Monday, October 31, 2011

Round-Up: October 31

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 Kalendas Novembres.

OWEN'S EPIGRAMS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Ad Martialem and Dupliciter miser es.

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Duo Viatores et Caupo Insidiosus, the famous story of the travelers and the roadside inn at Megara.

SCALA SAPIENTIAE: Today you can find sayings that go up to Diederich frequency ranking 159 - so the proverbs contain nothing but words found among the 159 most commonly used words in Latin. Here is one of the items in today's list: Vincit qui se vincit, "He is victorious who is victorious over himself" (a positive perspective on the notion that we are each our own worst enemy).

VERBUM HODIERNUM: Today's NEW word is FUMUS - read a brief essay about the word at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in the essay: Fumum fugiens, in ignem incidi, "Fleeing the smoke, I fell into the fire."

VERBUM WIDGET: The word from the daily widget is ARMA - which also has a brief essay at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in that essay: Sapiens contra omnes arma fert, cum cogitat, "The wise man, when he thinks, bears weapons against all."

FABULAE FACILES: The NEW easy-to-read fable is Viatores et Pons, a funny story about a Boeotian, a Corinthian and an Athenian crossing over a bridge at night.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Porcellus et Testamentum, a hilarious story about a greedy little pig.

MILLE FABULAE: ILLUSTRATIONS: The NEW fables with images are Upupa ab Aquila Honorata, a story about the hoopoe, known as "Stinkvogel," "Stink-Bird" in German, and Apes Duae Involantes, a story about two bees and their differing strategies.

MILLE FABULAE: ILLUSTRATIONS: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Struthiocamelus et Gallina, a story about an ostrich that wanted to fly.

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Gaisford's Paroemiographi Graeci and Hulme's Proverb Lore .

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS: Widgets available at Schoolhouse Widgets.

Tiny Mottoes: Today's tiny motto is: Veritas praevalebit (English: The truth will prevail).

3-Word Proverbs Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Culmen honoris lubricum (English: The pinnacle of honor is slippery)

Audio Latin Proverb: Today's audio Latin proverb is In idem flumen bis non descendimus (English: We do not go down into the same river twice). 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: Patientia animi occultas divitias habet (English: Patience of mind has hidden treasures in store).

Animal Proverb from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Mus non uni fidit antro (English: A mouse cannot entrust itself to just one hole; from Adagia 5.1.4).

For an image today, here is that story about the ostrich: 405. Struthiocamelus et Gallina. Struthiocamelus alas quidem habet quibus in cursu ad pernicitatem adiuvatur, sed in sublime volando non extollitur. Haec sive bestia seu avis, cum forte in ardua rupe constitisset, incitabat sese ad volatum et imitari volebat reliquas volucres. Cui gallina, quae hoc conantem viderat, “Cave,” inquit, “ne volandi cupiditate etiam ingrediendi facultatem amittas.” Gallina derisa, struthiocamelus deiecit se passis alis de rupe atque ad terram pondere suo afflicta crura fregit. Fabula docet contra naturam niti oportere neminem. (source)

Struthiocamelus Volans