A pining lover is locked out. Who’s to blame? The door, of course! This one has seen much better days (and much better morals)! See the poem here.
Acting as a priest, the Trojan Helenus, now by a favourable reverse of fortunes the ruler of Achilles’s former kingdom, makes a curious prophecy that centres on a white sow with thirty piglets. Perhaps he had covered his head to officiate at the sacrifice, as was the later Roman custom. The Roman shown here is the Emperor Augustus, dressed as the Pontifex Maximus (High Priest). Hear the poem in Latin with an English translation here.
Did you miss … Aeneas preparing to tell Dido the story of the fall of Troy? Hear the poem in Latin and follow it in English here.
This selection introduces us to beasts and monsters, starting gently with the wolf that Horace met one day. He was clearly frightened, but with the benefit of nature documentaries we know that the wolf was probably more afraid of him.
A wise Trojan priest pays a terrible price for warning the Trojans about the Trojan horse.
Troy is doomed to fall at the fateful moment when the horse enters the city.
On their wanderings, Aeneas and his band encounter a flock of foul flying creatures.
On his journey to the underworld Aeneas sees Tisiphone, tormenter of the damned in Tartarus.
The underworld again: this time the poet is Horace, and the visitor the God Bacchus. Fortunatey he is good with dogs, as he must pass the kennel of the fearsome three-headed guardian, Cerberus.
In the illustration, the sea-nymph Thetis is using her shape-changing gift to try to escape the hero Peleus: they became the parents of Achilles.
See the index to Latin selections on PantheonPoets.com here.
The statesman and scholar Boethius, writing in prison before his execution, reminds us that some things in the Universe remain forever true and do not change. Hear the poem here.
Catullus is envious of Lesbia’s little playmate. Hear about it in Latin and follow in translation here.
Today’s new poem is by Horace, celebrating a feast day with wine in an uncloudedly happy mood, and thinking ahead to the evening. You can hear it here.