Thursday, November 28, 2019

ISO Gay Friends; I'm Tired of the Competition. Propertius, Eleg. II.4.16-22

Sic est incautum, quidquid habetur amor.
Hostis si quis erit nobis, amet ille puellas:
gaudeat in puero, si quis amicus erit.
Tranquillo tuta descendis flumine cumba:
quid tibi tam parvi litoris unda nocet?
Alter saepe uno mutat praecordia verbo,
altera vix ipso sanguine mollis erit.

--Propertius, Elegies II.4.16-22

Whatever kind of relationship I'm in now, it's completely baffled me.
Whoever is into girls is my enemy now;
whoever is into guys, is now my friend.
Safely a gay man meanders down the tranquil streams of love,
what harm can such meager waves harm you?
A boyfriend can often change his mind with a single word,
but a girlfriend can scarcely change her feelings even when paid in your blood.


PROPERTIUS
MAP:
Name:  Sextus Propertius
Date:  50 – 15 BCE
Works:  Elegies

REGION  1
Region 1: Peninsular Italy; Region 2: Western Europe; Region 3: Western Coast of Africa; Region 4: Egypt and Eastern Mediterranean; Region 5: Greece and the Balkans

BIO:
Timeline:
 Propertius was an Italian-born Roman lyric poet whose love poetry provides insight into the mores of Augustan Rome. Like Catullus and Tibullus, Propertius used a pseudonym for the object of his attention; many of his love poems were addressed to “Cynthia.”
 GOLDEN AGE ROME
Early Roman Lit: through 2nd c BCE: Republican Rome: through 1st c. BCE; Golden Age: 70 BCE to 18 CE; Silver Age: 18 CE to 150 CE; Age of Conflict: 150 CE - 410 CE; Byzantine and Late Latin: after 410 CE