Friday, July 12, 2013

Latin Proverbs and Fables Round-Up: July 12

Here is a round-up of today's proverbs and fables - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. If you have not downloaded a free PDF copy of Brevissima: 1001 Tiny Latin Poems, it's ready and waiting, as is Mille Fabulae et Una: 1001 Aesop's Fables in Latin. If you prefer the heft of a book in your hand, you can get the books in printed form from Lulu.com.

HODIE (Roman Calendar): ante diem quartum Idus Iulias.

MYTHS and LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows Hector's Body Returned to Troy; you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here.


TODAY'S MOTTOES and PROVERBS:

TINY PROVERBS: Today's tiny proverb is: Vincit veritas (English: Truth triumphs).

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Quiescens et vigilans (English: Restful and watchful).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Sero paras stabulum, taurum iam fure trahente (English: It's too late to ready the stable when the thief is already leading the bull away).

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Sapientia vino obumbratur (English: Wisdom is overshadowed by wine).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Omnia sub unam Myconum (English: Everything buried under Mykonos alone; from Adagia 2.4.47 - this refers to how Heracles buried the defeated Giants by throwing rocks on them and those rocks became the island of Mykonos; since those last Giants were of various shapes and sizes, the proverb refers to a hodgepodge of things being put into one place.).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Ἐλέφαντα ἐκ μυιᾶς ποιεῖς (English: You're making an elephant out of a fly).

BREVISSIMA: The distich poster for today is Mors et Amor. Click here for a full-sized view; the poem has a vocabulary list and an English translation, too.


And here are today's proverbial LOLcats:



TODAY'S FABLES:

MILLE FABULAE: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Vulpes et Pardus, a debate about inward and outward beauty.

FABULAE FACILES: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Fortuna et Puer, the story of Lady Luck and her frustration with reckless humans (this fable has a vocabulary list).

GreekLOLz - and Latin and English, too. Below is one of my GreekLOLz; for the individual Greek, Latin and English versions of the graphic, see the blog post: Ἀφ᾽ ἵππων ἐπ᾽ ὄνους. Ab equis ad asinos. From horses to donkeys.


Myth and Folklore Books. I'm accumulating some book recommendations for the classes I teach and wanted to share them here. Today's book is Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church. This is a free Amazon Kindle eBook, and you don't need a Kindle to read it - you can read Kindle books on any computer or mobile device, or you can use the Amazon Cloud Reader in your browser.