Tag Archives: Fabulae

Strength, achievement, and token gestures

Posted on March 7, 2019 by

Phaedrus, a writer of fables in the style of Aesop in the first century A. D., tells the following tale (Phaedrus 4.17, transl. B. E. Perry): De capris barbatis Barbam capellae cum impetrassent ab Iove, hirci maerentes indignari coeperunt quod … Continue reading →

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Blast from the past

Posted on February 24, 2017 by

The Roman fabulist Phaedrus opens the third book of his Fabulae with the following piece (Phaedr. 3.1, my translation): Anus ad amphoram Anus iacere vidit epotam amphoram, adhuc Falerna faece ex testa nobili odorem quae iucundum late spargeret. hunc postquam … Continue reading →

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Facts vs. alternative facts (formerly known as ‘bull$#!^’): an ancient poem

Posted on January 26, 2017 by

Phaedrus, Rome’s fabulist of the first century A. D., wrote a remarkable piece called Poeta de credere et non credere, ‘The poet’s judgement with respect to believing and not believing’ (Phaedr. 3.10). This is the rather delightful 1761 translation of … Continue reading →

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End-of-Year Magic

Posted on December 23, 2016 by

India, according to the Natural History of the Elder Pliny, was home to some of the world’s most amazing animals (Plin. nat. 8.76, transl. H. Rackham): He says that in India there are also oxen with solid hoofs and one … Continue reading →

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An innocent lamb used facts as a weapon against post-truth politics. You won’t believe what happened next…

Posted on December 14, 2016 by

In my previous post, I explored the dynamics and rhetoric behind what has been called ‘post-truth politics’. The concept still is very much on my mind. On the one hand, I am not deluded enough to believe that concepts such … Continue reading →

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A Disarming Hug

Posted on January 21, 2016 by

January 21st. Apparently it is National Hugging Day: a day that ’embraces hugging’ (or so the organisers say). Whatever next? There are a great many hugs and passionate embraces in Latin literature. Among my most favourite Roman hugs, however, I … Continue reading →

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Fabulous Plagiarism

Posted on August 14, 2013 by

Originally published on the Engage in Teaching and Learning blog: Niccolò Perotti, the Italian humanist, preserved a collection of fables ascribed to the ancient Roman fabulist Phaedrus. This collection, commonly known as the Appendix Perottina, contains a poem called Prometheus … Continue reading →

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