As heavy snow falls on April 16, it seems appropriate to remind ourselves of the Roman festival, Floralia, in honor of the goddess Flora to usher in spring and flowers and the renewal of all living things (the Greek nymph goddess Chloris had a similar association).

I who now am called Flora was formerly Chloris: a Greek letter of my name is corrupted in the Latin speech. Chloris I was, a nymph of the happy fields where, as you have heard, dwelt fortunate men of old. Modesty shrinks from describing my figure; but it procured the hand of a god for my mother’s daughter. ’Twas spring, and I was roaming… I enjoy perpetual spring; most buxom is the year ever; ever the tree is clothed with leaves, the ground with pasture (Ovid, Fasti, book 5, lines 195-201; 207-208; Loeb transl.).

Chloris eram, quae Flora vocor: corrupta Latinonominis est nostri littera Graeca sono. Chloris eram, nymphe campi felicis, ubi audisrem fortunatis ante fuisse viris.quae fuerit mihi forma, grave est narrare modestae sed generum matri repperit illa deum…vere fruor semper: semper nitidissimus annus, arbor habet frondes, pabula semper humus.

“Flora,” detail of fresco, Villa di Arianna, Stabiae. First century CE.

Some people think that butterflies are the most reliable sign of spring, on account of the extremely delicate structure of that insect; but in the very year in which I am writing this treatise it has been noticed that their supply has been three times annihilated by a return of cold weather, and that migratory birds arriving on January 27 brought a hope of spring that was soon dashed to the ground by a spell of very severe winter. The procedure is two-fold: first of all it consists in trying to obtain a general principle from celestial phenomena, and then this principle has to be investigated by special signs (Pliny the Elder, Natural History, book 18, chapter 57; Loeb transl.).

…sunt qui certissimum veris indicium arbitrentur, ob infirmitatem animalis, papiliones; sed eo ipso anno cum commentaremur haec notatum est proventum eorum ter repetito frigore extinctum, advenasque volucres a. d. vi kal. Febr. spem veris adtulisse mox saevissima hieme conflictatam. res anceps: primum omnium a caelo peti legem, deinde eam argumentis esse quaerendam. super omnia est mundi convexitatis terrarumque globi differentia, eodem sidere alio tempore aliis aperiente se gentibus, quo fit ut causa eius non isdem diebus ubique valeat. addidere difficultatem et auctores diversis in locis observando, mox etiam in isdem diversa prodendo.

The first flower to herald the approach of spring is the white violet, which moreover in the warmer spots peeps out even in winter. Afterwards comes the violet which is called ion, and the mauve one, followed closely by the flame-colored flower called phlox, but only the wild variety. The cyclamen blossoms twice in the year, in spring and in autumn; it shuns summer and winter. A little later than those mentioned above come, overseas, the narcissus and the lily, which in Italy, as we have said, is after the rose. But in Greece comes later still the anemone. This however is a flower of the wild bulbs, and different from the plant to be spoken of among the medicinal herbs. It is followed by the oenanthe, the melanium and the wild heliochrysus, then the other kind of anemone, which is called the meadow anemone, after which comes the gladiolus, together with the hyacinth (Pliny the Elder, Natural History, book 21, chapter 38; Loeb transl.).

Florum prima ver nuntiantium viola alba—tepidioribus vero locis etiam hieme emicat—post ea quae ion appellatur et purpurea, proxime flammeum, quod phlox vocatur, silvestre dumtaxat. cyclaminum bis anno, vere et autumno. aestates hiemesque fugit. seriores supra dictis aliquanto narcissus et lilium trans maria, in Italia quidem, ut diximus, post rosam. verum in Graecia tardius etiamnum anemone. est autem haec silvestrium bulborum flos, alia quam quae dicetur in medicis. sequitur oenanthe ac melanium et ex silvestribus heliochrysos, deinde alterum genus anemones quae limonia vocatur, post hanc gladiolus comitatus.

The Classics Library’s “Book of the Month” in April: Wild Flowers of Cyprus.

See the delightful Facebook post about this book by PhD candidate Angelica Wisenbarger:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/uc-libraries/painted-leaves-and-loaded-pistils-wild-flowers-of-cyprus-classics-library-book-o/1900459583321173/

…the blossom is the token of full spring and of the rebirth of the year—the blossom is the trees’ rejoicing: it is then that they show themselves new creatures and transformed from what they really are, it is then that they quite revel in rivaling each other with the varied hues of their coloring (Pliny the Elder, Natural History, book 16, chapter 40; Loeb transl.).

…flos est pleni veris indicium et anni renascentis, flos gaudium arborum: tunc se novas aliasque quam sunt ostendunt, tunc variis colorum picturis in certamen usque luxuriant.

Almond trees in bloom at Agrigentum (Agrigento), Sicily.

“Spring” from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFWQgxXM_b8

I Vespri Siciliani, Act 3, “Spring” by Giuseppe Verdi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMiKEOI4Y3g

Colorful rendition of Flora, from Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera.

The real thing. The Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

The UC Classics Library celebrated the birthday and 2000-year anniversary of the ancient Roman poet Publius Ouidius Naso (20 March 43 BCE – CE 17/18) on March 29, 2018. See UC President Pinto’s tweet: https://twitter.com/UCLibraries/status/978291186975805440

Thank you to all the outstanding participants and to all those who attended!

Dr. Bridget Langley, UC Classics Department, gave a brilliant and hysterically funny talk on Ovid.

Dr. Colin Shelton, UC Classics Department, read the tale of Echo and Narcissus, in a hauntingly beautiful and suggestive manner, in Latin and in translation/interpretation by modern English poet Ted Hughes. It gave us all goose bumps.

Dr. Jenny Doctor, Library, UC College-Conservatory of Music, gave a fascinating talk on modern English composer Benjamin Britten and his opus 49 for solo oboe, “Six Metamorphoses after Ovid,” as well as introduced the piece’s individual metamorphoses and the oboist.

Yo Shionoya, oboist, UC College-Conservatory of Music. If we were not already Britten and oboe fans, we all became such after his outstanding performance.  Yo is an amazing musician, who although a graduate student, has a full program of public appearances. He, not Ovid, dictated the date of the event.  Many of us were moved to tears (of joy) during his rendition of the heart-wrenching grief of Niobe, the loving “self-reflection” of Narcissus, the hubris of the flight of Phaeton.

It was a full house!

Yo Shionoya and Jenny Doctor enjoying themselves at the reception.

Professors Susan Prince, Jack Davis, Steven Ellis, UC Classics Department, in deep conversation.

Mike Braunlin, UC Classics Library, Bibliographer and Numismatist, handsome in a rare suit.

Three of the UC Classics Department’s bright students, Maria Gaki, Cecilia Cozzi, Kelly Grogan.

“Performers” Bridget Langley and Colin Shelton relaxing together with Professor Valeria Sergueenkova and Tytus Fellow Salvador Bartera.

Mike Braunlin, UC Classics Library, and May Chang, UC Libraries’ Chief Technology Officer. May, although a techie, borrowed a book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses after the event and commented that if she had had Bridget and Colin as teachers of Latin, she may have chosen Classics instead of IT, which highlights the importance of Latin teachers that enthuse rather than frustrate their students.

UC Classics Professors Antonios Kotsonas and Daniel Markovich in spirited conversation.

Dan Gottlieb, UC Libraries, Senior Adviser to the Dean and Interim Dean of Library Services, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and Mike Braunlin having fun.

The delicious and healthy and “ancient Roman” refreshments prepared by Christina Miller, vegan chef at Whole Foods — roasted asparagus, wild mushrooms, leeks, dates, cinnamon apples, figs, melon, strawberries, grapes, breads, olives, nuts.  Ovid would have enjoyed this feast, free from animal suffering, hormones, and pesticides and perfectly in line with UC President Pinto’s new strategic directions, Next Lives Here! It is our hope that human health, the health of the environment, and kindness to all sentient beings become the norm for receptions at UC. Ovid himself said it best: “The earth, prodigal of her wealth, provides you with her sweet sustenance and offers you food without bloodshed and slaughter” (Metamorphoses book 15, lines 81-83).

The attendees were also treated to “ancient Roman” candy, the so called Confetti di Sulmona, from Ovid’s hometown of ancient Sulmo, present-day Sulmona, in the province of Abruzzo, Italy.

Although born in Sulmo, exiled to Tomis by the Black Sea, present-day Constanța, Romania, where he died, it was the City of Rome Ovid called home.  The She-Wolf with the legendary twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, has become a symbol of Rome, also here in Cincinnati (Eden Park).

If you wish to read Ovid’s Metamorphoses or any other work from his quite extensive œuvre, you could, for example, use the translations with parallel Latin texts in the Loeb Classical Library series. Here are the perhaps best known of Ovid’s poems:

Metamorphoses — https://www.loebclassics.com/view/ovid-metamorphoses/1916/pb_LCL042.3.xml?rskey=7TOGFu&result=1

Fasti — https://www.loebclassics.com/view/ovid-fasti/1931/pb_LCL253.3.xml?rskey=0FvawT&result=13

Amores — https://www.loebclassics.com/view/ovid-amores/1914/pb_LCL041.319.xml?rskey=lwyxTu&result=10

Ars Amatoria — https://www.loebclassics.com/view/ovid-art_love/1929/pb_LCL232.13.xml?rskey=lwyxTu&result=7

Tristia — https://www.loebclassics.com/view/ovid-tristia/1924/pb_LCL151.3.xml?rskey=lwyxTu&result=5

(Epistulae) Ex Ponto — https://www.loebclassics.com/view/ovid-ex_ponto/1924/pb_LCL151.265.xml?rskey=lwyxTu&result=8

Dr. Shelton read from the Latin text of the Metamorphoses from the so called Oxford Classical Text edition:

Tarrant, R.J. 2004. P. Ovidi Nasonis Metamorphoses: Recognovit brevique adnotatione critica instruxit. Oxford University Press.

And from the English translation by Ted Hughes:

Hughes, Ted. 1997. Tales from Ovid. Faber & Faber. Also online from Chadwyck-Healey (ProQuest): https://literature.proquest.com/toc.do?sourceId=Z000561710&action=new&area=poetry-toc&divLevel=0&queryId=&mapping=toc#scroll&DurUrl=Yes

Another very readable and accessible translation is that of Charles Martin, with introduction by Bernard Knox.

Martin, C. 2010. Metamorphoses : A new translation, contexts, criticism. Norton.

Moreover, be sure to check out graduate student Angelica Wisenbarger’s amusing and witty description of March’s “Book of the Month,” an Elzevir edition of the Metamorphoses from 1629: https://www.facebook.com/notes/uc-libraries/carmina-mutata-in-nova-corpora-classics-book-of-the-month-march-2018-ovids-metam/1882836821750116/

You could also check out the video of the Ovid celebration; however, the sound quality is poor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI67mschhQM&feature=em-share_video_user

Finally, don’t miss the book exhibits, still up in the Classics Library’s Reading Room, of rare editions of the works of Ovid with Emperor Augustus, the source of much of Ovid’s chagrin, on top of the display, from a UC excavation at Troy.