Monday, September 22, 2014

Latin Proverbs and Fables Round-Up: September 22

Here is a round-up of today's proverbs and fables - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. If you have not downloaded a free PDF copy of Brevissima: 1001 Tiny Latin Poems, it's ready and waiting.

HODIE (Roman Calendar): ante diem decimum Kalendas Octobres.

MYTHS and LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows Heracles and the Hydra; you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here. The Latin title reads: HERCVLES VNA CVM IOLAO HYDRAM OCCIDIT.


TODAY'S MOTTOES and PROVERBS:

TINY PROVERBS: Today's tiny proverb is: Fata trahunt (English: The Fates drag us).

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Nil sine causa (English: Nothing without a reason).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Equo currenti non opus calcaribus (English: There's no need to spur a running horse).

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Iacta est alea (English: The die is cast).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Stupidior Praxillae Adonide (English: More stupid than the Adonis of Praxilla; from Adagia 2.9.11 - This refers to a poetess Praxilla who wrote a poem about Adonis in which Adonis foolishly said that the most beautiful things in the world were the sun, apples, and pumpkins; including pumpkins in that list made Adonis look so foolish that he became a byword for foolishness).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Χελώην Πεγάσῳ συγκρίνεις (English: You're comparing a tortoise to a Pegasus... like mixing apples and oranges, but on a mythological scale).

BREVISSIMA: The distich poster for today is Non Omnia. Click here for a full-sized view.


And here are today's proverbial LOLcats:



TODAY'S FABLES:

FABULAE FACILES: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Monachi et Abbates, a funny story about monks who, by their own prayers, make things go from bad to worse (this fable has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Leo et Tauri Duo, a fable of "divide and conquer."

Leo et Tauri - Osius

Words from Mythology. For more about NEMESIS, see this blog post.