Ducentesimum Sextum Decimum Latinum Verbum Diei: July 11, 2010

[Christina Wallin]

Theme for this month: Dilecta verba

smaragdus, smaragdi m.

Definition: a name for various green gems, including the emerald

Sententia: Ovid's Metamorphoses, 2.23-4

Purpurea velatus veste sedebat
in solio Phoebus claris lucente smaragdis.

Phoebus, garbed in a purple garment, was sitting on a throne sparkling
with brilliant emeralds.

Publius Ovidius Naso was a poet in the time of Augustus, about a
generation after Vergil. Although he was known for his elegiac
couplets, he wrote the Metamorphoses, whence this selection was taken,
entirely in dactylic hexameter. This first story of Book 2 is that of
reckless Phaethon and his father Phoebus, god of the sun. Phaethon,
wishing Phoebus to prove that he was indeed his father, asked to drive
the fiery chariot bearing the sun for a day. Though Phoebus tried to
dissuade his son, he finally gave in. Unfortunately, Phaethon was
unable to control the fierce horses guiding the chariot, and after
chilling the land by flying first too high up in the sky, then
scorching the earth by flying too low, Zeus finally struck him down
with a lightening bolt lest more harm be done. This selection is a
description of the elegance of Phoebus' person and throne, from the
beginning of the tale.

"Smaragdus" was borrowed into Latin from the Greek word
"σμάραγδος" (smaragdos). From this word, we have the English word
"emerald," and names such as Esmeralda. However, it ought to be noted
that "smaragdus" was the word for any green gem: beryl, jasper, and
malachite, in addition to emerald.