Philemon and Baucis’s goose has a narrow escape, as Ovid tells the story of the old couple who became legendary for their generosity and proverbial for love between wife and husband.
Hear Ovid’s Latin and listen in English here.
Photo by VladoubidoOo, licence details at photo credits.
In a compliment to the eminent general and politician L Munatius Plancus, Horace celebrates Tibur, which seems to have been his home, likens him flatteringly to the legendary hero Teucer, and reflects on the consolation available from wine in both mythical and contemporary times.
Hear Horace’s Latin and follow in English here.
The latest in Pantheon Poets’ Latin (and Greek) selections is of poems of travel by Catullus, Homer, Ovid and Virgil; enjoy it here.
See and hear a selection of poems by Catullus, Virgil, Callimachus and Archilochus on the theme of loss and mourning here.
For Odysseus, his revenge is not complete unless the Cyclops knows the true identity of the man who has blinded him. It is a fatal mistake …
Hear Homer’s Greek and follow in Samuel Butler’s translation here.
Illustration courtesy of the British Museum, licence at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
At Pantheon Poets we have met Polyphemus the Cyclops as the renegade shepherd who honours no Gods except his father Poseidon and is prone to kill and eat visitors in violation of the ancient world’s code of hospitality to strangers. Now, in one of Ovid’s most engaging passages, we find him in love with a sea-nymph, Galatea, and torn by jealousy for the mortal that she loves, Acis.
Hear Ovid’s Latin and follow in English here.
Philemon and Baucis are the poorest of the poor, but when the immortals arrive in disguise and ask for hospitality, their response is immediate and their generosity boundless. Ovid in the Metamorphoses sometimes plays the rather rickety old gentleman and his kindly wife for laughs, but their open-handedness and the warmth of their welcome are heartwarming nevertheless. The next post will tell the end of their story.
Hear Ovid’s Latin and follow in English here.