Sunday, January 17, 2010

Aesopus ad Quendam de Successu Improborum (Phaedrus)

SOURCE: For a complete edition of Phaedrus with macrons, see the edition by J.H. Drake at GoogleBooks. This is fable 2.3 in Phaedrus. For parallel versions, see Perry 64.

READ OUT LOUD. Choose which marked text you prefer to practice with - macrons in verse form, or macrons in prose order, or accent marks in prose order, or focusing on the iambic meter. You will find materials for all of these options below. :-)


VERSE MACRONS. Here is the verse text with macrons:

Lacerātus quīdam morsū vehementis canis,
tīnctum cruōre pānem mīsit maleficō,
audierat esse quod remedium vulneris.
Tunc sīc Aesōpus: "Nōlī cōram plūribus
hōc facere canibus, nē nōs vīvōs dēvorent,
cum scierint esse tāle culpae praemium."
Successus improbōrum plūrēs adlicit.



PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:

Quīdam, morsū vehementis canis lacerātus, pānem cruōre tīnctum canī maleficō mīsit, quod audierat vulneris remedium esse. Tunc sīc Aesōpus: "Nōlī hōc facere cōram plūribus canibus, nē nōs vīvōs dēvorent, cum scierint tāle praemium esse culpae." Successus improbōrum plūrēs adlicit.


STRESS (ACCENT) MARKS. Here is the prose text with accents, plus some color-coding for the words of three or more syllables (blue: penultimate stress; red: antepenultimate stress):

Quidam, morsu veheméntis canis lacerátus, panem cruóre tinctum cani maléfico misit, quod audíerat vúlneris remédium esse. Tunc sic Aesópus: "Noli hoc fácere coram plúribus cánibus, ne nos vivos dévorent, cum scíerint tale praémium esse culpae." Succéssus improbórum plures ádlicit.


IAMBIC METER. Here is the verse text with some color coding to assist in the iambic meter. The disyllabic elements (iambs/spondees) are not marked, but the trisyllabic elements are color-coded: dactyls are red, anapests are purple, and tribrachs are green (as is any proceleusmaticus, although that is a rare creature):

Lacerā·tus quī·dam mor·sū vehe·mentis· canis,
tīnctum· cruō·re pā·nem mī·sit male·ficō,
audie·rat es·se quod· remedi·um vul·neris.
Tunc sīc· Aesō·pus: Nō·lī cō·ram plū·ribus
hōc face·re cani·bus, nē· nōs vī·vōs dē·vorent,
cum scie·rint es·se tā·le cul·pae prae·mium.
Succes·sus im·probō·rum plū·rēs ad·licit.



Here is an illustration from the Medici Aesop, which is online at the New York Public Library website.


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Quidam, morsu vehementis canis laceratus, panem cruore tinctum cani malefico misit, quod audierat vulneris remedium esse. Tunc sic Aesopus: "Noli hoc facere coram pluribus canibus, ne nos vivos devorent, cum scierint tale praemium esse culpae." Successus improborum plures adlicit.