Just Say No: The Heavenly Example of Artemis, Apollodorus Lib.1.4

Name: [Pseudo]Apollodorus Date:   1st – 2nd century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:    Library 1.4

One of the daughters of Coeus, Asteria, transformed herself into a quail and jumped into the sea in order to escape Jupiter’s assault, and so they named the city Asteria after her for it. Later the city was renamed Delos. When Jupiter raped Latona and Juno pursued her in vengeance, this is where Latona ended up giving birth to Artemis [Diana]. Artemis [Diana] then acted as a midwife to help her mother give birth to her twin brother Apollo. Because Artemis [Diana] loved hunting, she remained a virgin; but Apollo, learning the art of divination from Pan, and went to Delphi, where Themis was giving prophecies.




τῶν δὲ Κοίου θυγατέρων Ἀστερία μὲν ὁμοιωθεῖσα ὄρτυγι ἑαυτὴν εἰς θάλασσαν ἔρριψε, φεύγουσα τὴν πρὸς Δία συνουσίαν: καὶ πόλις ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνης Ἀστερία πρότερον κληθεῖσα, ὕστερον δὲ Δῆλος. Λητὼ δὲ συνελθοῦσα Διὶ κατὰ τὴν γῆν ἅπασαν ὑφ᾽ Ἥρας ἠλαύνετο, μέχρις εἰς Δῆλον ἐλθοῦσα γεννᾷ πρώτην Ἄρτεμιν, ὑφ᾽ ἧς μαιωθεῖσα ὕστερον Ἀπόλλωνα ἐγέννησεν.


Ἄρτεμις μὲν οὖν τὰ περὶ θήραν ἀσκήσασα παρθένος ἔμεινεν, Ἀπόλλων δὲ τὴν μαντικὴν μαθὼν παρὰ Πανὸς τοῦ Διὸς καὶ Ὕβρεως ἧκεν εἰς Δελφούς, χρησμῳδούσης τότε Θέμιδος:

Ceterum de Coei filiabus Asteria fugiens Iovis complexum in coturnicem mutata seipsam demisit in mare, quae ab ea urbs Asteria appellata fuit, quae postea Delos nomen accepit. Siquidem Latonam ab Iove compressam per universum terrarum orbem Juno insectata est, donec Delum pervenit, atque ibi Dianam prius peperit: qua obstetrice adiuta mater Apollinem deinceps edidit. Enimvero Diana venationis studio delectata, virgo permansit: Apollo autem divinandi facultatem edoctus a Pane Iovis & Contumeliae filio, Delphos, quo tempore Themis illic oracula dabat, se contulit.
Translated into Latin by Thomas Gale (1675)

Apollodorus [1st – 2nd century CE] is the name of the author of a famous collection of myths called the Bibliotheca / Library. Little is known about the author’s background or history.

A Woman's Longing: Sappho, fr. 168B

A Woman’s Longing: Sappho 168b

Name: Sappho Date:   d. 570 BCE Region:   Lesbos [modern Greece] Citation:    Fragment 168b

The moon has set,

The Pleiades have, too.

It is now the middle of the night.

Time is passing,

And I sleep alone.

A Woman’s Longing: Sappho 168b

δέδυκε μὲν ἀ σελάννα καὶ Πληΐαδες, μέσαι δὲ νύκτες πάρα δ᾽ ἔρχετ᾽ ὤρα, ἔγω δὲ μόνα κατεύδω.

Occidit quidem Luna et Pleiades; mediae autem sunt iam noctes, praeteritque hora; ego vero sola dormio. Translated into Latin by Hugo Grotius

Sappho [d. 570 BCE, modern Greece] was universally applauded by the ancient world as the “Tenth Muse.” Because she was one of the earliest Greek lyric poets, there is very little definitive information on Sappho’s life.  It is generally agreed that Sappho was a wealthy noblewoman from the island of Lesbos who had three brothers and a daughter named Kleis. She used her prominent social position to support a cohort of other women artists, and composed many poems about them, expressing her love for them, praising their beauty, and celebrating their marriages. Whereas earlier Greek poetry was epic poetry with serious themes of gods, warfare, and the state, Sappho’s lyric poetry was emotional, intimate and personal. Her poetry centered around womanhood and womanly love, providing rare insight into the time period. The modern terms “sapphic” and “lesbian” reveal the longevity of her impact upon modern culture. Unfortunately, although her poetry was universally revered by the Greeks and Romans alike, Sappho’s works only exist as fragments, adding mysterious allure to her larger-than-life status but unfortunately hindering our understanding of her life and thoughts.

W/W: Equal to the Gods, Sappho, Fr. 31

Equal to the Gods I: Sappho’s Original

Name:      Sappho Date:        d. 570 BCE Region:    Lesbos [modern Greece] Citation:  Fragment 31

To a Woman Loved by Sappho:

That man seems to me

To be equal to the gods,

Who gets to sit across from you

And hear you flirting and laughing sweetly.

When I see you,

The heart in my chest gets thrown out of whack,

My voice gets stuck in my throat,

I can’t talk.

I'm tongue-tied.

A hot flash flows through my skin,

My eyes stop working,

And humming fills up my ears.

Cold sweat overtakes me,

My entire body shakes,

I get greener than grass.

I'm not far from death; I seem to be dying.

But I gotta shoot my shot, because wretched...

Equal to the Gods I: Sappho’s Original

φάινεταί μοι κῆνος ἴσος θέοισιν ἔμμεν ὤνερ, ὄττις ἐναντιός τοι ἰσδάνει καὶ πλασίον ἆδυ φωνείσας ὐπακούει καὶ γαλαίσας ἰμμερόεν, τὸ μ’ ἦ᾽μὰν καρδίαν ἐν στήθεσιν ἐπτόαισεν, ὠς γὰρ εὔιδον βροχέ’ ὠς με, φώνη- σ’ οὐδὲν ἔτ᾽ ἔικει, ἀλλὰ κὰμ μὲν γλῶσσα ἔαγε, λέπτον δ᾽ αὔτικα χρῶι πῦρ ὐπαδεδρόμακεν, ὀππάτεσσι δ᾽ οὐδὲν ὂρημμ᾽, ἐπιρρόμβεισι δ᾽ ἄκουαι. κὰδ’ δ’ ἴδρως ψῦχρος χέεται, τρόμος δὲ παῖσαν ἄγρει χλωροτέρα δὲ ποίας ἔμμι, τεθνάκην δ᾽ ὀλιγω ᾽πιδεύης φαίνομ’ ἔμ’ αὔται. ἀλλὰ πὰν τόλματον...

Ad mulierem adamatam. Videtur ille mihi par Divis  vir esse, qui adversus te sedet, & propius dulce profantem  te auscultat et ridentem amabiliter, quod mihi cor in pectoribus obstupescit; ut enim vidi te, in fauces mihi vocis nihil amplius venit. Imo quidem lingua fracta est, & per tenuem Protinus cutem ignis demanavit; oculisque nihil video; bombitantque  mihi aures. Et gelidus sudor defluit; tremorque occupant totam, pallidiorque herba sum: a moriendo paululum absens videor exanimis. Sed quidvis audendum est, quia egentem... Translated into Latin by Christian Wolff

Sappho [d. 570 BCE, modern Greece] was universally applauded by the ancient world as the “Tenth Muse.” Because she was one of the earliest Greek lyric poets, there is very little definitive information on Sappho’s life.  It is generally agreed that Sappho was a wealthy noblewoman from the island of Lesbos who had three brothers and a daughter named Kleis. She used her prominent social position to support a cohort of other women artists, and composed many poems about them, expressing her love for them, praising their beauty, and celebrating their marriages. Whereas earlier Greek poetry was epic poetry with serious themes of gods, warfare, and the state, Sappho’s lyric poetry was emotional, intimate and personal. Her poetry centered around womanhood and womanly love, providing rare insight into the time period. The modern terms “sapphic” and “lesbian” reveal the longevity of her impact upon modern culture. Unfortunately, although her poetry was universally revered by the Greeks and Romans alike, Sappho’s works only exist as fragments, adding mysterious allure to her larger-than-life status but unfortunately hindering our understanding of her life and thoughts.

M/M: Be My King: Dionysus & Ampelos, Nonnos, Dion. X.193-216

Name:  Nonnos of Panopolis Date:   4th - 5th century CE Region:  [modern Egypt] Citation:  Dionysiaca 10.193-216

Bacchus hid his immortal form from the youth

And approached him as a mortal, flirting with him

with these words: “Who’s your father?

What immortal womb gave you life?

What Grace raised you? Admit it—Apollo’s your father!

Tell me, darling (amice), don’t hide your lineage.

You act like you’re some wingless Cupid, but without weapons and a bow.

What god courted Venus to create you?

For I hesitate to call Venus your mother,

Since Vulcan or Mars can’t be your father.

Or are you the god they call Mercury?

Then show me your feathers, and the wings on your ankles.

Your long hair flows down your neck, but you don’t have a cithara.

Are you Phoebus, shaking his long wavy hair—but without your signature bow?

If Jupiter is my father, but you are mortal-born,

A short-lived satyr with cow-like horns,

Be king alongside me, equal to equal, a god and a mortal together,

For no one would question your godhood

While you were by my side.

Oh! I recognize your lineage—the one you’re trying to hide!

The Moon herself is your mother, having united with the Sun,

You’re as beautiful as Narcissus. For you have the same

Heavenly form as the moon—you both have horns!”

τὸν μὲν ἔχων Διόνυσος ὁμέψιον, ἁβρὸν ἀθύρων,  
εἴρετο θαμβαλέην προχέων ἐπὶ κάλλεϊ φωνὴν
ὡς βροτός, ἀθανάτην δὲ δολοπλόκος ἔκρυφε μορφήν:

‘Τίς σε πατὴρ ἐφύτευσε; τίς οὐρανίη τέκε γαστήρ;
τίς Χαρίτων σε λόχευσε; τίς ἤροσε καλός Ἀπόλλων;
εἰπέ, φίλος, μὴ κρύπτε τεὸν γένος: εἰ μὲν ἱκάνεις
ἄπτερος ἄλλος Ἔρως βελέων δίχα, νόσφι φαρέτρης,
τίς μακάρων σε φύτευσε παρευνάζων Ἀφροδίτῃ;
καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ τρομέω σέο μητέρα Κύπριν ἐνίψαι,
μὴ γενέτην Ἥφαιστον ἢ Ἄρεα σεῖο καλέσσω.
εἰ δὲ σύ, τὸν καλέουσιν, ἀπ᾽ αἰθέρος ἤλυθες Ἑρμῆς,
δεῖξον ἐμοὶ πτερὰ κοῦφα καὶ ἔμπνοα ταρσὰ πεδίλων.
πῶς μεθέπεις ἄτμητον ἐπήορον αὐχένι χαίτην;
μὴ σύ μοι αὐτὸς ἵκανες ἄτερ κιθάρης, δίχα τόξου,
Φοῖβος ἀκερσικόμης κεχαλασμένα βόστρυχα σείων;
εἰ Κρονίδης με φύτευσε, σὺ δὲ χθονίης ἀπὸ φύτλης
βουκεράων Σατύρων μινυώριον αἷμα κομίζεις,
ἶσον ἐμοὶ βασίλευε, θεῷ βροτός: οὐ γὰρ ἐλέγξει
οὐράνιον τεὸν εἶδος Ὀλύμπιον αἷμα Λυαίου.
ἀλλὰ τί κικλήσκω σε μινυνθαδίης ἀπὸ φύτλης;
γινώσκω τεὸν αἷμα, καὶ εἰ κρύπτειν μενεαίνεις:
ἠελίῳ σε λόχευσε παρευνηθεῖσα Σελήνη
Ναρκίσσῳ χαρίεντι πανείκελον: αἰθέριον γὰρ
εἴκελον εἶδος ἔχεις, κεραῆς ἴνδαλμα Σελήνης.’

Hunc quidem habens Bacchus consobrinum mollis ludens

querebat admirantem profundens ob pulchritudinem, vocem

tamquam mortalis: immortale v. dolosus abscondebat formam:

"Quis te pater plantavit? Quis caelestis (te) genuit venter?

Que Charitum te enixa? quis (te) aravit pulcher Apollo?

Dic amice, non absconde tuum genus. Siquidem venis

non alatus alter Cupido, telis sine, absque pharetra.

quis deorum te plantavit concumbens cum Venere?

namque ego formido tuam matrem, Cyprin dicere.

Ne genitorem Vulcanum aut Martem tuum dicam, 

sin vero tu, quem vocant ab aethere venisti Mercurius,

ostende mihi pennas leves, et vinas alas talarlium

qui habes intonsam sublimem super cervice comam

nisi mihi ipse veneris sine cithara. sine arcu

phoebus intonsus demissos cincinnos vibrans.

Si vero Saturnius me plantavit. Tu vero terrestri agenere

boum cornua habentium Satyrorum brevis qui sanguine fers,

aequaliter mihi regna deo mortalis, non enim arguet 

caelestem tuam imaginem caelestis sanguis Bacchi

sed quid voco te ex exigua aliqua familia.

Cognosco tuum sanguinem, quamvis tegere studes.

solite peperit concumbens Luna,

Narcisso gratioso prorsus similem. Caelestem enim

consimilem imaginem habes cornutae simulacrum lunae.

tale verbum dixit.

Translated into Latin from the Greek by Eilhard Lubin

Nonnus of Panopolis [4th - 5th century CE] was an Egyptian born Roman citizen who composed the Dionysiaca, a massive 48 volume epic about the life of the god Dionysus.

M/M: Ascanius & Atys, Vergil, Aen. 5.568-572

Name:  Vergil Date:  70 – 19 BCE Region:  Mantua [modern northern Italy] Citation:  Aeneid 5.568-572

[The Trojan youth parade includes...] and Atys,
the eponymous leader of the Latin Atii,
a boy beloved by the boy Iulus.
And next to him was pretty Iulus,
the prettiest and handsomest of all the boys,
riding a horse which Sidonian Dido gave to him as an emblem of love.

alter Atys, genus unde Atii duxere Latini,
paruus Atys pueroque puer dilectus Iulo.
extremus formaque ante omnis pulcher Iulus               
Sidonio est invectus equo, quem candida Dido
esse sui dederat monimentum et pignus amoris.

Vergil, also known as Virgil, [Publius Vergilius Maro; 70 – 19 BCE, modern Italy] was born in Mantua, Cisalpine Gaul, and lived during the tumultuous transition of Roman government from republic to monarchy. His writing talent earned him a place of honor among Maecenas’ fellow authors under Augustan rule. He was friends with numerous famous authors of the time period, including Horace and Asinius Pollio. His former slave Alexander was the most influential romantic partner in his life, and the poet memorialized his love for him under the pseudonym “Alexis” in Eclogue 2. His masterpiece, the Aeneid, tells the story of Aeneas’ migration from Troy to Italy; it was used for centuries as the pinnacle of Roman literature.

M/M: Blessed pair! Nisus & Euryalus 3: Vergil, Aen. 9.384-449

Nisus and Euryalus: No Day Shall Erase You From the Memory of Time

Name:  Vergil Date:  70 – 19 BCE Region:  Mantua [modern northern Italy] Citation:  Aeneid 9.176-223, 384-413, 416-418,420-449

On duty that night at the fortress' gates was Nisus, the valiant son of Hyrtacus, whom the huntress Ida had trained in hunting and sent off to accompany Aeneas.
Standing beside him was his companion Euryalus, a teenager who surpassed all Trojans in beauty. He was born too young to earn his armor at Troy; his first touch of adulthood was blossoming on his chin.
They shared one love; they fought side-by-side. Both stood on duty at the gate.

Nisus said “Do the gods inspire you to seek glory, or does your own desire drive you? For I need to fight—or do some big gesture—I’m not content to just sit around here. You know how cocky our Rutulian enemy is. Their watch fires are scattered, sputtering out, and their watchmen are sleeping or drunk. They're not vigilant at all.

“Look at how confident I am in this plan, and what I've devised based on these facts. Everyone (the Trojan leaders and menfolk alike) is clamoring for Aeneas to return. They're looking for volunteers to come fetch him, even offering a reward. I think I can find a way to him through that heap of enemies, and find a path to our ally Pallas’ city walls.”

Euryalus, inspired by a love of praise, spoke to his companion, “Nisus, do you shirk from letting me join you on the most important time of all? Will I send you off alone into such danger? Listen, I no longer have a father. My dad Opheletes fell by the Greeks in Troy's fateful struggle. But he raised me better than that! And Aeneas, the man I followed to our ultimate destiny; he raised me better than this, too! I didn't come all this way, doing all these adventures with you otherwise. What life is there for me, if I only had life, and not honor?”

Nisus responded: “No, it isn't right. I would never think that of you. But Jupiter, I pray to god (or whatever god it is), look on me with kindness, to bring me back to you,

while you're there, waiting to cheer me on from the sidelines. You see how the situation is. If some enemy or act of god should take me away from you, I want you to live on. You're too young to die. Let it be you who brings my body back from the battlefield and lays it to rest in my tomb. Or, if Fortune does not permit even that, honor me with an empty grave. I do not want to break your mother's heart. Of all the Trojan women, she alone left the safety of Acestes’ walls to follow you here.”

Euryalus said, “Stop being such a worrywart! My mind is made up. Come on, let’s go.”

Together, they woke up the next shift of watchmen. They leave their posts in the hands of competent replacements, and together with his companion Nisus, they head for the king's headquarters.

 

While on a secret mission, Nisus and Euryalus are detected by Rutulian scouts. They flee, but are separated from each other:
          Euryalus, overcome by brambles and fear, is trapped!

 

But Nisus already fled. By dumb luck, he escaped the enemy through the territory that will later be named “Alba.” He looks around and cannot find his companion. He calls, “Unlucky Euryalus, where are you? Did I leave you behind? Where can I follow you?”

He goes in circles through the forest, looking for traces of his friend in the underbrush. Then he hears hoofbeats; he hears the riders approach. Soon after he hears a shout and sees Euryalus surrounded by a band of Rutulians but vainly trying to defend himself.

What should Nisus do? What resources does he have to rescue the youth from his attackers? Should he jump into the fight, rushing to his own doom, to endure an “honorable” death?

Aiming his weapon, Nisus catches sight of the moon and voices this prayer:  “Divine daughter of Leto, glory of the stars and protector of this grove, help me in my task! If my father Hyrtacus’ offerings to you ever meant something, if my thanksgiving offerings from my hunting trips ever meant anything to you, if my offerings of incense or other holy offerings ever touched you, please, allow me to take on these men and send this spear through the air towards them!”

He finished praying, and hurled his spear with all his might. It flies through the night and arrives in Sulmo’s chest...

The Rutulians looks around, alert. Nisus aims another spear and sends it into their midst. It shoots through the air and pierces Tagus’ temples; his brains spurt from the wound.

The Rutulian leader Volcens roars in anger. He cannot see who threw the spear, so he takes out his anger on Euryalus. “You shall pay the penalty for both of these men…in blood!” Volcens said, attacking the Trojan youth with his sword.

Then, terrified, Nisus shouted from the distance, betraying his hiding-place, trying to stop his greatest nightmare from happening, “It was me! It was me! I did it! Stab me instead, oh Rutulians! This was my fault, it wasn’t him! I swear by the heavens, and the stars are my witness! The only thing he did wrong was love his cursed companion too much!”

So Nisus spoke, but a sword pierces his friend’s chest, crushing Euryalus’ delicate ribcage.

Euryalus swoons in death, and gore spreads across the lad’s pretty limbs.  His head flops forward, just like when a purple flower dies, cut by a tractor’s plow, or when a poppy droops when it is weighed down by heavy raindrops.

But Nisus rushes into the midst of the enemy, seeking vengeance upon Volcens. Volcens alone is his goal.

Although surrounded, Nisus puts up a good fight. His sword gleams in the starlight as he slashes against his foe, and it plunges into his enemy’s shrieking face, killing the man who stabs him in return.

Then, dying, Nisus threw himself atop his slain friend and succumbed to dreamless sleep.

Fortunate pair! If my epic means anything, no day shall ever erase you from history, as long as Aeneas’ Capitol still stands, as long as father Rome reigns supreme.

 

Nisus and Euryalus: No Day Shall Erase You From the Memory of Time

Nisus erat portae custos, acerrimus armis,
Hyrtacides, comitem Aeneae quem miserat Ida
venatrix iaculo celerem levibusque sagittis,
et iuxta comes Euryalus, quo pulchrior alter
non fuit Aeneadum Troiana neque induit arma,
ora puer prima signans intonsa iuventa.
His amor unus erat pariterque in bella ruebant;
tum quoque communi portam statione tenebant.
Nisus ait: “Dine hunc ardorem mentibus addunt,
Euryale, an sua cuique deus fit dira cupido?
Aut pugnam aut aliquid iamdudum invadere magnum
mens agitat mihi, nec placida contenta quiete est.

Cernis quae Rutulos habeat fiducia rerum:
lumina rara micant, somno vinoque soluti
procubuere, silent late loca. Percipe porro
quid dubitem et quae nunc animo sententia surgat.
Aenean acciri omnes, populusque patresque,
exposcunt, mittique viros qui certa reportent.
Si tibi quae posco promittunt (nam mihi facti
fama sat est), tumulo videor reperire sub illo    
posse viam ad muros et moenia Pallantea.”
Obstipuit magno laudum percussus amore
Euryalus, simul his ardentem adfatur amicum:
“Mene igitur socium summis adiungere rebus,
Nise, fugis? Solum te in tanta pericula mittam?
Non ita me genitor, bellis adsuetus Opheltes,
Argolicum terrorem inter Troiaeque labores
sublatum erudiit, nec tecum talia gessi
magnanimum Aenean et fata extrema secutus:
est hic, est animus lucis contemptor et istum 
qui vita bene credat emi, quo tendis, honorem.”
Nisus ad haec: “Equidem de te nil tale verebar,
nec fas; non ita me referat tibi magnus ovantem
Juppiter aut quicumque oculis haec aspicit aequis.
Sed si quis (quae multa vides discrimine tali)
si quis in adversum rapiat casusve deusve,
te superesse velim, tua vita dignior aetas.

Sit qui me raptum pugna pretiove redemptum
mandet humo, solita aut si qua id Fortuna vetabit,
absenti ferat inferias decoretque sepulcro.
Neu matri miserae tanti sim causa doloris,
quae te sola, puer, multis e matribus ausa
persequitur, magni nec moenia curat Acestae.”
Ille autem: “Causas nequiquam nectis inanis
nec mea iam mutata loco sententia cedit.
Acceleremus” ait, vigiles simul excitat. Illi
succedunt servantque vices; statione relicta
ipse comes Niso graditur regemque requirunt.

...

Euryalum tenebrae ramorum onerosaque praeda
impediunt, fallitque timor regione viarum.
Nisus abit; iamque imprudens evaserat hostis
atque locos qui post Albae de nomine dicti
Albani (tum rex stabula alta Latinus habebat),
ut stetit et frustra absentem respexit amicum:

“Euryale infelix, qua te regione reliqui?
Quave sequar?” Rursus perplexum iter omne revolvens
fallacis silvae simul et vestigia retro
observata legit dumisque silentibus errat.
Audit equos, audit strepitus et signa sequentum;
nec longum in medio tempus, cum clamor ad auris
pervenit ac videt Euryalum, quem iam manus omnis
fraude loci et noctis, subito turbante tumultu,
oppressum rapit et conantem plurima frustra.
Quid faciat? Qua vi iuvenem, quibus audeat armis
eripere? An sese medios moriturus in enses
inferat et pulchram properet per vulnera mortem?
Ocius adducto torquet hastile lacerto
suspiciens altam Lunam et sic voce precatur:
“Tu, dea, tu praesens nostro succurre labori,
astrorum decus et nemorum Latonia custos.
Si qua tuis umquam pro me pater Hyrtacus aris
dona tulit, si qua ipse meis venatibus auxi
suspendive tholo aut sacra ad fastigia fixi,
hunc sine me turbare globum et rege tela per auras.”

Dixerat et toto conixus corpore ferrum
conicit. Hasta volans noctis diverberat umbras
et venit aversi in tergum Sulmonis ibique
frangitur, ac fisso transit praecordia ligno...[1]
Diversi circumspiciunt. Hoc acrior idem
ecce aliud summa telum librabat ab aure.
Dum trepidant, it hasta Tago per tempus utrumque... [2]
Saevit atrox Volcens nec teli conspicit usquam
auctorem nec quo se ardens immittere possit.
“Tu tamen interea calido mihi sanguine poenas
persolves amborum” inquit; simul ense recluso
ibat in Euryalum. Tum vero exterritus, amens,
conclamat Nisus nec se celare tenebris
amplius aut tantum potuit perferre dolorem:
“Me, me, adsum qui feci, in me convertite ferrum,
o Rutuli! Mea fraus omnis, nihil iste nec ausus
nec potuit; caelum hoc et conscia sidera testor;

tantum infelicem nimium dilexit amicum.”  
Talia dicta dabat, sed viribus ensis adactus
transadigit costas et candida pectora rumpit.
Volvitur Euryalus leto, pulchrosque per artus
it cruor inque umeros cervix conlapsa recumbit:
purpureus veluti cum flos succisus aratro 
languescit moriens, lassove papavera collo
demisere caput pluvia cum forte gravantur.
At Nisus ruit in medios solumque per omnis
Volcentem petit, in solo Volcente moratur.
Quem circum glomerati hostes hinc comminus atque hinc 
proturbant. Instat non setius ac rotat ensem
fulmineum, donec Rutuli clamantis in ore
condidit adverso et moriens animam abstulit hosti.
Tum super exanimum sese proiecit amicum
confossus, placidaque ibi demum morte quievit.
Fortunati ambo! Si quid mea carmina possunt,
nulla dies umquam memori vos eximet aevo,
dum domus Aeneae Capitoli immobile saxum
accolet imperiumque pater Romanus habebit.

Vergil, also known as Virgil, [Publius Vergilius Maro; 70 – 19 BCE, modern Italy] was born in Mantua, Cisalpine Gaul, and lived during the tumultuous transition of Roman government from republic to monarchy. His writing talent earned him a place of honor among Maecenas’ fellow authors under Augustan rule. He was friends with numerous famous authors of the time period, including Horace and Asinius Pollio. His former slave Alexander was the most influential romantic partner in his life, and the poet memorialized his love for him under the pseudonym “Alexis” in Eclogue 2. His masterpiece, the Aeneid, tells the story of Aeneas’ migration from Troy to Italy; it was used for centuries as the pinnacle of Roman literature.

---

[1] The graphic description of Sulmo’s wound will not be published here.

[2] The graphic description of Tagus’ wound will not be published here.