The Death of Hippolytus and the Rebirth of Virbius, [Lactantius, Div. Inst.1.17]

 

Name:  Lactantius Date:  3rd century CE Region:  Numidia [modern Tunisia] Citation:    Div. Inst. 1.17

[Condemning the love affairs of the gods, Lactantius criticizes the relationship between Artemis and Hippolytus, insinuating that it was impure. He follows this passage with wild accusations that will not be published here.] When another goddess [Diana] nearly lost her lover [Hippoluytus / Virbius] who was “torn apart by spooked horses,” she begged the most famous healer Asclepius to heal him. And, once he was healed, she “took him away safely to a remote location, Entrusted him to the nymph Egeria, And abandoned him to the grove, Where he, alone and forgotten in the woods of Italy Would spend the rest of his life Under the changed name Virbius.”

Altera cum pene amatorem suum perdidisset,qui erat "turbatis distractus equis," praestantissimum medicum Asclepium curando iuveni advocavit, eumque sanatum: "Secretis alma recondit / sedibus, et nymphaea Egeriae, nemorique relegate: / solus ubi in silvis Italis ignobilis aevum / exigeret, versoque ubi nomine Virbius esset."

 

Camilla, Warrior Woman in Battle! Vergil, Aeneid , 11.648 - 663

Camilla in Battle

Name:  Vergil Date:  70 – 19 BCE Region:  Mantua [modern northern Italy] Citation:  Aeneid 11.648 – 663

The Amazon Camilla was reveling in the midst of battle

With half her chest bare and a quiver on her back.

First, she’s rapid-firing spears by hand.

Next, she’s deftly wielding her battle-ax

With boundless energy.

Her golden bow, the weapon of Diana,

Twanged from her shoulder.

And now, attacked from behind,

Even while in retreat, Camilla kept firing her arrows.

Surrounded by her elite companions,

The maiden Larina, Tulla, and bronze-ax wielding Tarpeia,

Italian-born women whom divine Camilla

Chose for herself to be her honor-guard,

Were excellent companions in peace and war.

These women fought the way that Amazons

Wearing their multi-color armor

On the banks of the Thermodon River fought,

Battling alongside Hippolyte

Or accompanying Penthesilea’s chariot

As she returned from battle

With a great war-cry

They reveled, an army of women,

Lifting their half-moon shaped shields.

 

 

Camilla in Battle

At medias inter caedes exsultat Amazon
unum exserta latus pugnae, pharetrata Camilla,
et nunc lenta manu spargens hastilia denset,
nunc validam dextra rapit indefessa bipennem;

aureus ex umero sonat arcus et arma Dianae.

illa etiam, si quando in tergum pulsa recessit,

spicula converso fugientia derigit arcu.

At circum lectae comites, Larinaque virgo    

Tullaque et aeratam quatiens Tarpeia securim,

Italides, quas ipsa decus sibi dia Camilla

delegit pacisque bonas bellique ministras:

quales Threiciae cum flumina Thermodontis

pulsant et pictis bellantur Amazones armis, 

seu circum Hippolyten seu cum se Martia curru

Penthesilea refert, magnoque ululante tumultu

feminea exsultant lunatis agmina peltis.

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.

The Death of Hippolytus & the Rebirth of Virbius, Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.530-546

Name:     Ovid Date:       43 BCE – 17 CE Region:   Sulmo [modern Italy] Citation: Metamorphoses 15.530-546

"You think you can compare your grief to mine, nymph?

I saw the kingdom where no light shines

I soaked my wounded body in the Stygian waves,

And would have died without the intervention of Apollo’s son

Who brought me back to life;

Against He-Who-Rules the Underworld’s wishes

I was revived through Asclepius’ strong medicines

And with the help of Apollo’s skill.

In order to not attract attention to myself

Diana lifted me up into a cloud

And aged my form so I wouldn’t be recognized

In order to keep me safe.

For a while, she debated on whether she should

Give me a new home in Crete or Delos,

But then put me here [in Italy]

And ordered me to change my name

So I wouldn’t be reminded of my old life.

She told me, “You who were once Hippolytus,

Will now be Virbius!”

From that point on, I’ve dwelled in this grove,

One of the minor gods,

Safe under my lady’s protection

I attend her will.”

 

num potes aut audes cladi conponere nostrae,               
nympha, tuam? vidi quoque luce carentia regna
et lacerum fovi Phlegethontide corpus in unda,
nec nisi Apollineae valido medicamine prolis
reddita vita foret; quam postquam fortibus herbis
atque ope Paeonia Dite indignante recepi,               
tum mihi, ne praesens augerem muneris huius
invidiam, densas obiecit Cynthia nubes,
utque forem tutus possemque inpune videri,
addidit aetatem nec cognoscenda reliquit
ora mihi Cretenque diu dubitavit habendam               
traderet an Delon: Delo Creteque relictis
hic posuit nomenque simul, quod possit equorum
admonuisse, iubet deponere "qui" que "fuisti
Hippolytus," dixit "nunc idem Virbius esto!"
hoc nemus inde colo de disque minoribus unus               
numine sub dominae lateo atque accenseor illi.'

Ovid [Publius Ovidius Naso; 43 BCE – 17 CE, modern Italy] was one of the most famous love poets of Rome’s Golden Age. His most famous work, the Metamorphoses, provides a history of the world through a series of interwoven myths. Most of his poetry is erotic in nature; for this reason, he fell into trouble during the conservative social reforms under the reign of the emperor Augustus. In 8 CE he was banished to Bithynia [modern Turkey], where he spent the remainder of his life pining for his native homeland.

Hippolytus Reborn: A Christian Author's Account of Hippolytus

Hippolytus perished by the savage accusation of his stepmother

& was ripped to shreds by his own chariot

When sea monsters were stirring up the waves.

Diana’s wrath refused to tolerate the assault on his purity*;  

She brought Hippolytus back from the dead,

But now he exists with the name Virbius.

  -- Theodolus, Eclogue 125-128 [dated to the 10th century CE]

* pudicitia refers both to his physical chastity as well as his reputation.

Hippolytus saeva perit accusante noverca

Discerptus bigis, focas agitantibus undis.

Damna pudicitiae non pertulit ira Dianae:

Hippolytum revocat; modo nomine Virbius extat.

Artemis: Unswayed by Aphrodite's Power, Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 15-20

Name:    Unknown Date:    7th – 5th century BCE Region:    [modern Greece] Citation:   Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, 15-20

 …Furthermore, laughter-loving Aphrodite has never made golden-arrowed Artemis settle down in love. For she loves her bow and slaying beasts in the mountains, the lyre and dancing and war cries, shady groves and cities of just men.

οὐδέ ποτ᾽ Ἀρτέμιδα χρυσηλάκατον, κελαδεινὴν

δάμναται ἐν φιλότητι φιλομμειδὴς Ἀφροδίτη.

καὶ γὰρ τῇ ἅδε τόξα καὶ οὔρεσι θῆρας ἐναίρειν,

φόρμιγγές τε χοροί τε διαπρύσιοί τ᾽ ὀλολυγαὶ

ἄλσεά τε σκιόεντα δικαίων τε πτόλις ἀνδρῶν.

 

Neque unquam venatoriam atque aureo insignem arcu Dianae in amore domat ridens Venus. Etenim hanc iuvat arcus montesque ferarum caede inficere, et citharae choreaeque atque sublati clamores, et opaca nemora, et iustis civitas virorum.  Translated into Latin by Raphael Regio Volterranus (1541)

 

Marco Antonio Tritonio: A List of the Chaste

Chaste / Celibate / Asexual:

Anaxarete

Arethusa

Daphne

Eperie

Hippolytus

Lotos

Musae

Narcissus

Syrinx

Many people preserve their chastity, and we can easily list a bunch from literature, but these are a few examples that are relevant to everyone:

ANAXARETE: was a maiden from Cyprus who was never worn down by her suitor Iphis’* begging to court her [cf. Ovid’s Metamorphoses, book 14, story 17]

ARETHUSA: was a nymph and companion of Diana who valued her chastity so much that turned into a spring when the river god Alpheus tried to attack her [book 8, story 17] 

DAPHNE: was the daughter of the river god Peneus and object of Apollo’s desire who valued her chastity so much that she would rather turn into a laurel tree instead of being courted by him [book 1, story 9]

EPERIE was one of the nymphs who died of a snake bite while running away from Aesacus’ attack [book 2, story 2]

HIPPOLYTUS: was the son of Theseus. When he was desired by his stepmother Phaedra, he was never worn down by her prayers to court him [book 17, story 45] 

LOTOS: was a nymph who was turned into a tree to preserve her chastity while fleeing Priapus’ attack [book 9, story 6]

THE MUSES were so chaste that when they were imprisoned and anticipated being attacked by Pyreneus, they turned into birds and flew away. They would rather lose their original form than give up their chastity [book 5, story 4]

NARCISSUS: of course Narcissus is listed here, since he was never swayed by Echo’s attempts to date him [book 3, story 5]

SYRINX: of course we have to list Syrinx, who transformed herself into a reed when she was escaping the god Pan’s attack [book 1, story 12] 

* Iphis was a common first name. This is not the same Iphis in the myth of Iphis & Ianthe

-- --M. Antonii Tritonii Utinenis, Mythologia, 1560 p. 15-16

CASTI

• Anaxarete
• Arethusa
• Daphne
• Eperie
• Hippolytus
• Lotos
• Musae
• Narcissus
• Syrinx

Castitatem plurimi semper faciendam & si ex historiis facile colligere possumus, id tamen ex iis etiam, quae afferemus exemplis unicuique patebit.

ANAXARETE Cypria virgo Iphidis amantis precibus ad lasciviam nunquam potuit adduci [lib xiiii.fab.xvii]

ARETHUSA nympha Dianae comes tanta fuit castitate, ut cum illam Alpheus fluvius vehementius persequeretur, in fontem abire non recusarit. [lib.viii.fab.xvii]

DAPHNE Penei fluvii filia tanta fuit castitate, ut ab Apolline amata in laurum potius converti, quam illum voluerit audire [lib.i.fab.ix]

EPERIE una & ipsa ex nymphis, ne ab insequenti raperetur Aesaco, inter currendum serpentis ictu interiit. [lib.ii.fab.ii]

HIPPOLYTUS THesei filius cum a Phaedra noverca adamaretur, nullis precibus adduci potuis, ut ei congrederetur. [lib.xviii.fab.xlv.]

LOTOS nympha Priapi fugiens vim, ne castitatem ammitteret suam, in arborem versa est. [lib.ix.fab.vi]

TAM castae fuerunt Musae, ut cum sibi a Pyreneo, qui Daulida Phocis urbem incolebat, vim sensissent inferri, iamque in thalamo stuprandae clausae forent, in volucres commutatae sumptis aliis effugerint, sicque pristinam potius formam, quam castam voluntatem noluerunt commutare. [lib.v.fab.iiii]

NARCISSUS etiam inter castos merito est numerando, cu mEcho nymphae illecebris commoveri nunquam potuerit. [lib. iii.fab.v]

NEC minus Syrinx castissima praedicatur, quae ut Pana Deum amantem fugeret, in arundinem se transformari postulavit. [lib.i.fab.xii]

Twice A Man: The Story of Hippolytus and Virbius, Serv. In Aen. 7.761

Name: Servius Date: 4th – 5th century CE Region: [modern Italy] Citation:   Commentary on the Aeneid, 7.761

And Virbius, the beautiful child of Hippolytus, came for war:

When Hippolyte died, Theseus put his son Hippolytus in the care of [his new wife] Phaedra. When Hippolytus rejected Phaedra’s sexual advances, she lied and told Theseus that he had tried to rape her. Theseus sought vengeance from his father Aegeus. When Hippolytus was driving his chariot, Aegeus* sent a seal to spook the horses, and the chariot crashed. Then Diana, moved by Hippolytus’ chastity, brought him back to life through the work of Aesculapius. 

[Aesculapius was the child of Apollo and Coronis, who was cut from his dying mother’s womb. It happened when Apollo heard from the crow he’d sent to spy on Coronis that she had cheated on him. Angered, he killed the heavily pregnant Coronis with his arrows, changed the crow’s color from white to black, and cut Aesculapius from Coronis’ womb. Aesculapius grew up and  became skilled in medicine. Later on, Jupiter killed him because he’d restored Hippolytus to life. And because of that, Apollo got angry and killed Jupiter’s ironworking cyclopes with his arrows. And because of that, Jupiter stripped Apollo of his divine powers and made him a shepherd of King Admetus’ flocks for nine years.]

Once Hippolytus was restored to life, Diana entrusted him to the nymph Aricia, and ordered him to now be called Virbius [‘twice a man’]. Now his son, called the same name, comes to battle: but this is really unbelievable. For Hippolytus was chaste, and always lived alone, but somehow has a son? Actually, as I said previously, Virbius is the name of a divinity linked with Diana, just like Cybele is linked with Attis, Minerva is linked with Erichthonis, and Venus is linked with Adonis.

7.[761] IBAT ET HIPPOLYTI PROLES PULCHERRIMA BELLO VIRBIUS: Theseus mortua Hippolyte Phaedram, Minois et Pasiphaae filiam, superduxit Hippolyto. qui cum illam de stupro interpellantem contempsisset, falso delatus ad patrem est, quod ei vim voluisset inferre. ille Aegeum patrem rogavit ut se ulcisceretur. qui agitanti currus Hippolyto inmisit focam, qua equi territi eum traxerunt. tunc Diana eius castitate commota revocavit eum in vitam per Aesculapium, filium Apollinis et Coronidis, qui natus erat exsecto matris ventre, ideo quod, cum Apollo audisset a corvo, eius custode, eam adulterium committere, iratus Coronidem maturo iam partu confixit sagittis—corvum vero nigrum fecit ex albo—et exsecto ventre Coronidis produxit ita Aesculapium, qui factus est medicinae peritus. hunc postea Iuppiter propter revocatum Hippolytum interemit: unde Apollo iratus Cyclopas fabricatores fulminum confixit sagittis: ob quam rem a Iove iussus est Admeti regis novem annis apud Amphrysum armenta pascere divinitate deposita. sed Diana Hippolytum, revocatum ab inferis, in Aricia nymphae commendavit Egeriae et eum Virbium, quasi bis virum, iussit vocari. cuius nunc filium cognominem dicit in bellum venire: adeo omnia ista fabulosa sunt. nam cum castus ubique inductus sit et qui semper solus habitaverit, habuisse tamen fingitur filium. re vera autem, ut et supra diximus, Virbius est numen coniunctum Dianae, ut matri deum Attis, Minervae Erichthonius, Veneri Adonis.

Servius [Maurus Servius Honoratus; 4th – 5th century CE] Servius’ name is unfortunately the only thing we know of this author. Little is known about the author or manuscript tradition for the grammatical commentary of Vergil’s Aeneid.

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.

New Body, New Name, Same Me: The Rebirth of Hippolytus as Virbius, Lact. Plac. Narr.15.45

Name: Lactantius Placidus Date:  5th or 6th century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:  Plots of Ovid’s Myths, Book 15, Story 45

When Hippolytus was exiled from his homeland due to his stepmother’s hostility,* he set out for Troezen. Suddenly, a bull rose up from the sea (just as his father had prayed for**), and gave him a fright. It spooked his horses; they trampled him and he died.  Since he had been a longtime companion of Diana, the goddess saw to it that Asclepius revived him. Brought back to life by the goddess, he gave up his mortal life and remained in the Arician grove as a god with a new name: Virbius.

 

 * Because Hippolytus was devoted to Artemis and rejected Aphrodite (i.e., he was asexual), Aphrodite cursed him by making his stepmother Phaedra fall violently in love with him. When he rejected her advances, she took her own life, leaving behind a letter that accused Hippolytus of assaulting her.

**Believing his wife's false accusations against his son Hippolytus, Theseus prayed to his father Poseidon to cause the youth's death.

Hippolytus cum propter novercale odium propulsus esset patria et Troezan proficisceretur ex inproviso mari elatus taurus, sicut parens optaverat, gravissimum ei obiecit timorem. Exasperatis equis tractus interiit. Quem Aesculapus Dianae voluntate, cuius initio comes fuerat, reduxit ad superos. Hinc eiusdem deae revocatus in nemus Aricinum mortalitatem exuit. A converso itaque nomine deus Virbius est nominatus. 

 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.

Ace Allies Living Together in Honor and Joy: Callimachus, In Delos 291-299

Living Together in Love and Joy

Name: Callimachus Date:    305 – 240 BCE Region:   Cyrene [modern Libya] Citation:    Hymn to Delos 291-299

Artemis, the first to [worship] you from golden Thule

Were the daughters of Boreas,

 Upis and Loxo, and happy-in-life Hecaerge,

Along with the best [unmarried] men.

They never returned home,

But they got their happily-ever-afters,

And are never forgotten in memory.

For whenever sweet-singing Hymenaeos [1]

Terrifies the hearts of maidens

Before their wedding day,

Young women offer a lock of their hair to these immortal maidens,

And young men offer their first sprouts of facial hair

To these immortal youths.

 

---

[1] Hymenaeos was the personification of weddings and marriage.

πρῶταί τοι τάδ᾽ ἔνεικαν ἀπὸ ξανθῶν Ἀριμασπῶν Οὖπίς τε Λοξώ τε καὶ εὐαίων Ἑκαέργη, θυγατέρες Βορέαο, καὶ ἄρσενες οἱ τότ᾽ ἄριστοι ἠιθέων: οὐδ᾽ οἵ γε παλιμπετὲς οἴκαδ᾽ ἵκοντο, εὔμοιροι δ᾽ ἐγένοντο, καὶ ἀκλέες οὔποτ᾽ ἐκεῖνοι. ἦ τοι Δηλιάδες μέν, ὅτ᾽ εὐήχης ὑμέναιος ἤθεα κουράων μορμύσσεται, ἥλικα χαίτην παρθενικαῖς, παῖδες δὲ θέρος τὸ πρῶτον ἰούλων ἄρσενες ἠιθέοισιν ἀπαρχόμενοι φορέουσιν.

Primae hos tibi tulerunt fulvis ab Arimaspis Upis & Loxo, felix aevi Hecaerge, filiae Boreae, & mares, qui tum optimi iuvenum: neque illo retro domum rediere. Beati autem facti, nec unquam illi inglorii futuri sunt. Nam Deliades quidem, cum sonorus Hymenaeus Thalamos puellarum terret, aequaevam comam virgines; pueri aute primam lanuginis messem iuvenibus primitias ferunt.   Translated into Latin by Johann August Ernesti

Callimachus [310 – 240 BCE, modern Libya] is often regarded as one of the best Alexandrian [Greek] poets. Born in raised in Cyrene, Libya, he spent a majority of his career at the famous Library of Alexandria, where he used the resources there to create refined, artful poetry. Although much of his poetry is lost, the extant fragments of his works are a testament to both his talent as an artist and his erudition as a scholar.

Ace Allies, Assemble--for Rome! Claudian, Stilich. 3.237-274

Diana Rallies Her Companions to Serve Rome

Name:  Claudian Date:   370 – 404 CE  Region:    Alexandria [modern Egypt] Citation: Stilicho 3.237 – 274

Diana, Daughter of Latona

Who lords over the forests and the stars with equal ease,

You care for Stilicho as well,

By ensuring our Roman games are filled with noble beasts.

On the top of Alpine cliffs with bow in hand,

You assemble and hold a chaste court

With your chaste companions.

All of them are armed with quivers

With bare arms and bare shoulders,

Armed with spears in hand and quivers on their backs

Beautiful yet unadorned.

Their dusty faces gleam with sweat,

Showing off neither their maidenhood nor their gender.

Their hair is loose, and two hempen cords belt their waists

And keep their legs free.

Blond Leontodame arrives first,

Nebrophone (raised on the Lycaean mountain) follows next.

And Thero, who keeps the Arcadian territories in check with her mighty weapons.

Passionate Britomartis hastens over from Cretan Ida

And Lycaste, who can outrun the wind.

Scythian-born twins Hecaerge (the one feared by all beasts)

And her sister Opis (the one to pray to when you’re hunting)

Arrive side-by-side, by making their home in Delos

Shunning the wild norths—made these twins powerful goddesses.

These seven leaders came, and following them was another army of nymphs, Diana’s beautiful Valkyries.

A hundred of them were from Taygetus,

A hundred of them were from the peak of Mt. Cynthus,

And a hundred nymphs born in the region of the chaste-flowing Ladon.

When they assembled together, Diana began her speech:

“O allies, you who follow me together

Who spurn the detested marriage bed,

Dwelling with me in the crisp mountain ranges,

Do you notice that the gods are all keeping an eye on Rome?

How many herds of horses that Neptune has bestowed upon the world?

That my brother Apollo’s lyre never stops singing of Rome’s praise?

I feel that we ought to be doing the same.

We do not need our spears for this task,

Our arrows can remain unbloodied,

Our bows can cease from their accustomed hunting.

Blood should be preserved for the Roman games only.

Beasts should be brought in alive with nets and cages

(Spare them from your fierce arrows!)

Save these creatures until their deaths can come

For an applauding audience.”

Diana Rallies Her Companions to Serve Rome

Tibi, quae pariter silvis dominaris et astris,

exiguam Stilicho movit, Latonia, curam :

tu quoque nobilibus spectacula nostra laboras

inlustrare feris summoque in vertice rupis

Alpinae socias arcu cessante pudicas

et pharetratarum comitum inviolabile cogis

concilium, veniunt umeros et brachia nudae

armataeque manus iaculis et terga sagittis,

incomptae pulchraeque tamen; sudoribus ora

pulverulenta rubent, sexum nec cruda fatetur

virginitas; sine lege comae; duo cingula vestem

crure tenus pendere vetant. Praecedit amicas

flava Leontodame, sequitur nutrita Lycaeo

Nebrophone telisque domat quae Maenala Thero.

Ignea Cretaea properat Britomartis ab Ida

et cursu Zephyris numquam cessura Lycaste.

Iungunt se geminae metuenda feris Hecaerge

et soror, optatum numen venantibus, Opis

progenitae Scythia : divas nemorumque potentes

fecit Hyperboreis Delos praelata pruinis.

Hae septem venere duces ; exercitus alter

Nympharum incedunt, acies formosa Dianae,

centum Taygeti, centum de vertice Cynthi

et totidem casto genuit quas flumine Ladon.

Has ubi collectas vidit, sic Delia coepit :

“O sociae, mecum thalami quae iura perosae

virgineo gelidos percurritis agmine montes,

cernitis ut Latio superi communibus ornent

hunc annum studiis? Quantos Neptunus equorum

donet ab orbe greges? Laudi quod nulla canendae

fratris plectra vacent? Nostram quoque sentiat idem

quam meritis debemus opem. Non spicula poscit

iste labor; maneant clausis nunc sicca pharetris,

omnis et a solitis noster venatibus arcus

temperet; in solam cruor hic servetur harenam.

Retibus et clatris dilata morte tenendae

ducendaeque ferae, cupidas arcete sagittas;

consulis in plausum casuris parcite monstris.”

 

 Claudian was born in Alexandria, Egypt during the 4^th century CE. He is one of the best poets of the time period, and he provides a unique perspective as a non-Christian writer in Christian Rome. Many of his works are still extant, including panegyric [official praise literature] for the Roman Emperor Honorius and his general Stilicho, a poem criticizing the eunuch consul Eutropius, and an epic retelling of the abduction of Persephone.