Appetitive: Birthday Poetry

One of my friends who is a superb Latinist is having her birthday coinciding with my next bread lesson. She insists that we not sing her happy birthday so I thought we would all chant a Latin poem together that had something do do with birthdays, like one of the ones from the Sulpicia cycle. Anyone have any good ideas?

Reasoning: Lectures on Vergil

I am taking a class on Aeneid Book II because I am trying to like the Aeneid. I know this may sound like a strange statement, but I hated the Aeneid when I read the Mandlebaum translation in my first year of college and I continued to take it when we read Book VIII in my second year Latin class. One of the things that I meant to do over winter break was to read the Aeneid in its entirety (using the Fagles translation translation) and listen to the Standford lectures by Susanna Braund (see iTunes U) on the Aeneid. Needless to say, I didn't get around to it.

Since I've been going back over the first 100+ lines we had to translate, I decided I would listen to the lecture while I transferred my notes. It was quite enjoyable, with the exception of a few stupid comments by the students. Each lecture (after the introduction) is about 2 hours and discusses 3 books of the Aeneid. She uses the Fitzgerald translation, but any translation should do.

I've enjoyed the first two lectures and I'm looking forward to continuing the series.

Spirited: Translation of Sulpicia 3 (Tibullus 3.15)

Although there is much in Greek and German that I should be translating, I decided to translate some Latin because I certainly must keep up my Latin.

Scis iter ex animo sublatum triste puellae?
     Natali Romae iam licet esse suo.
Omnibus ille dies nobis natalis agatur,
     Qui nec opinanti nunc tibi forte venit.

Do you know that the miserable trip has been lifted from the mind of your girl?
     Now it is allowed that she is in Rome for her birthday.
Here the birthday is celebrated by all of us,
     which comes now with unexpected luck.

I had some trouble with the translation, but I think it is fairly reasonable. I used the version from Minor Authors of the Corpus Tibullianum.

Spirited: Horace 1.30

A while ago, Propertius II and I read 25 poems of Horace. My goal was to read 30 (based on a sample reading list from Berkeley which I mentioned in a previous blogpost), but after 25 poems I was pretty tired of Horace. As I have been reading Greek lately, I decided I would try to translate five more Horace poems that I selected a while ago. The translations of these subsequent poems may be a little shakier because I am doing them completely on my own, but hopefully they will be reasonably decent. I am still using the Bennett edition for commentary. I started with Horace 1.30.

"O Venus regina Cnidi Paphique,
sperne dilectam Cypron et vocantis
ture te multo Glycerae decoram
transfer in aedem.


fervidus tecum puer et solutis
Gratiae zonis properentque Nymphae
et parum comis sine te Iuventas
Mercuriusque."

 "O Venus, queen at Cnidos and Paphos,
Put aside beloved Cyprus and bring yourself

to the fetching temple calling you
with much incense.

The fiery boy and the Graces with unfastened girdles
hasten and the nymphs too, but Youth
is not sufficiently charming without you
and Mercury."

It's a funny little poem but I rather like it. The conceit of the poem (if you're not up on your Roman geography) is that Horace is asking Venus to come from the famous seats of her worship (Cnidos, a Doric city of Caria and Paphos, a city on Cyprus which was considered Venus' homeland) to, presumably, a little tiny temple with not much to recommend it except that is is well-adorned and is burning incense to try to tempt her.

More soon. I have a lot of Greek (and German) to read.

Spirited: Horace Epode III

Bennett titles this epode "Oh that Guilty Garlic." As it had such an amusing title, Propertius and I decided to read it and I mentioned that I would translate it in a recent blogpost. Here it is.

Parentis olim siquis impia manu
   Senile guttur fregerit,
Edit cicutis allium nocentius.
   Oh dura messorum ilia!
Num viperinus his cruor
   Incoctus herbis me fefellit? an malas
Canidia tractavit dapes?
   Ut Argonautas praeter omnis candidum
Medea Mirata est ducem,
   Ignota tauris inligaturum iuga
Perunxit hoc Iasonem;
   Serpente fugit alite.
Nec tantus umquam siderum insedit vapor
   Siticulosae Apuliae,
Nec munus umeris efficacis Herculis
   Inarsit aestuosius
At siquit umquam tale concupiveris,
   Iocos Maecenas, precor,
Manum puella savio opponat tuo,
   Extrema et in sponda cubet.

If ever any man breaks
the old neck of his father,let him eat garlic, 
which induces more injury than hemlock.
O tough intestines of harvesters!
What poison rages furiously in my heart?
Surely no viper's blood has been boiled
with these herbs to decieve me? Or did
Canidia serve bad dishes?
When Medea was amazed at the leader,
shining beyond the other Argonauts,
she anointed Jason, going to bind the bulls\
with unknown yokes, with [garlic];
Having steeped the gifts in [garlic]
for his concubine, she flees in her dragon chariot.
And not at any time so great a heat
of the stars sat over arid Apulia,
nor did such a glowing gift burn
the shoulders of powerful Hercules.
But if anyone ever will have desired
such a thing, jocular Maecenas, oh heart,
may your girl place a hand opposite your kiss
and may she lie on the far-side of the bed.

I used Bennett's commentary and text and discussed the text with Propertius II. I took some liberties-- especially with tense-- to attempt to make this into decent English.

Appetitive: Nunc est Bibendum!

I'm going to be at my Alma Mater for the next few days. Cynthia and one of my other best friends are turning in their theses and I am joining them to celebrate. I may or may not have the time and internet access necessary to post over the next few days. My explanation on date of the Laws, the last in the "Dates in the Platonic Corpus" series, will probably have to wait until I get back.

"Nunc est bibendum" is a quotation from Horace poem 1.37. It roughly means "now is [for] drinking" or, more colloquially, "let's party." The poem is about celebrating a homecoming of a comrade-in-arms. It is certainly appropriate for my (brief) return to my Alma Mater, although we will be celebrating the completion of theses rather than my journey. The Horace ode is fabulous; Propertius II and I read it recently, and we both highly recommend it. I also really liked 1.38, which is about temperance and is very short and sweet.

Appetitive: A Reading of Ovid

I was looking for something online the other day, I cannot even remember what it was when I stumbled across the podcast of a Dickinson Classics Professor, Christopher Francese, who reads poems in Latin. I listened to my first one this morning and I thought that it was thoroughly enjoyable. I listened to "The Art of Love (Ovid, Ars Amatoria 1.1-24)," Released: Jul 31, 2010. I can't link directly to the podcast, but it is the one called "The Art of Love" dated 07/30/10. He reads in his own translation and then reads in Latin:

"Siquis in hoc artem populo non novit amandi, Hoc legat et lecto carmine doctus amet. Arte citae lecto carmine doctus amet. Arte citae veloque rates remoque moventur, Arte leves currus: arte regendus amor. Curribus Automedon lentisque erat aptus habenis, Tiphys in Haemonia puppe magister erat: Me Venus artificem tenero praefecit Amori; Tiphys et Automedon dicar Amoris ego. Ille quidem ferus est et qui mihi saepe puppe magister erat: Me Venus artificem tenero praefecit Amori; Tiphys et Automedon dicar Amoris ego. Ille quidem ferus est et qui mihi saepe repugnet: Sed puer est, aetas mollis et apta regi. 10 Phillyrides puerum cithara perfecit Achillem, Atque animos placida contudit arte feros. Qui totiens socios, totiens exterruit hostes, Creditur annosum pertimuisse senem. Quas Hector sensurus erat, poscente magistro erberibus iussas praebuit ille manus. Aeacidae Chiron, ego sumtotiens exterruit hostes, Creditur annosum pertimuisse senem. Quas Hector sensurus erat, poscente magistro Verberibus iussas praebuit ille manus. Aeacidae Chiron, ego sum praeceptor Amoris: Saevus uterque puer, natus uterque dea. Sed tamen et tauri cervix oneratur aratro, Frenaque magnanimi dente teruntur equi; Et mihi cedet Amor, quamvis mea vulneret arcu Pectora, iactatas excutiatque faces. Quo me fixit Amor, quo me violentius ussit, Hoc melior facti vulneris ultor ero" (Ovid, Ars Amatoria 1.1-24) [1].

I have no idea about the accuracy of his pronunciation, but I enjoyed listening to it.

Pronunciation in both Greek and Latin is one of my greatest weaknesses. When i was originally learning the languages, I decided that other aspects were more important to me. I always loved listening to my friends speak in classical languages, but I never spent any time on developing my own ability. I did not realize how embarrassed of my lack of skill I was until this last year, when I was in a class where I had to read in Greek a lot more than I had bargained for. I enlisted the help of a Propertius, who rivals silver-tongued Hermes in pronunciation abilities, and after an hour of his patient help I realized what an arduous process learning pronunciation was going to be.

On his recommendation, I acquired a copy of Vox Graeca, but I have not gotten around to flipping through it. I read the preface and the Phonetic Introduction today, and it looks like it will be a lot of work. I have hopes that the process will pay off.

  

I was also excited to learn today that there was a Vox Latina. I do not know anything about it but I assume that it would provide a similar service. Does anyone know if it is any good?

Endnotes

1. I am not at all sure how to make the poem display in couplets (as one can easily guess from my problematic formatting on my translation of Sulpicia.