first 18 lines of the Aeneid

Arme virumque cano, Trojae qui primus ab oris
Italium fato profugus, Lavinaque venit
Litora. Multum ille et terris jactatus et alto
vi superum, saevae memorem Junonis ob iram.

Multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem
Inferretque Deos Latio -- genus unde Latinum
Albanique patres atque altae moenia Romae.

Musa mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso
quidve dolens Regina Deum, tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?

Urbs antiqua fuit (Tyrii tenuere coloni),
Karthago, Italiam contra Tiberinaque longe
ostia, dives opum studiisque asperrima belli;
quam Juno fertur terris magis omnibus unam
posthabita coluisse Samo, hic illius arma,
Hic currus fuit; hoc Regnum Dea gentibus esse,
si qua fata sinant, jam tum tenditque fovetque.

I think there are one or two f*ck ups in there - oops already found one - the last line should be:

si qua fata sinant, jam tum tenditque fovetque

I left out fata! Some of the punctuation is off, too. I went ahead and corrected the errors so that the above 18 lines are correct as they are now. I actually left out four whole lines that I do know - but I just skipped over them when I was writing them down (they're all there now).

Q: Is there a contest for the most boring blog in the known universe?
A: Not since this blog started - it's definitely "no contest"!

it just keeps getting better

musa mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso
quidve dolens regina deum, tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?

... (Tyrii ... coloni)
Karthago .... bla bla bla

what the f*ck is latin for "bla bla bla"????

musa mihi causas

musa mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso
quidue dolens regina deum, tot volvere casus

line #8 - first line of second sentence

musa mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso

Now how is that for excitement!!! I even have part of the next line already: quidve dolens regina deum

multa quoque et bello passus

multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem
inferretque deos Latio - genus unde Latinum
Albanique patres atque altae moenia Romae

Hey, no foolin' - I now know the whole first sentence of the Aeneid by heart! Ain't I f*ckin' cool?

I love the phrase "learning by heart". Compare how that sounds next to "rote memorization." I think it's no accident that the great Pagan rebels of the Renaissance were often masters of the "art of memory." If you think about it, it has tremendous implications for the potentialities for the survial of Paganism during the Middle Ages - don't it?

Trojae qui primus ab oris

After screwing around with the idea for several years I have finally decided to seriously study Latin. Either that or this is just another half-assed attempt that will last at most a few weeks.

I'm taking a multi-pronged approach:
(1) continue to read Agrippa in the original with my friends who know Latin and have Agrippa in the original
(2) memorize the Aeneid starting from the beginning using Pharr's "parsed" edition
(3) get "Learn to Read Latin" along with the workbook and use that off and on as I am doing the other two

Could there possibly be anything more boring and/or self-involved than a blog devoted to some guy who is trying to teach himself Latin? Gee I hope not - because boring and self-involved is what I'm going for!

My progress so far: first four lines of Aeneid committed to memory, next three lines very close to memorized:

Arma virumque cano, Trojae qui primus ab oris
Italiam fato profugus, Lavinaque venit
Litora - multum ille et terris jactatus et alto
vi superum, saevae memorem Junonis ob iram