As the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops begins, Odysseus and his men spot the one-eyed monster’s cave.
Hear Homer’s Greek and follow in Samuel Butler’s English translation here.
See the illustrated blog post 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.
In the “Poscimur” ode, Horace addresses his lyre and claims that, together, they have made a new type of Roman poetry by transmuting Greek originals. The lyre is probably not a real one, any more than this lyre bird is: it stands for Horace’s poetic skill and genius. Hear the poem and follow in English translation here.
Fighting his way to the heart of the palace, Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, finds King Priam and his wife and daughters defenceless. Hear the denouement in Virgil’s Latin and follow in English here.
In a famous but occasionally puzzling poem, Horace gives the Emperor Augustus’s view of what a young Roman should aspire to become – a soldier like the epic heroes of old, inured to hardship, a terror to Rome’s enemies and willing to die if necessary for his country. In the illustration, by Léonce LeGendre, Hector dies at the hands of the hero Achilles.
Hear Horace’s Latin and follow in English here.
There aren’t any ancient Romans around to show us how they recited poetry, so we can’t be certain just how they did it. So what is the best approach to take, and why? Today’s post at Pantheon Poets is about the approach that we take and what it is based on. Read about it here.
The illustration shows a Choregos and actors in a mosaic from Pompeii.