Own Voices: A Fragment of Cleomachus, Poetae Lyrici Graeci 32

Cleomachus in Their Own Words: The Only Extant Line of Cleomachus’ poetry

Name:   Cleomachus Date:       4th century BCE    Region:   [modern Greece]    Citation: Greek Lyric Poets, Fragment 2.32

 

Who took my cup? I was still drinking that…

Τίς τὴν ὑδρίην ἡμῶν ἐψόφησ; ἐγὼ πίνων...

Quis mihi calicem ademit?  Ego bibens… Translated into Latin by Kris Masters

Cleomachus [4th century BCE] According to Strabo, Cleomachus was an Olympic boxer who became a poet after falling in love with a man. The Christian author Tertullian adds more information to this transformation, adding that the poet “covered the scars of their gauntlets with bangles, and exchanged their athletic jersey for a dress.”

When Your Name Becomes A Verb: Cleomachus' Fame, Tricha On Meters p. 34

“To Cleomachize:” When Your Name Becomes a Verb

Name:   Tricha Date:     Unknown     Region:      Unknown Citation:    On Metres p.34

“To Cleomachize” is to use the poetic meter that Cleomachus used to use. Cleomachus was a boxer at first, then fell in love with some guy (or so it goes), and began to write poetry.

τοῦτο δὲ καὶ κλεομάχειον λέγεται, ὅτι πολλῷ αὐτῷ  ὁ ποιητὴς Κλεόμαχος χρῆται, ὅς πύκτης μὲν πρότερον, ὡς φασὶν, ἦν, ἐρασθεὶς δε τινος νέου, τὴν ποιητικὴν μετεχειρίσατο.

Quod “Cleomachare” dicitur, est quibusdam metris uti, quibus Cleomachus poeta uti solebat. Qui primum pugil fuit, deinde in iuvenis cuiusdam amore  raptus, versus componere incepit. Translated into Latin by Kris Masters

Tricha Little is known about the life of Tricha, but this author’s work On Metres preserves numerous quotes of otherwise lost poets. It can be found in Appendix ad Draconem Stratonicensem (Teubner, 1814).

Found Family: Cleomachus, The Boxer/Poet: Strabo, Geog. XIV.1.41

The Trans Poet Cleomachus’ Found Family

Name:  Strabo Date:         64 BCE – 24 CE Region:     Amasia [modern Turkey] Citation:       Geography 14.1.40

When Cleomachus the Boxer was smitten with a certain cinaedus [1] and the girl he was raising, they began to imitate the speech patterns and mannerisms of a cinaedus.

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 [1] The term cinaedus is an umbrella term and cannot be accurately translated here. The original term refers to a bird that wiggles its tail, used to describe exotic dancers who "shake their booty." It can refer to human trafficking victims, same-sex couples, non-binary persons, etc. Although some authors use it as an insult (e.g., Catullus), it does not always have a negative connotation; Phlegon of Tralles uses this term in the next passage to describe men capable of giving birth.

καὶ Κλεόμαχος ὁ πύκτης, ὃς εἰς ἔρωτα ἐμπεσὼν κιναίδου τινὸς καὶ παιδίσκης ὑπὸ τῷ κιναίδῳ τρεφομένης ἀπεμιμήσατο τὴν ἀγωγὴν τῶν παρὰ τοῖς κιναίδοις διαλέκτων καὶ τῆς ἠθοποιίας:

Item Cleomachus pugil, qui in cinaedi cuiusdam & ancillae amore incidens, quae a cinaedo alebatur, cinaedorum et orationem et mores est imitatus. Translated into Latin by  Conradus Heresbachius

A Boxer, and A Fighter By Her Trade: Cleomachus, Tertullian de Pallio 4.4

Cleomachus, a Boxer and a Fighter by Her Trade

Name: Tertullian Date:  155 – 220 CE Region:   Carthage [modern Tunisia] Citation:   On the Pallium 4.4

But there’s someone who surpasses the Hercules: the boxer Cleomachus! After their masculinity underwent an unbelievable transformation at Olympia, (where they had their surgery) they were lauded in Novius’ Fullers’ Tale and memorialized in the mime Lentulus’ Catinians. They covered the scars of their gauntlets with bangles, and exchanged their athletic jersey for a dress.

 

Cleomachus, a Boxer and a Fighter by Her Trade

Sed et qui ante Tirynthium accesserat, pugil Cleomachus, post Olympiae cum incredibili mutatu de masculo fluxisset, intra cutem caesus et ultra, inter Fullonesiam Novianos coronandus meritoque mimographo Lentulo in Catinensibus commemoratus, utique sicut vestigia cestuum viriis occupauit, ita et endromidis solocem aliqua multicia synthesi extrusit.

Tertullian [Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 – 220 CE, modern Tunisia] was an early Christian theologian who lived in Carthage during the 2nd century CE. He was one of the most prolific authors of his age; more than thirty of his treatises are extant. These works shaped the core beliefs of the early Christian church. Although some of his beliefs were later deemed heretical, he was nevertheless granted sainthood for his profound impact on Christianity.