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ACHILLEID

English translation: leather sack/scrotum

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Latin term or phrase:ACHILLEID
English translation:leather sack/scrotum
Entered by: Joseph Brazauskas

09:09 Apr 24, 2005
Latin to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / epic
Latin term or phrase: ACHILLEID
Salvete dulcii Latinosi amici!
Does anyone of you know of any on-line translation of "Achilleid" by Publius Papinius Statius (English, German, French or Polish would do). I've got a problem with one line. Coleus!
Marta Chmielowiec
Local time: 05:08
leather sack/scrotum
Explanation:
I surmise that the intended vocable is 'culleus', of which 'culeus', 'colleus', and 'coleus' are textual variants.

A 'culleus' was properly a sack made of leather into which parracides were sewn up with a monkey and various other ritual objects, and then thrown into the Tiber to drown (cf. Cicero, 'pro Rabirio', who expatiates on the horrors of this punishment, which had in fact died out by his time).

In colloquial Latin it came to mean 'scrotum', and in the plural 'balls', in the sense (naturally enough) of 'testicles', as an indication of one's manliness; one finds, e.g., 'hic habet culleos' in Petronius 44.14 ('he has balls', i.e., 'he has courage').

The word is of Greek origin.
Selected response from:

Joseph Brazauskas
United States
Local time: 23:08
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2leather sack/scrotum
Joseph Brazauskas
4 +1vidf. expl.
Egmont
4leather sack/scrotum
Joseph Brazauskas


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


6 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
vidf. expl.


Explanation:
vid. ref.->
Statius, Publius Papinius (pŭb'lçəs pəpĭn'çəs stâ'shəs) , c.A.D. 45–c.A.D. 96, Latin poet, b. Naples. A favorite of Emperor Domitian, he won the poetry prize at an annual festival under Domitian's auspices but later was an unsuccessful competitor at the Capitoline contest in Rome. His surviving works include two epics in the manner of Vergil—the Thebaid, on the Seven against Thebes, and the Achilleid (incomplete), on the early life of Achilles—and the Silvae, a collection of poems, some displaying careful craftsmanship, others apparently hastily composed improvisations. Statius was much esteemed in his own time and through the Middle Ages.


    Reference: http://yourdictionary.com
    Reference: http://www.answers.com/topic/achilleid
Egmont
Spain
Local time: 05:08
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Joseph Brazauskas: True, but this does not explain 'colleus' (not 'coleus').
71 days
  -> Thanks again!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

78 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
leather sack/scrotum


Explanation:
I surmise that the intended vocable is 'culleus', of which 'culeus', 'colleus', and 'coleus' are textual variants.

A 'culleus' was properly a sack made of leather into which parracides were sewn up with a monkey and various other ritual objects, and then thrown into the Tiber to drown (cf. Cicero, 'pro Rabirio', who expatiates on the horrors of this punishment, which had in fact died out by his time).

In colloquial Latin it came to mean 'scrotum', and in the plural 'balls', in the sense (naturally enough) of 'testicles', as an indication of one's manliness; one finds, e.g., 'hic habet culleos' in Petronius 44.14 ('he has balls', i.e., 'he has courage').

The word is of Greek origin.

Joseph Brazauskas
United States
Local time: 23:08
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 56
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Vicky Papaprodromou: No, Joseph. I must thank you for helping me re-learn Latin. :-)
10 days
  -> I thank you, Vicky, and with the greatest sincerity.
agree  Nicholas Ferreira
707 days
  -> I really appreciate your confidence.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

78 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
leather sack/scrotum


Explanation:
I surmise that the intended vocable is 'culleus', of which 'culeus', 'colleus', and 'coleus' are textual variants.

A 'culleus' was properly a sack made of leather into which parracides were sewn up with a monkey and various other ritual objects, and then thrown into the Tiber to drown (cf. Cicero, 'pro Rabirio', who expatiates on the horrors of this punishment, which had in fact died out by his time).

In colloquial Latin it came to mean 'scrotum', and in the plural 'balls', in the sense (naturally enough) of 'testicles', as an indication of one's manliness; one finds, e.g., 'hic habet culleos' in Petronius 44.14 ('he has balls', i.e., 'he has courage').

The word is of Greek origin.

Joseph Brazauskas
United States
Local time: 23:08
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 56
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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