Classical Wisdom Litterae - November 2020

1. Apelles 2. Ovid 3. Pliny the Elder 4. Lucian 5. Michelangelo 6. Hieronymus Bosch 7. Albrecht Dürer 8. Vincent Obsopoeus 9. Friedrich Spee Don’t fret it the only names you recognize are Ovid’s and Michelangelo’s. By the end of this essay, you’ll know them all and why they matter. Even better, you’ll have no trouble discussing them with confidence and relevance over a nice glass or three of wine. So, here we go! Obsopoeus and The Art of Drinking Let’s start with Vincent Obsopoeus. In 1536, this German schoolteacher from Franconia – the region around Nuremberg – published a L a t i n p o e m i n t h r e e b o o k s , t h e aforementioned De Arte Bibendi, The Art of Drinking . That’s the poem I translated as How to Drink . Here are the structural influences on each of its three books. For book one, which is all about learning how to handle alcohol, it’s totally obvious: Ovid’s Art of Love , books one and two. For book three – where Obsopoeus recants his admonitions to cultivate sobriety and teaches us his tricks and hacks to win drinking games – it’s also obvious: Ovid’s Cures for Love . But what about book two ? In that one, Obsopoeus expatiates on alcohol addiction and all the antisocial behaviors that go with it. The inspiration for that one kept eluding me while working on my translation – until, in a flash, it hit me like a ton of bricks the other day. Take a look: V Portrait of Vincent Obsopoeus in a book by Heinrich Pantaleon, 1566.