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Archivesbeatus did describe a fruitful land
in reply to a message by Andy ;—)
Hi Andy!
I remember Latin lessons where I have been told that beatus or beata was used to describe good land that brought fruit. It was not used to describe a happy person. Therefore I don't think the Romans used either beatus or beata as first names but I am not sure about it.
I do not know about Jesus' Beatitudes. The thought however is interesting.
I remember Latin lessons where I have been told that beatus or beata was used to describe good land that brought fruit. It was not used to describe a happy person. Therefore I don't think the Romans used either beatus or beata as first names but I am not sure about it.
I do not know about Jesus' Beatitudes. The thought however is interesting.
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Replies
Beatus ille
The Latin expression which you are refering to is Beatus ille (Happy is the man...), coming from the opening words of Horace's second Epode, that praises country life, the pristine joys of working one’s own land free from exploitation.
This expression was used as literary cliché in European literature and it is related with literary works where the country life, the fields, the meadows, the sheperds... are idealised (it is very typical of Garcilaso de la Vega's work, for instance).
The Latin adjectives beatus, beata were used, of course, to describe happy people and some Latin phrases used in English include them: "beatus homo qui invenit sapentiam" (motto of Gymnasium Apeldoorn) or "beati possidentes" (Euripides).
The Latin expression which you are refering to is Beatus ille (Happy is the man...), coming from the opening words of Horace's second Epode, that praises country life, the pristine joys of working one’s own land free from exploitation.
This expression was used as literary cliché in European literature and it is related with literary works where the country life, the fields, the meadows, the sheperds... are idealised (it is very typical of Garcilaso de la Vega's work, for instance).
The Latin adjectives beatus, beata were used, of course, to describe happy people and some Latin phrases used in English include them: "beatus homo qui invenit sapentiam" (motto of Gymnasium Apeldoorn) or "beati possidentes" (Euripides).
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