Invita Minerva
Preserved but no longer current.
Against the grain. Thus, Charles Kean acted comedy invita Minerva, his forte lying another way. Sir Philip Sidney attempted the Horatian metres in English verse invita Minerva. The phrase is from Horace's Ars Poetica, I, 385— Tu nihil invita dices fadesve Minerva (Beware of attempting anything for which nature has not fitted you).
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Invita Minerva” mean?
Against the grain. Thus, Charles Kean acted comedy invita Minerva, his forte lying another way. Sir Philip Sidney attempted the Horatian metres in English verse invita Minerva. The phrase is from Horace's Ars Poetica, I, 385— Tu nihil invita dices fadesve Minerva (Beware of attempting anything for which nature has not fitted you).
Is “Invita Minerva” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.