Thursday, July 9, 2009

Round-Up: July 9

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 Idus Iulias. You can add a Roman calendar as a widget in your blog or webpage, or display it as a Google Calendar: here's how.

TODAY'S TWITTER:

Vita Caesaris: You can see my IVLIVS CAESAR feed with a sentence from Plutarch's Life of Caesar each day in Greek, Latin and English. Today's Latin portion continues Cicero's assessment of Caesar: sed cum eum comam ita accurate composuisse et uno digito caput scabere videret, non potuisse sibi persuadere eum hominem tantum facinus animo concepturum, ut rempublicam Romanam evertere aggrederetur. Sed haec post.

Proverbiis Pipilo: You can see my Proverbia feed of Latin proverbs which I "tweet" while I am online each day (in English, too). Here's one from today about books: Aedes sine libris est similis corpori sine spiritu (English: A house without books is like a body without a soul).

TODAY'S PROVERBS:

You can get access to all the proverb of the day scripts (also available as random proverb scripts) at the SchoolhouseWidgets.com website.

Audio Latin Proverb of the Day: Today's audio Latin proverb is Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae (English: There is no great talent without an admixture of madness). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.

Proverbium Perbreve of the Day: Today's two-word proverb is: Consultus esto (English: Take counsel! The imperative esto in common in traditional Roman advice!).

Proverbium Breve of the Day: Today's three-word proverb is: Diversi diversa putant (English: Different people think different things... which is why it always seems to me that multiple choice tests are hardly a measure of learning outcomes!).

Vulgate Verse of the Day: Today's verse is Funiculus triplex difficile rumpitur (Ecc. 4:12). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

Latin Animal Proverb of the Day: Today's animal proverb is Expectat bos aliquando herbam (English: The ox hopes for grass at least some of the time... and not just dry straw).

Proper Name Proverb of the Day: Today's proper name proverb is Gorgonem Perseus aggreditur (English: Perseus attacks the Gorgon... and thanks to the power of his mirror, he is able to emerge from the encounter with Medusa victorious!).

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Κηρὸν τοῖς ὠσὶς ἐπαλείφεις (English: Your smearing wax in your ears... following a strategy made famous by Odysseus when he made his sailors impervious to the Sirens' song). If you look at the Greek Proverb of the Day widget, you'll see it comes with a Latin translation, too.

TODAY'S FABLES:

Ictibus Felicibus: Based on the good response I've gotten to the use of accent marks at Tar Heel Reader, I'm collecting fables now with macrons AND accent marks in this blog. Today's fable with macrons and accent marks is Hirundo et Aviculae, the story of the birds who foolishly ignored the swallow's good advice.

Aesopus Elegiacus: For my next book project, I'm collecting Aesop's fables told in the form of elegiac couplets, two per day so that I'll plenty piled up for next summer. Today's elegiac fables are Lupus cervarius, the story of the easily-distracted lynx, and Canis et Asinus, the story of a donkey who tried to act like a pet dog. There are also word lists included, courtesy of NoDictionaries.com!

Fable of the Day: Today's fable of the day from Barlow's Aesop is DE CATTO ET VULPE (the story of the fox and her big bag of tricks, and the cat who has just one trick). You can use the Javascript to include the fable of the day automatically each day on your webpage or blog - meanwhile, to find out more about today's fable, visit the Ning Resource Page for this fable, where you will find links to the text, commentary, and a discussion board for questions and comments.

Florilegium Fabularum: I'm working my way, slowly but surely, through the amazing collection of fables by Irenaeus published in 1666. Today's fable is De Mure in Cista Nato, which is Irenaeus's version of the story first found in Abstemius's fables, about a mouse who ventures out into the world beyond his little home.

Tar Heel Readers: Materials continue to accumulate at Tar Heel Reader (keep up with the latest items at the Libelli Latini blog). Today I decided to feature Familia Quae Dormit, a story that introduces relatives pronouns, contributed by Anita Wasdahl.




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