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minervasoloWhy I love Virgil:
Virgil seems to be under the impression that catching bees by hand and inspecting them closely is easy to do, and, indded, should be done, especiialy after two 'kings' have fought, and when bees get plague. Translations from the Oxford World's Classic edition, by C Day Lewis.
Georgics, book 4, ll 88-91
"But, when you have recalled both the leaders from combat,
The one that appears worsted you must kill, lest he proves a waste
And a nuisance, and let the winner be absolute in the kingdom."
ll 252-257
"Since life brings to the bees the same bad luck as humans,
They may suffer severe illness -
An epidemic you'll know by certain definite signs.
The sick change colour at once, and their faces are deformed
By dreadful emaciation"
And I just have this wonderful mental image, of Virgil very carefully grasping a bees by its wings and holding it up to eye-level, to look at its face and determine whether it's ill. And then doing this again, and again, and again, and again, to the whole hive, trying very hard not to repeat bees.
Virgil seems to be under the impression that catching bees by hand and inspecting them closely is easy to do, and, indded, should be done, especiialy after two 'kings' have fought, and when bees get plague. Translations from the Oxford World's Classic edition, by C Day Lewis.
Georgics, book 4, ll 88-91
"But, when you have recalled both the leaders from combat,
The one that appears worsted you must kill, lest he proves a waste
And a nuisance, and let the winner be absolute in the kingdom."
ll 252-257
"Since life brings to the bees the same bad luck as humans,
They may suffer severe illness -
An epidemic you'll know by certain definite signs.
The sick change colour at once, and their faces are deformed
By dreadful emaciation"
And I just have this wonderful mental image, of Virgil very carefully grasping a bees by its wings and holding it up to eye-level, to look at its face and determine whether it's ill. And then doing this again, and again, and again, and again, to the whole hive, trying very hard not to repeat bees.
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Date: 1/5/07 03:26 pm (UTC)Maybe he put a dollop of paint on each one after he'd examined it so he'd know.
Mind you, he was working from No Knowledge to get to Knowledge, but it is still really funny. And that icon is great. *wants to watch Hercules now, but must instead finish writing about the Ancient Minoans*