Latin Poetry Podcast

Juno has just finished her opening monologue in which she whips herself into a frenzy of rage at Hercules. As the chorus enters, they sing of the dawn, then deliver an encomium of the simple country life, away from the ambition, greed, and corruption of city life. (Seneca apparently knew little of country life, which can be just as full of ambition, greed, and corruption as city life. But the sentiments are conventional.) The poetry here is more lyrical and contemplative than the thrusting, fiery rage of the opening monologue. The meter is in anapestic dimeters. Iam rāra micant 125 sīdera prōnō languida mundō; 125bis nox vīcta vagōs contrahit ignēs lūce renātā; cōgit nitidum Phōsphoros agmen; signum celsī glaciāle polī septem stēllīs Arcados Ursa 130 lūcem versō tēmōne vocat. iam caeruleīs ēvectus equīs Tītān summā prōspicit Oetā; iam Cadmēīs inclita Bacchīs aspersa diē dūmēta rubent, 135 Phoebīque fugit reditūra soror. Labor exoritur dūrus et omnēs agitat cūrās aperitque domōs. pāstor gelidā cāna pruīnā…

Soror Tonantis – hōc enim sōlum mihi nōmen relictum est – semper aliēnum Iovem ac templa summī vidua dēseruī aetheris, locumque caelō pulsa paelicibus dedī; tellūs colenda est, paelicēs caelum tenent. 5 hinc Arctos altā parte glaciālis polī sublīme classēs sīdus Argolicās agit; hinc, quā recentī vēre laxātur diēs, Tyriae per undās vector Eurōpae nitet; illinc timendum ratibus ac pontō gregem 10 passim vagantēs exserunt Atlantidēs. ferrō mināx hinc terret Ōrīōn deōs suāsque Persēus aureus stēllās habet; hinc clāra geminī signa Tyndaridae micant quibusque nātīs mōbilis tellūs stetit. 15 nec ipse tantum Bacchus aut Bacchī parēns adiēre superōs: nē qua pars probrō vacet, mundus puellae serta Cnōsiacae gerit. Sed sēro querimur; ūna mē dīra ac fera Thēbāna tellūs mātribus sparsa impiīs 20 quotiēns novercam fēcit! ēscendat licet meumque uictrīx teneat Alcmēnē locum, pariterque nātus astra prōmissa occupet, in cuius ortūs mundus impendit diem tardusque Eōō Phoebus effulsit marī 25 retinēre mersum iussus Ōceanō…

Despite my royal status and lineage, I am begging you. Spare me, please. May you get everything you want as a huntsman. tolle morās tantum properātaque foedera iunge — quī mihi nunc saevit, sīc tibi parcat Amor! nōn ego dēdignor supplex humilisque precārī. 150 heu! ubi nunc fastūs altaque verba iacent? et pugnāre diū nec mē submittere culpae certa fuī — certī sīquid habēret amor; vīcta precor genibusque tuīs rēgālia tendō bracchia! quid deceat, nōn videt ūllus amāns. 155 dēpuduī, profugusque pudor sua signa relīquit. dā veniam fassae dūraque corda domā! quod mihi sit genitor, quī possidet aequora, Mīnōs, quod veniant proavī fulmina torta manū, quod sit avus radiīs frontem vāllātus acūtīs, 160 purpureum rapidō quī movet axe diem — nōbilitās sub amōre iacet! miserēre priōrum et, mihi sī nōn vīs parcere, parce meīs! est mihi dōtālis tellūs Iovis īnsula, Crētē — serviat Hippolytō rēgia tōta meō! 165 flecte, ferōx, animōs! potuit corrumpere taurum māter; eris taurō saevior ipse trucī? per Venerem, parcās, ōrō,…

Phaedra asks Hippolytus to put off his huntsman’s persona and relax, then offers to come out on the hunt with him. She offers to abandon Theseus and move to Troezen to be with Hippolytus. Theseus is already ignoring and slighting both of them, she argues. Their close family connection is no problem, even an asset. The affair will be easily concealed because of it. aequora bīna suīs oppugnant flūctibus Isthmon, 105 et tenuis tellūs audit utrumque mare. hīc tēcum Troezēna colam, Pitthēia rēgna; iam nunc est patriā cārior illa meā. tempore abest aberitque diū Neptūnius hērōs; illum Pīrithoī dētinet ōra suī. 110 praeposuit Thēseus — nisi sī[1] manifēsta negāmus — Pīrithoum Phaedrae Pīrithoumque tibī. sōla nec haec ad nōs iniūria vēnit ab illō; in magnīs laesī rēbus uterque sumus. ossa meī frātris clāvā perfrācta trinōdī 115 sparsit humī; soror est praeda relicta ferīs. prīma secūrigerās inter virtūte puellās tē peperit, nātī digna vigōre parēns; sī quaerās, ubi sit — Thēseus latus ēnse perēgit, nec tantō māter…

Phaedra wants to take up hunting like Hippolytus and is driven to the extremes of mental derangement. Perhaps it is some family curse that the women of her Cretan line all suffer in love (Europa, Pasiphae, Ariadne)? Phaedra describes how attractive she found Hippolytus when she first saw him at Eleusis. See Peter J. Davis, “Rewriting Euripides: Ovid, Heriodes 4,” Scholia 4 (1995) 41-55. https://www.academia.edu/4756559/Rewriting_Euripides_Ovid_Heroides_4 iam quoque — vix crēdēs — ignōtās mittor in artēs; est mihi per saevās impetus īre ferās. iam mihi prīma dea est arcū praesignis aduncō Dēlia; iūdicium subsequor ipsa tuum. in nemus īre libet pressīsque in rētia cervīs hortārī celerēs per iuga summa canēs, aut tremulum excussō iaculum vibrāre lacertō, aut in grāmineā pōnere corpus humō. saepe iuvat versāre levēs in pulvere currūs torquentem frēnīs ōra fugācis equī; nunc feror, ut Bacchī furiīs Elelēides āctae, quaeque sub Īdaeō tympana colle movent, aut quās sēmideae Dryadēs Faunīque bicornēs nūmine…

Quā, nisi tū dederis, caritūra est ipsa, salūtem mittit Amāzoniō Cressa puella virō. perlege, quodcumque est: quid epistula lēcta nocēbit? tē quoque in hāc aliquid quod iuvet esse potest; hīs arcāna notīs terrā pelagōque feruntur. 5 īnspicit acceptās hostis ab hoste notās. ter tēcum cōnāta loquī ter inūtilis haesit lingua, ter in prīmō restitit ōre sonus. quā licet et sequitur, pudor est miscendus amōrī; dīcere quae puduit, scrībere iussit Amor. 10 quidquid Amor iussit, nōn est contemnere tūtum; rēgnat et in dominōs iūs habet ille deōs. ille mihī prīmō dubitantī scrībere dīxit: ‘scrībe! dabit vīctās ferreus ille manūs.’ adsit et, ut nostrās avidō fovet igne medullās, 15 fingat sīc animōs ad mea vōta tuōs! nōn ego nēquitiā sociālia foedera rumpam; fāma — velim quaerās — crīmine nostra vacat. vēnit amor gravius, quō sērior — ūrimur intus; ūrimur, et caecum pectora vulnus habent. 20 scīlicet ut tenerōs laedunt iuga prīma iuvencōs, frēnaque vix patitur dē grege captus equus, sīc male vixque subit prīmōs rude…

There are still a couple of days left to sign up to join me and Chun Liu of Peking University for an online workshop reading Ovid’s Heroides, July 15-20, 2020: http://blogs.dickinson.edu/dcc/2020/05/03/2020-ovid-heroides-online-workshop-announcement/ Deadline to register is July 1, 2020. Quam legis, ā raptā Brīsēide littera vēnit, vix bene barbaricā Graeca notāta manū. quāscumque adspiciēs, lacrimae fēcēre litūrās; sed tamen et lacrimae pondera vōcis habent. Sī mihi pauca querī dē tē dominōque virōque 5 fās est, dē dominō pauca virōque querar. nōn, ego poscentī quod sum cito trādita rēgī, culpa tua est—quamvīs haec quoque culpa tua est; nam simul Eurybatēs mē Talthybiusque vocārunt, Eurybatī data sum Talthybiōque comes. 10 alter in alterius iactantēs lūmina vultum quaerēbant tacitī, noster ubi esset amor. differrī potuī; poenae mora grāta fuisset. ei mihi! discēdēns ōscula nūlla dedī; at lacrimās sine fīne dedī rūpīque capillōs— 15 īnfēlīx iterum sum mihi vīsa cāpī! Saepe ego dēceptō voluī cūstōde revertī,…

Join me and Chun Liu of Peking University for an online workshop reading Ovid’s Heroides, July 15-20, 2020: http://blogs.dickinson.edu/dcc/2020/05/03/2020-ovid-heroides-online-workshop-announcement/ crēdidimus blandīs, quōrum tibi cōpia, verbīs; crēdidimus generī nōminibusque tuīs; 50 crēdidimus lacrimīs—an et hae simulāre docentur? hae quoque habent artēs, quāque iubentur, eunt? dīs quoque crēdidimus. quō iam tot pignora nōbīs? parte satis potuī quālibet inde capī. Nec moveor, quod tē iūvī portūque locōque— 55 dēbuit haec meritī summa fuisse meī! turpiter hospitium lectō cumulāsse iugālī paenitet, et laterī cōnseruisse latus. quae fuit ante illam, māllem suprēma fuisset nox mihi, dum potuī Phyllis honesta morī. 60 spērāvī melius, quia mē meruisse putāvī; quaecumque ex meritō spēs venit, aequa venit. fallere crēdentem nōn est operōsa puellam glōria. simplicitās digna favōre fuit. sum dēcepta tuīs et amāns et fēmina verbīs. 65 dī faciant, laudis summa sit ista tuae! inter et Aegīdās, mediā statuāris in urbe,…

Hospita, Dēmophoōn, tua tē Rhodopēia Phyllis ultrā prōmissum tempus abesse queror. cornua cum lūnae plēnō semel orbe coīssent, lītoribus nostrīs ancora pacta tua est— lūna quater latuit, tōtō quater orbe recrēvit; 5 nec vehit Actaeās Sīthonis unda ratēs. tempora sī numerēs—bene quae numerāmus amantēs— nōn venit ante suam nostra querēla diem. Spēs quoque lenta fuit; tardē, quae crēdita laedunt, crēdimus. invītā nunc es amante nocēns. 10 saepe fuī mendax prō tē mihi, saepe putāvī alba procellōsōs vēla referre Notōs. Thēsea dēvōvī, quia tē dīmittere nōllet; nec tenuit cursūs forsitan ille tuōs. interdum timuī, nē, dum vada tendis ad Hebrī, 15 mersa foret cānā naufraga puppis aquā. saepe deōs supplex, ut tū, scelerāte, valērēs, cum prece tūricremīs sum venerāta sacrīs; saepe, vidēns ventōs caelō pelagōque faventēs,[1] ipsa mihi dīxī: ‘sī valet ille, venit.’ 20 dēnique fīdus amor, quidquid properantibus obstat, fīnxit, et ad causās ingeniōsa fuī. at tū lentus abes; nec tē iūrāta redūcunt nūmina, nec nostrō mōtus…

This is the third and last episode on Heroides 1. If you love Ovid’s Heroides, consider joining Chun Liu (Professor of Comparative Literature at Peking University) and me at the Dickinson Summer Latin Workshop (online this year), July 15-20, 2020. http://blogs.dickinson.edu/dcc/2019/11/06/dickinson-summer-latin-workshop-ovid-heroides/ Penelope imagines that Odysseus, who has the same desires as most men, might have taken up with another woman and is now describing Penelope to this other woman in unflattering terms. haec ego dum stultē metuō, quae vestra libīdō est, 75 esse peregrīnō captus amōre potes. forsitan et nārrēs, quam sit tibi rūstica coniūnx, quae tantum lānās nōn sinat esse rudēs. fallar, et hoc crīmen tenuēs vānēscat in aurās, nēve, revertendī līber, abesse velīs! 80 Mē pater Īcarius viduō discēdere lectō cōgit et immēnsās increpat usque morās. increpet usque licet—tua sum, tua dīcar oportet; Pēnelope coniūnx semper Ulixis erō. ille tamen pietāte meā precibusque pudīcīs 85 frangitur et vīrēs…

If you love Ovid’s Heroides, consider joining Chun Liu (Professor of Comparative Literature at Peking University) and me at the Dickinson Summer Latin Workshop (online this year), July 15-20, 2020. http://blogs.dickinson.edu/dcc/2019/11/06/dickinson-summer-latin-workshop-ovid-heroides/ Omnia namque tuō senior tē quaerere missō rettulerat nātō Nestor, at ille mihi. rettulit et ferrō Rhēsumque Dolōnaque caesōs, utque sit hic somnō prōditus, ille dolō. 40 ausus es—ō nimium nimiumque oblīte tuōrum!— Thrācia nocturnō tangere castra dolō totque simul mactāre virōs, adiūtus ab ūnō! at bene cautus erās et memor ante meī! usque metū micuēre sinūs, dum victor amīcum 45 dictus es īsse per agmen equīs. Sed mihi quid prōdest vestrīs disiecta lacertīs Īlios et, mūrus quod fuit, esse solum, sī maneō, quālis Troiā dūrante manēbam, virque mihi dēmptō fīne cārendus abest? 50 dīruta sunt aliīs, ūnī mihi Pergama restant, incola captīvō quae bove victor arat. iam seges est, ubi Troia fuit, resecandaque falce luxuriat Phrygiō…

Here begins what I plan to be a series on Ovid’s Heroides, in preparation for an open online seminar on the Heroides with Chun Liu of Peking University, July 16-20, 2020. We will read and discuss several of the Heroides together. Please sign up and join us! Penelope starts by letting Odysseus know she feels abandoned, and criticizes the Trojan war as not worth the pain it has caused to the women back home in Greece. Ovid makes it clear immediately that she knows the war is over (Troia iacet certe, Troy undoubtedly lies in ruins). Certe means that something is certain in the mind of the speaker, and is often used in protests: the unspoken protest here being “you should be back by now!” Lento “slow” in the first line also makes this complaint. Other key words express her lonliness: deserto (empty), frigida (cold), relicta (left behind), viduas (alone)—some of these adjectives apply to things (her bed, her hands) but they all emphasize her psychological state. Throughout the poem Ovid tests your knowledge of…

Ancius Manlius Severinus Boethius rose to high honors under Theodoric the Ostrogoth (ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy between 493–526), but fell from favor, was tried for treason, wrongly condemned and imprisoned at Ticinum (Pavia). Sentenced to death and to forfeiture of all his property, Boethius was executed by sword, probably in the autumn of 524. The Consolatio philosophiae, written from prison, discusses such fundamental existential questions as ‘What values are there?’, ‘What is the highest good?’, ‘What is the relationship between Providence and free will?’ With a regular switch between prose and poetry, a dialogue takes place with Philosophy, which appears to the condemned man in prison. In this passage Boethius puts the ideal of philosophical fortitude in the face of corrupt power in 18 lovely hendecasyllabic lines. Quisquis composito serenus aevo Fatum sub pedibus egit superbum Fortunamque tuens utramque rectus Invictum potuit tenere vultum, Non illum rabies minaeque ponti…

Ovid on the Metamorphoses compares Hecuba to a lioness, not a tigress, but as I discuss based on Pliny and Valerius Flaccus, the two animals were grouped together in the Roman mind under the heading of savage mothers who get cubs stolen by raptores. In honor of the Netflix documentary Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness I though I would do an episode on tigers in Roman poetry. I discuss the following passages: Pliny, Natural Historry 8.66 Tigrim Hyrcani et Indi ferunt, animal velocitatis tremendae et maxime cognitae, dum capitur totus eius fetus, qui semper numerosus est. ab insidiante rapitur equo quam maxime pernici atque in recentes subinde transfertur. at ubi vacuum cubile reperit feta—maribus enim subolis cura non est—, fertur praeceps odore vestigans. raptor adpropinquante fremitu abicit unum ex catulis; tollit illa morsu et pondere etiam ocior acta remeat iterumque consequitur ac subinde, donec in navem regresso inrita feritas saevit in litore. Hyrcania and India produce the tiger, an animal of…

Catullus 13 (text: G.P. Goold, 1983, via PHI) Cenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud me paucis, si tibi di favent, diebus, si tecum attuleris bonam atque magnam cenam, non sine candida puella et vino et sale et omnibus cachinnis. 5 haec si, inquam, attuleris, venuste noster, cenabis bene: nam tui Catulli plenus sacculus est aranearum. sed contra accipies meros amores seu quid suavius elegantiusvest: 10 nam unguentum dabo, quod meae puellae donarunt Veneres Cupidinesque; quod tu cum olfacies, deos rogabis, totum ut te faciant, Fabulle, nasum. Fabullus, come over in a few days and you will dine well, gods willing. Just bring along a fine and ample dinner, and don’t forget a lovely girl. Bring wine, wit, and all kinds of laughter. Bring all this, my charming man, and you will dine very well, I say, for Catullus’ purse has only cobwebs. In return you will get pure, unmixed love, or something even more elegant: I’ll give you a scent, passed on to my girl by Venus and Cupid themselves. And when you smell that, dear…

Seneca’s Latin play Medea was written in the mid-first century AD. Less famous than the version of Euripides, it is nonetheless very powerful, and is generally considered to be the strongest of his earlier plays. In this scene, Medea prepares herself to kill her own children as a way of taking revenge on her faithless husband, Jason (plot summary). quid, anime, cessas? sequere felicem impetum. pars ultionis ista, qua gaudes, quota est? amas adhuc, furiose, si satis est tibi caelebs Iason. quaere poenarum genus haut usitatum iamque sic temet para: fas omne cedat, abeat expulsus pudor; uindicta leuis est quam ferunt purae manus. incumbe in iras teque languentem excita penitusque ueteres pectore ex imo impetus uiolentus hauri. quidquid admissum est adhuc, pietas uocetur. hoc age! en faxo sciant quam leuia fuerint quamque uulgaris notae quae commodaui scelera. prolusit dolor per ista noster: quid manus poterant rudes audere magnum, quid puellaris furor? Medea nunc sum; creuit ingenium malis: This is Zweierlein’s…

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997) has a delightful Latin version, Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis (2003), by Peter Needham. Needham taught Classics at Eton for over thirty years and also translated A Bear Called Paddington into Latin. In this edition of Latin Poetry Podcast we check out his elegant version of the Sorting Hat Song. The meter is the elegiac couplet. discipuli, pulchrum si me non esse putatis, externa specie plus valet ingenium. nam petasus nusquam toto si quaeritis orbe me melior vobis inveniendus erit. lautitias odi: nolo tegmenta rotunda, neve cylindratos tradite mi petasos. Distribuens Petasus vobis Hogvartius adsum cui petasos alias exsuperare datur. Distribuens Petasus scrutatur pectora vestra, quodque videre nequit nil latet in capite. in caput impositus vobis ostendere possum quae sit, vaticanans, optima cuique domus. vos forsan iuvenes Gryffindor habebit alumnos; hanc semper fortes incoluere domum. gens hominum generosa illa est fortisque feroxque; illi…

Ysengrimus is a Latin mock epic, an anthropomorphic series of fables written in 1148 or 1149 in Latin elegiac couplets. Its chief character is Isengrin the Wolf; the plot describes how the trickster figure Reynard the Fox overcomes Isengrin’s various schemes. This week’s Latin Poetry Podcast is a excerpt in which Isengin and Reynard collaborate to bamboozle a peasant and steal his bacon. The translation is by Ashley Roman Francese, from the Latin text edited by Jill Mann: Ysengrimus. Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library. Harvard University Press, 2013.

Latin Poetry Podcast is back, with a new co-host. Hope you enjoy! Aspice morigeras Rhodani torrentis alumnas imperio nexas imperioque uagas, dissona quam uarios flectant ad murmura cursus et certas adeant uoce regente uias. quamuis quaeque sibi nullis discurrat habenis et pateant duro libera colla iugo, ceu constricta tamen seruit patiens que laborum barbaricos docili […]

Horace Odes 1.4 Solvitur acris hiems grata vice veris et Favoni trahuntque siccas machinae carinas, ac neque iam stabulis gaudet pecus aut arator igni nec prata canis albicant pruinis. iam Cytherea choros ducit Venus imminente luna, 5 iunctaeque Nymphis Gratiae decentes alterno terram quatiunt pede, dum gravis Cyclopum Volcanus ardens visit officinas. nunc decet aut […]

Guide to a happy life, from the Roman epigram writer Martial (M. Valerius Martialis). The Martialis mentioned in line 2 is L. Julius Martialis, the poet’s closest friend. My translation is below. Martial 10.47 Vitam quae faciant beatiorem, Iucundissime Martialis, haec sunt: Res non parta labore, sed relicta; Non ingratus ager, focus perennis; Lis numquam, toga […]

Martial De Spectaculis 9 The epigram writer Martial describes a mythological enactment in the arena, the execution of a slave which was staged to resemble a popular mime based on the story of a notorious bandit, Laureolus. He compares his fate of being exposed to a bear to that of the mythological hero Prometheus, punished […]

Quintus Serenus 1.87-99 ex vitio cerebri phrenesis furiosa movetur 87 amissasque refert frendens amentia vires, sive calens febris iactatos exedit artus sive meri gustus seu frigoris efficit aura. 90 convenit calidis pecudum pulmonibus apte tempora languentis medica redimire corona. inlotis etiam lanis suffire memento cerritum; saepe horrendi medicantur odores. non semper praesens dolor est sanabilis: […]

Horace Odes 1.3 Horace’s sending-off poem (or propempticon) for Vergil is written in a meter usually called the “Forth Asclepiad,” (though the terminology varies depending on which modern authority you check). It consists of a Glyconic line followed by an Asclepiad line. In this installment I discuss the poem briefly and describe its meter, give […]

This is the second in a series dealing with Horace’s lyric meters. The previous installment covered Asclepiadeans. This one discusses the Sapphic stanza, so named because of its association with Sappho, the famous Greek lyric poet. Odes 1.2 is summarized as follows by Nisbet and Hubbard: God has sent enough ill-omened weather. We begin to be […]

Herewith a re-do of a poem I have done on an earlier podcast, this time with special attention to the meter. It is part of a series on Horace’s lyric meters. This installment focuses on a meter that scholars call variously Asclepiads, asclepiadeans, the First Asclepiad, and the Lesser Asclepiad. The name is given by […]

Phaedrus Fables 1.18 Nemo libenter recolit qui laesit locum. Instante partu mulier actis mensibus humi iacebat flebilis gemitus ciens. Vir est hortatus, corpus lecto reciperet, onus naturae melius quo deponeret. “Minime”, inquit, “illo posse confido loco malum finiri, quo conceptum est initio.” Phaedrus, Fables 1.18. Text: Giannina Solimano, ed. Fedro: Favole (n.p.: Garzanti, 1996) Francesco […]

“De mutata Romae fortuna,” incerti auctoris, ed. N. E. Lemaire, Poetae Latini Minores vol. 4 (Paris, 1825), pp. 537-538. De mutata Romae fortuna Nobilibus quondam fueras cōnstructa patrōnīs subdita nunc servis, heu, male Roma tuis. Deseruere tui tanto te tempore reges; cessit et ad Graecos nomen honosque tuus. Cōnstantīnopolis florens, nova Roma vocatur, 5 moribus […]

The Wrath of Iarbas protinus ad regem cursus detorquet Iarban incenditque animum dictis atque aggerat iras. Hic Hammone satus rapta Garamantide nympha templa Iovi centum latis immania regnis, centum aras posuit vigilemque sacraverat ignem, 200 excubias diuum aeternas, pecudumque cruore pingue solum et variis florentia limina sertis. isque amens animi et rumore accensus amaro dicitur ante […]

Translating Vergil Aeneid 1.305-309 At pius Aeneas, per noctem plurima volvens, ut primum lux alma data est, exire locosque explorare novos, quas vento accesserit oras, qui teneant, nam inculta videt, hominesne feraene, quaerere constituit, sociisque exacta referre. Fitzgerald: But the dedicated man, Aeneas, thoughtful through the restless night, Made up his mind, as kindly daylight […]

O Socii ‘O socii—neque enim ignari sumus ante malorum— O passi graviora, dabit deus his quoque finem. Vos et Scyllaeam rabiem penitusque sonantis 200 accestis scopulos, vos et Cyclopea saxa experti: revocate animos, maestumque timorem mittite: forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit. Per varios casus, per tot discrimina rerum tendimus in Latium; sedes ubi fata […]

Juvenal Sat. 1.1-21 Semper ego auditor tantum? numquamne reponam uexatus totiens rauci Theseide Cordi? inpune ergo mihi recitaverit ille togatas, hic elegos? inpune diem consumpserit ingens Telephus aut summi plena iam margine libri scriptus et in tergo necdum finitus Orestes? nota magis nulli domus est sua quam mihi lucus Martis et Aeoliis vicinum rupibus antrum […]

Chief of Monsters Monstrorum princeps, Elephans proboscide saevus horret mole nigra, dente micat niveo. sed vario fugienda malo cum belua gliscat, est tamen excepti mors pretiosa feri. nam quae conspicimus montani roboris ossa humanis veniunt usibus apta satis. consulibus sceptrum, mensis decus, arma tablistis, discolor et tabulae calculus inde datur. haec est humanae semper mutatio […]

In honor of Spain’s recent world cup victory, here’s a bit of Claudian on the glories of Spain (Hispania to the Romans): Claudian Laus Serenae Quid dignum memorare tuis, Hispania, terris vox humana valet? primo levat aequore solem India: tu fessos exacta luce iugales proluis inque tuo respirant sidera fluctu. dives equis, frugum facilis, pretiosa metallis, […]

Hi everybody! Sorry for the extended hiatus. The summer should bring time for more frequent updates. Hope you enjoy this bit of Ovid. The translation here is my own. Ov. Ars Amatoria 1.1-24 Siquis in hoc artem populo non novit amandi, Hoc legat et lecto carmine doctus amet. Arte citae veloque rates remoque moventur, Arte […]

Here is Brendan Boston reading a section from the iambic preface that Prudentius wrote to his hexameter mini-epic, the Psychomachia, composed around AD 400. It is a fine example of the allegorical interpretation of the Bible that was such an important feature of ancient and medieval exegesis. For more on the fascinating allegorical approach of […]

Here is a recording by Amy Hall of a lovely passage from near the end of Psychomachia (or “Battle within the Soul”), written around AD 400 by the Spanish-born Latin poet Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (whom you may now befriend on Facebook). Psychomachia 770-784 Amy Hall pax plenum Virtutis opus, pax summa laborum, pax belli exacti pretium […]

Horace, Odes 1.1 Maecenas atauis edite regibus, o et praesidium et dulce decus meum, sunt quos curriculo puluerem Olympicum collegisse iuuat metaque feruidis euitata rotis palmaque nobilis 5 terrarum dominos euehit ad deos; hunc, si mobilium turba Quiritium certat tergeminis tollere honoribus; illum, si proprio condidit horreo quicquid de Libycis uerritur areis. 10 Gaudentem patrios findere sarculo […]

Hexamater lists All 12 of the chief Roman gods (Ennius): Iuno Vesta Minerva Ceres Diana Venus Mars Mercurius Iovis Neptunus Volcanus Apollo Ingredients of a cocktail called dodra (Ausonius): Ius aqua mel vinum panis piper herba oleum sal All letters of the Latin alphabet: Duc, Zephyre exsurgens, durum cum flatibus aequor All parts of speech: […]

Filelfo Odes 1.9 Si te trux adeo podagra torquet, nec cessat laterum dolor, podarge, affligitque premens nec exeundi urinae reperit viam profusus imber, pone modum gulae voraci 5 et dirae veneri. Quibus per omnis quando luxurias ruis protervus, morbum non pateris subactus unum. Membris te cruciat doloris haerens aestus. Quo penitus furis procellis 10 excitus […]

Thanks to everyone who voted for Latin Poetry Podcast in the 2009 Edublog Awards contest. I came in a respectable fourth in the category of Best Educational Use of Audio, with 10% of the votes. I appreciate the support! Aelia Secundula Memoriae Aeliae Secundulae Funeri mu[l]ta quid(e)m condigna iam misimus omneS, Insuper ar(a)eque deposit(a)e Secundulae […]

This just in, Latin Poetry Podcast is a finalist in the 2009 Edublog Awards, Category: Best Educational Use of Audio. Click here to cast your vote! Laberius Some fragments of the mime writer Laberius, from O. Ribbeck, Scaenicae Romanorum Poesis Fragmenta, vol. 2 Comicorum Romanorum Fragmenta, 3rd ed. Leipzig: Teubner, 1897: Amore cecidi tamquam blatta […]

Quintilian on pausing Pacing: Quintilian on pauses in Aeneid 1.1–8 (Inst. 11.3.33–38, trans. Russell) Arma virumque cano,/ Troiae qui primus ab oris/ Italiam/ fato profugus/ Lavinaque venit litora,/ multum ille et terris iactatus et alto . . . Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae./ Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso . . . Elisions: […]

Aen.1.1-11 This is a re-posting of an older installment that some people have had trouble finding. Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram; multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem, 5 inferretque deos Latio, […]

Seneca Oedipus 960-979 violentus audax vultus, iratus ferox 960 iamiam eruentis; gemuit et dirum fremens manus in ora torsit. at contra truces oculi steterunt et suam intenti manum ultro insecuntur, vulneri occurrunt suo. scrutatur avidus manibus uncis lumina, 965 radice ab ima funditus vulsos simul evoluit orbes; haeret in vacuo manus et fixa penitus unguibus lacerat cavos […]

Vergil Aeneid 2.199-227 Hic aliud maius miseris multoque tremendum obicitur magis atque improuida pectora turbat. 200 Laocoon, ductus Neptuno sorte sacerdos, sollemnis taurum ingentem mactabat ad aras. ecce autem gemini a Tenedo tranquilla per alta (horresco referens) immensis orbibus angues incumbunt pelago pariterque ad litora tendunt; 205 pectora quorum inter fluctus arrecta iubaeque sanguineae superant undas, pars […]

maior inest vis illa homini, quae flatile virus 531 ingerit et tenuem tenui facit aëre mentem. Parthica non aeque ventos transcurrit harundo, cuius iter nullus potis est compredere visus; praepes enim volucres dum pinnis transvolat auras, 535 improvisa venit, nec stridor nuntiat ante adventum leti, quam pectoris abdita rumpat securam penetrans medicato vulnere vitam. […]

Pugna Murium et Mustelarum Cum victi mures mustelarum exercitu (historia, quorum et, in tabernis pingitur) fugerent et artos circum trepidarent cavos, aegre recepti, tamen evaserunt necem: duces eorum, qui capitibus cornua suis ligarant ut conspicuum in proelio haberent signum quod sequerentur milites, haesere in portis suntque capti ab hostibus; quos immolatos victor avidis dentibus […]

http://blogs.dickinson.edu/latin-poetry-podcast/files/2009/07/horace-odes-130.mp3 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

Carminis inceptor mihi Jupiter; auspice terras linquo Iove; excelsam reserat dux Iupiter aethram imus in astra Iovis monitu; Iovis omine caelum, et Iovis imperio mortalibus aethera pando. Hic statio, hic sedes primi patris; iste paterni 5 principium motus, vis fulminis iste corusci, vita elementorum, mundi calor, aetheris ignis, astrorumque vigor, perpes substantia lucis, et […]