epos/ epic, epic ail, contortions of the sibyl, oracle, oracularin medias res

"One of the most intriguing things about Melania Trump is the pointed yet cryptic way she seems to have found to drag her husband," Karen Tumulty writes in Opinions.

WASHINGTONPOST.COM|作者：KAREN TUMULTY
Opinion | Trump, LeBron James and our oracular first lady
We've seen this kind of apparent trolling from our first lady before.

Facebook is facing a reputational crisis. How should the social-media giant and the industry respond? Our cover this week

Google Prepares to Launch Epic Broadband at Stanford

Literary Dictionary: in medias res 故事中心

in medias res [in med‐i‐ahs rayss], the Latin phrase meaning ‘into the middle of things’, applied to the common technique of storytelling by which the narrator begins the story at some exciting point in the middle of the action, thereby gaining the reader's interest before explaining preceding events by analepses (‘flashbacks’) at some later stage. It was conventional to begin epic poems in medias res, as Milton does in Paradise Lost. The technique is also common in plays and in prose fiction: for example, Katherine Mansfield's short story ‘A Dill Pickle’ (1920) begins in medias res with the sentence

‘And then, after six years, she saw him again.’

See also anachrony.



The Washington Post leads with the lashing that lawmakers delivered Alan Greenspan, the man who was once referred to as "the Oracle" on the economy. Angry lawmakers trampled over themselves to blame the former Federal Reserve chairman for the current crisis and criticize decisions Greenspan made during his 18-year tenure.


Sibyl

Prophetess of Greek legend. She was a figure of the mythical past whose prophecies, phrased in Greek hexameters, were handed down in writing. In the late 4th century BC, the number of Sibyls multiplied, and the term sibyl was treated as a title. Sibyls were associated with various oracles, especially those of Apollo, who was said to be their inspiration. They were typically depicted as extremely old women who lived in caves and delivered their prophecies in an ecstatic frenzy. A famous collection of prophecies, the Sibylline Books, was traditionally kept in the temple of Jupiter, to be consulted only in emergencies.

The most famous Sibyl in antiquity was that of Cumae in Campania (sometimes identified with the Erythraean) whom Virgil represents as being visited by Aeneas (see AENEID 6). The cave in which she lived still exists. Her prophecies were said to have been inscribed on palm-leaves. According to legend she offered nine volumes of oracles to the last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, at a high price. When he refused to buy she burned three volumes and offered the remainder at the same price. When he again refused she burned three more, and finally sold the last three to him at the original price. The king is said to have entrusted these Sibylline books (libri Sibyllini) to the care of two patricians.

Greenspan, once more 格林斯潘蒼然走下神壇

美國前聯邦儲備局局長格林斯潘承認，他賴以執行美國貨幣政策十八年的主導思想：自由市場概念，在全球經濟危機中給暴露了"錯誤"。
《衛報》的頭條標題說："格林斯潘 - 關於經濟，我錯了，大約是這樣。"
格林斯潘長期反對監管，但是昨天他在美國國會委員會上說在他對銀行業採取的放任政策方面，他有"部分錯誤"。 報道說，格林斯潘被讚譽為戰後最長期繁榮的策劃者，這是他首次承認在席捲全球銀行系統的危機中曾經犯錯。

《國際先驅論壇報》的頭條標題說："格林斯潘罕見地承認失誤"。 格林斯潘今年面對著越來越大的批評，因為他曾經力抗對信貸衍生工具的管制，這個沒有管理的市場是造成目前經濟危機的部分原因。

Greenspan Admits Errors To Hostile House Panel

sib·yl (sĭb'əl) 
n.

1. One of a number of women regarded as oracles or prophets by the ancient Greeks and Romans., 
2. A woman prophet.

[Middle English sibile, from Old French, from Latin Sibylla, from Greek Sibulla.]

 It has all the contortions of the sibyl without the inspiration. — Edmund Burke (1729-1797), British statesman, from Prior's Life of Burke.



oracular
 resembling an oracle (as in solemnity of delivery).
神託の(ような)、威厳のある、なぞめいた、あいまいな

contort
verb [I or T]
to (cause something to) twist or bend violently and unnaturally into a different shape or form:
His face contorted with bitterness and rage.

contorted
adjective
contorted limbs/branches

contortion
noun [C or U]
facial/bodily contortions

contortionist n [C]
someone who can twist their body into shapes and positions that ordinary people cannot

(from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

in medias res

(ĭn mē'dē-əs rās') 

adv.
In or into the middle of a sequence of events, as in a literary narrative.

[Latin in mediās rēs : in, into + mediās, accusative pl. feminine of medius, in the middle of + rēs, accusative pl. of rēs, thing.]

Horace語

菲立浦斯(Anton Philips of Eindhoven) 荷蘭-- 傳記 : 《安東‧菲利浦斯》 玻曼 (P. J. Bouman)原著，鄭慶昭譯，台北:協志，1970

荷蘭人的英文，常有古字，譬如說中文版的序言中第2段有"....it is an epos of an industrialist..."，"epos" 其實是希臘文 (原意word 或 song)，英文的epic ("史詩"等意)從它導出。

這本中文版缺索引及荷蘭地圖等等，然然意思還可表達.......

HCBOOKS.BLOGSPOT.COM

《安東‧菲利浦斯》 (Anton Philips of Eindhoven By P. J. Bouman )

先了解飛利浦的創業父子： Koninklijke Philips N.V. Founded 15 May 1891 ; 127 years ago Eindhoven , Netherlands Founders Gerard Philips Frederik Phi...

ep·os (ĕp'ŏs')
n.

1. A number of poems, not formally united, that treat an epic theme.
2. An epic.

[Latin, from Greek.]
Usage
"Not many people outside South Sulawesi know about this most unique epos, La Galigo." — Carla Bianpoen; Jakarta Post; Ancient Bugis Epos Goes International; The Jakarta Post (Indonesia); Jan 15, 2004.

epic

ˈɛpɪk/

noun

1. 1.

   a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the past history of a nation.

   synonyms:

   heroic poem, long poem, long story; More

   • 
     
   • 
     

     
     
2. 2.

   informal

   an exceptionally long and arduous task or activity.

   
   

   "the business of getting hospital treatment soon became an epic"

adjective

1. 1.

   relating to or characteristic of an epic or epics.

   
   

   "our national epic poem Beowulf"

   
   

   synonyms:

   heroic, long, grand, monumental, vast, Homeric, Miltonian; More
2. 2.

   heroic or grand in scale or character.

   
   

   "his epic journey around the world"

 epic

• [épik]

[形]((通例限定))

1 叙事詩（体）の. ⇒LYRIC 1

an epic poem
叙事詩.

2 叙事詩的な

an epic novel
叙事詩的小説.

3 勇壮［雄大, 壮大］な, 英雄的な；（程度が）並みはずれた, 大規模の, 広範囲の

epic events
勇壮な出来事

a palace of epic proportions
並みはずれて広壮な宮殿.

━━[名]

1 （作品としての）叙事詩, 史詩；[U]（ジャンルとしての）叙事詩.

2 叙事詩的な［勇壮な, 壮大な］事柄［出来事, 話］.

［ラテン語←ギリシャ語epikós （epos単語＋-IC＝単語の）. 「単語」→「話」→「長い物語の詩」］