octogesimusseptimus

Theme for this week: Olympic sports

papilio, papilionis m.

Definition: butterfly, moth

Sententia: Natator magnus (maximus?) septies auro potitus est, nans similis papilioni in proximo certamine.

The great (greatest?) swimmer acquired gold seven times, swimming like a butterfly in the most recent contest.

This word is found once in Ovid's Metamorphoses. It is located in Book XV, in a relatively lengthy section detailing some of the teachings of Pythagorus. More specifically, the word is found in a section about autogenesis, the idea that living organisms developed from nonliving matter (you can't get away from science, even during the summer!) - cocoons may seem "nonliving" to us observers, so it makes sense that a word for "butterfly" would be found in such a section.

And of course, the natator in the above sentence refers to Michael Phelps. He certainly is a great swimmer, but I think I'm vastly underqualified to judge if he's the greatest swimmer!

<Courtesy of Will Czaplyski>