Carme, filia fuit Phoenicis, Agenoris f. et Cassiepiae, Arabii filiae. Cum hac Carma Jupiter congressus, Britomartim genuit: quae hominum fugiens consuetudinem, perpetuam virginitatem amplexa, primum ex Phoenicia Argos devenit ad Erasini filias, Byzem, Melitam, Maeram, et Anchiroam. Deinde Argis in Cephalleniam profecta, estque ab incolis nominata Laphria, sacrisque numinis instar honorata. Venit inde in Cretam: visamque Minos, cum amore eius captus esset, insecutus est. Ea ad piscatores confugit, ab iisque subter retia occultata est. Unde Cretenses eam Dictynnam nuncuparunt, et sacris sunt venerati. Evitato Minoe, Britomartis cum Andromede piscatore navigio Aeginam venit. Cumque piscator eam comprimere conaretur, relicto navigio, in lucum confugit, ubi nunc eius fanum est, ibique e medio est sublata.
--Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses XL, translated from the Greek by Wilhelm Xylander
Agenor's son Phoenix had a daughter with Cassiepiae named Carme. When Jupiter raped Carme, she gave birth to Britomartis. Britomartis avoided the company of men, vowing perpetual virginity. First she left Phoenicia to go to Argos, joining the Erasinus' daughters Byze, Melita, Maera, and Anchiroa. Then she set out for Cephallenia, where she was named Laphria by its inhabitants, who worshipped her as if she were divine. Then she went to Crete: but once King Minos saw her, he desired her and tried to rape her; she ran towards fishermen, seeking their help, but was tangled in their fishnets. [That's why Cretans call her Dictynna, "netted one"]. Safely avoiding Minos, Britomartis traveled by ship to Aegina with the help of the fisherman Andromedus. But when the fisherman also tried to rape her, she jumped from the ship and fled to a grove, where she disappeared from the eyes of men. There's a shrine there now in her honor.
ANTONINUS LIBERALIS
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MAP:
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Name: Antoninus Liberalis
Date: 2nd – 3rd
c. CE
Works: Metamorphoses*
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REGION UNKNOWN
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BIO:
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Timeline:
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Little is known about the life
of the Greek author Antoninus Liberalis. His work, Metamorphoses, is
similar to the works of Hyginus in that they provide brief summaries of Greek
and Roman myths.
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ROMAN GREECE
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