What is "saturnian"

Saturnian \Sa*tur"ni*an\, a. [L. Saturnius.]

1. (Roman Myth.) Of or pertaining to Saturn, whose age or reign, from the mildness and wisdom of his government, is called the golden age.

2. Hence: Resembling the golden age; distinguished for peacefulness, happiness, contentment.

   Augustus, born to bring Saturnian times.
   --Pope.

3. (Astron.) Of or pertaining to the planet Saturn; as, the Saturnian year.

   Saturnian verse (Pros.), a meter employed by early Roman satirists, consisting of three iambics and an extra syllable followed by three trochees, as in the line: -- Th[e^] qu[=e]en | w[a^]s [imac]n | th[e^] k[imac]tch | [e^]n || [=e]at[i^]ng | br[=e]ad [a^]nd | h[=o]n[e^]y.

Saturnian \Sa*tur"ni*an\, n. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of large handsome moths belonging to Saturnia and allied genera. The luna moth, polyphemus, and promethea, are examples. They belong to the Silkworn family, and some are raised for their silk. See Polyphemus.

Saturnian meter or verse is an old Latin and Italic poetic form, of which the principles of versification have become obscure. Only 132 complete uncontroversial verses survive. 95 literary verses and partial fragments have been preserved as quotations in later grammatical writings, as well as 37 verses in funerary or dedicatory inscriptions. The majority of literary Saturnians come from the Odysseia (more commonly known as the Odissia or Odyssia), a translation/paraphrase of Homer's Odyssey by Livius Andronicus (c. 3rd century BC), and the Bellum Poenicum, an epic on the First Punic War by Gnaeus Naevius (c. 3rd century BC).

The meter was moribund by the time of the literary verses and forgotten altogether by classical times, falling out of use with the adoption of the hexameter and other Greek verse forms. Quintus Ennius is the poet who is generally credited with introducing the Greek hexameter in Latin, and dramatic meters seem to have been well on their way to domestic adoption in the works of his rough contemporary Plautus. These Greek verse forms were considered more sophisticated than the native tradition; Horace called the Saturnian horridus. Consequently, the poetry in this meter was not preserved. Cicero regretted the loss in his Brutus:

However, it has been noted that later poets like Ennius (by extension Virgil, who follows him in both time and technique) preserve something of the Saturnian aesthetic in hexameter verse. Ennius explicitly acknowledges Naevius' poem and skill (lines 206–7 and 208–9 in the edition of Skutsch, with translations by Goldberg):

Ancient grammarians sought to derive the verse from a Greek model, in which syllable weight or the arrangement of light and heavy syllables was the governing principle. Scholars today remain divided between two approaches:

1. The meter was quantitative (but not borrowed from Greek).
2. The meter was accentual or based on accented and unaccented syllables.

Despite the division, there is some consensus regarding aspects of the verse's structure. A Saturnian line can be divided into two cola or half-lines, separated by a central caesura. The second colon is shorter than or as long as the first. Furthermore, in any half-line with seven or more syllables, the last three or four are preceded by word-end. This is known as Korsch's caesura or the caesura Korschiana, after its discoverer.

Saturnian or Saturnial may refer to:

• Something of or relating to:

:* Saturn, sixth planet from the Sun

:* Saturn (mythology), a Roman agricultural deity

• Saturnian (poetry), the form of poetry which uses Saturnian Verse
• Saturnian (album), an album by saxophonist David S. Ware
• Saturnian (band), Extreme Symphonic Metal band from the UK

Saturnian (subtitled Solo Saxophones, Volume 1) is a live solo album by saxophonist David S. Ware, who plays the saxello, stritch and tenor saxophone which was recorded in 2009 and released on the AUM Fidelity label.