Friday, March 5, 2010

Cornix et Ovis (Phaedrus)

SOURCE: For a complete edition of Phaedrus with macrons, see the edition by J.H. Drake at GoogleBooks. This is fable 26 in the Perotti Appendix to Phaedrus. For parallel versions, see Perry 553.

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 (note the short o in scio):

Odiōsa cornīx super ovem cōnsēderat;
quam dorsō cum tulisset invīta et diū,
"Hoc" inquit "sī dentātō fēcissēs canī,
poenās dedissēs." Illa contrā pessima:
"Dēspiciō inermēs, eadem cēdō fortibus;
scio quem lacēssam, cuī dolōsa blandiar.
Ideō senectam mīlle in annōs prōrogō."



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

Cornīx odiōsa super ovem cōnsēderat; ovis, cum dorsō cornīcem tulisset, invīta et diū, inquit: "Sī hoc canī dentātō fēcissēs, poenās dedissēs." Illa pessima contrā inquit: "Inermēs dēspiciō; eadem, fortibus cēdō; scio quem lacēssam, cuī dolōsa blandiar. Ideō senectam prōrogō in annōs mīlle."


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):

Cornix odiósa super ovem conséderat; ovis, cum dorso cornícem tulísset, invíta et diu, inquit: "Si hoc cani dentáto fecísses, poenas dedísses." Illa péssima contra inquit: "Inérmes despício; éadem, fórtibus cedo; scio quem lacéssam, cui dolósa blándiar. Ídeo senéctam prórogo in annos mille."


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); for more information, here are some Notes on Iambic Meter.

Odiō·sa cor·nīx super· ovem· cōnsē·derat;
quam dor·sō cum· tulis·set in·vīt~ et· diū,
"Hoc" in·quit "sī· dentā·tō fē·cissēs· canī,
poenās· dedis·sēs." Il·la con·trā pes·sima:
"Dēspici~· iner·mēs, ea·dem cē·dō for·tibus;
scio quem· lacēs·sam, cuī· dolō·sa blan·diar.
Ideō· senec·tam mīl·l~ in an·nōs prō·rogō."



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source).


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Cornix odiosa super ovem consederat; ovis, cum dorso cornicem tulisset, invita et diu, inquit: "Si hoc cani dentato fecisses, poenas dedisses." Illa pessima contra inquit: "Inermes despicio; eadem, fortibus cedo; scio quem lacessam, cui dolosa blandiar. Ideo senectam prorogo in annos mille."