Carmen Saeculare
The Carmen Saeculare ( Latin for “song of the century”, “song of the ages”) is a hymn in the Sapphic meter , which was written by the Roman poet Horace . He was in 17 BC Was commissioned by the Roman emperor Augustus . The hymn was sung by a choir of 27 young girls and as many young men on the occasion of the Ludi Saeculares (secular celebrations), which celebrated the end of one saeculum (which typically lasted 110 years) and the beginning of the next. The mythological and religious hymn is designed in the form of a prayer addressed to Apollo and Diana ; he particularly highlights Apollo, who acts as the emperor's deputy and patron and for whom a new temple was recently dedicated on the Palatine Hill . There is a marble inscription that records the ceremony and Horace's part in it.
“Carmen Saeculare” is the earliest completely preserved poem for which there is reliable information about the circumstances of its public performance.
In English , the term secular hymn has recently appeared in popular music, where secular has the medieval Christian meaning "secular" and hymn has the meaning " hymn ".
See also
credentials
- ↑ Michael CJ Putnam: Horace's Carmen Saeculare. Ritual Magic and the Poets Art. Yale University Press 2000.
more links
- The text of Carmen Saeculare in Latin
- The text of the Carmen Saeculare in Latin in the Latin Library
- Commentary on the Latin text by Paul Shorey
- Audio recording by LibriVox of Carmen Saeculare in Latin
- Carmina Horatiana Carmen Saeculare in Latin recitation by Thomas Bervoets
- English translation of Carmen Saeculare