Bloggus Sum

One thing I've long saught for on the web is themed Latin vocab lists, so I'm filling the gap myself.

The Paraklausithyron is the song sung by a poet while rattling at the door of his mistress' house and begging to be let in, and evolved into a mini-genre of Latin Love poetry. He has usually just left a party, tends to be tipsy and is never successful. Typical features include:

• addresses to mistress, doorkeeper and door - pleas, threats, prayers, bargaining e.t.c.
  
• personification of the door itself
• Description of the door, the building, the time of night, and especially...
  
• ...complaints about the weather.

A good introduction is here:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/289473?seq=1

A lot of the vocab is typical love elegy stuff - burning, pallor, Amor - but screaming at the door of your beloved does require some specialised vocabulary, the best of which is listed below:

Some paraklausithyrons to get you started:

Ovid Amores 1.6 - the poet bargains with the door and doorkeeper

Catallus 67 - a dialogue between the poet and door - uses the paraclausithyron form as a jumping off point, as the door gossips about the people of the house

Horace Odes 3.10 - address to the mistress.

Horace Odes 3.26 - threatening the mistress with the fact she is getting old, and one day no one will wait outside her door any more. Particularly bitchy.

Tibullus 1.2 - possibly the whole thing takes place in an inebriated dream. Though set off by addresses to the closed door, it also contains some great digressions - including a description of a witch.

Propertius 1.16 - from the perspective of the door.

I'm not so familiar with Greek poetry - can you offer any examples for the list?

Any examples of modern songs on the same theme? I can only think of Let Love In by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

The Door

ianua, ae (f) - front door, entrance
posticum (nt) - back door
fores (fpl) - double doors

postis, is (m) - doorpost - plural often means "door"
limen, inis (n) - crosspiece, threshold, border, house
lignum, i (n) - gathered wood, wooden things, here i.e. door
robur, oris (n) - oak wood, a structure made of wood

Catena, ae (f) - chain, fetter, shackle, constraint
Cardo, inis (m) - hinge, pivot, socket
Tigillum, i (n) - little beam of wood, lintel
claustra, orum (n) - a lock bar, bolt
sera, ae (f) - a bar, cross bolt, lock

The Cast

ianitor, oris (m) - doorkeeper, porter
custos, odis (m and f) - guard, watcher, preserver, defender, jailer
custodia, ae (f) - a watch, guard, protection

The exclusus amator typically turns up drunk, singing and wearing garlands. Some useful words:

fax, facis (f) - torch, firebrand, light
corona, ae (f) - garland, wreath
vinum (nt) - wine
merum (nt) - undiluted wine
serta, orum (n) - garland, wreath

And of course:

coniunx, iugis (m) - spouse
vir, virorum/virum (m) - human male, but here means husband/master

Inclement Weather

I will be doing a full post on Roman weather at some other time. Look out for frost, gales and the threatening approach of dawn.

nox, is (f) - night
umbra, ae (f) - shadow
tenebrae, arum (f) - darkness
sidus, eris (n) - star

Some good adjectives

pervigil, is - ever watchful
saevus - fierce, cruel, savage

apertus - open
semiapertus, semiadapertus - half open

fultus - from fulcio - to prop up, support, prop up
rigidus - stiff, hard, inflexible
rigens - stiff, inflexible, unbending
Durus - hard, unyielding, harsh, impenetrable

Robustus - oak wood, made of oak
Aesculeus - of the oak

Some good verbs

tundo, tutudi, tunsus - beat, strike, thump

rigeo, ere- be stiff, freeze, stand solid

claudo, si, sus, ere - to shut, close, shut up

oppono, posui, positus - set against, oppose, i.e. closed

aperire, patefacere - open (note: don't expect this to happen in a paraclausithyron...)