Aphrodite, Come! Sappho 6

Name: Sappho Date: d. 570 BCE Region: Lesbos [modern Greece] Citation: Fragment 6

Come, Venus, 
pour the nectar mixed with savory herbs, 
pour the nectar in golden goblets,
pour the nectar for these friends of yours & mine.

Ἕλθε, Κύπρι,
Χπρυσίασιν ἐν κυλίκεσσιν ἄβραισ
συμμεμιγμένον θαλίαισι νέκταρ
     οἰνοχόεισα

Ades, Venus, aureis
in poculis, elegantibus
commixtum germinibus
nectar ut affundas
his amicis
meisque tuisque.
Translated from the Greek by Johannis Christianus Wolfius

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: The Army of Theban Lovers, Maximus of Tyre, Diss. 8

The Army of Theban Lovers

Name: Maximus of Tyre [Cassius Maximus Tyrius] Date:   2nd century CE Region:   Tyre [modern Lebanon] Citation:    Dissertation 18.2.f-k

Epamonidas liberated Thebes from Sparta’s control by weaponizing love. In Thebes there were many young soldiers in love.  Epamonidas put weapons in their hands, and created a squadron of lovers who had incredible valor and were undefeatable. Whether in battle formation or in melee they easily repelled the enemy’s assault, the likes of which have never been seen, not even under the skillful leadership of the Trojan War hero Nestor, nor in the descendants of Heracles in the Peloponnesian campaign,  nor in the Peloponnesian campaign against Athens.

The reason for this was that each man had to prove themselves to their lover, either to fight well in their lover’s eyes, or out of necessity, since each man had to defend his own sweetheart. And in turn, a rivalry spurred on their bravery, so they could perform equally as well as their lover, just as the puppies of hunting dogs follow the bigger dogs in the pack.  

Ἐλευθεροῖ τὰς Θήβας Ἐπαμεινώνδας ἀπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων σρατηγήματι ἐρωτικῷ. Μειρακίων πολλῶν καλῶν ἐρασταὶ ἤσαν Θήβησιν πολλοὶ νεανίαι. ὅπλα δους Ἐπαμεινώνδας τοῖς ἐρασταῖς καὶ τοῖς ἐρωμένοις συνέταξεν λόχον ἱερὸν του ἔρωτος. δεινὸν καὶ ἄμαχον καὶ συνασπίζοντα ἀκριβῶς καὶ ἄῤῥηκτον οἷον ουτε ὁ Νέστωρ περὶ τὸ Iλιον συνεστήσατο ὁ δεινότατος τῶν σρατηγών, οὔτε Ἡρακλείδαι περὶ Πελοπόννησον ουτε Πελοποννήσιοι περὶ τὴν Ἀττικὴν. ἔδει γὰρ ἕκασον τῶν ἐραστῶν ἀριστεύειν, καὶ διὰ φιλοτιμίαν ἐν ὄψει τῶν παιδικῶν μαχόμενον καὶ δὶ ἀνάγκην ὑπερμαχούντα τῶν φιλτάτων. ἦν δὲ καὶ τὰ μειράκια ἐφάμιλλα ταῖς ἀρεταῖς τοῖς ἐραςταῖς, ὥσπερ ἐν θήρᾳ σκύλακες συμπαραθέοντες τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις τῶν κυνῶν.

Epamonidas amatorio stratagemate Thebas in liberatem a Lacedaemoniis vindicavit. Erant Thebis multi pulchri adolescentuli qui amabantur, multi pulchri iuvenes qui amabant. Utrisque arma in manum Epamonidas dat, et utrisque cohortem instruit amatoriam, quae mirae virtutis planeque inexpugnabilis cum esset, conferto simul agmine facile hostium impetum sustinuit. Qualem neque imperatorum solertissimus Nestor, in Troiano agro, neque in Peloponnesiaco Heraclidae, neque in Attico instruxere Peloponnesii Necesse enim fuit amatores singulos, vel existimationis suae causa, quod in oculis adolescentulorum pugnarent, vel necessitatis, quod singuli amicissimum defenderent, strenue rem gerere. Vehemens rursus aemulatio adolescentulos pungebat, ut cum amatoribus sibi suis paria facerent: sicut in venatione catuli, qui maiores canes sequuntur.  Translated into Latin by Claudius Larjot

Maximus of Tyre [2nd century CE, modern Lebanon] was listed as one of the most influential people in the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius’ life. He spent most of his life in scholarly pursuits; his Dissertations were a collection of philosophical treatises based on the works of Plato.

Sappho & Socrates: A Comparison, Maximus of Tyre, Dis. 18

Name: Maximus of Tyre Date:   2nd century CE Region:   Tyre [modern Lebanon] Citation:    Dissertation 18

Well, if it's appropriate to compare ancient literature with modern, what is Sappho's poetry except the Socratic art of love? For it seems to me that they both sought after the same thing: Socrates enjoyed the love of men, Sappho enjoyed the love of women.

• Both confessed that they loved many people, and were captivated by the most beautiful. 
• And the relationship that  Alcibiades, Charmides, and Phaedrus had with Socrates, 
• so too did Gyrinna, Athis and Anactoria have with Sappho. 
• And Prodicus, Gorgias, Thrasymachus and Protagoras were Socrates' rivals, 
• Gorgo and Andromeda were Sappho's rivals. 
• Sometimes Sappho blew off her lovers, sometimes she yelled at them, sometimes she would blow them away with the charm of Socratic wit.
• Socrates said: "Io, protect me!"
• Sappho said, "Protect me, son of Polyanax!"
• Socrates said that he did not date Alcibiades (whom he had a crush on for a while) until he could handle advanced conversations. 
• Sappho said, "you're just a little girl, way too immature." 
• Socrates criticized the body language and how sophists sat down; 
• Sappho sang, "the woman wearing a country-style dress." 
• Diotima said to Socrates that Cupid was not the son but the slave and attendant of Venus. 
• Sappho says the same thing in one of her poems: "You, too, o Cupid, you most beautiful slave." 
• Diotima said  that love flourishes in good times, and dies in bad times. 
• Sappho says the same thing: she calls love "bittersweet" and that it  gives troublesome gifts. 
• Socrates calls love a sophist; 
• Sappho called it a architect of words. 
• Socrates said that his love of Phaedrus put him in a Bacchic rage; 
• Sappho said that love shakes her mind like the winds shake the mountain treetops.   
• Socrates chided Xanthippe when she was sad about his impending death; 
• Sappho wrote to her daughter that "Grief wasn't appropriate (nefas) in the house of the muses, and it certainly isn't appropriate for us."

Sapphus vero (si quidem antiquiora cum recentioribus conferre fas est) quid est aliud quam amatoria ars Socratis? Videntur enim mihi idem spectare uterque, hic cum virorum, illa cum mulierum celebrat amorem. Uterque plurimos se amare fatetur, et ab omnibus formosis facillime capi. Quod enim Alcibiades illi & Charmides, et Phedrus, hoc Sapphoni Lesbiae Gyrinna, Athis, et Anactoria: et quod Socrati aemuli illi Prodicus, Gorgias, Thrasymachus, et Protagoras, hoc Sapphoni Gorgo et Andromeda. Interdum namque increpat illas, interdum arguit, tum ubique urbana illa Socratis elucet dissimulatio. Ionem salvere iubeo, ait Socrates. Plurimum salvere Polyanactis filium iubeo, ait Sappho. Negat se Alcibiadem quem diu ante amarat, priusquem e coloquiis suis fructum haurire posset, accedere voluisse Socrates. Parva mihi puella videre, nec adhuc matura, ait Sappho. Ille habitum alibi & discubitum sophistae perstringit: ila alibi canit, Quaedam rustica tunica induta. Amorem ait Diotima apud Socratem, non filium, sed pedissequum esse Veneris & famulum. Venus alibi apud Sapphonem in oda quadam ait, Et tu pulcherrime famule amor. Rursus Diotima ait, florere amorem cum abundat, mori cum eget. Illa utrumque coniungit: cum Amorem dulceamarum vocat, et dona aid dare, sed molesta. Socrates Amorem sophistam vocat, Sappho verborum architectum. Phaedri amore tanquam Bacchico furore concitare se ait Socrates. Illa vero, Amore mihi mentem, inquit, impulit, venti instar qui montanis incidit arboribus. Socrates Xanthippen perstringit, cum mortem eius dolet: illa filiae suae scribit, Nefas in poetica domo luctum esse; neque id nobis sit dignum. 

Translated into Latin by Claudius Larjot

Maximus of Tyre [2nd century CE, modern Lebanon] was listed as one of the most influential people in the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius’ life. He spent most of his life in scholarly pursuits; his Dissertations were a collection of philosophical treatises based on the works of Plato.

A Transgender Man: Iphis, Ovid, Meta.9.665-795

I Thirst While Drowning in Waves: Iphis Yearns to Marry Ianthe

Name:   Ovid Date:     43 BCE – 17 CE Region:    Sulmo [modern Italy] Citation: Metamorphoses 9.735, 742 – 744, 755 – 763

In Ovid’s mythology-based epic, The Metamorphoses, Iphis prays to be transformed into a man in order to marry the love of their life, Ianthe:

“I wish I weren’t a girl! … Daedalus, the most intelligent man in the entire world, the one who flew away with waxen wings, could he do the same for me: make a girl into a boy? Could he even change you, Ianthe?

“...So far no part of my prayers have been in vain. The gods readily gave whatever they could to me and my family. They’ve provided what I want, what my father wants, what Ianthe wants, what my father-in-law wants. But Nature herself doesn’t want this, and she overrides us all.

“Look, the perfect occasion is here; the wedding day is here. Ianthe will soon be mine. But it’s no use! I thirst while drowning in waves. What’s the purpose of my matron of honor Juno being here? Why has Hymenaeus come? The groom is absent, but two brides are here.”

I Thirst While Drowning in Waves: Iphis Yearns to Marry Ianthe

Vellem nulla forem!

...ipse licet revolet ceratis Daedalus alis,

quid faciet? Num me puerum de virgine doctis

artibus efficiet? Num te mutabit, Ianthe?

...Nunc quoque votorum nulla est pars vana meorum,

dique mihi faciles, quicquid valuere, dederunt;

quodque ego, vult genitor, vult ipsa, socerque futurus.

At non vult natura, potentior omnibus istis,

quae mihi sola nocet. venit ecce optabile tempus,

Luxque iugalis adest, et iam mea fiet Ianthe—

nec mihi continget: mediis sitiemus in undis.

Pronuba quid Juno, quid ad haec, Hymenaee, venitis

sacra, quibus qui ducat abest, ubi nubimus ambae?”

Ovid [Publius Ovidius Naso; 43 BCE – 17 CE, modern Italy] was one of the most famous love poets of Rome’s Golden Age. His most famous work, the Metamorphoses, provides a history of the world through a series of interwoven myths. Most of his poetry is erotic in nature; for this reason, he fell into trouble during the conservative social reforms under the reign of the emperor Augustus. In 8 CE he was banished to Bithynia [modern Turkey], where he spent the remainder of his life pining for his native homeland.