Thursday, March 15, 2007

Latin Via Proverbs 46

I hope these notes will help you tackle this group of proverbs in Latin Via Proverbs. This group features another set of proverbial sayings based on the comparative form of the adjective.

Please note: to read the proverbs in Latin, you need to acquire a copy of the book from lulu.com! What I am providing here in the blog are notes to help people who are making their way through the book either in a Latin class or on their own.

Group 46

618. He is swifter than Pegasus. (Pegasus is the winged horse of Greek mythology who helped Bellerophon battle the monstrous Chimera.)

619. More winding than a labyrinth. (The first labyrinth was built by the craftsman Daedalus to imprison the monstrous Minotaur, half-man and half-bull.)

620. Brighter than electrum. (Electrum is a naturally occuring alloy of gold and silver.)

621. Smoother than oil. (This phrase shows up in Erasmus's Adagia, 1.7.35, who explains that the phrase is used to describe people who are slow to get angry, agreeable, etc.)

622. More naked than an egg. (I think this is a delightful way to express the sheer nakedness of something: what could be more naked than an egg? Humpty Dumpty excepted, of course.)

623. Dumber than a donkey. (Erasmus includes this comparison in the introduction to his Adagia, under the heading De Figuris proverbialibus, "About Proverbial Figures of Speech.")

624. More prickly than a hedgehog. (Erasmus includes this comparison in the introduction to his Adagia, under the heading De Figuris proverbialibus, "About Proverbial Figures of Speech.")

625. More shaggy than a bear. (Erasmus includes this comparison in the introduction to his Adagia, under the heading De Figuris proverbialibus, "About Proverbial Figures of Speech.")

626. More lusty than a billy-goat. (Erasmus includes this comparison in the introduction to his Adagia, under the heading De Figuris proverbialibus, "About Proverbial Figures of Speech.")

627. More rare than a white crow. (You can find this saying used in Juvenal.)

628. More rare than a black swan. (Juvenal refers to the black swan as a rara avis, "a rare bird.")


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