Wednesday, September 15, 2021
The Hero of the Aeneid
Raymond Keene, "Hoc opus, hic liber est: Nigel Short's 'Winning' and other chess books," The Article (September 11, 2021):
Wrong hero — for Theseus read Aeneas. Also, I wouldn't translate labor as masterpiece. The Sibyl says these words to Aeneas in Book VI, line 129.
Hat tip: Jim K.
Another friend writes:
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In Virgil's Aeneid one finds the phrase, "hoc opus, hic labor est", "this is the task, this is the masterpiece", referring to the hero Theseus and his descent to the Underworld. Descending to the netherworld's depths is easy — the trick is to get back safely again to the "upper airs." Less onerous is the annual task of The English Chess Federation in selecting its title ("liber" in Latin means "book") for their Book of the Year prize.Screen capture:
Hat tip: Jim K.
Another friend writes:
And what about Aeneas and the Minotaur? Theseus and Aeneas both end in -s. Don't be a pedant. It's 2021.
Labels: typographical and other errors
