Thursday, March 1, 2012

Moechum Gellia non habet...

Here is today's distich by Martial, 6.90. Here Martial is playing with the idea that Gellia is faithful, in a sense, to her lover, even while she is betraying her husband - making her both a wife and a quasi-wife... and a prude, too. Martial presumably would find Gellia more admirable if she were to take a few more lovers!

Moechum Gellia non habet nisi unum;
Turpe est hoc magis: uxor est duorum.


To one alone gallant will Gellia deign,
More scandal hers; the consort thus of twain.
- Elphinston

Here is the vocabulary:

moechus - adulterer
Gellia - Gellia
non - not, no
habeo - have
nisi - except for, unless, if not
unus - one
turpis - nasty, disgraceful, indecent
sum - be, exist
hic - this, this one
magis - more
uxor - wife
duo - two