Pantheon Poets publishes one of his love poems to celebrate. See the illustrated blog post here and the poem with an English translation here.
10 October is Fontinalia, the Roman festival of springs and fountains. See Horace’s celebration poem, O Fons Bandusiae, here. Photo by Halcyoon.
In early 1914, Thomas Hardy unwittingly foreshadows the madness of the Great War. See and hear Hardy’s poem here: the reader is Harry MacFarland.
In an encounter a quarter of the way through Homer’s Iliad, The Trojan hero Hector’s wife, Andromache, begs him to direct the Trojan defence from the wall, rather than return to the battle. But Hector’s duty as Troy’s defender and the warrior’s code will not allow him to do so, although he foresees his own death and the fall of the city as clearly as Andromache foresees that she will soon be a widow and her son an orphan. We learn, too, that Andromache’s life has already been ravaged by Achilles, Hector’s future killer.
Hear Homer’s Greek and follow in English here.
As Troy falls about her, and in fear for her life from both Greeks and Trojans, Helen takes refuge at the altars, where she is seen by Aeneas, newly come from the lost battle for King Priam’s palace.
Hear Virgil’s Latin and follow in English here.
As the body of Prince Pallas is returned to his father, Aeneas performs the due rites for his soldiers who have fallen in the battle against Turnus and the Latins. Hear the story in Virgil’s original Latin and follow in John Dryden’s classic English translation here.