Catullus is self-deprecating about his new little book of poems – but he wants it to last nevertheless.
The poet holding a Roman book in the illustration is Virgil, from a fifth-century manuscript. The text below him is unpunctuated and written in continuous capitals, suggesting that reading poetry to yourself was not as easy then as it is now. The round bin on the left is a bookcase.
Hear the Latin and follow in English here.
Catullus has heard that Aurelius and Furius are saying that, to judge from the erotic poetry that he writes, he is living an immoral life. Catullus responds in no uncertain terms. THIS POEM CONTAINS VERY BAD LANGUAGE AND IMAGERY THAT SOME READERS MAY FIND OFFENSIVE.
Hear it in Latin and follow in English here.
When he wrote this poem, Horace believed he had completed the Odes, and felt fully entitled to claim pride and credit for them for himself and his muse: in fact he had another book to go. The picture of Melpomene, to whom the poem is dedicated, is by the Austrian painter Alexander Rothaug.
Hear the Latin and follow in English here.
As war with Turnus and the Italians looms for Aeneas and his Trojans, Father Tiber offers helpful advice. Hear the Latin from Book 8 of the Aeneid and follow in English here.
The immortal Marcel Proust was born on 10 July 1871. To celebrate, Pantheon Poets posts a recently-published love poem written when he was doing his military service. See the original and a parallel translation here.
Epic journeys need impressive beginnings. Virgil obliges. He uses the same stately metre as the Homeric poems, the Iliad and the Odysssey, which stood at the pinnacle of both Greek and Roman literary culture, and echoes the opening lines of each.
There is a recording of the opening lines of the Aeneid here, along with links that you can use to compare it with the openings of both Homeric poems in Greek with a translation. Pantheon Poets also now contains many other extracts from the Aeneid, and you can follow them in narrative order by navigating from the links at the foot of Virgil’s poet page here.
The Trojan War, and all the trouble that came from it for both the Greeks and the Trojans, including Aeneas, began when the Trojan, Paris, was asked to judge a beauty contest between three goddesses. Understandably, but unwisely, he chose Venus, who promised him the most beautiful woman in the world as a reward. Juno, the Queen of the Gods and the goddess of marriage, was not amused. Siemiradski’s painting reconstructs the scene.
Horace shows respect and affection in this invitation-poem to his patron Maecenas and pays a compliment to the future Emperor Augustus into the bargain.
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With the help of the Fury Allecto, Juno, Aeneas’s enemy, has sabotaged King Latinus’s wish to welcome him and create an alliance by marriage to his daughter. Overcome, the old man withdraws from the fray and Juno herself intervenes to open the gates of war.
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The efforts of Juno, queen of the Gods, to sow dissension between Aeneas and his Italian hosts are in full swing, with the help of the Fury, Allecto. Disguised at first as an old woman, Allecto now reveals herself to Turnus in her full and terrifying reality.
Hear the Latin and follow in English here.