holidays

Holidays are here again and, just like the birds in Aeneid VI, I'm escaping the frigidus annus, and off to the terris... apricis of Queensland for a week.

regna pallida, dis invisa

One of the most exciting and vivid passages in Aeneid VIII comes at the climax of the story of Hercules and Cacus. Hercules has succeeded in tearing the roof from Cacus' cave, and Cacus responds by spewing out great clouds of smoke and fire.

at specus et Caci detecta apparuit ingens
regia, et umbrosae penitus patuere cavernae,
non secus ac si qua penitus vi terra dehiscens
infernas reseret sedes et regna recludat
pallida, dis invisa, superque immane barathrum
cernatur, trepident immisso lumine Manes.

But the cave and the giant palace of Cacus appear, uncovered, and the shadowy caverns deep within are revealed, just as if the earth, cracked wide open by some force, had unveiled the infernal dwellings deep below and laid bare those pale kingdoms, hateful to the gods, and as if the immense pit were seen from above, and the shades of the dead, trembling at the light let in.

ergo insperata deprensum luce repente
inclusumque cavo saxo atque insueta rudentem
desuper Alcides telis premit, omniaque arma
advocat et ramis vastisque molaribus instat.

And so Hercules presses down upon him with his weapons, suddenly trapped by the dreaded light, and imprisoned in his hollow rock and bellowing strange noises, and he summons up his arms and rains down upon him branches and great boulders.

ille autem, neque enim fuga iam super ulla pericli,
faucibus ingentem fumum (mirabile dictu)
evomit involvitque domum caligine caeca
prospectum eripiens oculis, glomeratque sub antro
fumiferam noctem commixtis igne tenebris.

But Cacus, since there was no longer any escape from the danger above, spews forth (incredible to speak of) great clouds of smoke from his jaws, and he wraps his home in blinding darkness, stealing the sight from his eyes, and he gathers the smoky night deep down in his cave, with the darkness mixed with fire.

(Aeneid VIII.241-255)

The simile in the opening lines draws on a similar passage from Homer's Iliad, where the fighting of the gods threatens to break open the earth:

And down below Hades, the lord of the dead, was terrified, and leapt screaming from his throne for fear that Poseidon the earthshaker would break open the earth above him, and the dwellings of the dead be revealed to mortals and immortals, the ghastly places of mould which the gods themselves hold in horror - such was the crash that arose as the gods joined in the conflict.

(Iliad XX.61ff)

Pop Classics

I stumbled across a great blog the other day (to which I've added a link in the sidebar) called Pop Classics. It's a little bit scary how closely the author's taste and sense of humour mirrors my own; there are posts on Monty Python, Red Dwarf, Discworld, Buffy and many other things. Hours of enjoyment...

Birthplaces of Roman Authors

Strangely, most of the Latin authors we read today were not actually born in the city of Rome, but moved there from the provinces. This is true of Virgil, Cicero, Livy, Catullus, Ovid, Horace and many more.

This map shows the birthplaces of some of the most famous Roman writers:



View Birthplaces of Roman Authors in a larger map

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Audax Pallas

Question 3

Ut celsas videre rates atque inter opacum
adlabi nemus et tacitis incumbere remis,
terrentur visu subito cunctique relictis
consurgunt mensis. Audax quos rumpere Pallas
sacra vetat raptoque volat telo obvius ipse
et procul e tumulo: `Iuvenes, quae causa subegit
ignotas temptare vias, quo tenditis?' inquit.
`Qui genus? Unde domo? Pacemne huc fertis an arma?'
Tum pater Aeneas puppi sic fatur ab alta
paciferaeque manu ramum praetendit olivae:
`Troiugenas ac tela vides inimica Latinis,
quos illi bello profugos egere superbo.
Euandrum petimus. Ferte haec et dicite lectos
Dardaniae venisse duces socia arma rogantis.'
Obstipuit tanto percussus nomine Pallas:
`Egredere o quicumque es' ait `coramque parentem
adloquere ac nostris succede Penatibus hospes.'
excepitque manu dextramque amplexus inhaesit.

How has Virgil characterised both Pallas and Aeneas in these lines to display their heroic qualities? (5 marks)

In this exchange between Pallas and Aeneas Virgil has brought to the fore important heroic qualities in each character. The boldness and youthful eagerness of Pallas is emphasised, while Aeneas in contrast is portrayed as more of an elder statesman, with great dignity and authority. Crucially, both are also presented, through their words and actions, as models of pietas.

Pallas’ pietas is seen from the very outset. We have previously seen him standing alongside his father offering sacrifices to Hercules, and now his devotion to the gods is shown again as he forbids his fellow Arcadians to break off their sacrifices (rumpere Pallas sacra vetat) and goes to meet Aeneas. Again, at the end of this passage, Pallas invites Aeneas (who is still a stranger to him – o quicumque es) to join him and his father in worshipping their ancestral gods (nostris succede Penatibus hospes), showing both his respect for the gods and his hospitality towards a stranger. Virgil further strengthens our impression of Pallas’ pietas as he welcomes Aeneas, grasping his right hand (dextram). Treaties play an important role in Aeneid VIII, and in this simple action Virgil conveys to us Pallas’ loyalty and trustworthiness.

We also see Pallas’ boldness and youthful eagerness in this passage. In line 110, the first time Pallas’ name is mentioned, Virgil applies the epithet audax (bold) to him, giving the word emphasis by positioning it at the start of the sentence. Pallas’ boldness is also in stark contrast to that of the other Arcadians, who are described in just the previous line as terrified (terrentur) by the sight of the Trojans’ ships. We see his bravery too in both his words and actions; he flies (volat) to meet the Trojans – Virgil’s choice of this dramatic word and the present tense adding to our impression of his bravery – picking up his weapons on the way (rapto… telo), and his barrage of short, sharp questions (qui genus? unde domo? etc) effectively conveys his eager fearlessness.

Pallas’ youthful enthusiasm stands in sharp contrast to Virgil’s characterisation of Aeneas. Virgil has portrayed Aeneas as solemn and dignified – describing him as pater Aeneas to emphasise these qualities, and placing him high on his ship (puppi… ab alta) to physically reflect his authority. His words to Pallas also have a dignified tone – he speaks in short simple phrases (e.g. Euandrum petimus) using language that effectively communicates his gravitas, such as the unusual proper nouns he employs (Troiugenas, Dardaniae) which elevate the register of his speech, the imperatives (ferte, dicite) which convey his authority, and the use of egere for egerunt which further adds to the formal tone. The impressiveness of Aeneas’ character is also indirectly seen in the effect his words have on Pallas who is clearly in awe of him (obstipuit, tanto percussus nomine).

Lastly, Aeneas’ own pietas is seen through both his words and actions. We see Aeneas offering an olive branch (paciferae… olivae) to Pallas as a symbol both of his peaceful intentions and of the treaty he hopes to make with the Arcadians. As with Pallas, this simple action, religious in nature, shows Aeneas as honourable and faithful, through his willingness to make and abide by treaties. This is further seen in his words to Pallas, when he emphasises that he has come to make an alliance of arms (socia arma), again displaying the pietas which is such an essential element of his nature, and of heroic characters generally in the Aeneid.

Question 1
Question 2

Univocalic lipograms

Further to yesterday's post, here's a univocalic, lipogrammatic (if that's even a word) translation of Catullus 85 (just to see if I could).

Odi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.
nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.

We detest her, yet we feel glee. Seek ye the key, re: these resentments? We're rejected, dejected, demented.

It could use a bit of work; the second half of the first line is pretty awful, and the whole of the second line is barely a paraphrase, let alone a translation. Any suggestions?

The opening of the Aeneid could work with the letter 'a' - 'A chant: arms and a man...'

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Nymphae, Laurentes Nymphae

Question 2

“nymphae, Laurentes nymphae, genus amnibus unde est,
tuque, o Thybri tuo genitor cum flumine sancto,
accipite Aenean et tandem arcete periclis.
quo te cumque lacus miserantem incommoda nostra
fonte tenet, quocumque solo pulcherrimus exis,
semper honore meo, semper celebrabere donis
corniger Hesperidum fluvius regnator aquarum.
adsis o tantum et propius tua numina firmes.”

How has Virgil infused these lines with a sense of religious awe and reverence? (5 marks)

One of the most striking features of this speech of Aeneas is its structure. Virgil has carefully designed the speech to reflect the traditional Roman prayer formula, giving the whole passage a decidedly religious flavour. The extended address to the gods in lines 71-72 is followed by a request, another address guaranteeing the attention of the gods accompanied by a promise of Aeneas’ devotion, and a final request. This structure makes the religious nature of Aeneas’ speech clear to Virgil’s Roman readers, and imbues the whole passage with a strong sense of awe and reverence for the gods.

However the structure is not the only way in which Virgil has created this tone. Many language techniques have been used to strengthen and reinforce the sense of awe in Aeneas’ speech. One of the most notable techniques is Virgil’s inclusion of unusual or archaic words, to heighten the gravitas of Aeneas’ speech, and to lend the passage a solemn and dignified air. There are many examples throughout this passage, including the archaic o, used only in formal situations, in lines 72 and 78, the exotic place names such as Laurentes, Thybri and Hesperidum (instead of the more prosaic Latini, Tiberis, Italorum), and the use of celebrabere for celebraberis. Less obvious perhaps is the unusual construction of arcete periclis (‘keep me from danger’ rather than the more usual ‘keep danger from me’), the rare tmesis of quo te cumque, and the epic-compound corniger. The proliferation of these unusual words and phrases clearly lifts the register of Aeneas’ prayer, and contributes to the sense of religious awe and reverence of these lines.

Repetition also plays an important part in establishing a religious tone in this passage. We have already noted the repetition of o in lines 72 and 78 – in line 71 we also see the word nymphae repeated, highlighting Aeneas’ respect for the gods, and in lines 74-76 both quocumque and semper are repeated with similar effect.

Finally, the imperatives and iussive subjunctives used by Aeneas lend his speech a solemn, authoritative tone. In line 73 we have accipite and arcete, while the closing line of the prayer is framed by the iussive subjunctives adsis and firmes once again adding gravitas to the lines and increasing the overall sense of religious awe and reverence felt in these lines.

Question 1

Eunoia

I read a review of what sounds like a fascinating book in the paper on the weekend. Here are some excerpts:

Eunoia. Sounds like a urinary tract infection, doesn't it? It's not. It's Greek for "beautiful thinking" and is the shortest English word to contain one instance of each of the English vowels. An appropriate title, then, for a book devoted to fetters of its own making...

Eunoia is a collection of "univocalic lipograms" - a verbose, tautological way of saying it contains texts each of which is devoted to one particular vowel. There are only five vowels so it's a shortish book...

"A" tells the story of Hassan Abd al-Hassad, an Agha Khan, who dies a painfully asthmatic death amid mildly magical events. ("A fantast chants 'abracadabra' as a mantra, wags a wand and (zap) a sandglass cracks.") "E" is a retelling of The Iliad from the perspective of Helen. ("She feels neglected... regrets her wretchedness... nevertheless, she keeps her deepest regrets secret".) "I" begins and ends with "I" ("Writing is inhibiting. Sighing, I sit, scribbling in ink this pidgin script")...

Underpinning all of it is a central paradox, which is best summed up in a final end-note: "The text makes a Sisyphean spectacle of its labour, wilfully crippling its language in order to show that, even under such improbable conditions of duress, language can still express an uncanny... thought."

Lipograms go back as far as the Greeks, some of whom seem to have had an aversion to the 's' sound (the Greek letter sigma). The Roman poet Fulgentius also managed to write a history of the world (De aetatibus mundi et hominis) with each chapter omitting a different letter. If you're interested to know more, there's an interesting column here giving a brief overview of lipograms in Greek and Latin.

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Belli Signum

I recently gave my year 12 class an assessment task on Aeneid VIII; over the next couple of days I'll post some of the questions, and my own responses. Feel free to criticise my answers, or to add anything to them. Here's the first one:

ut belli signum Laurenti Turnus ab arce
extulit et rauco strepuerunt cornua cantu,
utque acris concussit equos utque impulit arma,
extemplo turbati animi, simul omne tumultu
coniurat trepido Latium saevitque iuventus
effera. Ductores primi Messapus et Ufens
contemptorque deum Mezentius undique cogunt
auxilia et latos vastant cultoribus agros.

How has Virgil used language to convey the dramatic preparations for war in this passage? (4 marks)

Virgil has used a range of language techniques to effectively convey the chaotic preparations for war amongst the Latin peoples. This is obvious from the opening line. Virgil has used a long sentence (from ut belli to iuventus effera), containing multiple subordinate clauses to create the impression of frenzied action. The tricolon in lines 1-3, emphasised by the repetition of ut… utque… utque, give the passage a dramatic build up, before we reach the focus of the sentence in lines 4-5. These lines also contain an abundance of verbs (extulit, strepueunt, concussit, impulit, coniurat, saevit, cogunt, vastant), many of them in the present tense, which convey the dramatic action of the scene, and create a vivid picture in the reader’s mind.

Virgil’s choice of words has also contributed to the drama of these opening lines. He has used many words with violent connotations, including turbati, tumultu, trepido, saevit, effera. These words give the passage an underlying sense of chaos, and assist Virgil in effectively conveying this dramatic scene. Virgil’s placement of these words is also significant, with tumultu emphasised at the end of line 4, and effera also stressed through its enjambement.

The scale of the Latins’ preparations for war is also conveyed by Virgil’s choice of words. In lines 7 and 8 words such as undique and latos stress the totality of their actions, giving the impression that the whole countryside is effected, and thus further increasing the dramatic nature of the passage.

Spelunca Caci

Perhaps the cave of Cacus looked something like this...

This is how Virgil describes it in Aeneid VIII:

iam primum saxis suspensam hanc aspice rupem,
disiectae procul ut moles desertaque montis
stat domus et scopuli ingentem traxere ruinam.
hic spelunca fuit vasto summota recessu,
semihominis Caci facies quam dira tenebat
solis inaccessam radiis; semperque recenti
caede tepebat humus, foribusque adfixa superbis
ora virum tristi pendebant pallida tabo.

Now first of all look at that cliff, all overhung with rocks, and see how the great bulk of the mountain has been scattered far and wide, and how that cave lies deserted and how the crags speak of some great destruction. Here was the cave, sunk deep down into a vast cavern, where the dreadful form of the half-human Cacus used to live, inaccessible to the rays of the sun; the ground was always warm with fresh slaughter, and, fixed to the haughty door frame, hung the faces of men in gloomy decay.

(Aeneid VIII, 190-197)

If you imagine some dismembered heads hanging by the entrance I think it's not a bad match.

A Day in Pompeii

If anyone is going to be in Melbourne over the school holidays it will be well-worth visiting the Melbourne Museum, which is hosting an exhibition called A Day in Pompeii. Here's what their website says:

A Day in Pompeii takes visitors back in time to experience life and death in this cosmopolitan city. The exhibition features hundreds of exceptional objects that laid buried in Pompeii’s ruins for over 17 centuries. Included are room-size frescoes, marble and bronze sculptures, jewellery, gold coins and everyday household items – all of which evoke the richness and culture of daily life in the Roman Empire’s favourite vacation resort.

Most poignant and dramatic, however, are the body casts of the volcano’s victims, frozen in their last moments: a couple in their final embrace, a man clutching a cloth to his mouth, a fleeing slave with his ankle manacle still in place, a dog struggling on its chain.

There's also a short video on the website, which is worth watching.

The whole thing sounds great, but I don't think I'll be able to make it myself. If only it were coming to Sydney as well...

Hearts and Minds

Here's an interesting (at least to me) exchange from Column Eight over the past couple of days:

A cry from the heart, literally, from Fee MacGregor of Randwick: "My son is getting married in August to the lovely Anna. The wedding will take place at Lewes Castle in Sussex (not far from Hastings), and my husband was asked to design a card. He chose to make it look like a panel from the Bayeux Tapestry. He wanted to have something in Latin on the card, along the lines of 'From opposite sides of the world - two hearts joined', the sort of thing which, when translated, will draw sentimental sighs from the fairer sex and involuntary retching from those who despise public displays of affection. Can you translate? In my translator program 'heart' always comes out as 'viscus' or 'pectus', but if you convert that back it comes out as 'chest', or viscus can come out as 'entrails', which is slightly off the mark. We have been trying for weeks to find a Latin scholar." Any takers?

Des Cahill, MA (Latin), of Manly is one of many readers to offer a translation of "From opposite sides of the world, two hearts joined", for the Bayeux Tapestry wedding card... "Adversis partibus orbis terrae duo corda coniuncta."

There are, of course, myriad other interpretations, including this, from Zenon Alexander of Balmoral. "My alma mater, Sydney University, solved this problem long ago by adopting as its motto 'Sidere Mens Eadem Mutato', loosely translated as 'One at heart though poles apart', referring to its relationship with Oxford University. 'Mens', the mind or intellect (or heart), is emotionally more poetic than 'entrails'." Who are we to doubt the classical credentials of a man named Zenon?

Hi, my name is Elizabeth Smith," writes none other than Elizabeth Smith of the Blue Mountains, "and I am a first year Latin student at Macquarie University... I was able to do a translation into classical Latin of 'From opposite sides of the world - two hearts joined'. It reads as: 'Ab adversi lati mundi - duo animi conveniebamus'. The translation of 'joined' is a bit tricky, as to whether they would like the infinitive - to join, or in the past tense, have joined. In any case, the infinitive meaning is 'convenire', the literal meaning, 'to come together'. Anyway, I hope this is right, as I'm sure my professor reads Column 8 and I'll be reprimanded if incorrect." Don't worry about the prof, Elizabeth - you're already better at Latin than Column 8 ever
will be.

There are lots of words for heart/mind/soul in Latin which are often used interchangeably. here are some of them:

anima: soul, spirit, vital principle, life, breathing, wind, breeze, air

animus: mind, intellect, soul, feelings, heart, spirit, courage, character

cor: heart, mind, soul, spirit, intellect

mens: mind, reason, intellect, judgment, plan, intention, frame of mind, courage
pectus: breast, heart, feeling, soul, mind

spiritus: breath, breathing, air, soul, life

viscer: entrails, innermost part of the body, heart
viscus: soft fleshy body parts, internal organs, entrails, flesh

For the record, I would probably translate the phrase something like adversis terris, animi coniuncti, which may not be exactly right, but at least has the virtue of simplicity. I think animi is probably the most appropriate word for hearts in this context, though why I say that I'm not sure- none of the others feel quite right.

For the dangers of using internet translators see these Latin tattoos.

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On Translating the Aeneid

I'd never read the introduction to David West's translation of the Aeneid, but as I was looking for something else I picked it up and a line caught my eye. I read the sentence, then the paragraph, then turned back to read the whole thing. I was particularly struck by what he wrote about the aims of his translation:

When Peter Schidlof died, one of the other members of the Amadeus Quartet was asked what their approach had been, and he replied: 'Loyalty to the spirit and the letter.' As a translator I think of the letter and the spirit. I have tried to be utterly faithful to everything I see and hear in the Latin, the rhetoric, nuances, colour, tone, pace, passion, even the peerless music of Virgil's verse, which Tennyson thought 'the stateliest measure ever moulded by the lips of man'. This, of course, is impossible, as Neruda well realizes:

Now it is clear that this couldn't be done -
that in this net it's not just the strings that count
but also the air that escapes through the meshes

Pablo Neruda, 'Isla Negra', trs. Alastair Reid

My second aim has been to write readable English which does honour to the richness and sublimity of Virgil's language - ebullient, for example in the utterances of Aeneas at the games in Book Five, charged with grief for the death of Marcellus at the end of Book Six and ringing with the courage and cruelty of war in the four great last books. Another impossible task. But if it is to be attempted, the translator must be ready to jettison the idiom of Latin and search for the English words that will carry as much as possible of the spirit of the Latin.

By this creed there are two great sins: to fall short of Virgil through sloth or ineptitude or self-love; and to write what is dull. If it is dull, it is not a translation of Virgil. This version admits defeatin every line, but where it seems to abandon some feature of the Latin, I hope it is always in an attempt to respond in living English to the poetic eloquence of its great original.

Loyalty to the spirit and the letter is good advice for anyone attempting a translation of the Aeneid, or indeed any other Latin text. It's a hard balance to strike (impossible even), but nonetheless something worth striving for.

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Latin spell-checker

I'm not sure if anyone else will be as excited by this as I am, but I just downloaded a Latin spell-checker for word. Not that I ever make spelling mistakes, but it will at least get rid of all those annoying squiggly red lines. I've given it a brief test, and it really works!

If you like the sound of a Latin spell-checker, you can get it from this site.

On flying to close to the sun...

Daedalus and Icarus as you've never seen them before.

You can find the original comic here; thanks to Sarah for bringing it to my attention.

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filia mea

I generally try to keep my posts here to Latin related things, but in this case I don't mind making an exception.

Jemima Lauren Morrison

Born 6 May 2009

Metamorphosis

I've just started reading An Imaginary Life by David Malouf- a short novel based, told from the perspective of the Roman poet Ovid, in exile at Tomis on the Black Sea.

I was struck by this passage I read on my way to school the other day:

...the stone sleeping in the sun has once been molten fire and became stone when the fire was able to say, in its liquid form: "I would be solid, I would be stone"; and the stone dreams now that the veins of ore in its nature might become liquid again and move , but within its shape as stone, so that slowly, through long centuries of aching for such a condition, for softness, for a pulse, it feels one day that the transformation has begun to occur; the veins loosen and flow, the clay relaxes, the stone, through long ages of imagining some further life, discovers eyes, a mouth, legs to leap with, and is toad.

Vivid descriptions of transformations are of course one of Ovid's strengths. Here are two of my favourites- the statue Galatea, crafted by Pygmalion, coming alive, and Daphne, pursued by Apollo, becoming a laurel tree:

vix prece finita torpor gravis occupat artus,
mollia cinguntur tenui praecordia libro,
in frondem crines, in ramos bracchia crescunt,
pes modo tam velox pigris radicibus haeret,
ora cacumen habet: remanet nitor unus in illa.
Hanc quoque Phoebus amat positaque in stipite dextra
sentit adhuc trepidare novo sub cortice pectus
complexusque suis ramos ut membra lacertis
oscula dat ligno; refugit tamen oscula lignum.

Scarcely had Daphne finished her prayer, when a heavy slowness seized her limbs, her soft breast is embraced by thin bark, her hair grows into leaves, her arms into branches, her feet, just now so speedy, stick fast with sluggish roots, the canopy hides her face: only her shining beauty remains unchanged. Apollo loves her still, and placing his right hand on her trunk, he feels her heart still trembling beneath the new bark, and he embraces her branches with his arms, as if they were really limbs, and kisses her woody trunk; yet even as a tree she shrinks from his kisses!

(Metamorphoses I.548-556)

ut rediit, simulacra suae petit ille puellae

incumbensque toro dedit oscula: visa tepere est;

admovet os iterum, manibus quoque pectora temptat:

temptatum mollescit ebur positoque rigore

subsidit digitis ceditque, ut Hymettia sole

cera remollescit tractataque pollice multas

flectitur in facies ipsoque fit utilis usu.

dum stupet et dubie gaudet fallique veretur,

rursus amans rursusque manu sua vota retractat.

corpus erat! saliunt temptatae pollice venae.

When Pygmalion returned, he made for the statue of his girl and, lying on the couch, began to kiss her: she seemed to be warm; again he brings his mouth near, and he also tries her breasts with his hands: the ivory softens as it is touched and having lost its hardness gives way beneath his fingers and yields, just as Hymettian wax softens in the sun and, kneaded by the thumb, is moulded into many shapes, and becomes usable by being used. While he gapes in amazement and doubtfully rejoices and fears that he is deceived, the lover strokes the answer to his prayer again and again with his hand. She was flesh! As he touches them, the veins throb beneath his thumb.

(Metamorphoses X.280-289)

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Year 8 Latin, Periods 2+3

salvete discipulae!

This morning you can have some time to work on and research your presentations. If you can't remember what you signed up for, you can check by opening the Yr 8 Presentations file in your year 8 Latin folder.


You may find some information regarding your various topics in your textbooks, and if you look under the relevant chapters on the Cambridge Latin Course website, you'll find heaps of links to other websites some of which have some really good information. The following general websites may also be of assistance to you:

• The Romans (really good for general culture and history)
• Theoi (really good for gods and mythology)
• About.com (good for history)
• Athens + Sparta (good for mythology)

I'm sure you'll be able to find many other useful sites on your own. If you do, why not leave a comment...

De Thesauro Litterisque Graecis

I've read two great posts over at laudator temporis acti recently, which appeal to my inner (ok, outer) nerd. The first is an Ode to a Thesaurus. Here's the first stanza, as a taste:

O precious codex, volume, tome,
Book, writing, compilation, work
Attend the while I pen a pome,
A jest, a jape, a quip, a quirk.

It reminds me of a non sequitur comic I once saw (and should have kept) entitled 'The Thesaurosaurus'. It showed a dinosaur walking around saying 'I die, expire, am made extinct.' Hilarious.

The second post is on The Noble Shapes of the Greek Letters. Again here's a taste:

Some letters catch the eye more than others: the perverse triple loop of Xi, the twin concavity of Omega, the bisected almond of Theta, Phi like a circle transfixed by a spear, Psi's curly trident and Gamma's two-pronged fork. As the argument kindles and voices wax louder, the lettering matriculates from italics to capitals and out like dangerous missiles whizz triangles and T-squares and gibbets and acute angles, pairs of Stonehenge megaliths with lintel stones, and half-open springs.

Cicero's Rhetorical Theory

Here are some more extracts from Rhetoric at Rome, from Chapter V; Cicero’s Rhetorical Theory.

[In De Inventione] Cicero makes one of his characters, the lawyer Scaevola, dispute the claim of oratory to have civilised mankind. Was it not rather men of practical good sense, without any special gifts for oratory, who performed this function? Eloquence had in fact been actually harmful at times, as in the case of the Gracchi.[1] Moreover it might be said that oratory was merely an instrument to serve certain purposes, ‘to make the case you are pleading in the law courts appear to be the better and more plausible, and to make your speeches to the people and the senate as effective as possible, in fact to make the wise think your speech eloquent and fools even think it true.’[2]… In his practice he might use the arts and crafts of rhetoric to make the worse cause appear the better, and might boast of having thrown dust in the eyes of the jury,[3] but in his theory oratory was purely a power for good. (p. 54)

Cicero is indeed less interested in the appeal to the head than that to the heart. ‘Men’s judgements’, he tell us, ‘are more often formed under the influence of hatred, love, desire, anger, grief, joy, hope, fear, misconception or some other emotion, than by truth or ordinance, the principles of justice, the procedure of the courts or the laws.’[4] (p. 58)

His main emphasis now is on the necessity for the orator to feel the emotions he tries to arouse. ‘It is impossible’, he says, for the hearer to feel grief, hatred, prejudice, apprehension, to be reduced to tears and pity, unless all the emotions which the orator wishes to arouse in the juror are seen to be deeply impressed on the orator himself.’[5] If anyone wondered how the orator could be constantly moved to anger, grief, or other emotions in matters which did not concern him personally, the answer was that the sentiments and topics he made use of had such power to move that there was no need for simulation. The very nature of the speech whose object was to move the audience would be such as to move the speaker more than anyone else. Like the actor, the orator would live his part.[6] Antonius, who in this part of De Oratore serves as Cicero’s mouthpiece, records his defence of M’. Aquilius, and claims that his pathetic peroration came from the heart, and that when he displayed his client’s wounds the action was not premeditated, but inspired by violent grief.[7] Speaking in his own person in the Orator, Cicero says much the same; in all his pathetic passages it was not so much his talent as his capacity for experiencing the feelings he expressed that accounted for his success.[8] (p. 59)

From the appeal to the heart we turn to the appeal to the ear. The consideration of style occupies most of the third book of De Oratore, and though in the main the matter is traditional, it is worth noting where Cicero lays the emphasis. Of the four virtutes dicendi, the first two, ornate and apte congruenterque, are the important qualities. It is these that make men thrill with terror, gaze open-mouthed at the speaker, cry aloud and think him a god among men.[9] Above all it is the ability to use ornatus that constitutes the crowing glory of eloquence.[10] How is this adornment to be come by? The answer is that it will come of its own accord to the learned orator.[11] ‘Rerum enim copia verborum copiam gignit’, says Cicero, giving a new turn to the old maxim of Cato, rem tene, verba sequentur. If the matter is honourable, the words in which it is expressed will have a natural splendour. (p. 60)

[1] De Oratore I. 35f.
[2] De Oratore I. 44
[3] Quintilian II. xvii. 21
[4] De Oratore II. 178
[5] De Oratore II. 189
[6] De Oratore II. 191, 193. But writing as a moralist in the Tusculans he says oratorem vero irasci minime decet, simulare non dedecet.
[7] De Oratore II. 195
[8] Orator 130, 132
[9] De Oratore III. 52-3
[10] De Oratore III. 104
[11] De Oratore III. 124f.

cena Romana MMIX

I had a very enjoyable time with my year 11 students at the annual Senior Classics Dinner last night. The highlight was of course the trivia quiz, fiendishly difficult as always. Here are a few sample questions; I'll put the answers in the comments sometime next week.


The following goddesses all had something to do with pregnancy, childbirth or child-rearing. Match the goddess to her correct function.

Goddesses

• Aboena; Alemona; Lucina; Cunina; Decima

Functions

• To guard the cradle; To watch over pregnancy; To ensure the safe going out and coming in of children; To keep unborn children safe; To look after women in childbirth

The Greco-Roman god of the wind was Aeolus, who had six sons, each controlling the wind from a particular direction. Match the son with the particular direction of his wind.

Sons

• Aquilo; Boreus; Corus; Eurus; Notus; Zephyrus

Directions

• North; East; South; South-West; West; North-West

Many parts of the human skeleton have Latin names. Where would you find the following bones?

• flute; small dish; brooch; basin; cuckoo; ray; hammer, anvil and stirrup

Which NSW places are referred to by the following Latin phrases?

• collis aestivus; mons monens; tumulosus infractus; montes caeruli; silicis phoci; geminus sinus

Alexander the Great's Tomb

Here's a trick question for you: where is Alexander the Great buried?

• (a) Macedonia
• (b) Babylon
• (c) Alexandria
• (d) Western Australia

If you answered (a) you probably remembered that Alexander was Macedonian, not Greek as many people think, but sadly that's not the right answer.

If you answered (b) you might know a bit of history, and that Alexander basically drunk himself to death in Babylon after returning from India, but that's not the right answer either.

If you answered (c) congratulations! This is where, according to ancient sources, Alexander's body was taken after he died, but his tomb was later looted by both the Pharoahs and the Romans, and no one is quite sure what happened to his body after that.

If you answered (d)... well I'm not sure what would possess anyone to answer (d), unless of course you read this article recently which suggests just this very thing- that Alexander the Great's final resting place is in a cave near Broome, Western Australia.

Plutarch (writing some 400 years after the event) describes the death of Alexander in Babylon, though he neglects to tell us what happened to the body afterwards.

On the eighteenth of the month, he slept in the bathing-room on account of his fever. The next day he bathed and removed into his chamber, and spent his time in playing dice with Medius. In the evening he bathed and sacrificed, and ate freely, and had the fever on him through the night. On the twentieth, after the usual sacrifices and bathing, he lay in the bathing-room and heard Nearchus’s narrative of his voyage, and the observations he had made in the great sea. The twenty-first he passed in the same manner, his fever still increasing, and suffered much during the night. The next day the fever was very violent, and he had himself removed and his bed set by the great bath, and discoursed with his principal officers about finding fit men to fill up the vacant places in the army. On the twenty-fourth he was much worse, and was carried out of his bed to assist at the sacrifices, and gave order that the general officers should wait within the court, whilst the inferior officers kept watch without doors. On the twenty-fifth he was removed to his palace on the other side the river, where he slept a little, but his fever did not abate, and when the generals came into his chamber, he was speechless, and continued so the following day. The Macedonians, therefore, supposing he was dead, came with great clamors to the gates, and menaced his friends so that they were forced to admit them, and let them all pass through unarmed along by his bedside. The same day Python and Seleucus were dispatched to the temple of Serapis to inquire if they should bring Alexander thither, and were answered by the god, that they should not remove him. On the twenty-eighth, in the evening, he died. This account is most of it word for word as it is written in the diary.

At the time, nobody had any suspicion of his being poisoned, but [some say he was poisoned with] water, deadly cold as ice, distilling from a rock in the district of Nonacris, which they gathered like a thin dew, and kept in an ass’s hoof; for it was so very cold and penetrating that no other vessel would hold it. However, most are of the opinion that all this is a mere made-up story, no slight evidence of which is, that during the dissensions among the commanders, which lasted several days, the body continued clear and fresh, without any sign of such taint or corruption, though it lay neglected in a close, sultry place.

Roman Oratory Before Cicero

I've been reading an interesting book lately, Rhetoric at Rome; A Historical Survey by M.L. Clarke. Here are some highlights from chapter IV- Roman Oratory Before Cicero:

The age of the Gracchi, with its clash of ideals and personalities, was conducive to high and excited political oratory. The two brothers were famous for their eloquence; Cicero, in spite of his disapproval of the uses to which it was put, cannot forbear to praise[1]…

Cicero recalls a passage of one of Gaius’s speeches: ‘Quo me miser conferam? quo vertam? in Capitoliumne? at fratris sanguine madet. an domum? matremne ut miseram lamentantem videam et abiectam?’ [2] Cicero’s theme is the importance of actio, and he tells us that Gaius’s eyes, voice and gestures when uttering these words were such that even his enemies could not refrain from tears…

On the other hand Cicero could give Gaius lessons in rhythm. Take that sentence, he says, From Gracchus: ‘Abesse non potest quin eiusdem hominis sit probos improbare qui improbos probet.’ How much better if he had written ‘qui improbos probet probos improbare.’[3] (pp 43-44)

The stoics believed in speaking the truth in plain words; they eschewed ornament and emotional appeal. Their style, says Cicero, was a meagre one, hardly calculated to win popular applause.[4] How true this was shown by the experience of Rutilius Rufus. As a good Stoic he expressed the strongest condemnation of such theatrical tricks as had won Galba acquittal,[5] and when he was himself accused, quite unjustly, of maladministration, he disdained to use such arts. He made no appeals to the mercy of the jury and would not allow more than the simple truth to be said in his defence.[6] ‘There were no groans or exclamations on the part of his advocates’ says Cicero, ‘no expression of grief or indignation, no appeals to the commonwealth, no supplication; why no one stamped his foot, for fear, I suppose, that the Stoics might hear of it.’[7] (p 45)

Wit as a weapon of oratory belongs to the Roman tradition. So no doubt does pathos. ‘Demosthenes’, wrote Swift, ‘who had to deal with a people of much more Politeness, Learning and Wit, laid the greater weight of his oratory upon the Strength of his Arguments offered to their Understanding and Reason. Whereas Tully [i.e. Cicero] considered the Disposition of a sincere more ignorant and less mercurial Nation by dwelling almost entirely on the Pathetick Part.’[8] Whether this analysis of national character is correct or not, the pathetic is a note which sounds stronger in Roman than in Greek oratory. It sounded at full blast in Antonius’ defence of Aquilius, when he contrasted the former glories of the consul and triumphant commander with his present piteous and precarious condition, displayed his client in person, sorrowing and dressed in mourning, tore open his shirt and showed his wounds.[9] (pp 47-48)

[1] De Oratore I. 38, Brutus 103, De Hauspicum Responsis 41. In early life Cicero was more favourably disposed to the politics of the Gracchi. In De Inventione (I.5) they are bracketed with Cato, Laelius and Africanus as men in whom was ‘summa virtus et summa virtute amplificata auctoritas et quae et his rebus ornamento et rei publicae praesidio esset eloquentia.’
[2] De Oratore III .214, fragment 58 Malcovati, Oratorum Romanorum Fragmenta Liberae Rei Publicae. Cf. Quintilian XI. iii. 115
[3] Cicero, Orator 233
[4] Cicero Brutus (id) 114
[5] Cicero De Oratore I. 228
[6] De Oratore 237-230 Brutus 115. One of his advocates was Q. Mucius Scaevola, also a Stoic, whose sober legal judgements proved ineffective against Crassus’s mockery in the causa Curiana. See p. 47.
[7] De Oratore I 230. Other Stoic orators were Q. Aelius Tubero, whose mode of speaking, according to Cicero, matched the harshness and uncouthness of his life (Brutus 117, De Officiis III. 63), Mummius (Brutus 94, cf De Republica V. 11) and Fannius (Brutus 101).
[8] A letter to a Young Gentleman lately enter’d into Holy Orders.
[9] Cicero De Oratore II. 195.

Beware...

I let my guard down over the weekend and neglected to comment on the passing of the Ides of March, which is no great tragedy I suppose, but I do feel I should post at least something about it. The Ides of course marks the anniversary of Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 B.C. To celebrate (belatedly) you could dress up in a toga, watch this video or read Suetonius' account of the assassination:

Assidentem conspirati specie officii circumsteterunt, ilicoque Cimber Tillius, qui primas partes susceperat, quasi aliquid rogaturus propius accessit renuentique et gestu in aliud tempus differenti ab utroque umero togam adprehendit; deinde clamantem: "Ista quidem vis est!" alter e Cascis aversum vulnerat paulum infra iugulum.

As he took his seat, the conspirators gathered about him as if to pay their respects, and straightway Tillius Cimber, who had assumed the lead, came nearer as though to ask something; and when Caesar with a gesture put him off to another time, Cimber caught his toga by both shoulders; then as Caesar cried, "Why, this is violence!" one of the Cascas stabbed him from one side just below the throat.

Caesar Cascae brachium arreptum graphio traiecit conatusque prosilire alio vulnere tardatus est; utque animadvertit undique se strictis pugionibus peti, toga caput obvolvit, simul sinistra manu sinum ad ima crura deduxit, quo honestius caderet etiam inferiore corporis parte velata.

Caesar caught Casca's arm and ran it through with his stylus, but as he tried to leap to his feet, he was stopped by another wound. When he saw that he was beset on every side by drawn daggers, he muffled his head in his robe, and at the same time drew down its lap to his feet with his left hand, in order to fall more decently, with the lower part of his body also covered.

Atque ita tribus et viginti plagis confossus est uno modo ad primum ictum gemitu sine voce edito, etsi tradiderunt quidam Marco Bruto irruenti dixisse: καὶ σὺ τέκνον; Exanimis diffugientibus cunctis aliquamdiu iacuit, donec lecticae impositum, dependente brachio, tres servoli domum rettulerunt.

And in this wise he was stabbed with three and twenty wounds, uttering not a word, but merely a groan at the first stroke, though some have written that when Marcus Brutus rushed at him, he said in Greek, "You too, my child?" All the conspirators made off, and he lay there lifeless for some time, and finally three common slaves put him on a litter and carried him home, with one arm hanging down.

Related Posts

• Beware The Ides of March

Columbaria inter alia

Eternallycool has some interesting posts and some great photos of a couple of different exhibitions on at the Palazzo Massimo at the moment. Check out these beautiful frescoes taken from columbaria, and this incredible carved sarcophagus.

I visited the Palazzo Massimo last time I was in Rome and loved it, and I'm a bit sad I won't get to see these new exhibitions in person (they're only on display for a short time). The photo in this post comes from there, as do this one and this one.