The Avenger of Achilles: Martial, Epig.2.84.1-2

Name: Martial Date: c. 40 – 100 CE Region: Bilbilis, Hispania [modern Spain] Citation: Epigrams 2.84.1-2

Note: Only the first half of the poem is printed here. In the second half, Martial makes an obscene comparison to this myth and one of his peers.

Philoctetes was gay, and openly flirty with men;

This is how Venus avenged the wounds of Paris*.

*In this version of the myth, Paris shoots and kills Achilles, and in turn is slain by Philoctetes' bow.

Mollis erat facilisque viris Poeantius heros:

     vulnera sic Paridis dicitur ulta Venus.

Martial [Marcus Valerius Martialis; 38 BCE – 102 CE, modern Spain] Originally from Bilbilis, Hispania, the poet Martial moved to Rome in the 60s CE to advance his career. His two extant works include de Spectaculis, a collection of poems written to commemorate the opening of the Colosseum, and a fifteen volume collection of epigrams. These poems provide valuable insight into the private lives of Romans from all of the city’s social classes.

The Greeks Honoring the Fallen Amazons: Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.41.7

 

Name:  Pausanias Date:        110 – 180 CE Region:    Lydia [modern Turkey] Citation:      Description of Greece  1.41.7

Amazons were a varied and complex component of Athenian art and literature. In this passage, Pausanias describes the tomb of the mythical Amazon warrior Hippolyte, who dies of a broken heart when she loses her sister, Antiope. 

Near the monument to Pandion is the monument to Hippolyta; let me tell you about what the Megarians say about it. When the Amazons attacked Athens to avenge the kidnapped Antiope, they were defeated by Theseus. Many of the Amazons died in battle, but Hippolyte, the sister of Antiope and the Amazons’ general, retreated to Megara with the few remaining survivors. Upset by the defeat in battle, and despairing that that she would never return home to Themiscyra again, she died of grief. When she died, the Megarians buried her and made her tomb in the shape of an Amazon shield.

 ὅτε Ἀμαζόνες ἐπ᾽ Ἀθηναίους στρατεύσασαι δι᾽ Ἀντιόπην ἐκρατήθησαν ὑπὸ Θησέως, τὰς μὲν πολλὰς συνέβη μαχομένας αὐτῶν ἀποθανεῖν, Ἱππολύτην δὲ ἀδελφὴν οὖσαν Ἀντιόπης καὶ τότε ἡγουμένην τῶν γυναικῶν ἀποφυγεῖν σὺν ὀλίγαις ἐς Μέγαρα, ἅτε δὲ κακῶς οὕτω πράξασαν τῷ στρατῷ τοῖς τε παροῦσιν ἀθύμως ἔχουσαν καὶ περὶ τῆς οἴκαδε ἐς τὴν Θεμίσκυραν σωτηρίας μᾶλλον ἔτι ἀποροῦσαν ὑπὸ λύπης τελευτῆσαι: καὶ θάψαι αὐτὴν ἀποθανοῦσαν, καί οἱ τοῦ μνήματος σχῆμά ἐστιν Ἀμαζονικῇ ἀσπίδι ἐμφερές

Prope est Hippolytae monumentum, de qua quae Megarenses dicunt, non praetermittam. Quum Amazones ob captam Antiopen bello Athenienses lacessissent, a Theseo superatae sunt. Quumque earum multae in proelio cecidissent, Hippolyten tradunt, Antiopes sororem, cui feminarum ille parebat exercitus, Megara cum paucis aufugisse: ibi quum re mala gesta animum despondisset, praesertim quod se Themiscyram in patriam suam redire posse desperasset, prae animi angore e vita excessisse: sepultam vero eo quo diximus loco, et eius sane monumentum Amazonici clypei formam prae se fert.

 

Translated into Latin by Romulus Amasaeus (1696)

Pausanias [110 -180 CE, modern Turkey] was a Greek writer from Lydia 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.

Atalanta's End: Lactantius Placidius 10.11

Ace Champion Atalanta

Name: Lactantius Placidus Date:  5th or 6th century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:  Plots of Ovid’s Myths, Book 10, Story 11

When Atalanta learned about marriage and was warned to never marry, she set up a test for all of her suitors. Since she was the fastest woman alive, she said that she would marry anyone who won a race against her, but would kill anyone she outran.

Ace Chamption Atalanta

Atalanta, Schoenei filia, cum de coniugio sciscitata esset et monita nulli iungeretur, quia omnium virginum pernicissima erat, petentibus procris legem posuit, eius coniugem futuram, qui se cursu pedum antecessisset, victo autem necem statuit.

Lactantius Placidus [5^th or 6^th century CE] is the name of the author attributed to a prose summary of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, but little is known about the author or his time period.

Dangerous Beauty: The Abduction of Hylas, Vat. Myth. 2.199

The Abduction of Hylas

Name:  Vatican Mythographers Date:   10th century CE Region:   Unknown Citation:   Vatican Mythographers  2.199

Abduction myths serve two purposes. For modern readers, they serve as a cautionary tale that all young persons are vulnerable to exploitation. For ancient readers, however, these beautiful youths’ abductions were euphemistic stories to help grieving parents cope with the loss of a child who died before reaching expected social milestones (e.g., entering adulthood or getting married).

When Hercules joined the Argonauts, he brought with him the incredibly beautiful Hylas as his squire. During the trip, he broke an oar while he was rowing, so the crew headed to the forests of Mysia for repairs. While Hylas was gathering  water, he fell into a river and is said to have been abducted by the water nymphs there. When Hercules went looking for him and the Argonauts tried to stop him, they left him behind in Mysia. Later on, when he realized that Hylas drowned, sacred rites were dedicated to him: his name “Hylas!” is proclaimed. 

The Abduction of Hylas

Hercules cum comes Argonautis accessisset, Hylam Thiodomantis filium admirandae pulchritudinis iuvenem secum duxit armigerum. Qui remum fregit in mari cum pro suis remigat viribus. Cuius reparandi gratia Mysiam petens silvam fertur ingressus. Hylas, vero cum aquatum cum urna perrexisset, in fluvium cecidit; unde a nymphis raptus esse dicitur. Quem dum Hercules quaerens ab Argonatuis impeditus esset,in Mysia est relictus. Postea cum cognitum esset in fonte eum perisse, statuta sunt ei sacra, in quibus mos fuerat ut nomen eius clamaretur in montibus.

Vatican Mythographers [10th century CE?] Little is known about the author or origin of the collection of myths known as the Vatican Mythographers, but the work’s first editor Angelo Mai found the collection on a manuscript dating back to the 10th century CE. This volume is a collection of three different mythographers who have assembled various Greco-Roman myths; although many of these myths are basic summaries in Latin, some of them are either analyzed as allegories or compared to Christian thought.

They were Roommates? Suetonius on the life of Hyginus, de Gram. 20.1-3

Name: Suetonius Date:  69 - 122 CE Region: Numidia [modern Algeria]    Citation:  de Gramm. 20.1-3

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.

Caius Julius Hyginus, one of Augustus’ freedmen, was from Hispania [modern Spain].  Some think that he was actually from Alexandria [modern Egypt], and brought to Rome as a boy by Caesar after the fall of Alexandria. He studied under the Greek scholar Cornelius Alexander (whom many called the Scholar because of his vast knowledge of history), then followed in his footsteps. He was in charge of the Palatine library, and despite this, still had the time to teach many people. He was very close friends with the poet Ovid and Clodius Licinius, the former consul and historian who, after Hyginus fell into poverty, supported him financially for as long as he lived. Hyginus’ freedman was Julius Modestus, a scholar who followed in his patron’s footsteps in both education and area of expertise.

  

C. Iulius Hyginus Augusti libertus, natione Hispanus,—nonnulli Alexandrinum putant et a Caesare puerum Romam adductum Alexandria capta—studiose et audiit et imitatus est Cornelium Alexandrum grammaticum Graecum quem propter antiquitatis notitiam Polyhistorem multi, quidam Historiam vocabant. Praefuit Palatinae bibliothecae nec eo secius plurimos docuit fuitque familiarissimus Ovidio poetae et Clodio Licino consulari historico qui eum admodum pauperem decessisse tradit et liberalitate sua quoad vixerit sustentatum. Huius libertus fuit Iulius Modestus in studiis atque doctrina vestigia patroni secutus.

  

 Suetonius was a Roman biographer from Numidia (modern Algeria). He is known for his work the de Vitis Caesarum, a collection of biographies on the first twelve Roman emperors.

 

Alas, Camilla! Vergil, Aeneid

Name:  Vergil Date:  70 – 19 BCE Region:  Mantua [modern northern Italy] Citation:  Aeneid 11.584 - 596

"I wish [Camilla] weren’t swept up in this attempt to tackle the Trojans:

She is dear to me and, of all my companions, she’d be my only [dear].

Since she is compelled by cruel fate, go on, then, nymph, 

Slip down unnoticed to Earth, go to where the doomed Latins are fighting.

Take this quiver and grab an avenging arrow

And with it strike down whoever harms the blessed body of Camilla,  

Whether they are Trojan or Italian, they’ll pay the penalty with their blood.

Afterwards, I will keep her body from being stripped of armor,

And I will carry her back to her homeland for burial.”

Diana spoke, and [Opis] gracefully soared through the breeze

Cloaking her body in a dark whirlwind.

 vellem haud correpta fuisset

militia tali conata lacessere Teucros:                

cara mihi comitumque foret nunc una mearum.

verum age, quandoquidem fatis urgetur acerbis,

labere, nympha, polo finisque invise Latinos,

tristis ubi infausto committitur omine pugna.

haec cape et ultricem pharetra deprome sagittam:                

hac, quicumque sacrum violarit vulnere corpus,

Tros Italusque, mihi pariter det sanguine poenas.

post ego nube cava miserandae corpus et arma

inspoliata feram tumulo patriaeque reponam.'

dixit, at illa levis caeli delapsa per auras                

insonuit nigro circumdata turbine corpus.

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.