Aeneas Says Trans Rights: Chloreus, Vergil, Aen.11.768-789

Chloreus, Aeneas’ Gallus Soldier

Name:  Vergil Date:  70 – 19 BCE Region:  Mantua [modern northern Italy] Citation:  Aeneid 11.768 – 784

It happened that Chloreus,

A sacred retired priest of Cybele [1],

Was sparkling conspicuously in Phrygian armor

As they rode their horse onward. Their horse

Was covered in gilded bronze adornments

The way that feathers adorn a bird.

Chloreus was equally conspicuous,

Wearing bright purple armor,

Shooting Gortynian arrows from a Lycian bow.

There was a golden ceremonial bow on their shoulders

And they wore a priest’s helmet, also golden;

They tied their purple cloak with a golden tie;

They even wore pants—how barbaric!—embroidered with a needle.

Camilla spotted them from far away,

And wanted to seize the Trojan armor,

Either to dedicate it as an offering in a temple

Or perhaps she wanted to wear the golden outfit herself.

The Amazon hunter blindly targeted Chloreus   

For single combat, and,

While she burned with a womanly love of treasure

And was caught off guard,

Arruns used the advantage to brandish his weapon deceitfully...

 

[1]  Chloreus is coded as a gallus.

Chloreus, Aeneas’ Gallus Soldier

Forte sacer Cybelo Chloreus olimque sacerdos

insignis longe Phrygiis fulgebat in armis

spumantemque agitabat equum, quem pellis aenis             

in plumam squamis auro conserta tegebat.

Ipse peregrina ferrugine clarus et ostro

spicula torquebat Lycio Gortynia cornu;

aureus ex umeris erat arcus et aurea vati

cassida; tum croceam chlamydemque sinusque crepantis  

carbaseos fulvo in nodum collegerat auro

pictus acu tunicas et barbara tegmina crurum.

Hunc virgo, sive ut templis praefigeret arma

Troia, captivo sive ut se ferret in auro

venatrix, unum ex omni certamine pugnae             

caeca sequebatur totumque incauta per agmen

femineo praedae et spoliorum ardebat amore,

telum ex insidiis cum tandem tempore capto

concitat … 

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.