M/M: Apollo's Love for Admetus, Tibullus Carm.2.3.11-15

A common theme in Roman lyric poetry is servitium amoris, ["enslavement to love"], where the narrator of the poem is willing to undergo humiliation in order to prove themselves to the object of their desire. The following poem shows Apollo's love for Admetus causes him to give up his posh lifestyle as an immortal in order to serve as the king's shepherd.  

 

pavit et Admeti tauros formosus Apollo,
    nec cithara intonsae profueruntue comae,
nec potuit curas sanare salubribus herbis:
    quidquid erat medicae vicerat artis amor.
ipse deus solitus stabulis expellere vaccas

--Tibullus, Carm. II.3.11

Beautiful Apollo cared for Admetus’ bulls

His lyre & his long hair did not benefit him

Nor could his knowledge of medicinal herbs heal him;

Love conquered all of his medical skill.

The god Apollo fetched the cows from their stables…

TIBULLUS	MAP:
Name:  Albius Tibullus Date:  55 – 19 BCE Works:  Elegies	REGION  1
BIO:	Timeline:
Tibullus was an Italian born equestrian Roman who lived during the tumultuous transition of Roman government from republic to monarchy. His volumes of elegies provide insight into the lives and customs of Roman aristocrats. Like Catullus and Propertius, Tibullus used a pseudonym for the objects of his attention; many of his love poems were addressed to either “Delia” or “Marathus.”	GOLDEN AGE ROME

A Temple and A Constellation: The Worship of the Asexual Prince Hippolytus, Pausanias II.32.1

Ἱππολύτῳ δὲ τῷ Θησέως τέμενός τε ἐπιφανέστατον ἀνεῖται καὶ ναὸς ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ἄγαλμά ἐστιν ἀρχαῖον. ταῦτα μὲν Διομήδην λέγουσι ποιῆσαι καὶ προσέτι θῦσαι τῷ Ἱππολύτῳ πρῶτον: Τροιζηνίοις δὲ ἱερεὺς μέν ἐστιν Ἱππολύτου τὸν χρόνον τοῦ βίου πάντα ἱερώμενος καὶ θυσίαι καθεστήκασιν ἐπέτειοι, δρῶσι δὲ καὶ ἄλλο τοιόνδε: ἑκάστη παρθένος πλόκαμον ἀποκείρεταί οἱ πρὸ γάμου, κειραμένη δὲ ἀνέθηκεν ἐς τὸν ναὸν φέρουσα. ἀποθανεῖν δὲ αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐθέλουσι συρέντα ὑπὸ τῶν ἵππων οὐδὲ τὸν τάφον ἀποφαίνουσιν εἰδότες: τὸν δὲ ἐν οὐρανῷ καλούμενον ἡνίοχον, τοῦτον εἶναι νομίζουσιν ἐκεῖνον Ἱππόλυτον τιμὴν παρὰ θεῶν ταύτην ἔχοντα.

 

Hippolyto etiam Thesei filio lucus eximia pulchritudine dedicatus est, cum templo & prisci operis simulacro: quae omnia Diomedem tradunt faciunda curasse, eundemque Hippolyto primum omnium rem divinam fecisse. Hippolyti apud Troezenios sacerdos eo honore, quamdiu vivit, fungitur. Sacra ipsa anniversaria sunt. Praeter ceteros sacrorum ritus, virgines ante nuptias succisum sibi capillum in Hippolyti templo consecrant. Neque vero iis assentiuntur Troezenii, qui distractum ab equis marinis Hippolytum memoriae prodiderunt, nec omnino quo loco sepultus fuerit monstrant: verum eum esse illi a Dis habitum honorem affirmant, ut in siderum numerum relatus, idem ipse sit qui Auriga coelestis dicitur.

 

--Pausanias Descriptio Graeciae II.32.1;  Translated into Latin by Romulus Amaseus (1696)

 

There is a remarkable sacred space dedicated to Theseus’ son Hippolytus, which contains a temple and ancient statue inside. They say that Diomedes built it, and was the first person to worship him. Among the Troezenians, there is a priest of Hippolytus who holds the position for life; he performs sacred rituals on an annual basis. Before they get married, brides will cut off a lock of hair, bring it to the temple, and dedicate it to Hippolytus. The Troezenians do not claim that Hippolytus died by being dragged by his own horses, nor do they show his grave (though they do know where it is). Instead, they consider him to be the constellation Auriga [Charioteer], and that he was honored this way by the gods.

PAUSANIAS	MAP:
Name:  Pausanias Date:  110 – 180 CE Works:  Description of Greece	REGION  5
BIO:	Timeline:
Pausanias was a Greek writer who lived during the era of the “Five Good Emperors.” His work, the Description of Greece, is an important source for geographical, historical, archaeological, and cultural information about ancient Greece.	ROMAN GREEK

M/M: A Lost Soul, Missed by All...and Loved By Me, Plato, Greek Anthology VII.99

Lacrimas quidem Hecubaeque et Iliacis matronis

Parcae neverunt* olim modo nascentibus;

tibi autem, Dio, postquam-confecisti pulchrorum triumphum factorum

dii amplas spes effuderunt.

Iaces vero lata in patria honoratus civibus,

o meus vehementius-qui-incendisti-animum amore Dio.

 

*neo, -ere: to spin

 

δάκρυα μὲν Ἑκάβῃ τε καὶ Ἰλιάδεσσι γυναιξὶ

Μοῖραι ἐπέκλωσαν δή ποτε γεινομέναις:

σοὶ δέ, Δίων, ῥέξαντι καλῶν ἐπινίκον ἔργων

δαίμονες εὐρείας ἐλπίδας ἐξέχεαν:

κεῖσαι δ᾽ εὐρυχόρῳ ἐν πατρίδι τίμιος ἀστοῖς,

ὦ ἐμὸν ἐκμήνας θυμὸν ἔρωτι Δίων.

 

--Plato, Greek Anthology VII.99; Translated into Latin by Hugo Grottius

The Fates spun a life of tears

For Hecuba* and the wives of Troy

The minute they were born.

But in your case, Dion**,

after you had completed your accomplishments & achievements,

They dashed all of your hopes and dreams.

And now you lie revered throughout your bustling country,

O Dion, you who have burned my soul with love.

 

* Hecuba (Hekabe) was the Queen of Troy during the Trojan War

** This is Dion of Syracuse

PLATO	MAP:
Name:  Plato Date:  428 BCE – 348 BCE Works:  Apology of Socrates                The Republic                Symposium*, etc.	REGION  5
BIO:	Timeline:
Plato was an Athenian philosopher who is considered one of the most influential minds of Greek thought. Using his predecessor Socrates as his mouthpiece, he composed a number of philosophical dialogues that explored various ethical, philosophical, and moral concepts. He was the founder of the Athenian Academy, and was the mentor of the famous philosopher Aristotle.	GOLDEN AGE GREECE

<Anonymous>	MAP:
Name:  ???? Date:  Works:  Greek Anthology; Anthologia Graeca; Florilegii Graecii	REGION  UNKNOWN
BIO:	Timeline:
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 10th century CE and one from the 14th century CE. The anthology contains authors spanning the entirety of Greek literature, from archaic poets to Byzantine Christian poets.	Byzantine Greek

 

Born This Way: The Medieval Parable "The Prince Who Never Saw a Woman"

Name:  Anonymous Date: c. 13th / 14th century CE Region: Unknown Citation: The Prince Who Had Never Met A Woman[1]

Although the original moral to the following medieval Latin parable was to avoid temptation during celibacy, modern readers see this story as an example of how bias is learned behavior, not inherited.

The Prince Who Had Never Met A Woman

There’s a story about a king who was very upset that he did not have any sons. When his son was finally born, he was overjoyed. However, his doctors told him that his son had a medical condition that if he saw any light before his tenth birthday, he would go blind.

When he heard this, he locked the child in a cave with servants, and so his son did not see the light of day for ten years. When the boy was brought out of the cave, he knew nothing of the world. The king ordered others to show the prince everything that was in the world, separated by type, like men and women separately, horses, etc. in one place; in another place, gold, silver, precious gems, and all other things that delight the eye.

The boy asked the names of each thing as he saw it. When he met a woman, one of the king’s servants responded jokingly, “They are demons who corrupt men!” The prince’s heart leapt in desire for the woman more than any other thing.

Later on, when the king asked his son what he liked most of all the thing he’d seen, the prince responded, “The thing I love the most are the demons who seduce men.”

---

[1]Preserved in Wright, Thomas, ed. A Selection of Latin Stories, From Manuscripts of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries: A Contribution to the History of Fiction During the Middle Ages. London: Percy Society, 1842, p. 7.

Latin Text: 

Legimus de rege quodam, qui cum filios mares non haberet, tristabatur valde; cui natus est filius, et gavisus est gaudio magno valde. Dixerunt autem regi periti medici quod filius eius talis erat dispositionis, quod si solem vel ignem videret infra X annos, lumine oculorum privaretur. Quo audito, rex filium suum in spelunca cum nutricibus inclusit, ita quod usque ad X annos luminis claritatem non vidit.

 Et tunc puero de spelunca educto, cum rerum mundialium nullam haberet notitiam, praecepit rex ostendere ei omnia quae sunt in mundo, secundum genus suum, videlicet viros seorsum, mulieres, equos; in alio loco aurum, argentum, et lapides preciosos, et omnia quae delectare possunt oculos intuentium. Cum autem puer quaereret nomina singulorum, et ventum esset ad mulieres, quidam regis servus respondet, ludendo, “Istae sunt daemones homines seducentes.” Cor vero pueri illarum desiderio plusquam ceteris rebus anhelabat. Cumque rex quaereret a puero quid magis ex omnibus quae videret amaret, respondit, “Magis diligo daemones illos qui homines seducunt, quam omnia aliae quae vidi.”

A Miraculous Bird and Her Miraculous Zookeeper, Ausonius Epig. 45

***NOTE: It is important to note that the Romans did not necessarily differentiate between trans and intersex people; like cinaedus, the term androgynus was used as an umbrella term.***

A Miraculous Bird and Her Miraculous Zookeeper

Name:  Ausonius Date:  4th century CE Region:  Aquitania, Gaul [modern France] Citation: Epigram 76

It is important to note that the Romans did not necessarily differentiate between trans and intersex people; the term androgynus was used as an umbrella term.

 

At Valbone (an unusual occurrence

That would scarcely be believed from poets,

But which is alleged by a historian)

A male bird turned into a female bird;

A peacock became a peahen right before our eyes!

Everyone marveled at the omen,

But a girl, softer than a lamb, announced with her maiden’s voice:

“You goofballs, why are so amazed by this marvel?

 Haven’t you read the poems of Ovid[1]?

Saturn’s offspring Consus[2] changed Caeneus, 

And Tiresias was gender-fluid.

The Salmacis spring saw the intersex Hermaphroditus;

Pliny saw an intersex person get married,

And, more recently, in Beneventum,

One young man suddenly became a young woman!

But nevermind these old stories,

I myself am a woman, though born a boy.”

---

[1] A reference to The Metamorphoses.

[2] Poseidon/Neptune, not Consus, is usually associated with the myth of Caeneus.

Latin Text: 

Vallebanae (nova res et vix credenda poetis,)

sed quae de vera promitur historia)

femineam in speciem convertit masculus ales

pavaque de pavo constitit ante oculos.

Cuncti admirantur monstrum, sed mollior agna...

[Talia virginea voce puella refert:]

“Quid stolidi ad speciem notae novitatis hebetis?

An vos Nasonis carmina non legitis?

Caenida convertit proles Saturnia Consus

ambignoque fuit corpore Tiresias.

Vidit semivirum fons Salmacis Hermaphroditum:

vidit nubentem Plinius Androgynum

nec satis antiquum, quod Campana in Benevento

unus epheborum virgo repente fuit.

Nolo tamen veteris documenta arcesse famae.

Ecce ego sum factus femina de puero.”  

Ausonius [Decimus Magnus Ausonius; 310 – 395 CE, modern France] was a Roman poet from Aquitania, Gaul who lived during the 4th century CE. He is best known for his epic poem Mosella, which describes the Moselle River, and his Epistles, a series of literary poems between himself and the Christian poet Paulinus.

Androgyonous Beauty: Ausonius Epig. 107

Dum dubitat Natura marem faceretne puellam,

Factus es, O pulcher, paene puella, puer.

--Ausonius, Epig. 107

While Nature wonders if she made a boy or a girl,

O lovely one, you were made a pretty--almost a girl--boy.

AUSONIUS

MAP:

Name:  Decimius Magnus Ausonius

Date:  4^th century CE

Works:  Letters, Mosella

 

REGION  2

BIO:

Timeline:

 Ausonius was a Roman poet from Aquitania, Gaul [modern France] who lived during the 4^th century CE. He is best known for his epic poem Mosella, which describes the Moselle River, and his Epistles, a series of literary poems between himself and the Christian poet Paulinus.

 AGE OF CONFLICT

Love On The Brain: Horace, Epodes XIV

Horace, "burning" for his mistress, equates his love to the same-sex desire that Anacreon had for Bathyllos. 

Mollis inertia cur tantam diffuderit imis
      oblivionem sensibus,
pocula Lethaeos ut si ducentia somnos
      arente fauce traxerim,
candide Maecenas, occidis Saepe rogando:
      deus, deus nam me vetat
inceptos, olim promissum carmen, iambos
      ad umbilicum adducere.
non aliter Samio dicunt arsisse Bathyllo
      Anacreonta Teium,
qui persaepe cava testudine flevit amorem
      non elaboratum ad pedem.
ureris ipse miser: quodsi non pulcrior ignis
      accendit obsessam Ilion,
gaude sorte tua; me libertina, nec uno
      contenta, Phryne macerat.

--Horace, Epodes XIV

Delightful Maecenas, you’re killing me

By pestering me, asking me why

Burnout has spread

Such an unproductive mood deep into my consciousness,

As if I my parched throat had consumed

Two hundred glasses of Lethean* sleep.

It’s a god—yup, a god keeps me

From finishing the poem I’d started

And promised to give you.

It’s just like they say Anacreon

Had the hots for Bathyllus—

Again and again, he mourned his love

On his lyre, with a simple meter.

You’re also burning in misery—

Even though the flame [of your love]

Isn’t as pretty as the one that burned down Troy;

You should still be happy for your fate—

For the freedwoman Phryne is killing me,

She’s not content with one man.

* According to Greco-Roman mythology, the Lethe was a river that flowed in the Underworld; souls of the dead would drink from it to forget their past lives

HORACE

MAP:

Name:  Quintus Horatius Flaccus

Date:  65 BCE – 8 BCE

Works:  Odes

            Epodes

 

REGION  1

BIO:

Timeline:

 The Latin poet Horace is known for his famous line, “Carpe Diem.” He was an Italian-born poet who lived during the rise and reign of Rome’s first emperor, Augustus. Although his life began with civil unrest and uncertainty (his father was enslaved and later freed during the civil wars of the 1st century BCE), Horace became friends with the influential entrepreneur Maecenas and earned the position in Augustus’ literary circle.  His poetry provides valuable insight into the so-called “Golden Age” of Augustan literature.  

 GOLDEN AGE ROME

Love Can Not Save You From Death: Horace, Carm IV.7

In this poem, Horace uses two examples from mythology (Diana's asexual love for Hippolytus and Theseus' love for Pirithous) to convince the addressee, Torquatus, to contemplate his own mortality.

Diffugere nives, redeunt iam gramina campis

     arboribusque comae;

mutat terra vices et decrescentia ripas

     flumina praetereunt;

Gratia cum Nymphis geminisque sororibus audet               5

     ducere nuda choros.

Inmortalia ne speres, monet annus et almum

     quae rapit hora diem.

Frigora mitescunt Zephyris, ver proterit aestas,

     interitura simul               10

pomifer autumnus fruges effuderit, et mox

     bruma recurrit iners.

Damna tamen celeres reparant caelestia lunae:

     nos ubi decidimus

quo pater Aeneas, quo dives Tullus et Ancus,               15

     pulvis et umbra sumus.

Quis scit an adiciant hodiernae crastina summae

     tempora di superi?

Cuncta manus avidas fugient heredis, amico

     quae dederis animo.               20

Cum semel occideris et de te splendida Minos

     fecerit arbitria,

non, Torquate, genus, non te facundia, non te

     restituet pietas;

infernis neque enim tenebris Diana pudicum               25

     liberat Hippolytum,

nec Lethaea valet Theseus abrumpere caro

     vincula Pirithoo.

 

--Horace, Carm. IV.7

The snow has melted, the grass has returned to the fields

And leaves have returned to the trees

The earth has changed seasons again

And the ebbing rivers are bubbling along the riverbanks.

One of the Graces dares to lead the dance naked

And her twin sisters and fellow nymphs join her.

Stop hoping for never-ending things;

The [changing] year and the hour that snatches away each life-giving day shows you otherwise.

The cold softens the west-wind,

The summer wears down the spring,

Which in turn will soon pass away.

Bountiful autumn scatters its fruits

 And then sterile winter comes back.

The swift [cycles of the] moons restore each season’s damage:

 Yet when we drop down [to death]

To where father Aeneas dwells,

Where wealthy Tullus* and Ancus* dwell,

We are only dust and shadow.

Who knows whether the immortal gods will add a tomorrow

To the end of today?

Every hour that you spend with a cheerful outlook

Will not fall into the greedy hands of your heirs.

Torquatus, at some point you will die, and

Minos will make a glorious judgment about your soul**

Your lineage will not save you.

Your eloquence will not save you.

Your character will not save you.

Diana could not save the chaste Hippolytus

From the Underworld,

Nor could Theseus break free Pirithous from

His Stygian chains.

*Tullus Hostilius and Ancus Marcius were legendary kings of early Rome

** According to Greco-Roman mythology, Minos judges the souls of the dead.

 

HORACE	MAP:
Name:  Quintus Horatius Flaccus Date:  65 BCE – 8 BCE Works:  Odes             Epodes	REGION  1
BIO:	Timeline:
The Latin poet Horace is known for his famous line, “Carpe Diem.” He was an Italian-born poet who lived during the rise and reign of Rome’s first emperor, Augustus. Although his life began with civil unrest and uncertainty (his father was enslaved and later freed during the civil wars of the 1st century BCE), Horace became friends with the influential entrepreneur Maecenas and earned the position in Augustus’ literary circle.  His poetry provides valuable insight into the so-called “Golden Age” of Augustan literature.	GOLDEN AGE ROME