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Long live Latin, the pleasures of a useless language, Nicola Gardini ; translated from the Italian by Todd Portnowitz

eng

technical information on music

Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-240) and index

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Long live Latin

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Nicola Gardini ; translated from the Italian by Todd Portnowitz

the pleasures of a useless language

"What use is Latin? Its a question were often asked by those who see the language of Cicero as no more than a cumbersome heap of ruins, something to remove from the curriculum. In this sustained meditation, Gardini gives us his sincere and brilliant reply: Latin is, quite simply, the means of expression that made us--and continues to make us--who we are. In Latin, the rigorous and inventive thinker Lucretius examined the nature of our world; the poet Propertius told of love and emotion in a dizzying variety of registers; Caesar affirmed mans capacity to shape reality through reason; Virgil composed the Aeneid, without which wed see all of Western history in a different light. In Long Live Latin, Gardini shares his deep love for the language--enriched by his tireless intellectual curiosity--and warmly encourages us to engage with a civilization that has never ceased to exist, because its here with us now, whether we know it or not. Thanks to his careful guidance, even without a single lick of Latin grammar readers can discover how this language is still capable of restoring our sense of identity, with a power that only useless things can miraculously express." -- Goodreads.com

Ode to a useless language -- A home -- What is Latin? -- Which Latin? -- A divine alphabet -- Understanding Latin with Catullus -- Cicero's star-studded sky -- Ennius's ghost -- Caesar, or the measures of reality -- The power of clarity: Lucretius -- The meaning of sex: back to Catullus -- Syntactic goose bumps, or Virgil's shivering sentences -- The master of diffraction, Tacitus, and Sallust's brevity -- Ovid, or the end of identity -- Breathing and creaking: reflections on Livy -- The word Umbra: Virgil's Eclogues -- Seneca, or the serenity of saying it all -- Deviances and dental care: Apuleius and Petronius -- Brambles, Chasms, and memories: Augustine's linguistic reformation -- The duty of self-improvement: Juvenal and satire -- The loneliness of love: Propertius -- More on happiness: the lesson of Horace -- Conclusion on exhortation: study Latin!