Saturday, May 4, 2013

... pone ordine vitis




His nos consevimus agros!
Insere nunc, Meliboee, piros, pone ordine vitis.
Ite meae, felix quondam pecus, ite capellae.
P. Vergilius Maro, Ecloga I, 73-75


For such as these, then, were our furrows sown!
Now, Meliboeus, graft your pears, now set
your vines in order! Go, once happy flock,
my she-goats, go.
from: Vergil. Eclogues, J. B. Greenough (Ed.), Boston. : Ginn & Co., 1895.


The transition from the nomad society to the agricultural one was marked by vineyard culture. In ancient Greek the word τάξις (taxis) denotes the rows of grapes. Hence the phrase έν τάξις (en taxis) means en row, in order.

See also Greek myths on the origins of grapevine and wine.

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