The Hunter Motto: MIHI CURA FUTURI
This is a summary of a discussion
on hunter-l in January 2003. Special thanks to Jillian Murray (for pointing out Ovid
as the original source) and Patricia
S. Rudden (for pointing its genesis at Hunter as described in the
Patterson monograph).
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A literal translation of the Hunter motto would be something like: "The care of the future is mine"
which is neither idiomatic nor succinct -- though everyone will
find some meaning here. Most people tend to understand it as concern for
the future and as a pledge to work towards the common good as stated on
a page for the Hunter
High School:
"Ours is an intellectual community
dedicated to a love of learning and respect for scholarship and academic
integrity. We also aspire to develop each student's capacity for
compassionate leadership and service within a culturally diverse world.
At the same time we recognize and nurture talent in its multitude of
forms. Preparing our students with the knowledge, skills, values and
attitudes to assume enlightened leadership roles in the next century is
very much in keeping with the tradition
of our school Mihi Cura Futuri, caring for the future."
According to Samuel White Patterson's Hunter
College: Eighty-Five Years of Service (1955) -- three copies of
this title are available in the Hunter library, the motto
originated with Arthur Henry Dundon,
Vice President, Professor of English and Latin from the college's
beginnings. Patterson says, "Dundon was a classically educated
schoolman, with just the temperament to get along with the President
[Thomas Hunter] . . . . It was Dundon who devised the College motto,
Mihi cura futuri" (1955:25). But Patterson did not mention Ovid as the
original source, and apparently very few people were aware of it -- till
Jillian Murray (an undergraduate philosophy student and Vice Chairperson
of the Hunter Senate) pointed it out.
The phrase appears in Book XIII of Ovid's Metamorphoses, which begins
with a debate over arms between Ajax and Ulysses. Here is the relevant
passage (lines
350-369), from Ulysses' response to Ajax -- in an
edition made available online by the University of Virginia as part of
its Ovid Collection:
13:351 Desine Tydiden vultuque et
murmure nobis
13:351 ostentare meum: pars est sua laudis
in illo!
13:352 nec tu, cum socia clipeum pro classe
tenebas,
13:353 solus eras: tibi turba comes, mihi
contigit unus.
13:354 qui nisi pugnacem sciret sapiente
minorem
13:355 esse nec indomitae deberi praemia
dextrae,
13:356 ipse quoque haec peteret; peteret
moderatior Aiax
13:357 Eurypylusque ferox claroque
Andraemone natus
13:358 nec minus Idomeneus patriaque creatus
eadem
13:359 Meriones, peteret maioris frater
Atridae:
13:360 quippe manu fortes nec sunt mihi
Marte secundi,
13:361 consiliis cessere meis. tibi dextera
bello
13:362 utilis, ingenium est, quod eget
moderamine nostro;
13:363 tu
vires sine mente geris, mihi cura futuri;
13:364 tu pugnare potes, pugnandi tempora
mecum
13:365 eligit Atrides; tu tantum corpore
prodes,
13:366 nos animo; quantoque ratem qui
temperat, anteit
13:367 remigis officium, quanto dux milite
maior,
13:368 tantum ego te supero. nec non in
corpore nostro
13:369 pectora sunt potiora manu: vigor
omnis in illis.
This is based on the Ehwald edition of about 1904. Over the
centuries, there have been several
editions of Ovid's text, so there may be some doubt whether "mihi
cura futuri" was really written by Ovid (as some classics professors
think it is bad Latin to start with) or whether this reflects the taste
of editors later. Anyway, here is a contemporary
English translation by a British scholar (A.S. Kline) with an unusual
resume, which is also included in the Ovid Collection at the University
of Virginia:
You can stop pointing out with your
murmurs and looks, Ajax, that Diomede was my partner: he has his share
of praise in this! Nor were you alone, when you held your shield in
defence of the allied ships: you had a crowd of companions: I had only
one. If he did not know that a fighter is worth less than a thinker, and
that the prize is not owed merely because of an indomitable right hand,
he would also claim it; so would
the
lesser Ajax, fierce
Eurypylus,
and
Thoas,
the son of famous
Andraemon,
and no less surely would
Idomeneus,
and
Meriones
born of the same nation, and
Menelaüs,
the brother of Agamemnon. In fact, they accept my counsel, these strong
right hands, not second to me in battle. Your right hand, useful in war,
needs the guidance of my intellect.
You
have power without mind, mine is the care for the future. You
can fight, but Atrides, with me, chooses the time to fight. You only
display the flesh, I the spirit. By as much as he who steers the ship is
superior to him who rows, by as much as the general exceeds the soldier,
by that much I surpass you. No less is the head more powerful than the
hand, in our body: the energy of the whole is within it.
And here is the matching passage from the Garth/Dryden
"paraphrase" (not a strict translation) from the 17th century:
Why point'st thou to my partner of the
war?
Tydides had indeed a worthy share
In all my toil, and praise; but when thy might
Our ships protected, did'st thou singly fight?
All join'd, and thou of many wert but one;
I ask'd no friend, nor had, but him alone:
Who, had he not been well assur'd, that art,
And conduct were of war the better part,
And more avail'd than strength, my valiant friend
Had urg'd a better right, than Ajax can pretend:
As good at least Eurypilus may claim,
And the more mod'rate Ajax of the name:
The Cretan king, and his brave charioteer,
And Menelaus bold with sword, and spear:
All these had been my rivals in the shield,
And yet all these to my pretensions yield.
Thy boist'rous hands are then of use, when I
With this directing head those hands apply.
Brawn without brain is thine: my
prudent care
Foresees, provides, administers the war:
Thy province is to fight; but when shall be
The time to fight, the king consults with me:
No dram of judgment with thy force is join'd:
Thy body is of profit, and my mind.
Excursus:
The figure in the Hunter logo, however, is not Ulysses but the goddess
of war and wisdom, Athena or
Athene (in the Greek version) or Minerva
(in the Roman version). And depending on the source, Athena is also
described as the goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, industry, justice and
skill, or as the goddess of "civilized war". As a matter of fact, most
graphical renderings of Athena emphasize the war component showing her
in helm and/or armor -- reflecting the story of hir birth (as a
colleague more knowledgeable in Greek mythodology pointed out). In
Homer's Odyssee Athena plays
an important part as Odyssee/Ulysses' patron and ally. Athena also
described herself as a "misogynist" which would make her a rather
peculiar choice as a symbol for women's college (which Hunter used to be
till 1962). But there are many facets to Athena. For those with limited
knowledge of Greek mythodology, may want to check the (very
unscholarly) "Women in Greek
Mythodology" web site or the more ambitious Mythography site for
more information; the latter is also a good source for traditional
references (books).
The recent version of the Athena logo was introduced not too long ago,
during the reign of President LeClerc (now President of the NYPL) some
ten years ago I believe, but the previous version did not look any less
militaristic, just less stylized.
So how do logo and motto go together? Moving on to the next
paragraph (in the Kline translation) which concludes the "arms debate"
section of Book XIII, we read:
O princes, grant the
prize to your sentry, for the many years I have spent in anxious care,
grant me the judgement, this honour for my services. Now my labour is
done: I have removed fate’s obstacles, and by making it possible to take
high Pergama, have taken her. Now, by our common expectation; by Troy’s
doomed walls; by the gods I recently took from the enemy; by whatever
else remains that needs to be done wisely; I pray, that if there is
still some bold and dangerous thing to attempt, if you think that
anything is yet in store involving Troy’s fate, remember me! And if you do not give me the arms, give
them to her!’ and he pointed towards Minerva’s fatal statue.
War and wisdom, maybe it is time to set up an ROTC program at Hunter? It certainly
would fit with the Hunter logo and motto.
Bottom line:
One way or the other, the original context leaves no doubt that "mihi
cura futuri" -- even after more than 2000 years -- is as relevant as
ever. However, without the context it is probably not more than a
badly worded common place -- whether you use Latin or English.
Footnote:
In a fun poll (no claim of being representative for the Hunter
community) in which 31 people cast their vote, the current standard
translation of "The care of the future is mine" received 42
percent and "caring for the future" 23 percent, while 16 percent
of the respondents offered additional suggestions beyond the six
alternatives offered often coupled with further comment.
Manfred Kuechler
Jan 10, 2003
