sic transit gloria mundi
Sic transit gloria mundi is a Latin phrase that means "Thus passes the glory of the world". It has been interpreted as "Worldly things are fleeting."
Traditionally, Papal coronations are thrice interrupted by a monk (some say barefoot) holding a pole to which is affixed a burning piece of flax. After it finishes burning, the monk announces, "" This is meant to remind the Pope that, despite the grandeur of the ceremony and the long history of the office, he is a mortal man.
In ancient Rome, the phrase is said to have been used on the occasions when a Roman general returning from a victorious campaign with his conquered foe in chains before him, his children attired in white riding on white horses, his chariot pulled by white stallions, passing the Via Appia, through the Forum Romanum, past the Colosseum, was parading through the streets of Rome during the victory celebration known as a triumph. Standing behind the victorious general was a slave, and he had the task of reminding the general that, though all the glory of Rome was at his feet, that just as certainly all glory was fleeting. The servant reminded him of this by whispering in his ear, while holding a golden olive branch above his head, that sic transit gloria mundi that all glory is fleeting.
Modern usage
 Arthur Conan Doyle's short story My Friend the Murderer ends with this phrase.
The phrase is spoken by the character Bellerose in the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand to comment on the defeat of Valvert by Cyrano.
The Tenth Doctor uses the phrase at least once.
The shortened "Sic transit gloria" (translated as "Glory fades") is spoken multiple times by various characters in Wes Anderson's movie Rushmore, culminating in Max Fischer's memorable use of the phrase in his audacious super-play on the Vietnam War. Students of Anderson's films often see this as an element present in all of his films, whose characters' peaks of glory were behind them.
Taken from the line from Rushmore, the band Brand New also has a song on their album Deja Entendu named "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades"
In the movie Carry on Cleo uttered by Kenneth Williams to British slave Gloria becoming sea sick
In the movie Patton, it is interpreted as "All glory is fleeting"
It is the name of a song performed by Levi Garrett on his album Blue & Acqua
The Norwegian industrial metal band Red Harvest entitled their fourth album (and the first that was distributed outside of Europe) Sick Transit Gloria Mundi
Goldie Hawn's character in Foul Play is named Gloria Mundy. The romantic comedy includes an attempted assassination of the Pope.
In the Canadian musical "Anne of Green Gables," this phrase is sung in the Act II opening, entitled "Summertime."
If the player destroys the world and causes a nuclear winter, the classic personal computer game Command HQ (released in 1990 by Microplay) for the DOS system will terminate unexpectedly and print "Sic transit gloria mundi" to the screen.
When human player is defeated in classic computer game , he will see dialog window: "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi The Roman Empire Has Fallen".
In Season 2 Episode 2 of the sitcom ALF, Alf utters "sic transit gloria mundi" and makes the sign of the cross after discovering the long-buried body of Brian's pet turtle.
An episode of Babylon 5 is called "Sic Transit Vir", Vir Cotto being a character from the show.
Curiously, for a celebration of their recent marriage, it is held up on a sign in the crowd when Sheridan and Delenn return "home" at the beginning of the last episode of Season Four of Babylon 5.
In the "Roman Empire" segment of History of the World, Part I, one Roman Senator utters the short form, to which another replies, "I didn't know Gloria was sick!"
An article in the New York Daily News, about the transport of an ill Gloria Vanderbilt, used the headline "Sick Gloria in Transit: Monday" 
In 1980 the New York Daily News reported a state bailout of the city's subway system. It used the headline "Sick Transit's Glorious Monday".
Also quoted in the 1964 Vincent Price film The Masque of the Red Death from an original story by Edgar Allan Poe.
In the unlikely derivations section of BBC radio's My Word, the phrase is claimed to be a desperate telegram from a stranded and cash-strapped friend asking the recipient to "SEEK TRAINSEAT GLORIA MONDAY"
Frank Richards, author of The Magnet comic often construed the Latin as "Thus are the mighty fallen"
Spider Robinson, author of the "Stardance Trilogy" named the ship on which Charlie is departing earth "Gloria Mundi". This was a pun based on the name of the shipping company, S. I. C. Transit.
The phrase was scribbled on a note by Charles Ponzi and handed to reporters at his sentencing for fraud
It is the last line in the short story, The Maiden, written by Jean Stafford
The popular 1990s MUD Holy Mission had this phrase on its login page
It is chanted during Pierre Bezukhov's initiation into the Freemasons in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace
It is quoted in the Madeline L'Engle novel The Young Unicorns
"Fame is fleeting, but obscurity is forever." -- Napoleon
Quoted by Eric Blore, playing the butler Bates, to Edward Everett Horton in the movie Top Hat (1935).
Quoted by Gemma Jones playing the character Connie James in the UK BBC1 TV series Spooks season six episode three.
Quoted in "Top Hat," starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, in reference to the improper wearing of a square tie with a dinner jacket, by the man servant.
Indie band Noah and the Whale enter this quote at the end of each of their blogs on myspace.
Quoted in Curtis Henson' "Wonder Boys" (2000)
The short science fiction novel Alas, All Thinking by Harry Bates (1935) ends with this phrase, as the last of the human race is destroyed.
'Gloria Monday', a right-wing British prime minister resembling Margaret Thatcher, is the villain of the graphic novel Dare by Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes.
Found in Richard A. Clarke's "Scorpion's Gate" (2005) [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4973952]
Quoted by Devon Miles in Knight Rider's episode 'Give me Liberty...or give me dead' (1982; season 1, episode 15)
In an album of the Asterix comic, one of the pirates speak this quote after Asterix and Obelix have sunk their ship.
In the novel Flyaway, the protagonist uses the phrase as a pun after his wife Gloria leaves him.
Indie band Rothschilds called their debut album this.
See also
Memento mori
Vanitas
Judge Holmesby names his roses "gloria mundae" in the Disney Film, "The Misadventures of Merlin Jones"
References
|
|
|
|
This section is sponsored by:
Lowest Priced Computers
Get the lowest prices on laptops, desktops and computer accessories
www.Geeks.com
Laptops - Save Money and Time
Complete Laptop at Cheap Price! Compare &Deal Here.
Laptop-s.cn
HP Laptops & Notebooks
Find great deals on HP laptops & notebooks along with accessories for your computer.
www.shopping.hp.com
Latest Computers
Find Specials High Performance Desktop PCs And Computers Here! Check Out Now.
Portable-LaptopComputers.com
Complete Laptop &Accessories
Need laptop &accessories in new tech? Find here at affordable Price.
Computer-Laptop.net
Get a Mac Computer
Find the Mac computer that fits your needs from the Macbook to the iMac
store.apple.com
Laptop & Desktop Computers
Find great deals & low prices brand name laptops and desktop computers.
www.buy.com
Get a Free Laptop Now
100% Free Brand Name Laptop. Hurry - supplies are limited.
www.GetFreeLaptopsNow.com
|
