Losing Half of My Soul: A Medieval Portrayal of David and Jonathan, Abelard Lamentations 6

 

Name: Peter Abelard Date:    1079 – 1142 CE Region:   [modern France] Citation:   Planctus 6: Planctus David Super Saul et Jonathan 45-48; 53-56; 61-64; 69-92  [Lamentation on the Death of King Saul and Jonathan]

Jonathan, more than a brother to me, Who shared my soul, What sins, what crimes have destroyed my flesh! ... Oh God, the earth is drenched In the slaughter of kings! Oh my Jonathan, why did an impious hand slay you? ... Now, my Jonathan, I’ll mourn you over everyone else I’ve lost, All of my joys Will forever be mixed with tears ... Oh God! What terrible advice did I follow That I didn’t join you in battle To protect you? Or I could have died happily Slain by your side, Since it would be an act of love— Nothing greater exists than this. And it is literal death To outlive you  And keep on living With only half a soul. I should have been there At the moment of crisis To prove myself Sharing in your victory Or supporting you in your downfall,  So I could rescue you from danger Or I could die with you, sacrificing the life you saved so many times and giving my life for yours,  so death can join us instead of separate us.

Plus fratre mihi Jonatha, in una mecum anima, quae peccata, quae scelera, nos ciderunt viscera! ... Vae, vae tibi madida tellus caede regia! quare te, mi Jonatha, manus stravit impia? ... Tu mihi nunc Jonatha, Flendus super omnia, inter cuncta gaudia perpes erit lacrima. ... Heu! Cur consilio acquievi pessimo, ut tibi praesidio non essem in praelio? Vel confossus pariter morier feliciter quum, quod amor faciat, maius hoc non habeat. et me post te vivere mori sit assidue, nec ad vitam anima satis est dimidia. vicem amicitiae vel unam me reddere, oportebat tempore summae tunc angustiae; triumphi participem vel ruinae comitem, ut te vel eriperem vel tecum occumberem vitam pro te finiens quam salvasti totiens ut et mors nos iungeret magis quam disiungeret.

How Many Genders? Aelius Donatus, Parts of Speech

 

Name: Aelius Donatus Date: 4th century CE   Region:   [Unknown] Citation:   Parts of Speech

How many genders are there? Four. Which? ·         Masculine, like magister [“teacher,”]; ·         Feminine, like musa [‘Muse,’]; ·         Neuter, like scamnum [“bench”]; and ·         Common, like sacerdos [“priest”]. There is another beyond the three genders, which is called All-Inclusive [omne], like how the word ‘felix’ [“blessed, lucky”] can describe masculine, feminine or neuter words. It is unisex, for any gender, like passer [“sparrow”] or aquila [“eagle”].

genera nominum quot sunt? quattuor. quae? masculinum, ut hic magister, femininum, ut haec Musa, neutrum, ut hoc scamnum, commune, ut hic et haec sacerdos. est praeterea trium generum, quod omne dicitur, ut hic et haec et hoc felix; est epicoenon, id est promiscuum, ut passer aquila.

 

UPDATED: Thank you

"Go forth as equals, and live in harmony accordingly,

For dignity and song, love and life

Have joined you together

as allies and companions.”

“Este pares et ob hoc concordes vivite; nam vos / et decor et cantus et amor sociavit et aetas.” –Calpurnius Siculus, Eclog. 2.99-100

 

September 30th marked the end of the five-year project LGBT Meets SPQR. I hope you enjoyed learning about the Greeks and Romans as much as I did. I appreciate all of the love and support I have received from all of you over the years.  

If any of you are interested in owning a paperback copy of LGBT Meets SPQR: A Sourcebook, copies will become available shortly at your favorite online store. 

Thank you again for joining me on this journey. In turn, I hope that my blog held meaning to you.

For queer folk around the world, I want you to know that you are not alone. Like the countless stories of queer folk preserved in the passages of this blog, your story also deserves to be told and preserved for future generations. May it be a happy one, full of love and support.

UPDATE: Due to recent events, I cannot anticipate how long this blog will remain available online. I have therefore copied the posts into a single PDF document, available HERE, which does not include tags but is searchable for region / language / time period using the CTRL + F function. Thanks and stay safe! 

Omnia Vincit Amor,

Kris

Atalanta's Loyal Companion, [from Andrea Navagero]

 Author: Andrea Navagero

Region: [modern Italy]

Date: 16th century CE

Citation: [Picta Poesis Ovidiana [1580], p. 89

Often Atalanta would travel through the quiet glades

Safely, with her trusty dog at her side.

Whether she routed her prey through the hills

Or if she wanted to tackle the savage beasts head-on

Her pup companion was always by her side,

And never more than an inch away from her at all times.

 

 

Saepe pererrabat tacitos Atalanta recessus:

tuta tamen fido Menalione fuit.

Cingeret obsessos seu curva indagine colles:

seu cuperet saevas cominus ire feras.

Haerebat lateri semper comes ille: nec umquam,

a domina lato longius ungue fuit.

I am the Unmarried Daphne: a poem from Faustus Sabaeus

Name: Faustus Sabaeus Date: 16th century CE   Region:  Brixia [Brescia, modern Italy] Citation:   Illustrated Myths of Ovid

I am the unmarried Daphne

I am friend to harp and bow [1] 

I provide visions to prophets [2]

I am an imperial honor. [3]

I am always blooming,

I can always repel lightning. [4]

Apollo wears my crown in triumphal ceremonies.

But: what if I hadn’t been so hard-hearted

To the man I rejected

To the man I fled?

I was pretty,

But a stupid girl

And powerless against him.

 

[1]  a reference to the different types of things made from wood from the bay tree 

[2] bay leaves were used in religious ceremonies during divination

[3] in Roman cultures, crowns made of laurel / bay trees were symbols of victory

[4] bay trees were thought to repel lightning

 

--Faustus Sabaeus, Picta Poesis Ovidiania

Innuba sum Laurus: Cytharis & amica pharetrae:

Somnia vaticainans: imperialis honor.

Usque virens, ac usque valens depellere fulmen:

Meque triumphail cinxit honore Deus;

Quem sprevi, & fugi, quid si non dura fuissem?

Pulchra, sed insipiens virgo, et inepta fui.

 

Faustus Sabaeus [16th century, modern Italy] was a librarian of the Vatican library who composed numerous poems on mythology-based themes.

Eutropius, Killed By Enemies of the State: Zosimus, Historia 5.18.5

Author: Zosimus

Region: Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey)

Date: late 5th / early 6th century CE

Citation: Historia, 5.18.5, translated into Latin by C. G. Heynius (1784)

And so Eutropius experienced both ends of luck’s spectrum in an unusual manner. For he reached the pinnacle of power [as a consul of Rome], which a eunuch had never done before, but then he was killed out of hatred by people who were enemies of the government.

Et Eutropio quidem n utramque partem insolito fortuna modo quodam est usa. Nam et tantum ad culmen eum evexit, quantum nullus eunuchorum umquam adtigit;et neci dedit, propter odium, quo se illum persequi hostes reipublicae dicerent.

Εὐτροπίῳ μὲν οὖν ἡ τύχη κατ ̓ ἀμφότερα παραλόγως ἐχρήσατο, πρὸς ὕψος ἄρασα τοσοῦτον ὅσον οὐδὲ εἷς πώποτε τῶν εὐνούχων ἀνεβιβάσθη, θάνατόν τε ἐπαγαγοῦσα διὰ τὸ μῖσος ὃ πρὸς αὐτὸν οἱ τῇ πολιτείᾳ πολεμοῦντες ἔλεγον ἔχειν.

Wilgefortis, Protected By The Beard of Christ [from Acta Sanctorum Mensis Julius]

Hail, Wilgefortis, holy servant of Christ!

You loved Christ with all of your heart

and, when you rejected a marriage to the king of Sicily,

you proved your faith on the Cross.

By your own earthly father’s decree

You endured the tortures of imprisonment,

You grew a beard on your face,

Which you obtained from Christ as a gift

Because you wanted to stop others from wanting to marry you.

Seeing this, your heathen father raised you up

High up on a cross, still wearing your beard

And ready [to die].

Since you had both grace as well as virtue,

As soon as you could,

Your soul fled to Christ’s protection.

O lady,

Because we cherish your memory with solemn praises,

O blessed Wilgefortis,

We beg you to pray on our behalf!

 

--Acta Sanctorum Mensis Julius,  Volume 7, Issue 5 (1748) p. 64 ; (Originally published in Enchiridion praeclarae ecclesiae Sarisburensis, 1533)

 

Ave sancta famula,Wilgefortis,Christi,

quae ex tota anima Christum dilexisti;

dum regis Siciliae nuptias sprevisti;

Crucifixo Domino fidem praebuisti.

Jussu patris carceris tormenta subisti,

crevit barba facie, quod obtinuisti

a Christo pro munere, quod sibi voluisti

te volente nubere sibi confudisti.

videns pater impius te sic deformatam

elevavit arius in cruce paratam.

Ubi cum virtutibus reddidisti gratam

animamque quantocius,Christo commendatam.

Quia devotis laudibus tuam memoriam, virgo, recolimus,

o beata Wilgefortis, ora pro nobis quaesumus.