Experto credite

The above lines are from the eleventh part of the Aeneid by the ancient Roman poet Virgil 70-19 BCE. This is the splendid epic poem that b...

The above lines are from the eleventh part of the Aeneid by the ancient Roman poet Virgil 70-19 BCE. This is the splendid epic poem that begins 8216;Arma virumque cano8217;, I sing of arms and the man8230;

Why Virgil? As a new millennium Indian, I have little Latin and less Greek unlike my great-grandfather Narayana Shastri, a British subject, who apparently had the time and inclination to acquire both. It8217;s funny, that8217;s all, how dead poets who sang of gods and heroes come to mind when you8217;re in a place you detest and dealing with people who make you despise them. But a certain grim amusement derives from those classical driblets that trickled through the generations and down your throat like cod liver oil, thanks to that pillar of family life, the book room.

For instance, if you work in a dirty, airless basement, you might recall more of the Aeneid: 8220;Facilis decensus Averno; Noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis; Sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras; Hoc opus, hic labor est.8221; 8216;Easy is the way down to the Underworld: by night and by day, dark Dis8217;s door stands open; but to withdraw one8217;s steps and to make a way out to the upper air, that8217;s the task, that is the labour.8217;

The Asian fatalist in you might prompt you to say of yourself, 8220;Heu miserande puer, si qua fata aspera rumpas8230; Manibus date lilia plenis8221;: 8216;Alas, pitiable boy, if only you might break your cruel fate8230; Give me lilies in armfuls8217; or buy yourself a painting thereof to brighten up your dingy surroundings. The Bhakti influence might prompt you, however, towards 8220;Omnia vincit Amor: et nos cedamos Amori8221;; 8216;Love conquers all things: let us too give in to Love8217; Eclogue. But what if 8220;latet anguis in herba8221;: there8217;s a snake hidden in the grass?

Not your best philosophical strivings or attempts to be friendly can prevail against those determined to dislike you because their own natures are too cramped to endure your fullness. Their hostility thunders through your space, as though 8216;Hooves with a galloping sound are shaking the powdery plain8217; 8220;Quadripedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum8221;.

You may understand and pity them and so rise above their bad behaviour. 8220;Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas8221;: 8216;Lucky is he who has understood the causes of things8217;. 8220;Forsan et haec olim memnisse iuvabit8221;: 8216;Maybe one day we shall be glad to remember even these things.8217;

8216;But meanwhile it is flying, irretrievable time is flying8217;: 8220;Sed fugit interea, fugit inreparabile tempus8221;. If you8217;ve hit 8220;Ultima Thule8221;, the farthest limit, it8217;s best to go with such style that all they can find to say is: 8220;Et vera incessu patuit dea8221;: 8216;And in her walk it showed, she was in truth a goddess8217;.