Erysichthon has offended the Goddess of plenty: now Ceres chooses as the instrument of her terrible revenge her antithesis, Fames, who personifies famine and hunger.
Hear Ovid’s chilling description of her in Latin and follow in English here.
On the fringes of Hades Aeneas and the Sibyl skirt the haunts of human cares, false dreams and phantom monsters before coming to the infernal river and Charon, the ferryman of the dead. Hear the Latin and follow in English here.
Turnus follows a phantom Aeneas away from danger, while the real Aeneas, roused by the death of his friend Pallas, is seeking him on the battlefield.
Hear Virgil’s Latin and follow in English here.
In the illustration by Franςois Boucher, Venus spirits Paris away in a mist to save him from Helen’s husband, King Menelaus.
New today – follow the links to classic English translations of the opening lines of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey by Alexander Pope and George Chapman.
Why does Horace couple (no pun intended) the name of Glycera with those of the goddess of love and the god of commerce? I think we can guess. Hear Horace’s Latin and follow in English here.
Another war against the Parthians looks in the offing and the outcome of the last one does not reflect well on Roman military pride and moral fibre. An inspiring example is needed. Step forward Regulus, who long ago persuaded the Senate to reject a deal with the Carthaginians which would have saved his own life. Hear the Regulus Ode here.