Year: 2018

The Importance of Literary Study

~ Erik ~ 2 Comments

Leonardo Bruni, de Studiis et Libris:

“On the whole, that excellence about which I speak does not come about without understanding of many various things. As such, it is only proper to have seen and read many things and to have applied a fair deal of work reading the philosophers, the poets, the orators, the historians, and all other writers. There results from this something full and sufficient in itself, so that we seem well-endowed, various, decorated, and we never appear vacuous or uncultured in any matter. A serious understanding of literature should always be offered up, and never condemned. These two things aid and serve each other in turn, since literature without knowledge of the world is sterile and empty, but knowledge of the world – however extensive – seems recondite and obscure if it lacks the shining polish of literature. What good is it to know many beautiful things if you cannot speak about them with dignity or put them into writing without appearing foolish? Thus, in a certain way, literary skill and knowledge of the world are conjoined. In conjunction, these two things brought those ancients whose names we revere to nominal celebrity and glory: Plato, Democritus, Aristotle, Theophrastus, Varro, Cicero, Seneca, Augustine, Jerome, and Lactantius. Indeed, it is hard to tell whether these authors were endowed more with knowledge of the world or literary skill.”

2018-01-29_19-45-06

Nocturnal Congress – In the Day!

~ Erik ~ 1 Comment

Giovanni Pontano, Baiae 2.2:

“As you offered your soft lips to me in sleep, and I made a bad show of kissing them, streams of tears fell down your cheeks, and you bathed your face in all their moisture. As I wipe these tears from your dripping countenance and lick them now and then, you give my tongue a sneaky bite and crush it with your teeth. Then, mixing laughter with tears, you say, ‘Oh, these nocturnal games and fancies – we should make them real, and try them in the day.’ With these words, I call you and your promise to judgment. Here is my tongue – offer me your lips.”

Image result for women and men in pompeii

In somnis tenerum mihi labellum
Offers dum male, suaviorque utrunque,
Decursim lacrimae tibi exciderunt,
Et largo faciem madore tingis;
Atque has dum lacrimas madenti ab ore
Detergo simul et simul relingo,
Surreptim mihi mordicusque linguam
Exceptam rapis obterisque dente.
Mox risum lacrimis iocosque miscens:
“Haec nos ludicra imaginesque noctis,
Has, inquis, simul in die vicissim
Et veras faciamus et probemus.”
His te in iudicium voco fidemque:
En linguam tibi, porge mi labella.

Surpassing the Signs of All Others

~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 2 Comments

Homer, Odyssey 8.186-200

“So he spoke, and stripping off his cloak he grabbed a discus,
Larger and wider, not a little heavier than the ones
Which the Phaeacians where throwing among one another.
He turned around and whirled it from his strong hand
And the stone boomed. Then the oar-wielding Phaeacians
Leapt to the ground, those men famous for their ships,
At the hurl of the stone. Then it flew past all of their markers,
Swiftly hurling it from his hand. Then Athena set the boundary
After taking on the form of a man, and she spoke a word and called out:

“Even a blind person, friend, could find this marker
As he felt all around, since it is not at all mixed in with the others—
No, it is first by far. Be happy at this competition–
None of the Phaeacians will come close or surpass it.”

So much-enduring Odysseus said and he laughed
Taking pleasure in the fact that he had a real friend in the game.”

ἦ ῥα, καὶ αὐτῷ φάρει ἀναΐξας λάβε δίσκον
μείζονα καὶ πάχετον, στιβαρώτερον οὐκ ὀλίγον περ
ἢ οἵῳ Φαίηκες ἐδίσκεον ἀλλήλοισι.
τόν ῥα περιστρέψας ἧκε στιβαρῆς ἀπὸ χειρός·
βόμβησεν δὲ λίθος· κατὰ δ’ ἔπτηξαν ποτὶ γαίῃ
Φαίηκες δολιχήρετμοι, ναυσικλυτοὶ ἄνδρες,
λᾶος ὑπὸ ῥιπῆς· ὁ δ’ ὑπέρπτατο σήματα πάντων,
ῥίμφα θέων ἀπὸ χειρός· ἔθηκε δὲ τέρματ’ ᾿Αθήνη
ἀνδρὶ δέμας εἰκυῖα, ἔπος τ’ ἔφατ’ ἔκ τ’ ὀνόμαζε·

“καί κ’ ἀλαός τοι, ξεῖνε, διακρίνειε τὸ σῆμα
ἀμφαφόων, ἐπεὶ οὔ τι μεμιγμένον ἐστὶν ὁμίλῳ,
ἀλλὰ πολὺ πρῶτον. σὺ δὲ θάρσει τόνδε γ’ ἄεθλον·
οὔ τις Φαιήκων τόν γ’ ἵξεται οὐδ’ ὑπερήσει.”

ὣς φάτο, γήθησεν δὲ πολύτλας δῖος ᾿Οδυσσεύς,
χαίρων οὕνεχ’ ἑταῖρον ἐνηέα λεῦσσ’ ἐν ἀγῶνι.

Schol. VT ad Od. 8.192 ex

“Signs, footprints. For many were hurling the discus previously. The signs are the impressions left by the discuses”

σήματα] σημεῖα. τινὲς δὲ, βήματα. V. πολλοὶ γὰρ προεδίσκευσαν. σήματα δὲ τὰ πηγνύμενα τοῖς δίσκοις. T.

 

Red-Figure Kylix, MFA Boston

Study Greek if You Can!

~ Erik ~ 2 Comments

Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, de Liberorum Educatione:

“The ancients decided that reading should begin from Homer and Vergil, though it requires a firm sense of judgment to understand their virtues. But there is time enough for forming that, and these authors should not be read just once. In the meantime, the juvenile spirit will be bolstered up by the sublime qualities of the heroic song, and will conduct his spirit by the magnitude of the matter, and will be filled with the noblest notions. Even Augustine approves of this in the first book of his City of God. Yet, I do not see how you are to learn Greek when there is no teacher for it. Yet, I would still say that you should learn it, if you can. Indeed, Greek literature will lend itself in no small way to ruling better over Hungary, where there are many Greeks, and will even offer substantial illumination of Latin. To be sure, not a few of the greatest Roman rulers have learned Greek. For my part, I much prefer the authority of the great Cato, who plied himself to learning Greek though he was already an old man, to that of Gaius Marius, who thought it a shame to learn about literature, the teachers of which were slaves. We have the will, but not the opportunity; and so, let us speak about Latin literature, of which there is not such a deficiency but that we can use it to make our Latin speech more full and polished.”

Image result for piccolomini

2018-01-28_19-23-22

Unwounded Unto Death

~ Erik ~ Leave a comment

Michael Apostolius, Paroimiai: 

“’You remained unwounded like Kaineus.’ – They say this because Kaineus was unwounded. Whoever understands this to mean simply a man unwounded by iron is simple-minded. Here’s the truth: Kaineus was a Thessalian by birth, good at war and knowing damn well how to fight. Though he fought in many battles, he was never wounded, nor did he die in the battle which he fought with the Lapiths against the Centaurs. Rather, they took him alone and smothered him, and he thus died in captivity. The Lapiths took his body back, and finding it unharmed, they say that he was unwounded throughout his life, and finally died unwounded.”

Image result for caeneus

῎Ατρωτος ὑπάρχεις ὡς ὁ Καινεύς: λέγουσι γὰρ ὅτι οὗτος ἄτρωτος ἦν· ὃς δ’ ὑπολαμβάνει ἄτρωτον ἀπὸ σιδήρου ἄνθρωπον, εὐήθης ἐστίν· ἡ δὲ ἀλήθεια ἔχει οὕτως·  Καινεὺς ἦν Θετταλὸς τῷ γένει, ἀγαθὸς τὰ πολεμικὰ καὶ ἐπιστήμων τοῦ μάχεσθαι· γενόμενος δὲ ἐν πολλαῖς μάχαις οὐδέποτε ἐτρώθη, οὔτε Λαπίθαις συμμαχῶν πρὸς τῶν Κενταύρων ἀπέθανεν, ἀλλὰ συλλαβόντες αὐτὸν μόνον κατέχωσαν, καὶ οὕτως ἐτελεύτησεν. ἔλεγον οὖν οἱ Λαπίθαι ἀνελόμενοι τὸν νεκρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ εὑρόντες μὴ τετρωμένον τὸ σῶμα, Καινεὺς τόν γε ἄλλον βίον ἄτρωτος ἦν καὶ ἀπέθανεν ἄτρωτος.

Seneca on the Treatment of Slaves

~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 1 Comment

Seneca, Moral Epistles 47.10-12

“Please remember that the person you call your slave rose from the same seeds, enjoys the same sky and equally breathes, lives and dies! You could see him just as much as a free man as a slave. Because of the slaughter in the time of Marius, fortune struck down many born to high station, taking the trail to the senate through the army—one of these it made a shepherd, another an overseer of a cottage. Despise now the fortune of a person whose place you may take even as you look down on them!

I don’t want to get involved in a big controversy and argue about the treatment of slaves toward whom we are most arrogant, cruel, and offensive. But this is the sum of my guidance: deal with your inferior the way you wish your superior would deal with you. However many times it pops in your mind to consider how much is right for you regarding your slave, let it also occur that this is permitted to your master regarding you. “But I have no master” you say. Your age is still good. Don’t you know how old Hecuba was when she began to serve, or Croeseus, or Darius’ mother, or Plato and Diogenes?”

Vis tu cogitare istum, quem servum tuum vocas, ex isdem seminibus ortum eodem frui caelo, aeque spirare, aeque vivere, aeque mori! tam tu illum videre ingenuum potes quam ille te servum. Mariana clade multos splendidissime natos, senatorium per militiam auspicantes gradum, fortuna depressit, alium ex illis pastorem, alium custodem casae fecit; contemne nunc eius fortunae hominem, in quam transire, dum contemnis, potes.

Nolo in ingentem me locum inmittere et de usu servorum disputare, in quos superbissimi, crudelissimi, contumeliosissimi sumus. Haec tamen praecepti mei summa est: sic cum inferiore vivas, quemadmodum tecum superiorem velis vivere. Quotiens in mentem venerit, quantum tibi in servum liceat, veniat in mentem tantundem in te domino tuo licere. “At ego,” inquis, “nullum habeo dominum.” Bona aetas est; forsitan habebis. Nescis, qua aetate Hecuba servire coeperit, qua Croesus, qua Darei mater, qua Platon, qua Diogenes?

Seneca seems to be channeling a rather ancient Greco-Roman idea that slavery is an aspect of chance rather than culture and social structure. But there is a more insidious side to this (or several hundred more insidious sides). One that has been disturbing me lately is Odysseus’ response to Eumaios’ life story. After Eumaios has described how he was kidnapped as a small child and sold to Laertes, Odysseus tries to tell him it could be worse! I suspect that the disgust I feel at Odysseus’ closing remark that he has suffered more is not universal…

Homer, Od. 15.494–485

“Then god-born Odysseus responded to him with a speech:
“Eumaios, you have really raised the spirit in my thoughts
By saying each of these things, how much you suffered grief in your heart.
But Zeus has certainly added some good to your trouble
Since you came and have worked much in the home of a mild man,
Who provides food and drink rightly. You live a good life
But I have come here after wandering through many cities of men”

So they spoke saying these kinds of things
And they stayed awake not much more, only a little.”

τὸν δ’ αὖ διογενὴς ᾿Οδυσεὺς ἠμείβετο μύθῳ·
“Εὔμαι’, ἦ μάλα δή μοι ἐνὶ φρεσὶ θυμὸν ὄρινας
ταῦτα ἕκαστα λέγων, ὅσα δὴ πάθες ἄλγεα θυμῷ.
ἀλλ’ ἦ τοι σοὶ μὲν παρὰ καὶ κακῷ ἐσθλὸν ἔθηκε
Ζεύς, ἐπεὶ ἀνδρὸς δώματ’ ἀφίκεο πολλὰ μογήσας
ἠπίου, ὃς δή τοι παρέχει βρῶσίν τε πόσιν τε
ἐνδυκέως, ζώεις δ’ ἀγαθὸν βίον· αὐτὰρ ἐγώ γε
πολλὰ βροτῶν ἐπὶ ἄστε’ ἀλώμενος ἐνθάδ’ ἱκάνω.”
ὣς οἱ μὲν τοιαῦτα πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀγόρευον,
καδδραθέτην δ’ οὐ πολλὸν ἐπὶ χρόνον, ἀλλὰ μίνυνθα·

Schol. HQ ad Od. 15.488

Q. “But Zeus did not give you only evil, but good too.”
H. “He added some good to your misfortune.”

ἀλλ’ ἤτοι σοὶ] ἀλλὰ σοὶ μὲν ὁ Ζεὺς οὐ κακὸν μόνον παρέθηκεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀγαθόν. Q. τῇ δυστυχίᾳ σου παρέθηκε τι ἀγαθόν. H.

A mosaic from Carthage

Odysseus’s Sister and Names for In-Laws

~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 1 Comment

We have posted before about Odysseus’ sister Ktimene. She is mentioned by the swineherd Eumaios but never by Odysseus. The scholia connect her to one of Odysseus’ companions. The evidence for this seems to be the fact that Ktimene was sent to Same for marriage (where Eurylochus is from) and a kinship term used for him by Odysseus. Also of interest, according to the scholion, Odysseus may have had more sisters.

Homer, Odyssey 15.364-41

Strong Ktimenê, the youngest of the children she bore.
I was raised with her, and she honored me little less.
But when we both made it to much-praised youth,
They gave her to Samê and received much in return
But she gave me a cloak, tunic and clothing
Dressing me finely and give me sandals for my feet
And sent me to the field. But she loved me more in her heart.

οὕνεκά μ’ αὐτὴ θρέψεν ἅμα Κτιμένῃ τανυπέπλῳ
θυγατέρ’ ἰφθίμῃ, τὴν ὁπλοτάτην τέκε παίδων·
τῇ ὁμοῦ ἐτρεφόμην, ὀλίγον δέ τί μ’ ἧσσον ἐτίμα.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥ’ ἥβην πολυήρατον ἱκόμεθ’ ἄμφω,
τὴν μὲν ἔπειτα Σάμηνδ’ ἔδοσαν καὶ μυρί’ ἕλοντο,
αὐτὰρ ἐμὲ χλαῖνάν τε χιτῶνά τε εἵματ’ ἐκείνη
καλὰ μάλ’ ἀμφιέσασα ποσίν θ’ ὑποδήματα δοῦσα
ἀγρόνδε προΐαλλε· φίλει δέ με κηρόθι μᾶλλον.

Schol. BW ad Od. 15.364 ex

“Ktimenê is the proper name of Odysseus’ sister, whom Eurylochus is supposed to have married.”

Κτιμένη] Κτιμένη κυρίως ἐκαλεῖτο ἡ ᾿Οδυσσέως ἀδελφὴ, ἧς
ὁ Εὐρύλοχος ὑπονοεῖται ἀνήρ. λέγει γὰρ “καὶ πηῷ περ ἐόντι μάλα
σχεδόν” (κ, 441.). B.Q.

“She bore the youngest of the children”: [this means] of the female children. For his father only had Odysseus [for a son]. There were more sisters of Odysseus.”

ὁπλοτάτην τέκε παίδων] θηλειῶν γοῦν. μόνον δ’ αὖτ’ ᾿Οδυσσέα πατὴρ τέκε (π, 119.). καὶ πλείους οὖν αἱ ᾿Οδυσσέως ἀδελφαί. Q.

Homer, Odyssey 10.438-442

“So he spoke, and I was turning over in my thoughts
As I began to draw the sharp-edged sword next to my thick thigh,
Whether I should cut off his head and drive him to the ground
Even though he really was my relative. But our companions
Were restraining me with gentle words from all sides.”

ὣς ἔφατ’, αὐτὰρ ἐγώ γε μετὰ φρεσὶ μερμήριξα,
σπασσάμενος τανύηκες ἄορ παχέος παρὰ μηροῦ,
τῷ οἱ ἀποτμήξας κεφαλὴν οὖδάσδε πελάσσαι,
καὶ πηῷ περ ἐόντι μάλα σχεδόν· ἀλλά μ’ ἑταῖροι
μειλιχίοισ’ ἐπέεσσιν ἐρήτυον ἄλλοθεν ἄλλος·

Schol. QVB ad Od 10.441 ex

Q “Instead of the genitive here, “even though he was an in-law”.

V. “Relative”

QV For he married Odysseus’ sister Ktimene.
B “even though he was my brother-in-law by my sister Ktimenê.”

καὶ πηῷ] ἀντὶ τοῦ, καὶ πηοῦ περ ἐόντος. Q. συγγενεῖ. V.
Κτιμένην γὰρ γεγαμήκει τὴν ᾿Οδυσσέως ἀδελφήν. Q.V. γαμβρῷ
μοι ὄντι ἐπὶ τῇ ἀδελφῇ Κτιμένῃ. B.

Suda

“Pêos: A relative by marriage. In-law. Also, “in-lawness” [Pêosunê], relation-by-marriage. There is also Pêôn [genitive plural], for “of relatives-by-marriage. Homer has: “relatives and friends” [Il. 3.163]

Πηός: ὁ κατ’ ἐπιγαμίαν συγγενής. καὶ Πηοσύνη, ἡ συγγαμβρία.
καὶ Πηῶν, τῶν συγγενῶν. ῞Ομηρος· πηούς τε φίλους τε.

Etymologicum Gudianum

“…There is a difference between in-law and friend. People who have no connection to you by birth are friends. In-laws are related to you through marriage.”

διαφέρει δὲ πηὸς φίλου· φίλοι μὲν λέγονται οἱ μηδὲν τῷ γένει προσήκοντες·  πηοὶ δὲ οἱ κατ’ ἐπιγαμίαν συγγενεῖς.

peos

For a beautiful narrative re-imagining of the life of Ktimene, see Mary Ebbot’s “Seeking Odysseus’ Sister”

Eat and Take the Pleasure that Is Near

~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 1 Comment

In the first passage, Eumaios the Swineherd speaks to Odysseus

Homer, Odyssey 14.443-445

“Eat, blessed stranger, and take pleasure in these things
Which are near. God will give one thing and pass by another
Whatever he wishes in in his heart. He is capable of everything.”

“ἔσθιε, δαιμόνιε ξείνων, καὶ τέρπεο τοῖσδε,
οἷα πάρεστι· θεὸς δὲ τὸ μὲν δώσει, τὸ δ’ ἐάσει,
ὅττι κεν ᾧ θυμῷ ἐθέλῃ· δύναται γὰρ ἅπαντα.”

Theognis 1069-70ab

“Humans are foolish and dumb because we mourn
The dead but not the wilting flower of youth.
Take some pleasure, my dear heart. For all too soon
there will be other people here. And, dead, I will be dark earth.”

῎Αφρονες ἄνθρωποι καὶ νήπιοι, οἵτε θανόντας
κλαίουσ’, οὐ δ’ ἥβης ἄνθος ἀπολλύμενον.
τέρπεό μοι, φίλε θυμέ· τάχ’ αὖ τινες ἄλλοι ἔσονται
ἄνδρες, ἐγὼ δὲ θανὼν γαῖα μέλαιν’ ἔσομαι.

Related image
Image taken from this site.

The Essential Good

~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 1 Comment

Seneca Moral Epistles 45. 10-11

“Why do you waste my time in this thing you yourself call the “liar” [fallacy] about which so many books have been composed? Consider that my entire life is a lie. Provide proof for this and then, if you are sharp, argue it is true. It demands that things which are for the most part meaningless be essential. For what is not meaningless has nothing immediate in itself that it might be able to make someone lucky and blessed.

For, something is not necessarily good if it is somehow essential. Otherwise, we lose out on what is good, if we give this name to bread and porridge and the other things we cannot live without. What is good is always essential; but what is essential is not always good since there are surely very base things which are somehow necessary. No one is so ignorant of the worth of the word good as to water it down as one of the daily needs.”

Quid me detines in eo, quem tu ipse pseudomenon appellas, de quo tantum librorum conpositum est? Ecce tota mihi vita mentitur; hanc coargue, hanc ad verum, si acutus es, redige. Necessaria iudicat, quorum magna pars supervacua est. Etiam quae non est supervacua, nihil in se momenti habet in hoc, ut possit fortunatum beatumque praestare. Non enim statim bonum est, si quid necessarium est; aut proicimus bonum, si hoc nomen pani et polentae damus et ceteris, sine quibus vita non ducitur. Quod bonum est, utique necessarium est; quod necessarium est, non utique bonum est, quoniam quidem necessaria sunt quaedam eadem vilissima. Nemo usque eo dignitatem boni ignorat, ut illud ad haec in diem utilia demittat.

Image result for medieval manuscript seneca philosophy
Plato, Seneca and Aristotle

Ignorant in a Special Kind of Ignorance

~ sententiaeantiquae ~ 1 Comment

Hippocrates of Cos, The Art 8

 “There are some who find fault with medicine because of doctors who are not willing to attempt cases completely overpowered by diseases, saying that while doctors will try to heal patients whose diseases would heal themselves, they do not touch cases for which there is a great need of help—and, if [medicine] were truly an art, it would be necessary to treat all diseases equally.

The people who say these things, if they are really criticizing doctors because they do not care about the people who say these kinds of things as if they were delirious, perhaps they might make a more pointed critique than the one they offer. For, if someone believes that a skill can do something it cannot do or a exhibit a character which it does not have by nature, he is ignorant with the kind of ignorance that is closer to madness than a lack of education. For it is possible for us to master some fields by a natural disposition and with the tools of the art and then to become practitioners of these fields, but it is not possible for others.”

VIII. Εἰσὶ δέ τινες οἳ καὶ διὰ τοὺς μὴ θέλοντας ἐγχειρεῖν τοῖσι κεκρατημένοις ὑπὸ τῶν νοσημάτων μέμφονται τὴν ἰητρικήν, λέγοντες ὡς ταῦτα μὲν καὶ αὐτὰ ὑφ᾿ ἑωυτῶν ἂν ἐξυγιάζοιτο ἃ ἐγχειρέουσιν ἰῆσθαι, ἃ δ᾿ ἐπικουρίης δεῖται μεγάλης οὐχ ἅπτονται, δεῖν δέ, εἴπερ ἦν ἡ τέχνη, πάνθ᾿ ὁμοίως ἰῆσθαι. οἱ μὲν οὖν ταῦτα λέγοντες, εἰ ἐμέμφοντο τοῖς ἰητροῖς, ὅτι αὐτῶν τοιαῦτα λεγόντων οὐκ ἐπιμέλονται ὡς παραφρονεύντων, εἰκότως ἂν ἐμεμφοντο μᾶλλον ἢ ἐκεῖνα μεμφόμενοι. εἰ γάρ τις ἢ τέχνην ἐς ἃ μὴ τέχνη, ἢ φύσιν ἐς ἃ μὴ φύσις πέφυκεν, ἀξιώσειε δύνασθαι, ἀγνοεῖ ἄγνοιαν ἁρμόζουσαν μανίῃ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀμαθίῃ. ὧν γὰρ ἔστιν ἡμῖν τοῖσί τε τῶν φυσίων τοῖσι τε τῶν τεχνέων ὀργάνοις ἐπικρατεῖν, τούτων ἔστιν ἡμῖν δημιουργοῖς εἶναι, ἄλλων δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν.

This has no relation to the last statement but I needed to share it to remember it. Also, anything like this sticks with me because (1) I grind my teeth and (2) my spouse is a dentist.

Hippocrates, Prognostica 3

“To grind the teeth during a fever—if it is not a lifelong habit—is sign of insanity and mortal danger. And if this is done while delirious, it is especially deadly.”

ὀδόντας δὲ πρίειν ἐν πυρετῷ, ὁκόσοισι μὴ σύνηθές ἐστιν ἀπὸ παίδων, μανικὸν καὶ θανατῶδες·6 ἢν δὲ καὶ παραφρονέων τοῦτο ποιῇ, ὀλέθριον κάρτα ἤδη γίνεται.

File:Medieval dentistry.jpg
Wikimedia commons