Tuesday, July 11, 2023
Way Off Course
Lucretius 2.82 (tr. W.H.D. Rouse, rev. Martin Ferguson Smith):
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You are astray and wander far from true reasoning.Don Fowler (1953-1999) ad loc.:
avius a vera longe ratione vagaris.
[T]he alliteration and assonance avius a vera ... vagaris is striking, and stresses above all the preposition a; the man who thinks the atoms come to a halt in compounds is way off course, like those of 10 who are seen 'errare atque viam palantis quaerere vitae'. L. is the first to use avius of a person who misses the path (TLL ii. 1447. 66 ff.); the effect is perhaps like saying in English that a person is 'out of the way'.Cf. id. 2.229:
avius a vera longe ratione recedit.
