Beginning Latin Poetry Reader: 70 Passages from Classical Roman Verse and Drama (Latin Reader Series)

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Beginning Latin Poetry Reader

Gavin Betts and Daniel Franklin

McGraw·Hill New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan New Delhi San juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Beginning Latin poetry reader I [compiled] by Gavin Betts, Daniel Franklin. p. em. ISBN 0·07·145885·9 English and Latin. 1. Latin language-Readers-Poetry. PA2095 .B375 871 '.01-dc22

2006 2006048209

Copyright© 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Photographs of fragments of the Seve ran Marble Plan on page xxv are reproduced with the permission of Professors Marc Levoy and Jennifer Trimble of Stanford University and Professor Eugenio La Rocca of the Sovraintendenza ai Beni Culturati di Roma. The Fell types in the boxed material on page 119 were digitally reproduced by tgino Marini (www.iginomarini.com).

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ISBN-13: 978·0·07·145885·6 lSBN-10: 0·07·145885·9 Interior design by Village Typographers, Inc. McGraw-Hill books are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sates promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. For more information, please write to the Director of Special Sales, Professional Publishing, McGraw-Hill, Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121·2298. Or contact your local bookstore.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

List of Essays

viii

List of Marginalia Preface Introduction

viii

XI

xm

A Time Line of Latin Literature

xix

A Map of Italy, Greece, and the Troad A Map of Rome in Late Antiquity Forma Urbis Romae Abbreviations

xxii XXIV

xxv

xxvi

POETRY SELECTIONS KEY TO DIFFICULTY

Easy• Somewhat difficult++ Rather difficult+++ ENNIUS

PLAUTUS

The Dream of Ilia++ 3 Annales I fr. xxix A Quarrel Between Slaves• 6

Mostellaria 1-39 TERENCE

An Insolent Slave+

IO

Andria 185-202 Verse Epitaphs+ 13 CATULUS LucRETIUS

The New Eroticism• 16 The Inevitability of Death+++ 22

De rerum natura 3.1024-1044 True Piety+++ 25

De rerum natura s.II94-12o3 111

Contents

lV

CATULLUS

Love and Rejection+ 27 Carmina 5, 7, 8, and 85 The Effect of Love+ 32 Carmina 51.1-12 Lesbia's Sparrow+ 34 Carmina 2 and 3 Dental Hygiene in the Provinces+ 37 Carmina 39 A Social Climber+ 40 Carmina 84 An Invitation to Dinner• 42 Carmina 13 A Brother's Tears+ 44 Carmina 101 Ariadne on Naxos +++ 46 Carmina 64.52-75

PUBLILIUS SYRUS VERGIL

Worldly Wisdom++ 49 Unrequited Love+ 51 Eclogues 8.17-42 Italy++ 54

Georgics 2.136-157 Orpheus and Eurydice++ 6o Georgics 4.464-503 Of Arms and the Man+ 66 Aeneid 1.1-n The Capture of a Royal Palace+++ 68 Aeneid 2-469-495 The Shade of Dido++ 71 Aeneid 6.450-474 The Emperor Augustus++ 74 Aeneid 6.791-807 The Roman Mission+ 77 Aeneid 6.847-853 HoRACE

Hope Not for Immortality• 8r Odes 4·7 The Death of a Friend++ 84 Odes 1.24

Contents

A Quiet Drink• 87 Odes 1.38 Seize the Day!++ 88 Odes 1.11 An Old Love Revived+ 90 Odes 3·9 Caught by a Bore!++ 92 Sermones 1.g.1-21 The Lessons of Homer++ 95 Epistulae 1.2.1-22 Live How We Can, Yet Die We Must+++ 98 Odes 2.14 The Favor of the Muse•• 101 Odes 4·3 PROPBRTIUS

An Intoxicated Lover+++ 104 Elegies 1.3.1-20 Love's Miseries+++ 107 Elegies 1.1.1-8, 17-24, 31-38 Therefore Is Love Said to Be a Child,,,++ no Elegies 2.12 The End of a Wild Party+++ II3 Elegies 4,8,27-36, 47-66

TIBULLUS

The Golden Age• II7 Elegies 1.3.35-50 A Face That's Best by Its Own Beauty Blest ... ++ 120 Elegies x.S.g-26

LYGDAMUS

You Are My Heart's Desire++ 122 [TIBULLus) Elegies 3.3.1-24

Ovm

Sophistication+ 126 Ars amiUoria 3·II3-I28 The Immortality of Verse• 128 Amores 1.15 Ovid's Last Night in Rome++ 132 Tristia 1.3.1-34 Deucalion and Pyrrha + 136 Metamorphoses 1.375-402

v

Contents

Ovm (cont'd)

A Storm at Sea+ 139 Tristia 1.2.19-36 Arion and the Dolphin+ 141 Fasti 2.93-108, m-118 Ovid's Early Life+ 144 Tristia 4.10.3-26 Pyramus and Thisbe++ 146 Metamorphoses 4.55-166

MANILIUS

The Folly of Human Desires+++ 157 Astronomica 4.1-22

PHAEDRUS

The Horse and the Wild Boar++ 164 Fabulae 4·4

PERSIUS

An Atypical Poet+++ r66 prologue

SENECA

Is There Life After Death?+++ 168 Troades 371-408

LucAN

Pompey and Caesar+++ 173 Bellum civile 1.126-157 Cato at the Oracle ofJupiter Ammon+++ 177 Bellum civile 9.566-584

VALERIUS FLACcus

STATIUS

SILIUS lTALicus

MARTIAL

A Pep Talk++ r8o Argonautica 5.312-328 Insomnia++ 183 Silvae 5·4 Scipio and Syphax++ r86 Punica 16.229-257 A Pleasant Retirement+ 191 Epigrammata 12.18 Some Odd Characters+ 194 Epigrammata 9-46, 8.9, 1.19, 9.6, and 3·43 Wisecracks+ 196 Epigrammata 5·47, 3·57, 4.69, 6.48, 2.38, 11.64, 4.41, 2.88, 10-43, and 1.91

vii

Contents

The Happy Life+

198

Epigrammata 10.47 A Roman's Day+

200

Epigrammata 4.8 JuvENAL

The Necessity of Writing Satire++

202

Satires 1.1-18 An Adventurous Woman+++

205

Satires 6.82-110 The Emptiness of Military Glory+++

Satires 10.133-162 The Vigil of Venus++ CLAUD IAN

213

The Happy Peasant+++

Shorter poems, 20 Grammar Metrics Translations Glossary

221 256 267 303

218

209

Contents

Vlll

ESSAYS The Roman Book

r8

Religion at Rome

57

Roman Beliefs About an Afterlife Mythology

78

124

Editing a Latin Text Lost Latin Poetry

r6o 190

MARGINALIA LITTERA SCRIPTA MANET I

5

PROVERBIA DE PROSCAENIO I

17

PROVERBIA DE PROSCAENIO II HoRATIANA I

26

28

Hadrian's Last Verse

33

PROVERB1A DE PROSCAENIO III LITTERA SCRIPTA MANET II Catullus and Caesar

36

39

41

The Wild Life 43 Sortes Virgilianae 45 VERGILIANA I 56 The Queen and the Schoolboy Propertius on the Aeneid HoRATIANA II

86

HoRATIANA III

89

Graffiti in Pompeii HoRAT1ANA IV HoRATIANA V

Hadrian's Horse

94

97 100

A Classics Revival VERGILIANA II

103

109 II2

A Divine Injunction Observed Dr. Fell

65

76

II6

II9

Pick Three Lines .•. Any Three Lines Fair-Weather Friends

135

1:

Contents

Rhapsody in Verse

lX

143

III

LITTERA SCRIPTA MANET

Of Arms and the Kings

156

159

A Hexameter for Benjamin Franklin The Discovery of America Foretold

VI 176 III 182 VERGILIANA IV 185 Changing with the Times HoRATIANA

VERGILIANA

VERGILIANA

v

189

199

("), . custo d'1et ....~ xms

208

The Satirist on Satire

212

Scoffing at the Scoffiaws "Bread and Circuses" Stoicism Embraced

217 220

212

165 172

PREFAC lassical scholars have been described as people who take nothing on trust, who will only believe that life is short if they are provided with at least six references certifying that this is so. In editions of Latin texts intended for students, this attitude has often led to commentaries overladen with superfluous material that illustrates-rather than explains-a text, while basic (and often not so basic) points of grammar are ignored. Beginning Latin Poetry Reader uses a different approach. It has been compiled for the person who has begun the study of Latin, who knows how to conjugate verbs and decline nouns and adjectives, and who has a basic vocabulary of perhaps 750 Latin words. When reading a Latin poem, this person wants a!1 the necessary grammatical and other information available at a glance, and this is provided in footnotes on the same page as the text or on the page opposite. The selections range from Ennius at the beginning of Roman literary activity down to Claudian, who stands at the end of Rome's Western empire. We have chosen them partly because of their low level of difficulty, and partly to give a broad sample of the different periods and genres of Latin literature. We have included essays on topics related to the study of Latin poetry (for example, religion at Rome and the form of the Roman book), as well as marginalia that showcase famous lines from Roman poets and miscellaneous information of interest to the reader. For each selection, the meter is identified, with a numbered reference to the Metrics section, and at least the first two lines are metrically scanned. Details are given of the edition that is the source of the authoritative text; a few textual changes have been made for consistency and clarity, including the substitution of v for consonantal u. In the footnotes and Glossary, long vowels in Latin words have been marked with a macron (-, as in abscedo), except for hidden quantities (long vowels that cannot be decided by meter), which have been ignored. Hidden quantities are of interest to the history of the Latin language, but add an unnecessary complication for those at the beginning of their Latin studies. We suggest that the reader take a moment to become familiar with the components and features that make Beginning Latin Poetry Reader an all-inclusive resource for the study and enjoyment of Latin poetry.

C

Xl

xii

Preface

([ The Contents assigns a level of difficulty to each selection, allowing the reader to choose selections suitable to his or her ability. ([ The Introduction (pages xiii-xviii) and Time Line of Latin Literature (pages xix-xxi) orient the reader to the literary highlights and themes represented by the selections. The Introduction also includes a list of books suggested for further study. ([ The maps of Italy, Greece, and the Troad and of Rome in Late Antiquity (pages xxii-xxiv) have been specifically tailored to the places mentioned in the selections. ([ The Abbreviations (page xxvi) interprets all the grammatical and other abbreviations used in this book. ([ The Grammar section (pages 221-255) explains, with examples, nearly 100 points of Latin syntax, especially as it is encountered in poetry. Throughout the selection footnotes, there are copious numbered references to these grammar points. ([ The Metrics section (pages 256-266) provides details and examples of the 14 different meters used by the 70 selections in this book. ([ The Translations (pages 267-302) offer accurate, natural translations of the selections. ([ The Glossary (pages 303-342) provides the basic meanings of all Latin words in this book, as well as uncommon meanings specific to the selections. (Basic vocabulary is marked in the Glossary; the meanings of all other words are given both in the footnotes and in the Glossary.) It is our pleasure to present this book to the reader who seeks the unique edification and enjoyment that reading Latin poetry offers. Gavin Betts, M.A. Daniel Franklin

INTRODUCTIO

R

me began as a settlement on the Tiber River in west central Italy. The Romans themselves placed its founding at 753 B.c., but the actual date was probably earlier. After a slow beginning, the city extended its power beyond its original boundaries and came into contact with the Greek communities in southern Italy and Sicily. These were a part of the complex of Greek city-states that by the end of the fourth century B.c. had developed in many lands bordering on the Mediterranean and had long since reached a degree of sophistication in literary, artistic, and intellectual pursuits unequalled in the ancient world. It was inevitable that this more advanced civilization should influence the uncouth northern intruders whose military exploits far exceeded their achievements in refined living. After struggles against Gauls from the north and Carthaginians from the south, Rome's power in Italy was firmly established, and she began to extend her dominion overseas. By the end of the first century B.c., the entire Greek world had been overrun and absorbed into her empire, but the Romans did not destroy the brilliant culture it represented. On the contrary, as the poet Horace expressed it, Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit et artis intulit agresti Latio. Captive Greece took its rough conqueror captive and brought the arts to rustic Latium (i.e., Rome).

Epistulae 2.1.156£

As Romans gradually became more sophisticated, they adopted and adapted more and more of Greek intellectual, literary, and artistic achievements to suit the development of their own culture. In every field of artistic endeavor-literature, sculpture, painting, and architecture-Greek masterpieces of past centuries were taken as models, but these were not slavishly imitated. The Romans saw themselves as continuing Greek traditions and endowing them with a flavor of their own. An example is the portrait bust, which depicts a person whose features the sculptor wishes to record for posterity or for contemporary propaganda. Greek busts of this kind tended to be idealistic or to emphasize a dominant characteristic, but Roman examples were painstakingly accurate and showed unflattering blemishes, such as wrinkles and moles. Xlll

XlV

Introduction

LATIN LITERATURE BEGAN with Livius Andronicus (fl. 240-207 B.c.), of whose work we unfortunately possess only scanty fragments. Through him, Rome was introduced to epic and drama, and his initiatives were soon taken up and surpassed by Ennius, Plautus, and Terence. After Terence's death in 159 B.c., other literary genres were developed in Latin, and with Cicero (106-43 B.c.) the period known in modern literary histories as the Golden Age of Latin Literature began. Although Cicero's achievements in prose were immense, he was an indifferent poet. Still, among his contemporaries were two outstanding poets whose works survive: Lucretius and Catullus. The former broke new ground at Rome with his long didactic poem De rerum natura (On the nature of the universe); the latter, in addition to following recent Greek trends in poetry of a learned kind, wrote much in a personal and informal manner, telling of life in Rome, of his friends, and, above all, of his fatal passion for one of the great beauties of the day. Cicero's life coincided with the most disturbed period of Roman history. After his death, peaceful conditions were gradually restored by Octavian, the future emperor Augustus, and we have the greatest of Roman poets, Vergil, who wrote pastorals (the Eclogues), didactic poetry (the Georgics), and epic (the Aeneid), all based on Greek models. His contemporary Horace aspired to emulate the Greek lyric poets; he also continued the Roman tradition of satire, which for him was an informal type of verse ranging over a variety of subjects, usually of a personal nature, and which was the only literary genre of purely Roman origin. Elegiac poetry, a Greek genre defined by the meter in which it was composed (see page 262 ), was embraced by Tibullus, Propertius, and Ovid, and used by them for amatory and other themes. In addition, Ovid wrote the Metamorphoses, a vast collecti