Saturday, July 11, 2009

Round-Up: July 11

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 quintum 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. Here is today's portion which describes Caesar's ongoing connection of the legacy of Marius: alterum et illustrius, cum Juliae Marii uxoris, amitae suae, defunctae laudationem funebrem in foro peroravit, et imagines Marii in funere ducere ausus est tum primum a Syllae dominatu visas a quo Marius cum suis hostes reipublicae fuerant iudicati.

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 the unknowable future: Nescit homo finem suum (English: A person does not know his own end).

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 Regum fortuna casus praecipites rotat (English: Fortune spins the headlong downfalls of the kings). 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: Spe vivitur (English: We live by means of hope - although the Latin very elegantly uses an impersonal passive verb: vivitur).

Proverbium Breve of the Day: Today's three-word proverb is: Multum in parvo (English: Much in little - a proverbial saying that applies to the little proverbs themselves!).

Vulgate Verse of the Day: Today's verse is Melior est pugillus cum requie quam plena utraque manus cum labore (Ecc. 4:6). 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 Ex plumis cognoscitur avis (English: You know a bird by its feathers).

Proper Name Proverb of the Day: Today's proper name proverb is Sisyphium portas saxum (English: You're carrying the rock of Sisyphus... which is to say: you're engaged in a thankless and futile task, alas...).

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Δηρὸν βουλεύειν, ἵν' ἔχῃ καὶ πολλὸν ἄμεινον (English: Plan at length, so that things will turn out all the better for it). 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 Cattus et Vulpes, the story of how the fox's big bad of tricks failed her in a moment of need, while the cat made a clean get-away.

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 Mus et Rana, the story of the battle between the frog and the mouse, and Mors et Amor, the funny story of what happened when Death and Cupid accidentally switched weapons. 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 ANU ET ANCILLIS (a fable about unintended consequences). 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 Pavo et Luscinia, the story of how the peacock was jealous of the nightingale's song and complained about the problem to Juno herself.

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 Mentis, a little book about the powers of the mind, adapted by Evan Millner from Comenius.




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