.. this seemed naturally to follow on from the previous post .....in which there was a hint of a comparison between us humans ( aren't we doing well !) and birds .... in one of his many "satires" Juvenal seems to be comparing human behaviour with that of the birds.... he has just been writing of the way his wife and his servants behave, and how son is being raised .. ... For the morals and habits in which you bring him up will make the greatest difference. Storks feed their babies on the snakes and lizards found in remote wild fields ; and when they succeed on their wings , the young hunt those same animals. Vultures speed from dead cattle and dogs and corpses on gibbets to bring a piece of carrion to their young, so this is the food of these now grown-up vultures, feeding themselves as they build their nests in trees of their own. And the noble birds that await the behest of Jove hunt hares or kids in the forest and bring this prey to their eyries ; so when the mature offspring can fly away, their hunger moves them to swoop on that same prey as well that they had tasted first after pecking out of their shells. It's The Great Chain of Being ! You can draw your own conclusions as to which he prefers .... the humans around him, or the birds. The satires were written around the early 100's AD. And now, a beautiful Philipp Poisel song ....
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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