dico, dico, dico

If you're looking for something to read over the holidays, you could do worse than this article (by Juliette Harrisson), looking at the use of Latin in pop culture. She manages to squeeze in references to Monty Python, Harry Potter, Buffy, Terry Pratchett, Yes Minister, The West Wing, Mel Gibson and others into a very interesting and readable piece. Here's a sample paragraph:

...it is because Latin is more familiar to audiences that it is frequently chosen over other ancient languages when spells or magical incantations are required. This is partly because Latin is so close to a number of modern European languages, so the spells sound ‘right’ – petrificus totalus, for example, ‘petrifies’ someone ‘totally’. Latin is sufficiently old and mysterious and, at the same time, sufficiently recognisable to make an effective magic spell that sounds plausible, yet out of the ordinary.

 

Catullus and Pop Culture

Every year I read a selection of Catullus' poetry with my year 10 class(es), and as part of their assessment I get them to do a presentation comparing one of Catullus poems to a film or song (or anything of their choosing really), to show how the themes and emotions of his poetry are expressed these days.

Here are some of the comparisons they made this year:

Catullus 3 is like Mufasa and Simba from The Lion King

Catullus 5 is like Don’t Matter, by Akon

Catullus 8 is like Gives You Hell, by All American Rejects and  Accustomed to her Face from My Fair Lady

Catullus 51 is like Edward from Big Fish and Lancelot from First Knight

Catullus 70 is like Hayley and Dillon from Modern Family, White Noise by the Living End and Your Love is a Lie, by Simple Plan

Catullus 72 is like Not Me, Not I, by Delta Goodrem and Gives You Hell, by All American Rejects

Catullus 85 is like Cher from Clueless, 7 Things by Miley Cyrus, Hate that I Love You by Rihanna and Love the Way You Lie by Eminem (featuring Rihanna, poor woman)

Catullus 86 is like Beauty in Ugly, by Jason Mraz, Nothin’ on You by B.o.B. and Stay Beautiful by Taylor Swift

Catullus 92 is like Cher and Josh from Clueless and Kevin and Jane from 27 Dresses

Obviously some of the comparisons work better than others. I've added a poll on the right of the ones I thought worked best that you can vote for over the next couple of weeks. If you think one of the comparisons that hasn't made it to the poll worked better, leave me a comment.

The future of Latin

I watched a DVD over the weekend, which is a rather rare event these days. My choice was An Education, which came out late last year I think, with a screen-play written by Nick Hornby. The main character Jenny is in her final year of high school, studying hard to get into Oxford. Her weakest subject just happens to Latin, and for her birthday she gets a New Latin Dictionary (in fact two; one from her dad and one from her admirer).

At one point in the film she's disappointed to have received a B for Latin, and one of the other characters comforts her by saying:

Someone told me that in about 50 years, no one will speak Latin, probably. Not even Latin people.

bella stellaria

I'm a bit late on this one, but here are a few links in honour of May the fourth.

• How Star Wars history is like Roman History
• Star Wars trailer in Latin (judging from the spelling this one was put together by someone from Finland)
• George Lucas likes Rome (the HBO series that is; interesting because the article suggests his interest in and knowledge of Ancient Rome is quite developed)
• Why Yoda talks funny
• A Latin speech about Star Wars

sit vis vobiscum!

Juno

I saw the film Juno the other day, and really enjoyed it. In one part of the movie Juno explains how she got her name:

Juno: My dad had this weird obsession with Roman or Greek mythology or something and he decided to name me after Zeus' wife.

Mark: Zeus' wife?

Juno: Yeah and I mean Zeus had tons of lays but I'm pretty sure Juno was his only wife. And apparently she was supposed to be super beautiful but really mean, like Diana Ross.

The name fits Juno's character well, I think; she's beautiful, but has the potential to be pretty cruel. That's not the only way in which it's an appropriate name though- Juno (Hera in Greek) was also the Roman goddess responsible for childbirth.

In the Aeneid the goddess Juno plays the role of Aeneas' tormentor, opposing him at every turn. Her jealousy is based on her hatred of the Trojans, stemming from Paris' rejection of her in favour of Venus (Aphrodite). At the very beginning of the poem she is described in this way:

cum Iuno, aeternum servans sub pectore vulnus,
haec secum: 'Mene incepto desistere victam,
nec posse Italia Teucrorum avertere regem?
Quippe vetor fatis...
Ast ego, quae divum incedo regina, Iovisque
et soror et coniunx, una cum gente
tot annos bella gero!'

Juno brooded, still nursing the eternal wound deep in her breast: 'Am I to admit defeat and give up my attempt to keep the king of the Trojans away from Italy? So what if the fates do not approve... Here am I, the queen of the gods, the sister of Jupiter and his wife, and I have waged war all these years against a whole race of men!'

At the end of the Aeneid Juno has somewhat of a change of heart. Jupiter convinces her that it is Aeneas' fate to defeat his enemy Turnus and to establish a city whose descendents will one day rule the world, and that not even the gods can change these things. Juno gives in, but asks for a few conditions of her own:

'et nunc cedo equidem pugnasque exosa relinquo.
illud te... obtestor...
ne vetus indigenas nomen mutare Latinos
neu Troas fieri iubeas Teucrosque vocari...
sit Latium, sint Albani per saecula reges,
sit Romana potens Itala virtute propago:
occidit, occideritque sinas cum nomine Troia.'

'And now I give in, and withdraw from these battles which I hate so much. But I entreat you... do not command the Latins to change their ancient name in their own land, to become Trojans and be called Teucrians... Let Latium live on, let there be Alban kings throughout the ages, let the Roman stock be powerful with Italian courage: Troy has died, let its name stay buried.'

And she gets her way; Jupiter replies:

'es germana Iovis Saturnique altera proles, irarum
tantos volvis sub pectore fluctus.
verum age et inceptum frustra summitte furorem:
do quod vis, et me victusque volensque remitto.
sermonem Ausonii patrium moresque tenebunt...
faciamque omnis uno ore Latinos....
nec gens ulla tuos aeque celebrabit honores.'

'You are the sister of Jupiter and the second child of Saturn, such waves of anger do you set rolling deep in your heart. But come now, lay aside this fury that arose in vain. I grant what you wish. I yield. I relent of my own free will. The people of Ausonia will keep the speech of their fathers and their ancient ways... I will make them all Latins, speaking one tongue... and no other race will be their equals in paying you honor.'

Related posts:

• Which Roman goddess are you?
• By Jove

Epic

There's a lot of epic going round at the moment. A new Beowulf film opens at the end of this month, and there's also a theatre version of Gilgamesh on in Sydney at the moment. In the last few years there's also been the movie Troy, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was at least epic in scope, if not form.

There's an interesting article in the paper today about myths (Beowulf in particular) and why our culture remains fascinated by them, even after so long. Here are a few excerpts:

Scholars, authors and fans say the poem endures because it is a timeless yarn about brave souls purging peaceful societies of agents of evil...

It seems we just can't let go of Beowulf or it won't let go of us," says Robert Ellwood, professor emeritus of religion at the University of Southern California. "Every time a classic is adapted, some scholars claim it's their providence and others shouldn't mess with it. Some others, however, argue that the more up-to-date a myth is the better."

Ellwood adds: "I tend to agree with [Claude] Levi-Strauss, who said, 'A myth is all of its variants across time and space.' In other words, a myth is for right now; it's a living thing that adapts to different social situations."

I would add another observation, that most epics tend to be about action rather than character, and (generally speaking) action-driven movies are much more appealing to a broad audience than character-driven ones.

I wonder if that's why there hasn't been an English-speaking movie of the Aeneid ever made (as far as I'm aware).

Firstly the Aeneid is largely about the character of Aeneas. Sure, it's full of battles, and there's a bit of a love story thrown in, but what concerns Virgil most is the character of Aeneas, and his transformation.

Secondly, the Aeneid is not a timeless story about good and evil. It's firmly rooted in the history of the first century B.C., and celebrates (in an allegorical manner) the defeat of Antony by Augustus, and his establishment of 'peace'. Civil wars are especially messy, and there's a measure of ambiguity in the Aeneid that reflects this. It's by no means a black and white tale about good and evil.

The wrong man

I came across a review of an interesting-looking movie the other day, called ‘The Wrong Man’ (or ‘Lucky Number Slevin’ in the US). What caught my eye was that the main character (who from what I could tell from the review is mistaken for someone else and gets caught in a tricky situation) claims to have ‘ataraxia syndrome’. I’m not sure if this is a real syndrome, but in the movie (which I admit I haven't seen) it has the effect that the main character remains cool and level-headed despite the most worrying circumstances.

This idea comes from the Greek word ataraxia (often translated as ‘pleasure’, but meaning something closer to ‘serenity’), which was a central concept in Epicurean Philosophy. Epicureans are often stereotyped as being debauched, gluttonous hedonists, but in fact this is an unfair caricature.

Epicureans did indeed believe that pleasure was the highest good (summum bonum) in life, but they had a different understanding of pleasure to what we might understand today. For an Epicurean true pleasure is freedom from the pain of need or desire. True pleasures are those which satisfy the body’s needs, without developing an appetite that cannot be sustained. For example, a simple meal of bread is a more satisfying than a rich banquet, as when the banquet is over it causes pain by its absence. Likewise romantic attachments are to be avoided because of the pain they would cause if they were to end. “The apparent ‘cultivation’ of pleasure in this way only serves to diminish it, whereas the wise man (sic) will remain content with what is easily available… and will not develop appetites that cannot be satisfied… The man (sic) who can find pleasure in simple things will always be satisfied, and the fastidious bon viveur will have less pleasure and more pain than the humblest of the poor.”*

This kind of pleasure - a freedom from want and worry - is what Epicurus termed ataraxia.

* Introduction to Lucretius, On the Nature of the Universe, Penguin Classics, pp. xix-xx.