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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).<\/strong><\/p>\n I who now am called Flora was formerly\u00a0Chloris<\/span>: a Greek letter of my name is corrupted in the Latin speech.\u00a0Chloris<\/span>\u00a0I 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\u2019s daughter. \u2019Twas 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<\/em>, book 5, lines 195-201; 207-208; Loeb transl.).<\/p>\n Chloris<\/span>\u00a0eram, quae Flora vocor: corrupta Latino<\/span>nominis est nostri littera Graeca sono.\u00a0<\/span>Chloris<\/span>\u00a0eram, nymphe campi felicis, ubi audis<\/span>rem fortunatis ante fuisse viris.<\/span>quae fuerit mihi forma, grave est narrare modestae\u00a0<\/span>sed generum matri repperit illa deum…vere fruor semper: semper nitidissimus annus,\u00a0<\/span>arbor habet frondes, pabula semper humus.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n “Flora,” detail of fresco, Villa di Arianna, Stabiae. First century CE.<\/p>\n Some people think that butterflies are the most reliable sign of\u00a0spring<\/span>, 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\u00a0spring<\/span>\u00a0that 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<\/em>, book 18, chapter 57; Loeb transl.).<\/p>\n …sunt qui certissimum veris indicium arbitrentur, ob infirmitatem animalis, papiliones; sed\u00a0eo ipso anno cum commentaremur haec notatum est proventum eorum ter repetito frigore extinctum, advenasque volucres a. d.\u00a0vi<\/span>\u00a0kal. Febr. spem veris adtulisse mox saevissima hieme\u00a0conflictatam.\u00a0res 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.<\/em><\/p>\n The first flower to herald the approach\u00a0of\u00a0spring<\/span>\u00a0is the white violet,\u00a0which 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\u00a0blossoms twice in the year, in\u00a0spring<\/span>\u00a0and 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,\u00a0is 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.\u00a0It is followed by the oenanthe,\u00a0the melanium\u00a0and the wild heliochrysus, then the other kind of anemone, which is called the meadow anemone, after which comes the gladiolus,\u00a0together with the hyacinth (Pliny the Elder, Natural History<\/em>, book 21, chapter 38; Loeb transl.).<\/p>\n Florum prima ver nuntiantium viola alba\u2014tepidioribus vero locis etiam hieme emicat\u2014post 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.\u00a0sequitur oenanthe ac melanium et ex silvestribus heliochrysos, deinde alterum genus anemones quae limonia vocatur, post hanc gladiolus comitatus.<\/em><\/p>\n The Classics Library’s “Book of the Month” in April: Wild Flowers of Cyprus.<\/em><\/p>\n See the delightful Facebook post about this book by PhD candidate Angelica Wisenbarger:<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/notes\/uc-libraries\/painted-leaves-and-loaded-pistils-wild-flowers-of-cyprus-classics-library-book-o\/1900459583321173\/<\/a><\/p>\n …the blossom is the token of full\u00a0spring<\/span>\u00a0and of the rebirth of the year\u2014the blossom is the trees\u2019 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<\/em>, book 16, chapter 40; Loeb transl.).<\/p>\n …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.<\/em><\/p>\n Almond trees in bloom at Agrigentum (Agrigento), Sicily.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Spring” from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mFWQgxXM_b8<\/a><\/p>\n I Vespri Siciliani, Act 3, “Spring” by Giuseppe Verdi.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RMiKEOI4Y3g<\/a><\/p>\n Colorful rendition of Flora, from Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera.<\/p>\n The real thing. The Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 … Continue reading ![\"Happy](\"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Flora-380x478.jpg\")
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