipe (English: Dare to be wise; begin).

3-WORD PROVERBS: Today's 3-word proverb is Nummus regnat ubique (English: Money reigns everywhere).

RHYMING PROVERBS: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Qui bona consuescit, semper cum laude senescit (English: He who has good habits always wins praise as he grows old).

VULGATE VERSES: Today's verse is Doctrinam magis quam aurum eligite (Proverbs 8:10). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

ELIZABETHAN PROVERBS: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Conybeare: Semper tibi pendeat hamus: Let this hooke hange alwayes, thou mayest happe to have somewhat; hope still, for in space commeth grace.

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Bacchus et Bacchantes, an account of Bacchus and his followers.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Camelus et Iuppiter, the story of the camel who wanted horns (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Haedus Saltans et Lupus, the story of the kid who managed to escape from the wolf.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Bulls and the Lion, a story about the lion who was able to "divide and conquer."

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 341, Sus et Asinus Morbum Simulans, through Fable 350, Canes Duo et Os, including Canis Parturiens Domicilium Quaerens, a story about how no good deed goes unpunished! Canis gravida, cum partus instare tempus sentiret, impetravit ab altera cane sibi ut paulisper, dum onere catulorum liberaretur, concederet tuguriolo suo. Postea, cum catuli iam valentes facti essent, repetebat habitationem illa suam, quod eius usu satis longo tempore se caruisse diceret; et nisi bona gratia suum obtineret, omnia esse experturam se aiebat, ut recuperaret domicilium suum. Cui haec “Quid minare,” inquit, “quin potius hinc nos eiicis? Ut potiatur tuguriolo, qui viribus praestiterit.”

Round-Up: January 24

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. There are notices also at Twitter - look for Aesopus and AesopusEnglish.

HODIE: ante diem nonum Kalendas Februarias.

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Oudin's Silva distichorum moralium and Dornavius' Amphitheatrum Sapientiae.

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

TODAY'S DISTICHS & EMBLEMS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Sermo et Scriptura, Interpres linguae manus est, at muta, loquentis, / Pectoris ut muti nuntia lingua loquens.; and Troynovant. Ad Londinenses, Ex cinere ut Phoenix Phoenicis nascitur alter, / Londinium Troiae prodiit e cinere.. (These come with vocabulary lists.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Tanto Uberius, Tu quoque sic reseces vitiis marcentia multis, / Virtutum ut soboles pullulet uberior.; and Nec Aura, Nec Unda, In nos nempe omnis caeli pelagique rapina est: / Et fatale rapit, quem manet, exitium.. (These also have vocabulary lists.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Quid Si Sic, Quid si sic? forsan cubito sim longior, heuheu. / Non ars Naturae corrigit ingenium.; and Patior Ut Potiar, Ut potiar, patior stimulos pro melle; dolores / Mille, ut mille feram pectore delicias.. (These come with vocabulary, too.)

You can see the bear here enduring the pain of the bee stings in order to get the honey:

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

TINY PROVERBS: Today's tiny proverb is: Hora fugit (English: The moment is fleeing).

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Cito, non temere (English: Quickly, not rashly).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Durum tondere leonem (English: It is hard to shear the lion - that's even worse than belling the cat!).

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Durum est contra stimulum calcitrare (English: It is hard to kick against the goad).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Phormionis torus (English: The bed of Phormio; from Adagia 2.9.66 - this is an ironic proverb, as Phormio was a vigorous general who loved the military life and slept on the ground with this men, which is to say, without a bed at all).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Μακραὶ τυράννων χεῖρες (English: Long are the hands of tyrants).

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Templa Dianae, the story of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Mures Duo, the famous story of the city mouse and the country mouse (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 331, Sus Parturiens et Lupus, through Fable 340, Verres et Lupus, including Porcellus et Testamentum, the hilarious story of the pig and his inheritance.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Boaster, the famous story of the boastful athlete.

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Cerva in Speluncam Fugiens, an "out of the frying pan, into the fire" type of story. 159. Cerva in Speluncam Fugiens. Cerva, venatores fugiens, in speluncam quamdam, ubi leo degebat, pervenit ut in ea nimirum ingressa lateret. Sed illico ab eo comprehensa necique parata, “Ah me infelicem,” exclamavit, “quae fugiens homines, ferae me tradidi!”

Round-Up: January 22

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

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 undecimum Kalendas Februarias.

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Melander's Iocorum atque seriorum centuriae and Tünger's Facetiae.

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

TODAY'S DISTICHS & EMBLEMS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Non Occides, Non Furaberis, Furtum non facies iuristae scribitur haec lex. / Haec non occides pertinet ad medicum; and Fides, Astra oculus vicina, polum sed opinio cernit. / Sic oculo caelum cerno, fideque Deum. (These come with vocabulary lists.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Non Usitata Vehor, Regulus in aquilae auxilio defertur in auras: / Sic quisquis docti nititur ingenio; and Nihil Decentius, Provida magnanimae si adsit prudentia dextrae, / Dic mihi quae rerum pulchrior esse queat?. (These also have vocabulary lists.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Transeat, Perfer et obdura: tempestas transeat olim, / Fulgebit puro laetior axe dies.; and Mors Vitae Initium, Grana velut putrefacta novas meditantur aristas; / Sic vitae mors est haec quoque principium. (These come with vocabulary, too.)

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

TINY MOTTOES: Today's tiny motto is: Non sibi (English: Not selfishly).

AUDIO PROVERBS: Today's audio Latin proverb is Fortuna gloriae carnifex (English: Fortune is the butcher of glory). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.

PUBLILIUS SYRUS: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Stultum est vicinum velle ulcisci incendio (English: It's a foolish thing to punish your neighbor by setting his house on fire).

ERASMUS' ANIMALS: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Ars multa vulpi, ast una echino maxima (English: The fox has many a trick, but the hedgehog has just one big trick; from Adagia 1.5.18).

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Memnon, the story of the death of Memnon in the Trojan War.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Simia et Catuli Eius, the story of what happened when the animals had a baby beauty contest (this one has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 321, Capra et Canis, through Fable 330, Haedus Saltans et Lupus, including Hircus Equitans, a funny story about a goat who had a donkey for his master.

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Satyrus et Viator, the story of the Satyr who rescued a traveler who was stuck in the snow.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is Jupiter and the Cat, the story of the cat who was turned into a woman... but who still had a craving for mice.

Here is the phrase E pluribus unum in the Seal of the United States:

Round-Up: January 20

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

TODAY'S DISTICHS & EMBLEMS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Troianus, Troiani eversa sapuerunt denique Troia. / Quis non Troianum se fateatur in hoc?; and Tres Haustus, Prateritam primus, praesentem proximus haustus, / Venturam extinguat tertius iste sitim.. (These come with vocabulary lists.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Ardua Virtutem, Qui laurum et palmam victricem carpere gaudes, / Montis, si nescis, ardua scande prius; and Mole Ruit Sua, Me mea ad interitum moles pertraxit acerbum; / Sic pereat, quisquis robore fidit atrox. (These also have vocabulary lists.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Matura, Matura: mora longa nocet; spes omnis in alis; / Instat qui te vult prendere, papilio.; and Ad Scopum Licet Aegre et Frustra, Volve, scopum donec, licet aegre, attingere possis; / Et frustra, molem volve, revolve tamen. (These come with vocabulary, too.)

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word motto is Apes debemus imitari (English: We should imitate the bees).

3-WORD PROVERBS: Today's 3-word proverb is Omnia nimia nocent (English: All excesses are harmful).

RHYMING PROVERBS: Today's proverb with rhyme is: O mihi praeteritos referat si Iuppiter annos! (English: Oh, if only Jupiter could bring back to me the years that have gone by).

VULGATE VERSES: Today's verse is Qui accipit mutuum, servus est fenerantis (Proverbs 22:7). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

ELIZABETHAN PROVERBS: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Taverner: Multi te oderint, si te ipsum amas: Many shal hate thee, if thou love thy self. Undoubtedly, nothing is more hurtfull to a man, then self love is, neyther is it possible, but that he must needes displease manie, that pleaseth himselfe, and standeth best in his owne conceite.

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Phaeton, the sad story of Apollo's son and the fiery chariot.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Corvus et Mercurius, a hilarious story about a hypocritical crow (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 311, Agnus et Lupus, Bibentes, through Fable 320, Capra et Asinus, including Verveces et Lanius, the story of the wethers and the butcher - and why we have to stick together!

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is Hercules and the Carter, a story about "God helps them that help themselves."

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Concubinae Duae, the story of the man and his two lovers - one young and one old: 952. Concubinae Duae. Senex, cuius caput respersum iam erat canis, habebat concubinas duas, moribus et aetate dissimiles, nam altera iuvencula et lascivior, altera aetate provecta et severior erat. Ut igitur ad harum alteram forte accesserat, ita crines non similes suis dormienti vellebantur. Carpebat enim iuvencula albos, senior vero nigros. Tandem ille calvo capite omnibus risui fuit.

Round-Up: January 18

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. I debated about whether or not to participate in the SOPA/PIPA Blackout today, and decided not to do that because I know some Latin teachers use this blog and I did not want to leave you in the lurch - but for those of you who are not familiar with the SOPA/PIPA legislation and the threat it poses to the open Internet, I would urge you to visit Wikipedia today, during their blackout, to learn more about that. Contact Congress and share your views!

HODIE: ante diem quintum decimum Kalendas Februarias.

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Leigh's The Comic Latin Grammar and Facetiae Heinrici Bebelii.

MYTHS & LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows Dirce and the sons of Antiope; you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here.

TODAY'S DISTICHS & EMBLEMS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are In Chymicum, Rem decoxit iners chymicus, dum decoquit aurum, / Et bona dilapidat omnia pro lapide.; and Primatus Maritalis, Nocturnum imperium muliebre, virile diurnum est. / Regnat enim noctu Cynthia, Solque diu.. (These come with vocabulary lists.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Dum Extendar, Dum extendar, duros ictus tot perfero; nomen / ob clarum cur quis ferre recuset idem?; and Concussus Surgo, Concussus surgo: casus me tollit in altum, / Plaudit ut in mediis mens cruce pressa malis.. (These come with vocabulary, too.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Ergo Movebor?, Nunquam aquila imbelles cornices celsa fatigat, / Nec generosum animum lingua maligna movet.; and Vim Suscitat Ira, Non temere caecam vir fortis fertur ad iram, / Iusta sed indigne laesus in arma ruit.. (These also have vocabulary lists.) That one shows a rhinoceros, slow to anger, finally roused to the point that he throws a bear with this horn:

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

TINY PROVERBS: Today's tiny proverb is: Existimationem retine (English: Keep your good reputation).

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is In veritate victoria (English: In truth, victory).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Crabrones non sunt irritandi (English: You shouldn't stir up the hornets).

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Omnes currunt, sed unus accipit bravium (English: All the racers run, but just one receives the prize).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is In Orci culum incidas (English: May you fall into Orcus's butthole; from Adagia 2.10.68 - as if being in the underworld of Orcus was not bad enough! Erasmus describes it as sermo perniciem et extremum exitium imprecantis, "words spoken by someone cursing another person with ruin and utter disaster" - ha!).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Μωρὸς σιωπᾷν οὐ δύναται (English: A fool is unable to keep quiet).

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Apollo et Musae, the story of Apollo and his followers, the Muses.

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 301, Oves, Lupus, et Porci , through Fable 310, Agnus, Pastor, et Lanius, including Oves Timidae et Pastor, a funny story about a shepherd who thought he could inspire his sheep to be brave!

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, a wolf whose disguise was good... but not good enough!

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Asinus et Viatores Duo, the story of a donkey who got away (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Iuppiter et Olitoris Asinus, the sad story of a hard-working donkey: Asinus olitoris, aegre sustinens laborem quo herus eum premebat, conqueritur de eo apud Iovem; supplicat alium sibi dari. Exaudit Iuppiter; iubet figulo veneat. Mutatur herus, sed non minuitur labor; immo augescit; semper lutum, tegulae, lateres, imbrices, dorso portandae. Iterum ad Iovem; Iuppiter, oratoris importunitate victus, dat coriarium. Statim expertus eum, omnibus quos unquam habuerat longe crudeliorem, apud se lamentans dicebat, “Heu me miserum, ut omnia mihi in deterius cedunt. Nam in eum incidi dominum, qui vivo non parcit, nec mortuo; ipse enim ubi corpus meum flagris exhauserit, in fine excoriabit.”

Round-Up: January 16

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

TODAY'S DISTICHS & EMBLEMS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Dies Solis, Qua prima emicuit lux, nondum sole creato, / Unde fit, ut solis dicta sit illa dies? and ΕΙΝΑΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΧΕΙΝ, “Esse et habere bonum est,” dixit quis nescio Graius. / Addidit Almannus nescio quis, “bibere.” (These come with vocabulary lists.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Virtus Hinc Maior, Iridis Aspalathus vi suavior, ipsaque virtus / Gratior est superum quam pia cura fovet.; and Tutos Coniunctio Praestat, Nos tamen haec glomerata simul coniunctio servat, / Quos facile sparsos perderet una dies. (These also have vocabulary lists.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Quo Me Vertam Nescio, Nescio quo vertam mentem; vocat ardua Virtus / Huc, illuc Venus et splendida luxuries; and Dum Nutrio Consumor, Consumor miserum, flammas dum nutrio, lignum, / Officium in damno est: nil bene facta iuvant. (These come with vocabulary, too.)

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

TINY MOTTOES: Today's tiny motto is: Sine timore (English: Without fear).

3-WORD PROVERBS: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Virtus fortunae victrix (English: Excellence is the winner over luck)

AUDIO PROVERBS: Today's audio Latin proverb is Nummis potior amicus in periculis (English: A friend is preferable to cash in times of trouble). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.

PUBLILIUS SYRUS: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Mutare quod non possis, ut natum est, feras (English: What you cannot change, you must endure as it happens).

ERASMUS' ANIMALS: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Aquila non captat muscas (English: An eagle doesn't catch flies; from Adagia 3.2.65).

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Apollo, Neptunus et Laomedon, the story of the walls of Troy.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Ursa et Vulpes, a great little story in which the fox rebukes the she-bear's hypocrisy (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 291, Taurus et Vitulus, through Fable 300, Oves et Lupi, including Ovis et Canis Calumniosus, the story of the dog who convicted the sheep in court on trumped-up charges.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is http://englishaesop.blogspot.com/2011/11/boothby-wolf-and-shepherds-boy.html, the famous story of the boy who cried "Wolf!"

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Grus et Lupus, a story about how foolish it is to try to do a favor for someone with no sense of gratitude. Grus et Lupus. In faucibus lupi os inhaeserat. Mercede igitur conducit gruem, qui illud extrahat. Hoc grus longitudine colli facile effecit. Cum autem mercedem postularet, subridens lupus et dentibus infrendens, “Num tibi,” inquit, “parva merces videtur, quod caput incolume ex lupi faucibus extraxisti?”

Round-Up: January 14

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. I'm using Google+ a lot these days - highly recommended as a thought-provoking place to hang out online!

HODIE: ante diem undecimum decimum Kalendas Februarias.

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Frischlin's Facetiae selectiores and Bebelius' Facetiae.

MYTHS & LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows The Abduction of Helen, which is the middle of these three images in the panel; you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here.

TODAY'S DISTICHS & EMBLEMS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Liberalitatis Laus, Quod datur, aeternum durat sequiturque datorem; / Dantem et captantem, munus utrumque iuvat; and Honoris et Divitiarum Comparatio, Donat opes homini Deus, et sibi poscit honorem. / Ergo divitiis anteferendus honor. (These come with vocabulary lists.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Per Tela, Per Ignes, Nec me praerupti montes, nec fulgura terrent, /
Quo minus in summo vertice conspiciar; and Prospiciente Deo, Si faveat caelum, bene surculus arbore crescet: / Si faveat Numen, tu quoque magnus eris. (These also have vocabulary lists.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Lente Sed Attente, Lente equidem tamen attente gradior; mora nulla est; / Si modo sat bene quo vis, cito sat venies.; and Remigio Ventisque Secundis, Navigo remigio felix ventisque secundis, / Sic bene perficiam, quod bene coepit, iter. (These come with vocabulary, too.)

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word motto is Optima est veritas (English: Truth is best).

3-WORD PROVERBS: Today's 3-word proverb is Cura facit canos (English: Worry makes grey hairs).

RHYMING PROVERBS: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Non omnis pugnat, minitans qui fortia clamat (English: Not every man who makes bold threats is going to fight).

VULGATE VERSES: Today's verse is Ecce et naves, cum magnae sint, circumferuntur a modico gubernaculo (James 3:4). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

ELIZABETHAN PROVERBS: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Taverner: Heroum filii noxae: The children of most renowned and noble personages, be for moste parte destructions to a common welth. Verelye our elders have observed from time to time, that the children of most excellent and wise men have growne much out of kinde from the vertues and prowesse of theyr progenitours.

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Daphne et Hyacinthus, the sad story of two of Apollo's lovers.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Avarus et Poma Marcescentia, a hilarious story about a miser who denies himself even the smallest pleasures in life (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 281, Bos Philosophus, through Fable 290, Iuvenci Duo, including Boves Somniantes, one of my very favorite fables by Abstemius.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Two Bald Pates, the story of bald men fighting over... a comb, of course!

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Citharoedus Imperitus, the sad story of a musician in love with the song of his own voice. 865. Citharoedus Imperitus. Citharoedus quidam, non satis eruditus, in cubiculo ut solebat canens, sua inibi voce resonante, valde se canorum esse putabat. Quapropter animo elatus, theatro iam se committere voluit. Sed ubi in conspectum prodiit, cum pessime cantasset, eum spectatores lapidibus iactis e scena abegerunt.

Round-Up: January 12

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. There are notices also at Twitter - look for Aesopus and AesopusEnglish.

HODIE: pridie Idus Ianuarias.

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Poggio's Facetiae and Mirabelli's Polyanthea.

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

TODAY'S DISTICHS & EMBLEMS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Minos, Qui pro iustitia poscit sibi munera, Minos / Est similis pisci: quando capit, capitur; and Redemptio et Regeneratio, Nos Satan muliere emit, Christusque redemit. / Christus nos lavit, quos maculavit Adam. (These come with vocabulary lists.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The new emblem is Nocet Assentatio Magnis, Vilis adulator blande mentitus amicum / Se ingerit; admissus, maxima damna dabit.; plus a new emblem from Bornitius, Fata Viam Invenient, Iactatur mundi mediis ecclesia in undis: / Sed tamen in portum ducit agetque Deus. (These also have vocabulary lists.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Spernit Pericula Virtus, Non adversa timet spernitque pericula Virtus; / Illa vel in medio nescit obire mari (that one refers to Arion), and Lente Sed Attente, Lente equidem tamen attente gradior; mora nulla est; / Si modo sat bene quo vis, cito sat venies. (These come with vocabulary, too.) It is a snail who is speaking in that one!

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

TINY PROVERBS: Today's tiny proverb is: Varietas delectat (English: Variety is pleasing).

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Post proelium praemium (English: After the war, the reward).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Sic vos non vobis vellera fertis, oves! (English: So, sheep, you bear your fleeces not for yourselves).

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus (English: Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus grows cold).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Ubi sunt Theagenis plurimae pecuniae (English: There where all the great wealth of Theagenes is - Theagenes was a poor man who boasted about having lots of money, hidden away somewhere; from Adagia 2.9.6).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Δὶς παῖδες οἱ γέροντες (English: Old men are children a second time).

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Aesculapius, the son of Apollo and a god of medicine and healing.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Fortuna et Puer, the story of Fortune defending her own reputation (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 271, Equus et Sus, through Fable 280, Bos et Lupus, including Equi Saltantes, the famous story of the dancing horses of Sybaris.

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Vipera et Auceps, a story of the hunter hunted.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Sow and the Wolf, the story of a wolf who wants to be nanny to a sow and her piglets.

Here is that story about the goddess Fortuna: 813. Fortuna et Puer. Dormienti puero super os putei fertur astitisse Fortunam eumque excitasse dicendo, “Exsurge, O iuvenis, et abi hinc ocius. Novi enim genium hominum et tuum, quod si in puteum labereris, non te aut tuam secordiam, sed Fortunam incusabitis.” (source - easy version)

Round-Up: January 10

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

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 quartum Idus Ianuarias.

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Collins' La Fontaine and Other French Fabulists and Pirckheimer's Sententiae morales.

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

TODAY'S DISTICHS & EMBLEMS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Fides Cerea, Credebant nummos sine chirographo, sine cera / Sinceri veteres; nunc sine utroque nihil; and Mercurius Gallo-Belgicus, Mercurius non fit de quolibet arbore. Fingit / Mercurium ex ligno quolibet iste faber. (These come with vocabulary lists.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Et Profundissima Quaeque, Sublimis volat, ima videt, regina volucrum. / Nonne vides, sit ut haec regis imago boni?; and Non Impune Feres, Contemnit mortem, qui non moriturus inultus; Una etiam est hostis certa ruina sui. (These also have vocabulary lists.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are In Nocte Consilium, Consilium in tenebris capias et nocte profunda: / Humanis obstat sensibus alma dies; and In Hunc Intuens Pius Esto, Esse pius cupis: hunc saltem adspice, qui fuit olim / Tu quod es, et quod eris mox erit ipse cinis. (These come with vocabulary, too.)

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

TINY MOTTOES: Today's tiny motto is: Venit hora (English: The hour is coming).

3-WORD PROVERBS: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Amor pretiosior auro (English: Love is more precious than gold)

AUDIO PROVERBS: Today's audio Latin proverb is Discipulus est prioris posterior dies (English: The following day is the student of the previous day). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.

PUBLILIUS SYRUS: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Cicatrix conscientiae pro vulnere est (English: The scar of conscience is as bad as a wound).

ERASMUS' ANIMALS: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Equi dentes inspicere donati (English: To look a gift horse in the mouth - which is something you should not do, of course; from Adagia 4.5.24).

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Latona, the mother of Diana and Apollo.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Avara et Gallina, the story of a woman who thought "more was better" (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 261, Equus et Hirci Tres, through Fable 270, Equa, Pullus, et Homo, including Equus et Venator, which is one of my very favorite fables of all time: it is the tale of the horse who first agreed to let a man ride him.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Sick Kite, a story about deathbed repentance.

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Sutores et Mercurius, a funny little story about Mercury and the shoemakers. 861. Sutores et Mercurius. Iuppiter Mercurio imperavit ut artificibus omnibus mendacii potionem conficeret. Ipse, singulis quae ad id opus erant pistillo contusis atque mensura pro ratione miscendi confecta, universis aequalem potum praebuit. Cum vero, sutore solo relicto, multum adhuc ex potione superesset, Mercurius, mortario arrepto, totum illi bibendum dedit. Atque contigit inde ut artifices omnes mendaces sint, maxime vero omnium sutores.

Round-Up: January 8

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

TODAY'S DISTICHS & EMBLEMS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Amor, Libertas - carcer, pax - pugna, dolenda - voluptas: / Spes - metuens, mel - fel, feria - ludus, amor.; and Ars Memoriae, Simonides olim memorandi repperit artem, / Nullus adhuc artem repperit ingenii.. (These come with vocabulary lists.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Nempe Arbos Unde Rigetur, Intererit multum quis nostros irriget hortos, / Ac mens nostra Dei qua foveatur ope.; and His Artibus, Ut te ipsum et navim serves comitesque pericli, / In pontum cunctas abiice divitias.. (These also have vocabulary lists.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Non Sceptro, Sed Plectro Ducitur, Non sceptro virgo sed plectro ducitur; aurum / Spernit amor: Venerem musica blanda movet.; and Non Obest Virtuti Sors, Virtuti sors nulla nocet; volat aurea Virtus / Ultra Helicendum; sors perfida versat humum.. (These come with vocabulary, too.) Here you can see fickle fate turning the world, while the excellent man rises to the clouds on eagle's wings:

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word motto is In diem vivo (English: I live for the day).

3-WORD PROVERBS: Today's 3-word proverb is Post festum venisti (English: You've arrived after the party's over).

RHYMING PROVERBS: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Nascimur in maerore, vivimus in labore, morimus in dolore (English: We are born crying, we live laboring, we die grieving).

VULGATE VERSES: Today's verse is Non potestis Deo servire et mamonae (Matt. 6:24). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

ELIZABETHAN PROVERBS: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Conybeare: Servum pecus: A proverbe applied to hem which in speaking or writing dare not digresse from another mannes steppes or fourme of writinge.

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Iuno et Vulcanus, the story of Iuno (Hera) and her children, especially Vulcan (Hephaestus).

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Cornix et Urna, the famous story of the thirsty crow (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 251, Muli et Dominus Stultus, through Fable 260, Equus Superbus et Asinus, including Mulus et Nomen Eius, a hilarious story about the mule who claims his name is written in his hoof.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Ram, the Stag and the Wolf, an ancient story about financial speculation!

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Mors et Pauper, the thought-provoking story of the man who called upon Death: 816. Mors et Pauper. Pauper quidam lignorum fasciculum portabat humeris. Longo deinde itinere fatigatus, onere se levavit, consedit humi, et flebili voce advocavit Mortem. Illa continuo adest, interrogans quid se velit. Respondet pauper, “Humi ut tolleres hunc fascem mihi, huc ego te vocavi.” Adeo in miseris etiam vitae amantes sunt mortales.

Round-Up: January 6

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. There are notices also at Twitter - look for Aesopus and AesopusEnglish.

HODIE: antediem octavum Idus Ianuarias.

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Witkowski's The Evil That Has Been Said of Doctors and Chatto's Origin and History of Playing Cards.

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

TODAY'S DISTICHS & EMBLEMS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Scala Aulicorum, Nemo, gradus nisi per plures ascendit in aula, / Ad descendendum plus satis unus erit; and Quota Hora Est?, Viventi mors obrepit, iuvenique senectu; / Horaque dum quota sit quaeritur, hora fugit. (These come with vocabulary lists.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Labore Virtus, Virtute Gloria Paratur, Saepe labore fuit Virtus, Virtute parata / Gloria, non alio concilianda modo; and Ne Tenear, Ne tenear, postica cavet pars, vertice raso; / Caesariem qui scit prendere fronte, sapit. (These come with vocabulary, too.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Dominus Providebit, Et laeta simul et tristis provisio sortit, / Inprimis virtus principe digna viro est, and Mansuetis Grandia Cedunt, Praeterit; haud elephas animalia parvula laedit: / Nempe quod hinc clemens rex imitetur habet. (These also have vocabulary lists.) Here is that elephant:

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

TINY PROVERBS: Today's tiny proverb is: Sobrie potandum (English: Drink in moderation).

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Lex et iustitia (English: Law and justice).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Sus magis in caeno gaudet quam in fonte sereno (English: A pig delights more in filth than in a shining fountain).

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Melius modicum iusto, super divitias peccatorum multas (English: Better is a righteous man's little bit than the many riches of sinners).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Cretensis mare nescit (English: The man from Crete says he's ignorant of the sea; from Adagia 1.2.31; this is an ironical proverb, since the Cretans were experts in sailing and everything to do with the sea, but would pretend otherwise to take advantage of you).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Ἐδίδαξά σε κυβισᾷν, καὶ σὺ βυθίσαι με ζητεῖς (English: I taught you to piss, and now you are trying to drown me).

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Harundo et Quercus, a wonderful story about being flexible (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 241, Asinus et Viatores Duo, through Fable 250, Asinus Somnians, which is one of my favorite fables - the donkey, in a deep sleep, dreams that he is a human being!

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Piscator Aquam Verberans, one of Aesop's ecological fables.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Mouse and The Lion, the story of the tiny mouse who rescued a mighty lion.

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Pandora, the famous story of Prometheus, his brother Epimetheus, and the beautiful Pandora: Severitatem Iovis inique tulerunt ceteri Dii, ac doluerunt quod sibi uni formandorum hominum ius arrogaret. Quare, collatis studiis et muneribus, mulierem effinxere, quam "Pandoram" appellarunt, quasi ex omnium donis conflatam. Iupiter, Superum arrogantiam ulturus, illi capsulam dedit, infelix munus; in eam quippe congesta erant omnia naturae mala. Hanc Pandora cum detulisset ad Epimetheum, Promethei fratrem, ille, impulsus curiositate prava, sive, ut alii narrant, eius uxor capsulam aperuit; ex eaque pestes omnis generis in orbem terrarum evolarunt, sola spe in fundo capsulae relicta. Hinc aetas ferrea et scelerum colluvies nata est.

Round-Up: January 4

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

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 Ianuarias.

MYTHS & LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows Achilles and the Corpse of Hector; you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here.

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Lange's Democritus Ridens and Nugae Venales. I've also added a post with tips for finding books, esp. Latin books, at Google Books. Meanwhile, the image below comes from the delightful Nugae Venales book; this is Publius Porcius Poeta:

TODAY'S DISTICHS & EMBLEMS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Deus, Omnia cum videat, nulli Deus ipse videtur, / Solus ubique patet, solus ubique latet; and Ad Lectore De Suo Libro, Ne tibi non placeant vereor mea carmina, lector / Candide; ne placeant, lector inepte, tibi. (These come with vocabulary lists.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Lex Regit et Arma Tuentur, Lex regit, et hostes contra ducis arma tuentur / Hunc populum legis, qui sacra iussa facit; and Constans Sapientia, Omne malum exsuperat constans sapientia, mortem / Spernit, et adversa sorte tonante viget. (These come with vocabulary, too.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Si Serenus Illuxerit, Mons omni hoc, nisi Sol foveat, viduatur honore: / Quicquid ages, cassum disperit, absque Deo.; and Quam Bene Conveniunt, Hoc balaena suo tuta est ductore per undas; / Principe et est felix plebs vigilante suo. (These also have vocabulary lists.) The image shows the balaena of Camerarius' little poem:

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

TINY MOTTOES: Today's tiny motto is: Virtutis amore (English: By the love of virtue).

3-WORD PROVERBS: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Mors ultima ratio (English: Death is the final reckoning)

AUDIO PROVERBS: Today's audio Latin proverb is Leges sine moribus vanae (English: Laws without character are worthless). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.

PUBLILIUS SYRUS: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Necessitas quam pertinax regnum tenet! (English: How tightly Necessity keeps hold of her dominion!).

ERASMUS' ANIMALS: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Auribus lupum teneo (English: I'm holding the wolf by the ears; from Adagia 1.5.25).

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Iupiter et Gigantes, the story of the Gigantomachy.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Lupus et Puer Mendax, the famous story of the boy who cried wolf (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 231, Asinus et Lupus, Ligati, through Fable 240, Asinus et Umbra Eius, including Asinus Leonis Pelle Indutus, the famous story of the donkey in the lion skin.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Man That Pleased None, the wonderful story of the man who tried to please everyone on his way to the market.

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Iuppiter et Asini, the hilarious story of the donkeys who filed a complaint with Jupiter.: 768. Iuppiter et Asini. Dolentes olim asini quod continuo onera ferrent atque in aerumnis vitam traherent, legatos ad Iovem misere, solamen aliquod laborum petentes. Quod cum Iuppiter fieri non posse ostendere vellet, tunc eos, inquit, a laboribus vacuos fore cum mingendo fluvium fecerint. Illi, id verum eum dicere rati, iam tempore ab illo, ubi suam aut aliorum urinam vident, ipsi quoque mingere solent.

Round-Up: January 2

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +0000

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. Also, I'm using Google+ a lot these days - highly recommended as a thought-provoking place to hang out online!

HODIE: ante diem quartum Nonas Ianuarias.

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Graecae Sententiae and Stoa's Disticha in omnes fabulas Ovidii.

MYTHS & LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows Venus awakening Pygmalion's statue; you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here.

TODAY'S DISTICHS & EMBLEMS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Ad Lectorem, Qui legis ista, tuam reprehendo, si mea laudas / Omnia, stultitiam; si nihil, invidiam; and Regnum Divisum, In mundo nihil usque potest consistere: mundus / Non semper stabit. Cur? Quia dividitur. (These come with vocabulary lists.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Cuique Suum, Laeva tenet fulmen, sed olivae dextera ramum, / ut pace et bello sim memor officii; and Veritas Mire Patescit, Saepe etiam est fatuus vel simplex pusio vates, / Abdita cum Fatum vera aperire volet.. (These also have vocabulary lists.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Perseveranti Dabitur, Serta feret, Domino si ad finem subditus usque / Quis perseveret ultimum; and Cetera Mortis Erunt; Vivitur Ingenio, Disce bonas artes, et opes contemne caducas. / Vivitur ingenio; cetera mortis erunt (These come with vocabulary, too.) Here's a detail from the death emblem:

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word motto is Me meliora manent (English: Better things await me).

3-WORD PROVERBS: Today's 3-word proverb is Amor caecus est (English: Love is blind).

RHYMING PROVERBS: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Verbum laudatur, si factum tale sequatur (English: The word is praised, if a like deed should follow it).

VULGATE VERSES: Today's verse is Qui in gladio occiderit, oportet eum gladio occidi (Rev. 13:10). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

ELIZABETHAN PROVERBS: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Taverner: Multitudo imperatorum Cariam perdidit: The multitude of rules destroied the countrey of Caria. This countrey was sumtime a very florishing realme, and by the discorde and dissention of the citizens amonges themselves, while everie man strove to be a Lorde, it was brought at last to a thinge of naught. Wherfore this Proverbe advertiseth us, that nothinge is more noysome, nor more pestiferous to a common weale, then the over muche libertie of a multitude, wher no man chieflie is obeied, but everie man doth as him lusteth. This unlafull libertie or licence of the multitude is called an Anarchie. A mischiefe surely in maner worse then any Tyrannie.

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Ceres et Proserpina, a Latin account of Demeter and her daughter Persephone.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Leo, Lepus, et Cerva, the story of a lion who fails at multitasking (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 221, Asinus et Canis, through Fable 230, Asina Aegrota et Lupus, including Asinus et Vulpes, Peccata Confitentes, a story about a donkey who pays the ultimate price for his honesty.

NEW MILLE FABULAE: The NEW fables with images are Puer et Praeceptor, a story about a student with a will of his own, and Servus et Dominus Eius Incensus, a story about how hot it could be at the Olympian Olympics. (I'm done with all 1001 of the fables now: whoo-hoo!)

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Gallus et Fures, a story about how there is no love lost between thieves and a rooster.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Lion in Love, the sad story of a lion willing to do anything for love!

What to Expect in 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 16:43:00 +0000

I thought I would post a note here about what to expect in 2012, in terms of which blogs and projects I will be working on, and which projects are on hiatus. It's always a hard decision for me to figure out what time to spend on my teaching- and school-related work as opposed to what time I can spend on Latin (alas, my school continues to be adamant in refusing to let me teach Latin). My goal this summer is to be able to create a book of Latin distich poetry, so that is where I will be focusing almost almost all my Latin efforts in the coming months (summer vacation countdown: about 125 days to go!). So, here's how that will play out for the Bestiaria and its related blogs:

Bestiaria Round-Up. I will keep doing the Bestiaria Round-Up blog post every other day. If I miss a day, it's just because something unexpected comes up - but usually I can manage to stay on top of that. The Round-Up will continue to look as it has in the past - I'll be including links to all new content that I'm creating, along with the content that comes from the various "quicquid of the day" widgets.
Schoolhouse Widgets. As some of you may have noticed, I've been trying to consolidate and clean up my widgets, which have become an unmanageable hodgepodge over the past six or seven years that I've been creating them. Now, when I create a new widget, I make sure to publish a set of informational posts over at the Schoolhouse Widgets blog, and I've also been going through and creating those informational posts for existing widgets as well. I hope that will make it easier for people to take and use the widgets for themselves, either by linking to the posts that display the widget content, or by taking the widget script and including it on your own webpage or wiki or blog.
Disticha Latina. Most of the new content development will be happening at the Disticha Latina blog, which has already been pretty active for the past couple of months. I have been adding blog posts every day for the new widgets I had created: Owen epigrams, Camerarius emblems, and Rollenhagen emblems. Each of the Disticha Latina blog posts has a VOCABULARY LIST, which I know is something of use to those of you who are using my blogs as study tools - so, you can count on new things to read with vocabulary lists at this blog every day, and if you have questions about the grammar or meaning of the poems, please let me know in the comments! It will be really helpful for me to know where the little poems are causing trouble for their readers.
Myth and Legend Images. I really had a good time putting together the Myth & Legends widget, and I've been publishing some notes on the images at the Bestiaria blog; I'll be sure to include a link in the Round-Up blog posts to any new image notes I find time to publish.
I Love Google Books. Since I keep finding all kinds of amazing books at Google Books, I will keep on sharing a book a day (more or less regularly) at my I Love Google Books blog. Is anybody else out there keeping a public record of your Google Book discoveries? If so, let me know! I am just amazed by what I am able to find at Google Books.
Mille Fabulae et Una. As of today, I've finished posting every single one of the 1001 fables, now with images, at the Mille Fabulae et Una blog - whoo-hoo!!! Now for the next step in the process, I am building in the navigation that will allow you to "page" from fable to fable in the same order as you can find the fables in the printed book, along with information about sources added to the bottom of each post. I'll be including information in the Bestiaria Round-Up posts as I revise new "chunks" of the fables so that they can be navigated from one to the next; meanwhile, you can see how that works for fables 1-300.

So, those are the places where I'll be creating new content in the coming months. As you'll notice, some of the blogs where I have been creating new content this past year are not on that list. For example, I'm not doing any more posts at the Fabulae Faciles blog - but I ended up with 183 of those fables, complete with vocabulary, which was enough to make a Fabulae Faciles widget with new easy fables, equipped with vocabulary, to last for a whole semester.

I'm also not working on the Latin vocabulary and Latin proverbs right now, but I hope to get back to that sometime in the future - and there are plenty of widgets you can use for daily and random Latin proverbs of all kinds. As for vocabulary, I am really waiting for a professional organization (APA? ACL? College Board?) to come up with some free vocabulary resources online that everybody can use and link to; I'm just not persuaded that it is a good use of time for each of us to be doing our own vocabulary development individually, when instead we would all benefit from there being shared vocabulary lists and shared online tools for working with that vocabulary, customizable and suitable for students at any level of Latin learning.

I hope that all makes sense, and if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know in the comments section of the blog (or you can send me an email but, honestly, my email inbox is still a complete disaster as a result of having been out of town and busy with the end of school, too).

Also, if you are a Latin teacher or student who is blogging, let me know so I can follow your blog! As you can see, blogging has proved to be a key element in my work and my research; I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone as a great tool for learning and sharing, and Google's Blogger.com sure does make it easy. Thanks, as always, to Google for the amazing resources and tools they are sharing with us all!

Best wishes to everybody for a happy and productive New Year!

For an image, here's a new widget - it chooses from the 400-pixel-width widgets and displays one at random. For more information, see the Random 400-Pixel Images Reference Page.

IANUS

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:12:00 +0000

In honor of the "hinge" of the year turning, I thought I would create a post today in honor of the Roman god Ianus, who gives the month of January its name and whose two-headed depiction, looking backwards and forwards, is a wonderful visualization of the passage of time. To learn more about the two-faced Roman god Janus, see this Wikipedia article. You can also read a brief article in Latin about Ianus from John Hart's Epitome of Greek and Roman Mythology (written in Latin). Here is an image of Ianus from Cartari's famous 16th-century work, Le Imagini de gli Dei (you can read it online at GoogleBooks!).

One of the emblems of Alciato is devoted to Ianus, and how we should aspire to be as discerning as he is, looking prudently both ahead and behind.

Alciato XVIII: Prudentes

Iane bifrons, qui iam transacta futuraque calles,
Quique retro sannas, sicut et ante, vides:
Te tot cur oculis, cur fingunt vultibus? An quod
Circumspectum hominem forma fuisse docet?

This image comes from a 1621 edition of the emblems, and you can also read an English translation online. For help with the Latin, here is the poem presented in an easier-to-read format, with the word order rearranged (the word order in poetry often serves the sound more than the sense), and with the phrase segments clearly marked:

Iane bifrons,
qui calles
iam transacta et futura,
et qui sannas vides,
retro sicut et ante:
Cur te fingunt
tot oculis, tot vultibus?
An quod
forma hominem docet
circumspectum fuisse?

Below you can see some more images from other editions of Alciato's Emblemata:

1591:

1567:

1546:

1615:

Thanks to Rose Williams for sending this image to add to the post - it's the cover for her book Gods and Other Creatures, illustrated by James Estes.

Round-Up: December 31

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:01:00 +0000

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. There are notices also at Twitter - look for Aesopus and AesopusEnglish.

HODIE: pridie Kalendas Ianuarias (I just now updated the calendar so that it is ready to go for 2012 - a bit tricky, since it is a leap year, but I just added a day "ante diem septimum decimum Kalendas Martias" in the countdown to the Kalends of March).

GAUDIUM MUNDO: Here are the last Latin holiday songs for you to enjoy for the month of December - In Dulci Iubilo (a wonderful medieval son by the German mystic Heinrich Suso), Auld Lang Syne (a Latin version of the song, just in time for New Year's celebrations), and In Hoc Anni Circulo (a song for rounding out the year).

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Catonis Disticha Moralia et Lilii Monita Paedagogica and La Faye's Breviarium Saeculare Universae Historiae.

MYTHS & LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows the Sabine women making peace (the famous painting by Jacques-Louis David); you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here.

TODAY'S EMBLEMS & DISTICHS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are De Vita et Morte, Una via est vitae, moriendi mille figurae. / Est bene: nam mors est res bona, vita mala; and Ultima Linea, Ultimus est vitae mors actus amara iocosae. / Cuius vita fuit seria, mors iocus est. (These come with vocabulary, too.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Perit Quod Elapsum Est,
Continuo fugit hora; perit de tempore quantum / Elapsum est: parcus temporis esto tui; and Omnis Caro Faenum, Omnis homo faenum, quod mane virescit et aret / Discendente die, crescit ut intereat. (These come with vocabulary lists.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Vita Mihi Mors Est, Ex se ipsa nascens, ex se reparabilis ales, / quae exoriens moritur, quae moriens oritur - with a phoenix in the emblem, and Fert Omnia Secum, O felix, secum sua quicumque omnia portat, / Fortunae vivens liber ab arbitrio - with a snail in the emblem, as you can see below. (These also have vocabulary lists.)

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

TINY PROVERBS: Today's tiny proverb is: Ita vita (English: Such is life).

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Non nobis solum (English: Not for ourselves alone).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Dum stertit cattus, numquam sibi currit in os mus (English: When the cat is snoring, a mouse never runs into its mouth).

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Omnia probate, quod bonum est, tenete (English: Try all things; what is good, keep).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Aiacis risus (English: The laugh of Ajax; from Adagia 1.7.46 - this was a mad and crazy laugh, the laugh of a man who rejoices in bloodthirsty pleasures although he is about to die, as Ajax in his madness).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Λύκω συννόμω καὶ ἵππω· λέοντέ γε μὲν οὐκέτι (English: Two wolves can feed together, as can two horses, but two lions not so).

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Cybeles Festa et Sacerdotes, an account of the goddess Cybele and her ecstatic priests.

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 211, Mus et Rusticus, through Fable 220, Asellus et Rivus, including Mus Uxorem Quaerens, one of my favorite folktales of all time - and an ancient one, going back to the Indian Panchatantra tradition.

NEW MILLE FABULAE: The NEW fables with images are Fur et Sicarius, a story about quarreling criminals, and Sol, Mons, et Vallis, a fable in praise of the humble life and the emptiness of lofty achievements.

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Canes Duo, Venaticus et Domesticus, a story about a hard-working hunting dog and an indolent house dog.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Lazy Housemaids, a fantastic fable about unintended consequences.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Canis in Praesepe et Bos, the famous story of the dog in the manger (this one also has a vocabulary list).

For an image, here is that miserly dog: 357. Canis in Praesepi et Bos. In praesepi faeni pleno decumbebat canis. Venit bos ut comedat faenum, cum canis, confestim sese erigens, tota voce elatravit. Cui bos, “Dii te, cum ista tua invidia, perdant,” inquit, “nec enim faeno ipse vesceris, nec me vesci sines.” (source - easy version)

Round-Up: December 29

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:01:00 +0000

Hi, everybody! I'm back from my travels - and here is a round-up of today's blog posts. You'll see below that I've reorganized the listing of items: instead of just one image at the bottom, there are now three images: an image for one of the emblems, an image from the "Myths & Legends" image widget, as well as an image at the bottom for one of the fables as usual. Meanwhile, for anyone who sent me email, please forgive my slowness in replying; between being out of town, plus the end-of-semester craziness, as well as the craziness of my email inbox in general, it's going to take me a while to get caught up. :-)

HODIE: ante diem quartum Kalendas Ianuarias.

GAUDIUM MUNDO: Here are some Latin holiday songs for you to enjoy - Tinnitus, Tinnitus (three different versions of Jingle Bells in Latin), Somnio Candidum Diem (a Latin version of "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas"), and Dormi Jesu (a lovely Latin lullaby recorded by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge).

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Appendini's Disticha and Bachot's Fasti Christiani.

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

TODAY'S EMBLEMS & DISTICHS:

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Spes Altera Vita, Securus moritur, qui scit se morte renasci: / Non ea mors dici, sed nova vita potest.; and Non Levis Ascensus, Disce, puer, virtutem ex me verumque laborem, / Si verae ornari laudis honore cupis.. (These also have vocabulary lists.)

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Aulicorum Par Impar, Non bene conveniunt, at in una sede morantur / Momus vituperans omnia, Gnatho nihil. ; and Carceris Instar Tellus, Carceris est instar tellus, quasi moenia caelum, / Custos peccatum. Vincula quae? Mulier.. (These come with vocabulary, too.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: Here is my new emblem project - the wonderful books of Rollenhagen (a.k.a. Rollenhagius), with the English renderings by George Wither. Today's emblem is Si Deus Voluerit, Si Deus ille volet, qui vitam dat mihi, vita / Quo se sustentet, sat mihi panis erit. (See the blog post for more information, along with the vocabulary list.)

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

TINY MOTTOES: Today's tiny motto is: Diligentia cresco (English: By diligence, I grow).

3-WORD PROVERBS: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Conscientia mille testes (English: Conscience is a thousand witnesses).

AUDIO PROVERB: Today's audio Latin proverb is Unus lanius non timet multas oves (English: One butcher does not fear the many sheep). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.

PUBLILIUS SYRUS: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Irritare est calamitatem, cum te felicem voces (English: To call yourself happy is to provoke disaster).

ERASMUS' ANIMALS: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Simia in purpura (English: A monkey in royal robes - which is to say, someone who is ridiculous indeed; from Adagia 1.7.10).

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Saturnalia, the story of the tradition of Saturnalia among the Romans.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Haedus et Lupus Fores Pulsans, the story of a goat who is a single mother and her wise little kid (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 201, Mus in Olla, through Fable 210, Mus, Mustela, Vulpes et Lupus, including Mus in Cervisia, the funny story of a mouse who fell into a vat of beer and had to be rescued by a .. cat!

NEW MILLE FABULAE: The NEW fables with images are Puer Viscera Vomens, a funny little story, regardless or whether you do or do not like tripe, and Servus et Asinus, a story about a dead donkey and a deceitful slave.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Hunter and the Fisherman, a story about how familiarity breeds contempt in the realm of food.

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Vespertilio Perfidus, the story of the treacherous bat during the war of the birds and the beasts:
Bellum gerebant volucres cum quadrupedibus, et fortuna belli erat diu anceps, modo his, modo illis victoriam reportantibus. Vespertilio, qui securitatem fidei anteponebat, ad eas quae superaverant se conferebat; inter aves avem se esse profitebatur, inter quadrupedes murem. Cum pacem fecissent aves et quadrupedes, fraus utrique generi apparuit; damnatus igitur ab utrisque refugit, atque ex eo tempore noctu tantummodo evolabat.

Holiday Hiatus

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:01:00 +0000

Iucundissimum festum Nativitatis exopto, plenum laetitae atque felicitatis vobis et vestris.

I'll be taking a week off here at the Bestiaria, although some of the blogs will carry on while I am gone:

there will be new fables with images at the Mille Fabulae et Una blog (I'm getting very close to having all 1001 fables done!)
there will be new books at the I Love Google Books blog each day
there will also be a new distich epigram by John Owen and a distch emblem by Camerarius each day at the Disticha Latina blog

You can also check out the various types of daily widgets over at the Schoolhouse Widgets blog, too! Plus, there will be Latin holiday songs for each day of the month; for more, see the Gaudium Mundo blog. :-)

Round-Up: December 20

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 05:01:00 +0000

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. I'm using Google+ a lot these days - are there any of you I should look for there?

HODIE: ante diem tertium decimum Kalendas Ianuarias.

GAUDIUM MUNDO: Here are some Latin holiday songs for you to enjoy - O Hanukkah (a song for the beginning of Hanukkah), Quem Pastores Laudavere (a 14th-century latin carol, often called "Quempas"), and Tres Naves (a Latin version of the English carol "I Saw Three Ships").

Myths & Legends: The art image for today's legend shows Zeus and his lover Semele, who was the mother of the god Dionysus; you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here.

OWEN'S EPIGRAMS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Homo Homini Deus, Est homo, qui locuples inopi nil donat amico. / Qui rapit, hic lupus est. Qui dabit, ille deus; and Vicissitudo, Gaudia post luctus veniunt, post gaudia luctus. / Semper in ambiguo (speve metuve) sumus. (They each come a vocabulary list!)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Bene Qui Latuit, Exemplo domiporta tibi fit cochlea, quisquis / Exoptas tuto consenuisse domi; and Brevis Et Damnosa Voluntas, Qui circum volitat deceptus amores ad ignes, / Numquid naturam papilionis habet? (These have vocabulary too!)

VERBUM WIDGET: The word from the daily widget is TANTUS - which also has a brief essay at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in that essay: Quantum potes, tantum aude, "Dare to do as much as you can!"

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Vaillant's Fasti Sacri and Gilbertus' Tetrastichorum in Fabulas Aesopicas XII .

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Stabula Augeae, the story of how Heracles cleaned out the stables of King Augeas.

FABULAE FACILES: The NEW easy-to-read fable is Vulpes Sine Cauda, a story about the tyranny of fashion (and the fable comes with a vocabulary list).

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Simiae Saltantes, the story of the King of Egypt and his dancing monkeys.

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 191 through Fable 200, including Mures Duo, the famous story of the city mouse and the country mouse.

NEW MILLE FABULAE: The NEW fables with images are Pater Senex Domo Eiectus, a story about an old man, his heartless son and his worldly-wise grandson, and Fur Avarus, a story in which the greedy thief loses everything.

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Mulus et Equus, a story about why it is better to be a humble mule than a fancy horse.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Fly and the Horse, the story of a fly whose boasting does not impress the horses.

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

3-Word Mottoes: Today's 3-word motto is Tenax propositi, vinco (English: Firm in purpose, I conquer).

3-Word Proverbs: Today's 3-word proverb is Medice, cura teipsum (English: Physician, heal yourself).

Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Doctrinae cultus spernit nemo, nisi stultus (English: The cultivation of learning is rejected by no one, unless he's a fool).

Vulgate Verse: Today's verse is Sit vestrum est est, non non (James 5:12). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

Elizabethan Proverb Commentary: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Taverner: Iustitia in se virtutem complectitur omnem: Justice compriseth in it al vertue. He that is a perfect righteous or iust man, without question lacketh no vertue.

Today's image is for that story of the fashionable foxes: 41. Vulpes Sine Cauda. In foveam incidit vulpecula et inde, cauda detruncata, occurrit multis vulpeculis. Quas cum indignabunde conspexerat, inquit, “Fraterculi, quo vaditis?” “Ad leonis basilicam eundum est nobis,” respondebant. “Ad leonis basilicam?” inquit vulpes. “Profecto, ego ab ea nuperrime redii, et mos iamiam novellus est ut omnes ferae detruncent caudas.” Quibus auditis, illico detruncabant illae suas caudas. Quas cum vidit vulpes, irrisit et consolabatur se socios, si non periculi, saltem pudoris, creavisse. Solamen miseris est socios habuisse doloris. (source - easy version)

Round-Up: December 18

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 05:01:00 +0000

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. There are notices also at Twitter - look for Aesopus and AesopusEnglish.

HODIE: ante diem quintum decimum Kalendas Ianuarias.

GAUDIUM MUNDO: Here are some Latin holiday songs for you to enjoy - Orientis Reges Tres (a Latin version of the English carol "We Three Kings of Orient Are"), Nascitur cum Christus (a Latin version of the Polish carol, Gdy się Chrystus rodzi), and Heu! quid jaces stabulo (a 15th-century Latin hymn).

Myths & Legends: The art image for today's legend shows The Seven Against Thebes; you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here.

OWEN'S EPIGRAMS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Musica, Optima Musarum est; reliquis idcirco negatum / Artibus, a Musis musica nomen habet.; and Echo et Speculum, Nil in se, praeter vocem, vitale habet echo. / Ut vivat, speculum non nisi voce caret.. (They each come a vocabulary list!)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Tempore et Loco , Nosse modum tempusque doces, crocodile magister, / Et ventura diu tempora prospicere.; and Nullo Docente Magistro, Utilis attrahitur plantis, at noxius humor / Spernitur; anne homines in sua damna ruent?. (These have vocabulary too!)

VERBUM WIDGET: The word from the daily widget is IPSE - which also has a brief essay at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in that essay: Piger ipse sibi obstat., "The lazy person gets in his own way."

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Ellis' Fables of Avianus and White's Selections from Ovid's Fasti and Epistles .

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Hydra Lernae, another of the labors of Hercules.

FABULAE FACILES: The NEW easy-to-read fable is Haedus et Lupus Fores Pulsans, the story of a wise young goat (this one also has a vocabulary list).

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Mus in Cervisia, the story of the mouse who fell into some beer.

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 181 through Fable 190, including Herinacei et Viperae, the story of some nice vipers and not-very-nice hedgehogs.

NEW MILLE FABULAE: The NEW fables with images are Vidua et Asinus Viridis, a hilarious story about a green donkey, and Vidua et Arator, a story where a farmer finds out what he really needs in his life.

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Nux Secundum Viam Sata, a story about how hard it is to be a nut tree.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Eagle and the Snail, the snail doesn't get to the top faster than the eagle, but he does get there!

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

3-Word Mottoes Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Per mille ardua (English: Through a thousand challenges).

Latin Animal Proverb: Today's animal proverb is Pullus de nido avolat (English: The chick flies away from the nest).

Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Lerna malorum (English: It's a Lerna of troubles - and for an example of the troubles in Lerna, see the story of the Hydra of Lerna above).

Proper Name Proverb from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Sero sapiunt Phryges (English: The Phrygians get wise too late; from Adagia 1.1.28 - the Phrygians here are the Trojans, who should have figured out what was going on before they let that Wooden Horse into the city!).

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Ἡ κάμηλος ἐπιθυμήσασα κεράτων, καὶ τὰ ὦτα προσαπώλεσεν (English: The camel, asking for horns, lost her ears as well - an allusion to a delightful Aesop's fable).

Tiny Proverbs: Today's tiny proverb is: Hylam vocas (English: You're shouting for Hylas). Hylas, the lover of Heracles, was abducted by nymphs - poor Heracles called and called, but there was no answer, because the nymphs took him! To find out more about Hylas, the lover of Heracles, see this Wikpedia article; for information about the image: image source.

Round-Up: December 16

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:01:00 +0000

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 septimum decimum Kalendas Ianuarias.

GAUDIUM MUNDO: Here are some Latin holiday songs for you to enjoy - Primum Noel Cecinit Angelus (a Latin version of "The First Noel"), O Lux Beata Trinitas (a hymn attributed to Saint Ambrose), and Sit Prosperus Iesus Nati (a Latin version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas").

Myths & Legends: The art image for today's legend shows Ajax and Cassandra; you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here.

OWEN'S EPIGRAMS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Speculum, Fingere non Phidias, nec Apelles pingere motum / Novit: tu Phidia plus et Apelle facis.; and Echo, Vocem nulla potest ars sculpere, pingere nulla. / Sola repercussos exprimit echo sonos.. (They each come a vocabulary list!)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Ne Iurato Quidem, Non nisi desectā credam tibi, scorpio, caudā, / Armaque ni ponas, foedera nulla dabo.; and Expecto Donec Veniat, Frigora fert patiens, spe veris, parva cicada: / Sperat et infestis mens bona semper opem.. (These have vocabulary too!)

VERBUM WIDGET: The word from the daily widget is ARRIPIO - which also has a brief essay at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in that essay: Occasionem arripe, "Seize the opportunity!"

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Theatrum Lyricum and Knatchbull's Kalila and Dimna .

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Leo Nemeae, the story of what is probably Hercules' most famous labor.

FABULAE FACILES: The NEW easy-to-read fable is Fur et Stultus, a hilarious little story about a confident fool and his shoes (and the fable comes with a vocabulary list).

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Harundo et Quercus, a story about being flexible (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 171 through Fable 180, including Lepus in Puteo et Vulpes, a story about a rabbit who gets stuck in a well and a know-it-all fox.

NEW MILLE FABULAE: The NEW fables with images are Uxor et Vir, Mercatum Facientes, a hilarious little story about a fun-loving husband and wife, and Pater, Filius, et Sclavina, a wonderful story about elder care - a problem then as now.

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Ursus et Amici Duo, the famous story of two friends who have the bad luck to run into a bear.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Dog and the Quaker, a story about a hypocritical Quaker.

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

Tiny Mottoes: Today's tiny motto is: Non dormio (English: I do not sleep ... not a motto I can claim by any means: I like my sleep!).

3-Word Proverbs Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Sale nihil utilius (English: Nothing is more useful than salt - and remember that in Latin sal means both salt and wit.)

Audio Latin Proverb: Today's audio Latin proverb is In terra caecorum monoculus rex (English: In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king). 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: Bis interimitur, qui suis armis perit (English: Someone who dies by his own weapons dies twice over ... and, sad to say, we are often our own worst enemies, with real weapons, or metaphorical ones).

Animal Proverb from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Virum improbum vel mus mordeat (English: Even a mouse will bite a wicked man; from Adagia 1.8.96).

For an image today, here is an illustration for the story about the bear: 135. Ursus et Amici Duo. Duo amici una faciunt iter. Occurrit in itinere ursus. Alter arborem conscendit et periculum evitat; alter, cum meminisset illam bestiam cadavera non attingere, humi sese prosternit animamque continet, se mortuum esse simulans. Accedit ursus, contrectat iacentem, os suum ad hominis os auresque admovet, cadaver esse ratus, discedit. Postea, cum socius quaereret quidnam ei ursus dixisset in aurem, respondit, “Monuit ne confiderem amico, cuius fidem adverso tempore non essem expertus.” Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur. (source)

Round-Up: December 14

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 05:01:00 +0000

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. I'm using Google+ a lot these days - are there any of you I should look for there?

HODIE: ante diem undevicesimum Kalendas Ianuarias.

GAUDIUM MUNDO: Here are some Latin holiday songs for you to enjoy - O Sanctissima (a song famously sung by Bing Crosby in The Bells of Saint Mary's), A Solis Ortus Cardine (a song with words by the 5th-century Christian poet Sedulius), and Jesus Minimulus (a Latin version of the Polish carol, Jezus Malusieńki).

Myths & Legends: The art image for today's legend shows Scylla; you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here.

OWEN'S EPIGRAMS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Virtutis Laus, Solis ut, in solo motu, constantia constat, / Constans virtutis vis in agendo sita.; and Lyra, In tam diversis cum sit concordia chordis, / Tam discors hominum non pudet esse genus?. (They each come a vocabulary list!)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Perseverando, Quid non perficiat labor improbus? Aspicis, arbor / Ut cadat a morsu castoris assiduo.; and Diarii Omnes, Extremum statuas ut quemlibet esse dierum, / Fida tibi monitrix hemerocallis erit.. (These have vocabulary too!)

VERBUM WIDGET: The word from the daily widget is AQUA - which also has a brief essay at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in that essay: Tempora labuntur more fluentis aquae, "The times slip by in the manner of flowing water."

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Flowers of Fable and The New Dictionary of Quotations from the Greek, Latin, and Modern Languages .

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Hannibal in Italiam, the famous story of Hannibal crossing the Alps.

FABULAE FACILES: The NEW easy-to-read fable is Canis et Vultur, the story of a greedy dog and the punishment of his greed (and the fable comes with a vocabulary list).

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Cancer et Filius Eius, a story about parental hypocrisy among the crabs (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 161 through Fable 170, including Lepus Cornua Cupiens, the sad story who wanted to have horns as big as those of the stag.

NEW MILLE FABULAE: The NEW fables with images are Fur et Paterfamilias, a story about a man who snoozes instead of protecting his home, and Pueruli Duo Fratres, a story about two little boys and how hard it is to share cookies!

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Leo et Equus, a story of how the horse escaped from the lion's clutches.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Cat and The Fox, a story in which the fox is too clever for its own good!

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

3-Word Mottoes: Today's 3-word motto is Vivamus atque amemus (English: Let us live and love).

3-Word Proverbs: Today's 3-word proverb is Par pari referto (English: Pay back like for like).

Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Laudatur nummus, quasi rex super omnia summus (English: Cash is praised as if it were the greatest king of all things).

Vulgate Verse: Today's verse is Discite benefacere; quaerite iudicium (Isaiah 1:17). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

Elizabethan Proverb Commentary: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Conybeare: Aquilae senectus: A proverbe spoken of an olde man, which drincketh more than he eateth.

Today's image is for that story of the crabs: 586. Cancer et Filius Eius. Cancer dicebat filio, “Mi fili, ne sic obliquis semper gressibus incede, sed recta via perge.” Cui ille “Mi pater,” respondit, “libenter tuis praeceptis obsequar, si te prius idem facientem videro.” (source - easy version)

Round-Up: December 12

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:01:00 +0000

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. There are notices also at Twitter - look for Aesopus and AesopusEnglish.

HODIE: pridie Idus Decembres.

GAUDIUM MUNDO: Here are some Latin holiday songs for you to enjoy - Musicus Parvulus (a Latin version of "Little Drummer Boy"), Avia Renone Calcabatur (not one but two Latin versions of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"), and Personent Hodie (a medieval Latin hymn for the season).

MYTHS & LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows Menelaus and Hector fighting over the corpse of Euphorbus; you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here.

OWEN'S EPIGRAMS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Nemo Laeditur Nisi A Seipso, Criminis est nemo, nemo discriminis expers; / Nos in discrimen crimina nempe vocant; and Exercitus, Gens ingens fidei malefida, immanis, amansque / Caedis, et humano sanguine tincta manus. (They each come a vocabulary list!)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Morte Medetur, Vivens mortem homini instillo, moriensque medelam: / Quam mira alternant vitaque morsque vice! (the emblem features a scorpion), and Saevit In Omnes, Plures lutra necat pisces, quam condat in alvum: / Sic rabie tumidus saeva tyrannus agit. (These have vocabulary too!)

VERBUM WIDGET: The word from the daily widget is VENIO - which also has a brief essay at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in that essay: Multi ad fatum venere suum, dum fata timent, "Many people have come to their fatal end while they fear their fate."

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Keith-Falconer's Kalilah and Dimnah and Bent's Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men .

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Utrum Anchilles an Homerus , which is Themistocles' reply to the question about whether he would prefer to have been Achilles or Homer.

FABULAE FACILES: The NEW easy-to-read fable is Apes et Pastor, a story about the high price the shepherd would have to pay for his honey (and the fable comes with a vocabulary list).

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Corvus Aquilam Imitans, the story of the crow inspired to act like an eagle (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 151 through Fable 160, including Cervus et Amici Eius, the story of the stag whose friends were worse than enemies.

NEW MILLE FABULAE: The NEW fables with images are Arbores Duae, a fable about the dangers of overprotective nurturing, and Rosa et Amarantus, a story about the rose's brief beauty.

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Testudo et Iuppiter, the story of the turtle who was late for Jupiter's wedding.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Captured Weasel, a fable that dates back to Roman times, when the Romans kept weasels around the house to control the mice, before people started keeping cats.

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

Tiny Proverbs: Today's tiny proverb is: Fluctus numeras (English: You are counting the waves - one of those proverbial fool's errands).

3-Word Mottoes Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Absque virtute nihil (English: Without excellence, nothing).

Latin Animal Proverb: Today's animal proverb is Fele absente, mures choreas ducunt (English: When the cat is away, the mice dance).

Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Leges bonae ex malis moribus procreantur (English: Good laws are born of bad habits).

Proper Name Proverb from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Harmodii cantilena (English: The song of Harmodius; from Adagia 2.10.93 - this refers to something utterly sad, such as the song Aristogeiton sang upon the death of his lover Harmodius, before he, too, died in the famous assassination attempt on the tyrants Hippias and Hipparchus).

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Τέφραν φεύγων, εἰς ἀνθρακιὰν ἔπεσον (English: Fleeing the ashes, I fell into the hot coals).

For an image today, here is that ambitious crow: 431. Corvus Aquilam Imitans. Aquila, celsa de rupe devolans, agnum e grege eripuit. Quod cum corvus videt, aemulatione movetur. Vehementi strepitu, in arietem irruit atque ungues in vellere ita implicat ut se iam motu alarum nequeat explicare. Hunc pastor videns, prehendit; pennis alarum succisis, pueris praebet ludibrio. Ingemens, corvus secum ait, “Hei mihi! Prius, aquilam me esse putavi; nunc vero, me corvum esse cognosco.” (source - easy version)

New Widget: Greco-Roman Myths and Legends

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 03:58:00 +0000

I took a couple of days off here at the Bestiaria for two reasons: to finish up my Fall semester classes (yeah!!!), and also to create a new widget I have been wanting to make for a while - a widget with a Greek or Roman myth or legend for every day, illustrated with artwork from Wikipedia, Web Gallery of Art and also from the ArtMagick site (a great source for pre-Raphaelite art). It took a while - partly through my own fault because I found 600 works of art I wanted to use, ha ha, and then had to winnow it down to 366.

Anyway, I've now got the widget ready to go, and it's ready to share, too. You can add the widget anywhere that javascript is accepted - your own webpage, a PBWorks or Wikispaces wiki, a Blogger.com blog, etc. There's a random version (see below; a new myth or legend each time you reload the page), either 400 or 200 pixels wide, and there is also a date-based version. For more information and links to the actual javascript code, see the Myths & Legends Reference Page. If you are reading this via RSS or in an email, you will need to actually visit the blog post to see the script in action.

So, I hope you all will enjoy this - I will be including information about the myth or legend of the day in the Bestiaria round-ups. Meanwhile, the round-ups will be back in action again on Monday! :-)

Round-Up: December 8

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Gibbs) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:01:00 +0000

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 Idus Decembres.

GAUDIUM MUNDO: Here are some Latin holiday songs for you to enjoy - Gaudium Mundo (a Latin version of Isaac Watts' "Joy to the World" carol), Quae Stella Sole Pulchrior (sometimes rendered in English as "What Star is This, with Beams so Bright?"), and Adeste Fideles (an 18th century Latin hymn best known in English as "O Come, All Ye Faithful").

OWEN'S EPIGRAMS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Secretum Amoris, Rarus amatur amans: ut amere, inamabilis esto / Omnibus. A nulla vis ut ameris? Ama.; and Palliatus et Togatus, Palliatus: Longius a terra quam nos sunt pallia nostra. / Togatus: Verro toga terram, mens super astra volat. (They each come a vocabulary list!)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Atris Obscura Tenebris, Heu mortale genus, ceu talpae, lumine captum, / Caelesti donec restituatur ope.; and Modo Vita Supersit, Ut vivat castor sibi testes amputat ipse; / Tu quoque, si qua nocent, abiice: tutus eris. (These have vocabulary too!)

VERBUM WIDGET: The word from the daily widget is SED - which also has a brief essay at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in that essay: Non sibi, sed mundo, "Not for oneself, but for the world."

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Cholodniak's Carmina Sepulcralia Latina and Harbottle's Dictionary of Quotations .

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Memoria et Oblivio , an anecdote about the Greek general and politician, Themistocles.

FABULAE FACILES: The NEW easy-to-read fable is Mors et Senex, a "memento mori" type of fable (and the fable comes with a vocabulary list).

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Fortuna et Puer, a story about how people trying to blame "bad luck" for mistakes that are their own fault (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 141 through Fable 150, including Camelus et Iuppiter, the famous story of the camel who wanted horns.

NEW MILLE FABULAE: The NEW fables with images are Phoebus et Iris, about the proud rainbow, and Amnis et Fons, about the need to be grateful to those who give to you generously.

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Fur et Mater Eius, the story of a thief who blamed his mother for his life of crime.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Boy and the Goldfinch, a story about an unhappy bird in a gilded cage.

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

Tiny Mottoes: Today's tiny motto is: Virtute cresco (English: Through virtue I grow).

3-Word Proverbs Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Tussis pro crepitu (English: A cough to cover a fart)

Audio Latin Proverb: Today's audio Latin proverb is Durum ad nutum alterius ambulare (English: It is a hard thing to walk according to someone else's nod). 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 peccat aetas maior, male discit minor (English: When the older generation makes mistakes, the younger learns a bad lesson).

Animal Proverb from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Octipedem excitas (English: You're rousing the eight-legged creature - which is not the octopus; the eight-legged creature referred to here is the scorpion; from Adagia 1.1.63).

For an image today, here is that ambitious camel: 143. Camelus et Iuppiter. Camelus, se despiciens, querebatur tauros ire geminis cornibus insignes, se inermem obiectum esse ceteris animalibus; orat Iovem cornua sibi donare. Iuppiter cameli stultitiam ridet; nec modo negat votum, verum et decurtat bestiae auriculas. Quisque sit contentus sua Fortuna; etenim multi, meliorem secuti, peiorem incurrere. (source)