Atalanta's End: Lactantius Placidius 10.11

Ace Champion Atalanta

Name: Lactantius Placidus Date:  5th or 6th century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:  Plots of Ovid’s Myths, Book 10, Story 11

When Atalanta learned about marriage and was warned to never marry, she set up a test for all of her suitors. Since she was the fastest woman alive, she said that she would marry anyone who won a race against her, but would kill anyone she outran.

Ace Chamption Atalanta

Atalanta, Schoenei filia, cum de coniugio sciscitata esset et monita nulli iungeretur, quia omnium virginum pernicissima erat, petentibus procris legem posuit, eius coniugem futuram, qui se cursu pedum antecessisset, victo autem necem statuit.

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.

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.

Motherless Birth: Bacchus' Fiery and Tragic Origin Story, Lactantius Placidus, Narr. 3.3

Name: Lactantius Placidus Date:  5th or 6th century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:  Plots of Ovid’s Myths, Book 3, Story 3

When Juno suspected that Semele [the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia] was having an affair with Jupiter, she tried to get revenge without getting her own hands dirty. She turned into an old woman, went up to Semele and persuaded her to get Jupiter to visit her in the same form that he used whenever he visited Juno.

When Semele got Jupiter to do so, Jupiter entered Semele’s home with thunder and lightning. The poor girl got what she wanted, and her home went up in smoke. Jupiter took the unborn child [Bacchus / Liber / Dionysus] from her charred womb and sewed it into his own thigh. When it was time for Bacchus to be born, Jupiter secretly handed him over to the nymphs that hung out in the Indian Mt. Nysa so they could raise him.

Iuno suspectam Semelen, Cadmi et Harmoniae filiam, cum haberet, quod cum Iove concubuisset, in anum conversa est, ut se fallacia sine invidia cuiusquam ulcisceretur; ad eam venit persuadetque ei, ne alio Iovem apparatu recipiat ad cubile, quam solitus sit apparere Iunoni, quo ut illius auctoritas gravis, proinde ipsius concubitus insignis esset. quod cum impetravisset a cupiente, deus instructus tonitribus ac fulminibus domum Semeles ingressus est: tecta eius deceptae optatis flammis adurit Liberumque conceptum utero gravidae incendio eripit ac femore insuit suo. postea conpletis mensibus nymphis, quae Nysam montem Indiae perfrequentaret, clam tradidit nutriendum. 

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.

From Man to Woman and Back Again: Tiresias, Lactantius Placidus, Narr. 3.5

Name: Lactantius Placidus Date:  5th or 6th century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:  Plots of Ovid’s Myths, Book 3, Story 5

Tiresias had experienced the nature of being a man and a woman. For at some point in his life he had transformed into a woman when he had struck a pair of mating serpents with a stick. He changed back into a man the following spring the same way.

[Tiresias] qui utramque naturam maris ac feminae fuerat expertus. nam quodam tempore cum serpentes concubitu haerentes baculo percussisset, in mulierem conversus fuerat ac rursus proximo vere eadem usus ratione ac tactu in virum cesserat. 

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.

Dangerous Beauty: Caeneus vs the Centaurs, Lactantius Placidus, Narr. 12.4

Name: Lactantius Placidus Date:  5th or 6th century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:  Plots of Ovid’s Myths, Book 12, Story 4

Nestor told a story of a person from his generation. He said that Caenis was once the daughter of Elatus, who was assaulted by Neptune because of their beauty, and when given a gift in restitution, they were transformed into a man who could not be killed by any weapon.

Caeneus was present when Pirithous, the son of Ixion got married to Hippodamia. Eurytus, along with other centaurs, got drunk and tried to assault the bride, and all of the centaurs and Lapiths started fighting. When everyone was getting killed and a lot of people from both sides had died because of this abduction attempt, Caeneus alone remained standing, unharmed. The rest of the [centaur] survivors ganged up on him, heaping tree trunks upon him to smother him. Neptune did not forget him or his gift; he turned him into a bird that shared his name.

[Nestor] rettulit enim sua aetate Caenin Elati filiam fuisse, quae propter pulchritudinem a Neptuno conpressa sit data venia ob iniuriam, ut in virum mutata nullo telo interfici possit. huic cum Pirithous Ixionis filius...nuptui interesset ducta Hippodamia et Eurytus inter Centauros vino incitatus in nuptam novam impetum fecisset, ceteri prosiluere Lapithae atque Centauri nuptias frequentantes. ideoque caedes cum maxima esset exorta plurimique ex utraque parte ob raptum matronarum concidissent et quod inviolabilis ille restaret, ab universis, qui ex caede reliqui fuerunt, novissime impetu facto congestisque in eum arborum truncis spiritum reddere coactum. tamen non immemor deus Neptunu, a quo specisum munus acceperat, supradictum in volucrem nominis sui transfiguravit. 

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.

M/M: Apollo and Hyacinthus. Lactantius Placidus, Narr. 10.5

Name: Lactantius Placidus Date:  5th or 6th century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:  Plots of Ovid’s Myths, Book 10, Story 5

Hyacinthus of Amyclae. Apollo loved him. When he playfully challenged him to a contest with a discuss. Hyacinthus didn’t notice the discus coming at him until it struck him on the head. After he died, Apollo transformed his blood into a flower that bears his name (the hyacinth).

Hyacinthus Amyclae, dilectus ab Apolline, cum per iocum in certamen disci venisset, altius iactum pondus non prius despicere potuist, quam capiti sensit iniectum; quo eliso post obitum eius cruor in florem eius nomine inscriptum accessit.

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.

M/M: Cyparissus and Apollo. Lactantius Placidus Narr. 10.3

Name: Lactantius Placidus Date:  5th or 6th century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:  Plots of Ovid’s Myths, Book 10, Story 3

Cyparissus, the son of Amycleius, from the island of Cea. Apollo loved him and when he had tried to kill himself over the death of a pet stag he’d accidentally killed, Apollo snatched him from danger and turned him into a tree with the same name (Cypress tree).

Cyparissus, Amyclei filius, ex insula Ceae. hunc Apollo dilexit et propter cervum patientem manus, quem per inprudentiam sagitta transfixum interemerat, manus adferentem sibi periculo eripuit et protinus in arborem genetivi nominis vertit.

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.

Dangerous Beauty: Daphne's Rescue. Lactantius Placidus, Narr. 1.9

 

Name: Lactantius Placidus Date:  5th or 6th century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:  Plots of Ovid’s Myths, Book 1, Story 9

Daphne, the daughter of the river Peneus, was the most beautiful maiden in Thessaly. She was so pretty that her beauty attracted the attention of the gods. When Apollo caught sight of her, he was stunned by her curves. When she wouldn’t date him regardless of his promises or begging, he decided to attack her. Trying to get away, called upon her father to help guard her virginity (which he had allowed her to keep). Peneus, hearing his daughter’s prayers, helped her and turned her into a laurel tree in order to escape Apollo’s attack.

Daphne, Penei fluminis filia, cum omnium virginum, quae in Thessalia essent, speciosissima haberetur, adeo quidem ut deos pulchritudine sua caperet, Apollo etiam cum illam conspexisset, forma eius expalluit. Quam cum neque pollicitis neque precibus adire potuisset, vim ut adferret instituit. et illa cursu conspectum eius effugere cupiens, patrem invocavit, ut virginitati usae, quam sibi permiserat, ferret auxilium. cuius ille auditis precibus filiam deorum auxilio, ut vim effugeret, in laurum convertit.

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.

Happily Ever After: The Myth of Iphis & Ianthe, Lactantius Placidus, Narr. 9. fab.10

The Transformation of Iphis

Name: Lactantius Placidus Date:  5th or 6th century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:  Plots of Ovid’s Myths, Book 9, Story 10

Ligdus, a man of noble birth and upstanding character, asked his pregnant wife Telethusa to kill their child if she gave birth to a girl, but to keep it if she gave birth to a boy. Unable to kill her daughter, Telethusa begged the goddess Isis to help her in her troubles. The goddess gave her reassurance, and so she told her husband that she had a son and raised the child as a boy. When Iphis grew up, his father had him betrothed to Ianthe, the daughter of Thelestis. They both fell madly in love with each other. Telethusa was terrified that Iphis would be outed, and Iphis was even more  so, so she once again asked the goddess Isis for help. Isis transformed Iphis into a boy so he could get married.

The Transformation of Iphis

Hic [In insula Creta] Ligdus generosae stirpis ac praestantis fidei cum petisset a Telethusa coniuge, ut, si puellam pareret, necaret, si puerum autem, sobolem patriae servaret, et uterque pro casu futuro lacrimas dedissent, mater nequiens adferre manus filiae Isidem in malis habuit auxilio; cuius pollicitis illa infantem pro puero, decepto patre filii opinione, nutrivit. Itaque cum aetas matura nuptiis increvisset, nihil suspicans pater obstrictus fide coniugis Ianthen ex Theleste genitam despondit. Qui inter se cum gravi amore premerentur, maxime Iphis (hoc enim pater nomine avi cum vocari voluerat), trepidante ergo matre, ne Iphis diu adversus virum cum infamia reperiretur, eadem dea fuit in auxlilio. Nam ut totis nuptiis iugari possint, Iphin in puerum transfiguravit.

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.