Sunt lacrimae rerum....
OK, the dissertation is...happening.
but meanwhile, there's some evidence that the Romans weren't as stylish as we sometimes think they were.
Speaking of Roman stuff, my friend Seth had me translate some Latin for him the other day. I ended up translating the two lines he wanted, then the dozen lines around each, and writing a brief precis on each passage. The whole thing looked like a CAV essay. I'd forgotten how much I'd enjoyed it.
For the record, the passages were Vergil, Aenid I:453-463 and Persius, Satires I:1-10.
The Aenid passage was fun, since I actually half-remembered it from AP Vergil in Junior year, high school...particularly at "En Priamus!" where a suddenly very excitable Dave Gao memorably exclaimed BEHOLD PRIAPUS! and got an enormous laugh out of the rest of us. Okay, maybe the paint fumes were affecting our judgement, too.
He stopped short, and, weeping, spoke:
"What place now, Achates,
What region on this earth is not now full
Of our suffering?
Behold Priam! Here, worth does find
Its own reward; Here, too, there are tears
For human fortune; Here, too, are hearts
Touched by human mortality!"
You know, the older I get, the more I dig epic poetry. Before, it was because it was so damn easy to translate: learn every hexametric word, and go. But now, it's got weight and resonance that it didn't used to, at least for me.
Who'd have thought it? Perhaps in my old age, I'll come around to loving even Cicero.
but meanwhile, there's some evidence that the Romans weren't as stylish as we sometimes think they were.
Speaking of Roman stuff, my friend Seth had me translate some Latin for him the other day. I ended up translating the two lines he wanted, then the dozen lines around each, and writing a brief precis on each passage. The whole thing looked like a CAV essay. I'd forgotten how much I'd enjoyed it.
For the record, the passages were Vergil, Aenid I:453-463 and Persius, Satires I:1-10.
The Aenid passage was fun, since I actually half-remembered it from AP Vergil in Junior year, high school...particularly at "En Priamus!" where a suddenly very excitable Dave Gao memorably exclaimed BEHOLD PRIAPUS! and got an enormous laugh out of the rest of us. Okay, maybe the paint fumes were affecting our judgement, too.
He stopped short, and, weeping, spoke:
"What place now, Achates,
What region on this earth is not now full
Of our suffering?
Behold Priam! Here, worth does find
Its own reward; Here, too, there are tears
For human fortune; Here, too, are hearts
Touched by human mortality!"
You know, the older I get, the more I dig epic poetry. Before, it was because it was so damn easy to translate: learn every hexametric word, and go. But now, it's got weight and resonance that it didn't used to, at least for me.
Who'd have thought it? Perhaps in my old age, I'll come around to loving even Cicero.