W/W: A Lover's Betrayal: Myrmex & Athena, Servius, In Aen. 4.402

Myrmex and Minerva

Name: Servius Date: 4th – 5th century CE Region: [modern Italy] Citation:   Commentary on the Aeneid, 4.402

Once upon a time, there was an Athenian woman named Myrmex, whom Minerva cherished because of her chastity and dexterity.   But soon Minerva's love turned into hatred. 

When Minerva saw that Ceres had discovered agriculture, she wanted to show the Athenians how to farm more efficiently, and so she invented the plough. 

Myrmex eavesdropped on the goddess as she was tilling the land, and the woman dared to steal the plough.

Then she bragged that Ceres’ crops would be worthless without this invention.   

Minerva didn't handle this well. She transformed Myrmex into an ant and ordered her to act according to her nature, as a traitor who always chases after and steals the grain of others.

Pitying the girl, Jupiter figured out a way to honor the ants.  For when he acknowledged the paternity of Aeacus (his son through Aegina), he made him king of Thessaly, and, seeing that the territory had no inhabitants, he ordered Aeacus to collect ants into one place and then he transformed them into people. This is why they are called the “Myrmidons,” the “Ant people.”

 

Myrmex and Minerva

De qua fabula talis est: in Attica regione quaedam puella Myrmix nomine fuit, Minervae ob castimoniam et sollertiam dilecta, quae postea hoc modo Minervae in se odium concitavit. Namque cum vidisset Minerva Cererem segetes invenisse, volens ipsa ostendere Atticis quo expeditius segetes parerent, aratrum dicitur invenisse. Quod cum manu ageret, et Myrmix ei adhaereret, ausa est occulte aratri stivam subripere, et apud homines se iactare, infructuosum esse Cereris munus, nisi suo uterentur invento, quo terra aratro resoluta expeditius ederet fructus. Quod cum proditum aegre tulisset Minerva, Myrmicem illam virginem in formicam convertit eamque, ut proditricem, adversam frumentis, quae semper insequitur et subripit, esse praecepit. Quae res cum Jovi miserationem movisset, excogitavit quemadmodum formicae honorem daret. Nam cum Aeacum, filium suum ex Aegina susceptum, Thessalis imponeret regem et agros ipsos videret hominibus indigere, formicas colligi in unum iussit easque in homines commutavit: unde “Myrmidones” appellati sunt.

 

Servius [Maurus Servius Honoratus; 4th – 5th century CE] Servius’ name is unfortunately the only thing we know of this author. Little is known about the author or manuscript tradition for the grammatical commentary of Vergil’s Aeneid.

 

M/M: Alligators in the Sewers: Conon, Narrationes XXI

A lover once gave a baby snake to his Cretan boyfriend. The young man raised the snake and took care of it until it grew up. The town’s inhabitants grew afraid of it and forced him to return the snake to the wild, and although he was upset about it, he complied. Later when the youth was out hunting and ran into some bandits, he shouted for help. The snake recognized its old owner, and in a show of affection, freed him from danger by curling itself around the bandits and killing them. 

ΔΙΗΓΗΣΙΣ κβ Μειρακία Κρητι γέννημα δράκοντος ό εραστής δωρείται. ό δε έτρεφέ τε και επεμελείτο έως ηυξήθη και φόβον ενεπoίει ο δράκων τοϊς επιχωρίοις ούτοι γαρ τότε ηνάγκασαν το μειράκιον έκθεϊναι το θηρίον επί της ερημίας και πολλά κλαίον εξέθετο. Υστερον δε επι θήραν έξελθόντος του μειρακίου και λησταϊς περιπεσόντος και ανακαλουμένου τους βοηθήσαντας αναγνωρίσας ο δράκων την φωνήν τους μεν ληστας διέφθειρεν εκάστω περιειληθείς σημεία δε τώ παιδί παλαιάς αισθήσεως ένδειξάμενος απαλλάσσει της επιβουλής

Cretensi puero tanquam pro amasio datus est draconis foetus. Hunc eo usque educavit ille, studioseque curavit, dum grandior factus metum etiam incolis iniiceret. Coegerunt itaque puerum in solitudinem draconem deferre. Et paruit ille, multum plorans. Tandem vero cum ad venationem aliquando adolescens egressus in latrones incididsset, opemque inclamasset: agnita voce draco, et corporibus sese implicans, praedones occidit, atque adolescentem, veteris signa necessitudinis ostendens, periculo eripuit.

* A μειράκιον [meirakion] is no longer an ἔφηβος [ephēbos], but not yet an ἀνήρ [anēr]; i.e., a person in their late teens to early twenties

--Conon Narratio xxi, Translated into Latin by Thomas Gale [1675]

Conon was a Greek mythographer who lived during the reign of Augustus. Although his work, the Narrations, is lost, a summary of it was preserved by the Greek author Photius. 

A Staying Hand When I Yearned for Death: Ovid, Ex Ponto I.9

 

Roman men often had deep, loving and affectionate friendships with their peers; there was no shame or stigma in expressing love and support to one another. In the following poem, Ovid expresses his love and appreciation for his deceased friend Celsus  as he faces a terrifying personal crisis (his exile in  8 CE).

To Maximus Cotta:

Your letter that came to me about Celsus’ death

was immediately drenched in my tears.

I thought it wouldn’t be possible to do so,

But as much as it shames me to say this,

I didn’t want to read your letter.

Nor did any news come to my ears more bitterly than this

Since I’ve been in Pontus,

And hopefully nothing worse will come.

Celsus’ image appears before my eyes

And my love for him deludes me into thinking the dead man still lives.

Often I think about his playful nature;

He lived his life in utter transparency.

Nothing eases my pain more than the time

when, as I wished to end my life,

when my whole world collapsed around me suddenly

and fell down upon my head,

*He* was there by my side,

when all my other friends had abandoned me;

he chose to share my pain.

I saw him mourning my death

As if he mourned the loss of his own brother.

He held me, and comforted me as I lay fallen,

And his tears mixed with mine.

Time and again he protected me from ending my bitter life

Holding my hands from ending it all.

Time and again he told me,

“The gods’ anger does not last forever:

Live and don’t deny yourself an opportunity for redemption!”

His voice rings in my ears so clearly:

“Look at how much Maximus can help you,

 Maximus will use the love he holds for you

To check Caesar’s anger, and keep him from executing you,

Performing a brother’s duty, he will use his resources

and do whatever he can to lessen your grief.”

His words alleviated my hatred for life.

See to it, Maximus, that his promises are not in vain.

He used to promise that he would come visit me here,

But only if you would allow such a long journey,

For he worshiped your day-to-day schedule

The way that you revere the gods’ management of the earth.

If what mattered wasn’t social class or ancestry

But rather if it were kindness and talent that make men great,

then he would be greatest of all your friends, --trust me!--

despite the fact that you are worthy of many other friends.

So it’s appropriate for me to shed tears over the death of Celsus,

to return the tears that he gave to me as I was exiled.

It’s appropriate for me to write poetry praising his character,

So that future readers can read your name, Celsus.

This is all I can send from Getan territory,

This alone is what I can do.

I’m not permitted to attend your funeral,

Or anoint your body,

An entire globe keeps me from your funeral pyre.

Maximus, whom you worshipped as a god,

Has completed every funeral rite for you as best he could.

He provided you with a funeral and a wake

And sprinkled the flowers over your cold body.

 Grieving, he anointed you with unguents mixed with his tears,

And covered your bones in a land close to home.

Since he performed the rite due to dead friends,

He can now add me to that number as well.

IX. COTTAE MAXIMO

 Quae mihi de rapto tua venit epistula Celso

       protinus est lacrimis umida facta meis,

quodqve nefas dictu fieri nec posse putavi,

       invitis oculis littera lecta tua est.

Nec quicquam ad nostras pervenit acerbius aures,                    5

       ut sumus in Ponto, perveniatque precor.

Ante meos oculos tamquam praesentis imago

       haeret et extinctum vivere fingit amor.

Saepe refert animus lusus grauitate carentes,

       seria cum liquida saepe peracta fide.                    10

Nulla tamen subeunt mihi tempora densius illis

       quae vellem vitae summa fuisse meae,

cum domus ingenti subito mea lapsa ruina

       concidit in domini procubuitque caput.

Adfuit ille mihi, cum me pars magna reliquit,                    15

       Maxime, Fortunae nec fuit ipse comes.

Illum ego non aliter flentem mea funera vidi

       ponendus quam si frater in igne foret.

Haesit in amplexu consolatusque iacentem est

       cumque meis lacrimis miscuit usque suas.                    20

O quotiens vitae custos invisus amarae

       continuit promptas in mea fata manus!

O quotiens dixit: 'Placabilis ira deorum est:

       vive nec ignosci tu tibi posse nega!'

Vox tamen illa fuit celeberrima: 'Respice quantum                    25

       debeat auxilium Maximus esse tibi.

Maximus incumbet, quaque est pietate, rogabit

       ne sit ad extremum Caesaris ira tenax,

cumque suis fratris vires adhibebit et omnem,

       quo levius doleas, experietur opem.'                    30

Haec mihi verba malae minuerunt taedia vitae:

       quae tu ne fuerint, Maxime, vana cave.

Huc quoque venturum mihi se iurare solebat

       non nisi te longae ius sibi dante viae.

Nam tua non alio coluit penetralia ritu                    35

       terrarum dominos quam colis ipse deos.

Crede mihi, multos habeas cum dignus amicos,

       non fuit e multis quolibet ille minor,

si modo non census nec clarum nomen avorum,

       sed probitas magnos ingeniumque facit.                     40

Iure igitur lacrimas Celso libamus adempto,

       cum fugerem, vivo quas dedit ille mihi;

carmina iure damus raros testantia mores,

       ut tua venturi nomina, Celse, legant.

Hoc est quod possum Geticis tibi mittere ab arvis;                    45

       hoc solum est istic quod licet esse meum.

Funera non potui comitare nec ungere corpus

       atque tuis toto diuidor orbe rogis.

Qui potuit, quem tu pro numine vivus habebas,

       praestitit officium Maximus omne tibi.                    50

Ille tibi exequias et magni funus honoris

       fecit et in gelidos vertit amoma sinus

diluit et lacrimis maerens unguenta profusis

       ossaque vicina condita texit humo.

Qui quoniam extinctis quae debet praestat amicis,                    55

       et nos extinctis adnumerare potest.

 --Ovid, Ex Ponto I.9

 

Ovid 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, where he spent the remainder of his life pining for his native homeland.

 

A Friend in Need: Cicero, Ad Atticum III.3

The letters of Cicero reveal insights into aspects of ancient Roman masculinity. By reading these letters, we see that Roman men often had deep, loving and affectionate friendships with their peers. There is no shame or stigma in expressing love and support to one another. In the following letter, Cicero expresses his love and appreciation for his friend Atticus as he faces a terrifying personal crisis (his exile in 58 BCE).

To: Atticus

From: Cicero

Greetings.

I hope that one day I will thank you for forcing me to go on living; I certainly still regret it. But I ask you to come visit me at Vibo, where many reasons have caused me to change my route. If you meet me there, I can get your advice on my strategy for my exile and my flight. I’d be surprised if you can’t come; rather, I am confident that you will.

CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Vtinam illum diem videam cum tibi agam gratias quod me vivere coegisti! adhuc quidem valde me paenitet. sed te oro ut ad me Vibonem statim venias quo ego multis de causis converti iter meum. sed eo si veneris, de tota itinere ac fuga mea consilium capere potero. si id non feceris, mirabor; sed confido te esse facturum.

--Cicero, Ad Atticum III.3 

Cicero was an Italian-born Roman statesman and author who lived during the complexities of Rome’s transition from Republic to monarchy. Cicero spent most of his life in service of his country, serving as both a lawyer, senator, and even consul [Roman equivalent of president]. He is known for his suppression of the failed governmental coup in 63 BCE known as the Catilinarian conspiracy that occurred during his consulship. After the rise of Octavian [later known as the first Roman emperor Augustus], his views fell out of favor and he was eventually put to death during the proscriptions under the Second Triumvirate (Octavian, Marc Antony and Lepidus). He was a prolific author with a wide range in genres, and his literary style was adopted by Petrarch as the default model for the Latin language. 

A Victim Caught in the Middle: Hippolytus, Greek Anthology 9.132

When they met face-to-face,

Celibacy & Love

Destroyed two souls:

A burning desire for Hippolytus slew Phaedra;

But Hippolytus’ innocent chastity slew him.

 Modestia et Amor obviam sibi-invicem

progressi vitas perdiderunt ambo:

Phaedram quidem interfecit ardens amor Hippolyti:

Hippolytum vero casta interemit modestia.

σωφροσύνη καὶ Ἔρως κατεναντίον ἀλλήλοισιν

ἐλθόντες ψυχὰς ὤλεσαν ἀμφότερον:

Φαίδρην μὲν κτεῖνεν πυρόεις πόθος Ἱππολύτοιο:

Ἱππόλυτον δ᾽ ἁγνὴ πέφνε σαοφροσύνη:.

--Greek Anthology 9.132, Translated into Latin by Friedrich Duebner

The Greek Anthology is a modern collection of Greek lyric poetry compiled from various sources over the course of Greco-Roman literature. The current collection was created from two major sources, one from the 10^th century CE and one from the 14^th century CE. The anthology contains authors spanning the entirety of Greek literature, from archaic poets to Byzantine Christian poets.  

When I Find Myself In Times of Trouble... Ovid, Trist.1.5.17-34

 

Name:     Ovid Date:       43 BCE – 17 CE Region:   Sulmo [modern Italy] Citation: Sorrows 1.5.17-34

In this poem, the exiled poet Ovid writes about the importance of true friendship and loyalty.

 

If my ship were sailing on a friendly wind,

Perhaps I could forget your loyalty.

For Pirithous would not have felt Theseus’ friendship

If he hadn’t gone on a quest to the Underworld.

If not for wretched Orestes’ madness,

Pylades would not be seen as a paragon of love.

If Euryalus had not fallen in battle against the Rutulians, Nisus would have no glory.

Just like gold bubbles up from the smelter’s furnace,

Faith also must endure a tribulation.

Whenever Fortune smiles down upon us serenely

She blesses us with uninterrupted prosperity,

But as soon as she grows angry,

Our good times flee,

Instead of the tons of friends we once had,

We can scarcely find one.

And although I used to ponder examples of this trope,

Now this evil has befallen me, too.

Of all my “friends,” y’all are the two or three friends I have left.

The rest belong to Fortune’s clique, not mine.

  

Si tamen haec navis vento ferretur amico,

ignoraretur forsitan ista fides.

Thesea Pirithous non tam sensisset amicum,

si non infernas vivus adisset aquas.

Ut foret exemplum veri Phoceus amoris,

fecerunt Furiae, tristis Oresta, tuae.

Si non Euryalus Rutulos cecidisset in hostes,

Hyrtacidae Nisi gloria nulla foret.

Scilicet ut flavum spectatur in ignibus aurum,

tempore sic duro est inspicienda fides.

Dum iuvat et vultu ridet Fortuna sereno,

indelibatas cuncta sequuntur opes:

at simul intonuit, fugiunt, nec noscitur ulli,

agminibus comitum qui modo cinctus erat.

Atque haec, exemplis quondam collecta priorum,

nunc mihi sunt propriis cognita vera malis.

Vix duo tresve mihi de tot superestis amici:

cetera Fortunae, non mea turba fuit.

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.

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends: Ovid, Ex Ponto II.iii.41-49

 

Name:   Ovid Date:     43 BCE – 17 CE Region:    Sulmo [modern Italy] Citation: Letters from Pontus 2.3.41 – 48

Ovid wrote this poem while in exile, the lowest point of his life. In this passage, he reaches out to his friend Maximus for help while comparing their relationship with famous examples from mythology: 

 

Consider how Achilles honored his friend Patroclus when he died, 

And remember that this life of mine is a living death!

Theseus accompanied Pirithous to the Underworld;

How far off is my death from the Stygian waves?

Pylades supported Orestes through his mental crisis;

My troubles have given me no less a crisis.

Maximus, accept the same praise that these heroes received,

And keep doing what you are doing,

Helping me however you can while my life is in ruins.

Cerne quid Aeacides post mortem praestet amico:

instar et hanc vitam mortis habere puta.

Pirithoum Theseus Stygias comitavit ad undas:

a Stygia quantum mors mea distat aqua?

Adfuit insano iuvenis Phoceus Orestae: 

et mea non minimum culpa furoris habet.

Tu quoque magnorum laudes admitte virorum,

ut facis, et lapso quam potes adfer opem.

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.

The Double Standard: Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights x.xxiii.1-5

  An excerpt of Marcus Cato’s speech about traditional gender norms of women, which mentions the right for a husband to kill his wife caught in adultery.

1. Those who write about customs and norms of the Romans say that women both in Rome and Latium lived their lives in sobriety, always abstaining from wine (which in the olden days was called “moonshine*”).  Furthermore, women were conditioned to kiss their relatives, so that the menfolk could catch them if they were drinking, by smelling the alcohol on their breath.

2. They say that women were accustomed to drink sweet drinks—ice wine, grape juice, second-pressed [diluted] wine. And you can read more about this in the books I’ve already mentioned.

3. But Marcus Cato declared that women were not only convicted but also punished by a magistrate if they were drunk—and punished at the same level as adultery (even more so!)

4. I’m quoting a passage of Marcus Cato from his speech “About Dowries,” where he wrote that husbands had the right to kill their wives caught in adultery:

“When a husband divorces his wife, he acts as the woman’s judge and magistrate, and has the authority as he sees fit, to condemn his wife if she has done a shameful or offensive act. She is punished severely if she drinks wine; if she does something shameful with another man, she is condemned to death.

5. And Cato writes this about the husband’s right to put his wife to death:

“If you have caught your wife in adultery, you may kill her with impunity, without a trial; but whether you commit adultery with a woman (adulterares) or a man (adulterarere), your wife cannot lay a finger on you, nor does she have the right.”

*using an archaism here to reflect the archaism in the text

XXIII. Verba ex oratione M. Catonis de mulierum veterum victu et moribus; atque inibi, quod fuerit ius marito in adulterio uxorem deprehensam necare. I. Qui de victu atque cultu populi Romani scripserunt, mulieres Romae atque in Latio aetatem abstemias egisse, hoc est vino semper, quod "temetum" prisca lingua appellabatur, abstinuisse dicunt, institutumque ut cognatis osculum ferrent deprehendendi causa, ut odor indicium faceret, si bibissent. II. Bibere autem solitas ferunt loream, passum, murrinam et quae id genus sapiant potu dulcia. Atque haec quidem in his, quibus dixi, libris pervulgata sunt; III. sed Marcus Cato non solum existimatas, set et multatas quoque a iudice mulieres refert non minus, si vinum in se, quam si probrum et adulterium admisissent. IV. Verba Marci Catonis adscripsi ex oratione, quae inscribitur de dote, in qua id quoque scriptum est in adulterio uxores deprehensas ius fuisse maritis necare: "Vir" inquit "cum divortium fecit, mulieri iudex pro censore est, imperium, quod videtur, habet, si quid perverse taetreque factum est a muliere; multatur, si vinum bibit; si cum alieno viro probri quid fecit, condemnatur." V. De iure autem occidendi ita scriptum: "In adulterio uxorem tuam si prehendisses, sine iudicio inpune necares; illa te, si adulterares sive tu adulterarere, digito non auderet contingere, neque ius est."

 --Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, x.xxiii.1-5

 

 Famous for his line “Delenda est Karthago,” Cato the Elder is an Italian-born Roman statesman who vociferously touted conservative and xenophobic values throughout his political and literary career.

  

An Offering and A Poem: Nossis, Greek Anthology 6.265

O sacred Juno,

who often descends from heaven

to mingle with us in sweet-smelling Laconia, accept this linen cloak

Woven by Cleocha’s daughter Theophilis,

Along with her famous daughter Nossis.

 Juno veneranda, Lacinium quae thure-fragrans

saepe coelitus deveniens aspicis,

accipe byssinam vestem, quam tibi cum filia praeclara

Nosside texuit Theophilis, gnata Cleochae.

 

Ἥρα τιμήεσσα, Λακίνιον ἃ τὸ θυῶδες

πολλάκις οὐρανόθεν νεισομένα καθορῇς,

δέξαι βύσσινον εἷμα, τό τοι μετὰ παιδὸς ἀγαυᾶς

Νοσσίδος ὕφανεν Θευφιλὶς ἁ Κλεόχας. 

--Nossis, Greek Anthology vi.265; Translated into Latin by Friedrich Duebner

 Nossis was considered among the famous nine women poets of ancient Greek literature. She lived in Locris (southern Italy) during the 3^rd century. Several of her poems are preserved in the Greek Anthology; like that of her literary predecessor Sappho, Nossis’ poetry provides great insight into the lives of women in the ancient world.