Sunday, December 6, 2009

Lupus et Agnus (Phaedrus)

SOURCE: For a complete edition of Phaedrus with macrons, see the edition by J.H. Drake at GoogleBooks. This is fable 1.1 in Phaedrus. For parallel versions, see Perry 155.

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:

Ad rīvum eundem lupus et āgnus vēnerant,
sitī compulsī. Superior stābat lupus,
longēque īnferior āgnus. Tunc fauce improbā
latrō incitātus iūrgiī causam intulit;
"Cūr" inquit "turbulentam fēcistī mihi
aquam bibentī?" Lāniger contrā timēns
"Quī possum, quaesō, facere quod quereris, lupe?
Ā tē dēcurrit ad meōs haustūs liquor."
Repulsus ille vēritātis vīribus
"Ante hōs sex mēnsēs male" ait "dīxistī mihi."
Respondit āgnus "Equidem nātus nōn eram."
"Pater hercle tuus" ille inquit "maledīxit mihi;"
atque ita correptum lacerat iniūstā nece.
Haec propter illōs scrīpta est hominēs fābula
quī fīctīs causīs innocentēs opprimunt.



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

Lupus et āgnus, sitī compulsī, ad rīvum eundem vēnerant. Lupus superior stābat, et āgnus longē īnferior. Tunc latrō, fauce improbā incitātus, iūrgiī causam intulit. Inquit: "Cūr aquam, mihi bibentī, turbulentam fēcistī?" Lāniger, timēns, contrā: "Quaesō, lupe, quī facere possum quod quereris? Liquor ā tē ad meōs haustūs dēcurrit." Ille, vēritātis vīribus repulsus, ait: "Ante hōs sex mēnsēs mihi maledīxistī." Āgnus respondit: "Equidem nātus nōn eram." Ille inquit: "Pater hercle tuus mihi maledīxit." Atque ita correptum iniūstā nece lacerat. Haec fābula scrīpta est propter illōs hominēs quī fīctīs causīs innocentēs opprimunt.


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):

Lupus et agnus, siti compúlsi, ad rivum eúndem vénerant. Lupus supérior stabat, et agnus longe inférior. Tunc latro, fauce ímproba incitátus, iúrgii causam íntulit. Inquit: "Cur aquam turbuléntam fecísti mihi bibénti?" Lániger, timens, contra: "Quaeso, lupe, qui possum fácere quod quéreris? Liquor a te ad meos haustus decúrrit." Ille, veritátis víribus repúlsus, ait: "Ante hos sex menses maledixísti mihi." Agnus respóndit: "Équidem natus non eram." Ille inquit: "Pater hercle tuus maledíxit mihi." Atque ita corréptum iniústa nece lácerat. Haec fábula scripta est propter illos hómines qui fictis causis innocéntes ópprimunt.


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):

Ad rīv~· eun·dem lupus· et āg·nus vē·nerant,
sitī· compul·sī. Supe·rior· stābat· lupus,
longē·qu~ īnferi·or āg·nus. Tunc· fauc~ im·probā
latr~ in·citā·tus iūr·giī· caus~ in·tulit;
Cūr in·quit tur·bulen·tam fē·cistī· mihi
aquam· biben·tī? Lā·niger· contrā· timēns
Quī pos·sum, quae·sō, face·re quod· quereris,· lupe?
Ā tē· dēcur·rit ad· meōs· haustūs· liquor.
Repul·sus il·le vē·ritā·tis vī·ribus
Ant~ hōs· sex mēn·sēs mal~ a·it dī·xistī· mihi.
Respon·dit āg·nus Equi·dem nā·tus nōn· eram.
Pater her·cle tuus· ill~ in·quit male·dīxit· mihi;
atqu~ ita· correp·tum lace·rat in·iūstā· nece.
Haec prop·ter il·lōs scrīp·t~ est homi·nēs fā·bula
quī fīc·tīs cau·sīs in·nocen·tēs op·primunt.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source). You might notice that the title for this image uses the form agna, instead of agnus - and in the poem which this image accompanies, the poet (Hieronymus Osius) strongly feminizes the victim, referring to the lupus as masculine, but using the feminine nouns agna and also ovis to character the lamb.


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Lupus et agnus, siti compulsi, ad rivum eundem venerant. Lupus superior stabat, et agnus longe inferior. Tunc latro, fauce improba incitatus, iurgii causam intulit. Inquit: "Cur aquam, mihi bibenti, turbulentam fecisti?" Laniger, timens, contra: "Quaeso, lupe, qui facere possum quod quereris? Liquor a te ad meos haustus decurrit." Ille, veritatis viribus repulsus, ait: "Ante hos sex menses mihi maledixisti." Agnus respondit: "Equidem natus non eram." Ille inquit: "Pater hercle tuus mihi maledixit." Atque ita correptum iniusta nece lacerat. Haec fabula scripta est propter illos homines qui fictis causis innocentes opprimunt.