Paean Aurorae

[Anonymous]

Salvete omnes,

I've been having technical trouble navigating this site, and at any rate, don't really know where this should go, so I offer it here. I've gotten up at 0:dark:30 most of my adult life, and lately an insomniac sparrow has started chirping outside my window half an hour before the rest. I offer this for him (her?) too :

Hymn to Aurora

Golden-throned Goddess of the Dawn,
O! how I await Your tumescent call
To a new day of passionate life!
Beautiful and tenderhearted, You enthrall
Men with Your rosy cheeks and dewy plaits.
You cannot help but awaken desire.
Would that I could be one of your lovers,
Even though I fear the Grasshopper’s fate!

Night and Sleep relinquish their hold and I
Rush out doors to meet You, Early-born Day.
Your white wings lighten the eastern sky,
Your son, Beneficent Favonius, plays
About Flora’s children in my garden.
Aurora Pallantias, I await you!
Let Your saffron robe broach the horizon!
Stretch Your rosy arms and fingers across the sky!

Morning Star flies before Your chariot
As You announce Sol, Your brother, to all.
But I am content to greet You, O New Day.
I lift my face to You in gratitude,
And beseech you, let Your dew cleanse
My impurities that I may start afresh!

********************************

Di vos incolumes custodiant,
Aulus Ambrosius Celetrus

[Quintus Aurelius Orcus]

Salve

A very beautiful hymn. Did you wrote this, or someone else?
Anyway anything concerning religion wether it is Roman, Hellenic or any other for that matter, is to be posted here. Ofcourse matters of Hellenic religion can also be posted at Collegium Graecum.
vale

Romulus

[Anonymous]

Ave Aureli Orce,

I am privileged to claim this hymn as my own. I wrote it just yesterday and posted it to several Nova Roma sodalitates. I've been having trouble accessing this site - I can only get here to the forum. Anyway, I finally got around to posting it here today.

Thank you for your kind praise, but I think it was fear of the goddess that motivated me. Long before I turned to the Religio, I used to make a point of experiencing the dawn whenever I could, but longer than I can remember I have neglected that practice. Monday I had the most vivid dream and this hymn was the end result. Please, allow me to offer this other carmen for your appraisal and hopefully your enjoyment. Di te incolumem custodiant,

Aulus Ambrosius Celetrus

**********************

Ceres' Lament

Red, yellow. Orange, black.
The colors of the hearth
chill my heart, alone in the
days of your absence.

Winter drapes like a shroud.
Ice diamonds the earth.
Trees, with a dearth of spirit,
see only sadness these days.

I live the cycles of loss with the trees;
resigned to the endless round
of day and night, birth and rebirth.

Yet day's death brings release
from the worn ways of memory.
Sleep, Proserpine, brings peace...
for I dream of Spring.

[Quintus Aurelius Orcus]

Salve Celetri

Maybe you can email the aedilles privatly about that. Maybe they can help you out. Normally the website can easily be accesed.
Well the hymns are beautiful. The worship of a deity is more than fear of the deity. There is a line in the movie Troy that says it well: "all the gods must be feared and honored." It was something in that order.
vale

Romulus

[Anonymous]

Ave Aureli Orce,

Thank you for your suggestion. I have already been in contact with both aediles. They too are puzzled. Clearly the problem must be here on my end. Lemures abound in the woods just outside my window! I've asked my kinsman on this site to e-mail me the direct urls for the collegia and the regula pages, but I haven't heard back form him yet. If figure if i can jump directly here to the forum, I can do the same with the others. I think it is only the Index page that is vexing me (hopefully - I like it here much mre than "Nova Roma").

Again, thank you for your kind word of praise. And by the way, I meant "fear" in the way that it means "extreme reverence or awe."

Celetrus

[Anonymous]

Ave Coruncani,

Nicely written! You've got some talent in your sleep-deprived moments.

Thank you. Yes, it appears that I have a modicum of ability - so long as I'm not fully awake!

My problems are purely technical and very recent. I can onlt access the Forum and these sub-forums. My kinsman sent me a list of internal urls last night. When I try to link direct, I am tossed immediately to the next directory up from it, e.g.
http://www.societasviaromana.org/regula/regula_en.php immediately loads to http://www.societasviaromana.org/regula/ and I there I stay. It appears any .php does this.

What of "Flash?" Does that have anything to do with .php files?

Vale.

Ambrosius Celetrus

[Quintus Aurelius Orcus]

Salve Celetri

I have been wondering about this hymn you made for Aurora. I think the title Paean Aurorae might not be a good one considering that I think (haven't checked yet- that Paeans were mostly written in honor of Apollon. I have heard several times that Paean and Apollon are connected. I think I read something about it in Burkert's book "Greek Religion" where I think he says that originally paeans were reserved for healing deities in Minoan society and that it from there evolved to be reserved for Apollon. I will check it as soon as possible.
vale

Romulus

[Anonymous]

Ave Orce,

I thought about prex, but it really isn't a prayer or entreaty. It is simply a hymn. This is what my computer's dictionary has for paean:

paean

paean also pean (pê´en) noun
1.Music. A song of joyful praise or exultation.
2.A fervent expression of joy or praise: "The art . . . was a paean to paganism" (Will Durant).
3.An ancient Greek hymn of thanksgiving or invocation, especially to Apollo.

[Latin paeân, hymn of thanksgiving, often addressed to Apollo, from Greek paian, from Paian, a title of Apollo.]
- pae´anis´tic (-îs´tîk) adjective

Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.

Please note the higlighted portion of the etymology note, and observe also that "often" does not mean "always."

Finally, here is what my Cassell's has:

paean - anis, m. (1) the Healer, a surname of Apollo. (2) a hymn, paean.

I therefore must argue that it is a perfectly acceptable title for a Roman's heartfelt praise to his favorite Goddess. 'Tis a dangerous thing to correct poets about their poems, my friend. Wasn't it Horace who wrote Aut insanit homo, aut versus facit?

Celetrus

[Quintus Aurelius Orcus]

Salve

Maybe so, but I was looking at things from a Hellenic religion point of view. That is the reason why I pointed out that paean was originally a song of praise of Apollon.
vale

Romulus

[Anonymous]

Salve Ambrosi Celetre!

Regardless of the correct terminology I very much enjoyed both of your poems. Even though here in Britain Aurora frequently arrives in grey, soggy robes rather than shimmering rose ones She is a Goddess whose daily arrival I've seen many times over the years and always appreciated.

Anything more complex than a pair of scissors confuses me utterly so I can't make any suggestions on the technical front but I hope you can get things sorted out soon.

Vale!

Brutus

[Anonymous]

Salve Durnovari Brute,

and thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed my efforts. Though not necessarily soggy, Pittsburgh is frequently overcast; but not the last two days, and your supportive post stirred me to drive east this morning into the hilly farmland that stretches across the state to Philadelphia.

I took a radio/tape player, found a perfect view of the horizon, and listened to J.S. Bach's "Magnificat" as beautiful Aurora embraced the day and accepted my praise. Her brother was just clearing the horizon as Mozart's "Ave Verum Corpus" and the Laudate Dominum of his "Vesperae Solemnes de Confessore" finished playing. It is said that all music after Mozart is superfluous, and that he himself composes now for Orpheus. Hearing these two sublime pieces sung together, one after the other, convinces me that this is true.

Vale.

Celetrus

[Gnaeus Dionysius Draco]

Salve,

Although I am not a Mozart fan... beautiful description. Post of the year, Celetre!

Vale,
Draco

[Horatius Piscinus]

Salve Ambrosi Celetre

PITTSBURGH !

Well, even still, your melodius voice is appreciated in Cleveland as well. Perhaps there was a reason why the Gods allow you only to access the Collegium Religionis, and some might become jealous if you do not begin singing Their praises as well. I shall look forward to reading more of your carmina.

Di Deaeque te semper ament

[Anonymous]

Salve Moravi Horati,

I should have known, given your views about the ancestral home of the Indo-Europeans, that you are from Cleaveland; for what can a Cleavelander know of homelands? Other cives here may not know what Pittsburghers have always known - that the exiles and expatriates of the world are ineluctably drawn to your dismal shores. Tell me Senator, can one still enter that cave in Willoughby and emerge again at Avernus?

Now to be serious. I have just finished reading Gamkrelidze and Ivanov's 1990 Scientific American article that places the PIE homeland in Transcaucasia. I agree with Draco's assessment of it. I've also just finished a 1997 paper on the peopling of India. I look forward to continuing our discussion on that thread. And to getting back on track to the Etruscans, too. I firmly believe, given Theopompus of Chios' description of their women, that my ex-wife is a reincarnated Etruscan.

Thank you for your interest in my poems. I'm currently working on an homage to Vesta, and the Lares and Penates of this humble home of mine. Di te incolumem custodiant,

Celetrus

[Gnaeus Dionysius Draco]

Salve Ambrosi Celetre,

I firmly believe, given Theopompus of Chios' description of their women, that my ex-wife is a reincarnated Etruscan.

LOL, as long as you are not the reincarnation of Theopompus, there's nothing to fear then .

Vale bene,
Draco

[Anonymous]

Salve Invicte!

I can assure you that none of Theopompus' misogyny lurks in me. Would that all women were either Etruscan or Spartan!

Celetrus

[Horatius Piscinus]

Salve Celetre

I should have known, given your views about the ancestral home of the Indo-Europeans, that you are from Cleaveland; for what can a Cleavelander know of homelands? Other cives here may not know what Pittsburghers have always known - that the exiles and expatriates of the world are ineluctably drawn to your dismal shores. ['quote]

Yes, we would appear cosmopolitan to a bunch of inbred ridgerunners from the Pitts. As I recall, our conditor Florus was originally from the Pitts, but fled there to eventually find his paradise in Poland.

quote="Ambrosius Celetrus"]
Tell me Senator, can one still enter that cave in Willoughby and emerge again at Avernus?

No, they sealed it when they found the tunnel came out in Pittsburgh

Did you mean your former wife was long stemmed and tended to lounge? Something like this? http://www.clevelandart.org/Explore/dep ... &recNo=367

Di deaeque bona te auctent opte

[Anonymous]

Salve Piscine,

Inbred ridgerunner? We patrol our limited borders with West Virginia, and inspect inbound Monongahela traffic for mountaineers in search of indoor plumbing. All of WVA's other main rivers flow in to the Ohio, and from there it's straight up the Muskigum, a short portage, and a float down the Cuyonoga. No wonder chicken-fried possum is such a frequent lunch special in Parma.

I was referring to this quote when thinking of my ex:

" Etruscan women take particular care of their bodies and exercise often, sometimes along with the men, and sometimes by themselves. It is not a disgrace for them to be seen naked. Further, they dine, not with their own husbands, but with any men who happen to be present, and they pledge with wine any whom they wish. They are also expert drinkers and are very good looking " Theopompus of Chios, Histories, 43.

My ex-wife inspired a lot of poems and sleepless nights

Celetrus

[Horatius Piscinus]

Salve Celetre

Inbred ridgerunner? We patrol our limited borders with West Virginia, and inspect inbound Monongahela traffic for mountaineers in search of indoor plumbing. All of WVA's other main rivers flow in to the Ohio, and from there it's straight up the Muskigum, a short portage, and a float down the Cuyonoga. No wonder chicken-fried possum is such a frequent lunch special in Parma.

That's[i]Cuyahoga{/i}, not to be confused with Caucasian Falls near Rex's Erection where Chrissie Hind grew up. True the river use to catch fire but I don't think the upper portion of the 'h' was burned away. Odd you should mention the Portage Trail down in Summit county, where the Rubber City is also know as the capital of WVa, since there live more westvirginuns than in any WVa city. And as for chichken-fried possum, you must be thinking of the Magic City where a trip to Hopagan Gardens will turn anyone in Devo.

I was referring to this quote when thinking of my ex:

" Etruscan women take particular care of their bodies and exercise often, sometimes along with the men, and sometimes by themselves. It is not a disgrace for them to be seen naked. Further, they dine, not with their own husbands, but with any men who happen to be present, and they pledge with wine any whom they wish. They are also expert drinkers and are very good looking " Theopompus of Chios, Histories, 43.

My ex-wife inspired a lot of poems and sleepless nights

Celetrus

A pity you should have lost her then, mi amice, my sympathies to you for she seems a delight, the kind of woman I have always enjoyed to meet. Perhaps we can impose on Locatus to invite her to our next symposium.

Di te ament bene

[Anonymous]

Salve Piscine,

You cannot lose what you do not possess in the first place. Our marriage was a youthful mistake, its dissolution a mere correction. Yes, she was and is wonderful. She woould have been right at home in Etruria.

Celetrus