Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori

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Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori is a line from the Roman lyrical poet Horace's Odes (III.2.13). The line can be roughly translated into English as: "It is glorious and honourable to die for one's country."

The line has been commonplace in modern times throughout Europe. It was quoted by Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat immediately before his beheading on Tower Hill, London in 1747. It was much quoted in reference to the British Empire in the 19th century, particularly during the Boer War. Also Wilfred Owen used it in his poem Dulce Et Decorum Est which was written during World War I (Owen was killed in action one week before the war ended in 1918).

"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, sed dulcius pro patria vivere, et dulcissimum pro patria bibere. Ergo, bibamus pro salute patriae" In English this is rendered as: "It is sweet and right to die for the homeland, but it is sweeter to live for the homeland, and the sweetest to drink for it. Therefore, let us drink to the health of the homeland." It was a frequent 19th century students' toast.[citation needed]

[edit] Uses in art and literature

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  • Perhaps the most famous modern use of the phrase is as the title of a poem, "Dulce Et Decorum Est", by British poet Wilfred Owen during World War I. Owen's poem describes a gas attack during World War I and is one of his many anti-war poems that were not published until after the war ended. In the final lines of the poem, the Horatian phrase is described as "the old Lie."[1]It is believed that Owen intended to dedicate the poem ironically to Jessie Pope, a popular writer who glorified the war and recruited "laddies" who "longed to charge and shoot" in simplistically patriotic poems like "The Call."
  • "Died some, pro patria, non 'dulce' non 'et decor'..." from part IV of Ezra Pound's "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley", a damning indictment of World War I; "Daring as never before, wastage as never before."
  • In a school essay German playwright Bertolt Brecht referred to the phrase as "Zweckpropaganda" (cheap propaganda for a specific cause) and pointed out, that "It is sweeter and more fitting to live for one's country.".[citation needed]
  • The title of Damon Knight's 1955 short story "Dulcie and Decorum" is an ironic play on the first three words of the phrase; the story is about computers that induce humans to kill themselves.
  • The film Johnny Got His Gun ends with this saying, along with casualty statistics since World War I.
  • In the film 'All Quiet on the Western Front' a teacher quotes this early on while talking to his class.
  • In his book And No Birds Sang, chronicling his service in Italy with the Canadian army during the second World War, Farley Mowat quotes Wilfred Owen's poem on the opening pages and addresses "the Old Lie" in the final section of the book.
  • Tim O'Brien quotes the line in the book If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home.
  • René Goscinny, in his comic book "Asterix & the Big Fight" uses the phrase in a lighter note, when one of the Roman Legionaries is being punished by his superior.
  • The line is quoted at the end of the music video to the song "Empire" by Kasabian, which depicts the Charge of the Light Brigade.
  • The last words attributed to the Israeli national hero Yosef Trumpeldor are considered to be derived from Horace's.
  • Used in 10,000 Maniac's anti-war song, The Latin One.
  • Mentioned in the band Protest the Hero's song Softer Targets Dig Softer Graves.
  • Stiff Little Fingers released a song "Not What We Were (Pro Patria Mori)" on their 1995 album "B'S, Live, Unplugged & Demos"[2]

[edit] Use as a motto and inscription

The phrase can be found at the front entrance to the Arlington Memorial Amphitheater at the Arlington National Cemetery.
The phrase is located on the second monument of the Point Lookout Confederate Cemetery in Point Lookout, MD, and at the Confederate Cemetery in the Manassas Battlefield National Park.

"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" is also the motto of the following organizations:

  • The Portuguese Army University (Academia Militar) ([1] [2])
  • The Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne (former motto)
  • The 103rd Ground Reconnaissance Squadron of the Royal Netherlands Army
  • The Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis, MN[citation needed]
  • The 10/27 Royal South Australian Regiment of the Royal Australian Infantry Corp adopted "Pro Patria" derived from the above line meaning "For One's Country" as their unit motto.
  • The phrase "Pro Patria" is the motto of the Higgins or O'Huigan clan.

"Pro Patria" is also the motto of the Sri Lanka Army as well as inscribed on the collar insignia of the Royal Canadian Regiment.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/dulce-et-decorum-est/
  2. ^ http://www.slf.com/liverecording.cfm,

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/dulce-et-decorum-est/

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