#latin literature

[latinare]

Here's the long-promised Latin resources masterpost! Resource recs are always appreciated and I'll try to update this post from time to time. :)

Study and fluency tips, plus my review of a few different Latin textbooks here

Free online resources here

Suggestions for if you've studied Latin in the past and want to brush up/re-learn here

Tips for expanding vocabulary here

Links for Latin literature and suggestions on which works to start with here

Salvete!

[thoodleoo]

finally someone asks the questions that matter

[lykeios]

once i start posting in latin it’s over for y’all

[cinematic-literature]

The Holdovers (2023) by Alexander Payne

Book title: Meditations (Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν in Ancient Greek; 180 A.D.) by Marcus Aurelius

[acertainidontknowwhat]

As late as the fourth century CE in a satire attributed to the emperor Julian, Octavian (the later Augustus) is described as “changing many colors, like a chameleon: becoming now pale and now red”. In the satire, the god Silenus reacts to seeing Octavian by saying, “Bless me, what changeable beast is this! What terrible thing will he do to us!”

For comparison we have Pliny the Elder's comment on chameleons from his Natural History 8.120: "And [the chameleon] is more miraculous for the nature of its color, for it constantly changes its eyes and tail and entire body, and always resembles whatsoever it touches last, except red and white”

Pliny’s mention of the chameleon’s inability to turn “red and white” (rubrum candidumque) makes Julian’s description of Octavian turning pale (ὠχριῶν) and red (ἐρυθρὸς) take on a greater significance because it shows that Octavian is then more skilled than a chameleon at changing color by possessing the capability to turn both red and white.

Although Silenus' comment makes it clear that Octavian's color-changing should be seen as a reflection of his instability and danger, the change in color could also be an allusion to Octavian's constant change in health as ὠχριῶν refers to becoming pallid. Pliny further strengthens this reading by writing that when dead, chameleons are pale (defuncto pallor est). Thus Octavian is constantly changing between a state of near-death and great vitality as implied by Julian's ἐρυθρὸς and Pliny's rubrum, both of which can mean having a ruddy complexion.

[sherdnerd]

I stg if I see one more "Justice for medusa's TRUE story!" post I'm gonna kill someone.

(TW: Assault mention)

The medusa is assaulted by posidon then cursed by athena for being assaulted in her temple only appears in Ovid's Metamorphoses, which is written as a purposeful subversion of Greco-roman myths. most are reframed or rewritten from just kinda a thing that exists or a black and white moral tale of why you shouldn't be hubristic to full on tragedies on the part of the person often getting their comeuppance or the monster. Heck in book 13 we get a love story starring Polyphemus, the cyclops from the Odyssey.

In general mythology, Medusa is just another monster. Ovid revises the myth to turn it into a tragedy. I absolutely love ovid's work, he does so many clever things with the myths, but for the love of the gods its the furthest from the real version you can get

[latin-literature-tourney]

Latin Literature Tournament - Round 2

Propaganda under the cut!

Vergil Propaganda:

The vates himself, everyone. The poet so good that the Church was like "okay yeah this one magical pagan can stay"

The Fourth Eclogue is such a weird little delight. Is it about the children of Antony? Augustus? Is it a prediction of the birth of Christ? Is it somehow, as I heard one professor suggest for some reason, about Gallus? The possibilities are endless

Are you going to vote against the world-shattering masterpiece that is the Aeneid?

Side note, if you spell it "Virgil" you are my enemy

Catullus Propaganda:

When I was teaching Latin, one of my 8th grad students said of Catullus "He's the worst man who ever lived. I love him."

The only Roman writer to talk about clit envy

Fucking loved Sappho, so you know he has good taste

[classics-cassandra]

If the Aeneid has a million fans, I'm one of them

If the Aeneid has one fan, I'm that one

If the Aeneid has no fans, my soul, indignant, has fled down to the underworld with a sigh

[amicus-noctis]

“The descent into Hell is easy” ― Virgil, The Aeneid

Painting: "Dante and Virgile in Hell" by Gustave-Claude-Étienne Courtois

[oresti-s]

Meditations, Marcus Aurelius.

[arylleth]

It is not a disease to be in love, but not to be. Because if love comes from the eyes, blind are those who are not in love. Philostratus 170s – 240s AD

[sunshinesere]

Camila Sosa / Las Malas

[catsandbooksstuff]

Per aspera ad astra. I’d heard a variety of translations, but the one I liked best was Through the thorns, to the stars.

If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio

[doogiehowserluvrs]

[belamercado]

Memento Mori is latin for 'remember that you will die' or 'remember you are mortal'. Death makes our lives important and meaningful, it creates priority, and gives us the perspective to focus on what is important in our lives.

[nerdyonlineramblings]

CHUG JUG IN LATIN

habemus....

prīma palma rēgia!

sīc, quindecim, subibit (subibit)

ā mē nēcātī sunt decem,

iam dēlevī "tomato town"

amicus occisus?

vitae traham eum, tum eāmus austrum,

nunc insumus "pleasant park streets"

ad cartam vidē, adī "mark sheets"

AD XBOX MIHI FACTUM TRAHĒ HO-DI-E

"MISTY MIRE" VENIŌ, SED NŌN "LOOT LAKE"

SOLE VOLŌ

"CHUG JUG" TECUM

"pro fortnite gamer" esse poss'mus, esse possumus