M/M: Two Poems on the Myth of Hyacinthus: Anthologia Latina 167-168

While practicing discus, Hyacinthus encountered a life-altering event;

The discus he’d thrown struck and split open his temples.

Apollo was not able to save his beloved;

But now Hyacinthus' blood fills up the countryside with blossoms.

Discrimen vitae, ludit dum forte, Hyacinthus

Incurrit, disco tempora fissa gerens.

Non potuit Phoebus fato subducere amatum,

Sed cruor extincti florea rura replet.

--167

 

A wayward discus struck his temples while he was practicing

And so beautiful Hyacinthus died a terrible death.

An immense blessing consoles the fallen youth:

Apollo’s love blossoms every season.  

Dispersit remeans ludentis tempora discus

Et dira pulcher morte Hyacinthus obit.

Gratia magna tamen solatur morte peremtum:

Semper Apollineus flore resurgit amor.

--168

The Codex Salmasianus is a manuscript of Latin poetry that preserves poetry from 6^th century CE and earlier. It was named after Claude de Saumaise, a 17^th century scholar who owned the manuscript.

 

M/M: Our Hearts Will Light the Way, A Fragment from Valerius Aedituus

Our Hearts Will Light the Way: An Early Roman Poet to His Boyfriend

Name: Valerius Aedituus Date:  1st century BCE Region: Rome [modern Italy]  Citation: Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights 19.9.12

Phileros, you hold up a torch,

But we don’t need it.

The flame that shines in our hearts

Will produce enough light for us as we travel.

No raging wind can extinguish it;

Nor can the sudden rainstorm quench it.

Only Venus herself, if she is willing, can.

No other force can quench this fire between us.

Our Hearts Will Light the Way: An Early Roman Poet to his Boyfriend

 

Qui faculam praefers, Phileros, quae nil opus nobis?

Ibimus sic, lucet pectore flamma satis.

Istam nam potis est vis saeva extinguere venti

Aut imber caelo candidus praecipitans,

At contra hunc ignem Veneris, nisi si Venus ipsa,

Nullast quae possit vis alia opprimere.

Valerius Aedituus [1st century BCE] Little is known about the life of the Roman poet Valerius Aedituus except that he lived during the 1st century BCE. Only fragments remain of his poetry.

M/M: Kisses Mixed With Wine, Martial 11.26

 

Name: Martial Date: c. 40 – 100 CE Region: Bilbilis, Hispania [modern Spain] Citation: Epigrams 11.26

NOTE: Although the Romans did not find the relationship between Zeus and Ganymede problematic, it is important to not romanticize this relationship in the modern world, as the massive power imbalance negates the consent of the relationship in our views. 

Telesphorus, darling, my sweet respite from stress,

My love, I’ve never felt this way before I’d embraced you,

Give me kisses that taste like wine,

Give me wineglasses that your lips have first kissed.

If you also grant me your love,

I’d say I’m better than Jupiter with his Ganymede.

O mihi grata quies, o blanda, Telesphore, cura,
    qualis in amplexu non fuit ante meo,
basia da nobis vetulo, puer, uda Falerno,
    pocula da labris facta minora tuis.
Addideris super haec Veneris si gaudia vera,
    esse negem melius cum Ganymede Jovi.

 

 

Martial [Marcus Valerius Martialis; 38 BCE – 102 CE, modern Spain] Originally from Bilbilis, Hispania, the poet Martial moved to Rome in the 60s CE to advance his career. His two extant works include de Spectaculis, a collection of poems written to commemorate the opening of the Colosseum, and a fifteen volume collection of epigrams. These poems provide valuable insight into the private lives of Romans from all of the city’s social classes.

W/W: Double Harness, Sappho fr. 213

Name: Sappho Date: d. 570 BCE Region: Lesbos [modern Greece] Citation: Fragment 213

One of the most powerful symbols of love in Classical literature is the image of the yoke that binds a couple together (One example can be seen here ).  In one of the fragments of Sappho's poetry, a grammarian preserved the poet's use of the yokemate (συνδυγος) to describe two women: 

My [missing name] and Gorgo’s yokemate,* Archeanassa.

* Feminine form of yokemate, instead of masculine form. Pleistodike is named Gorgo’s yokemate, as well as Gongula. . . 

 ...…σε εμα κἈρχεανασ

σα Γοργω.  συνδυγος.

 

αντι του

συνζυξ. η Πλειστοδικη

τηι Γοργοι συνζυξ μετα της Γογγυλης

ονομασθησεται ...

 

mea Archaeanassaque

Gorgonis coniuga.

 

Coniuga, pro “coniunx.” Pleistodika nominatur Gorgonis coniunx, cum Gongula.

 

--Sappho fr. 213; P. Oxy. 2292; Translated into Latin by K. Masters

Sappho [d. 570 BCE, modern Greece] was universally applauded by the ancient world as the “Tenth Muse.” Because she was one of the earliest Greek lyric poets, there is very little definitive information on Sappho’s life.  It is generally agreed that Sappho was a wealthy noblewoman from the island of Lesbos who had three brothers and a daughter named Kleis. She used her prominent social position to support a cohort of other women artists, and composed many poems about them, expressing her love for them, praising their beauty, and celebrating their marriages. Whereas earlier Greek poetry was epic poetry with serious themes of gods, warfare, and the state, Sappho’s lyric poetry was emotional, intimate and personal. Her poetry centered around womanhood and womanly love, providing rare insight into the time period. The modern terms “sapphic” and “lesbian” reveal the longevity of her impact upon modern culture. Unfortunately, although her poetry was universally revered by the Greeks and Romans alike, Sappho’s works only exist as fragments, adding mysterious allure to her larger-than-life status but unfortunately hindering our understanding of her life and thoughts.

In Praise of Sappho: Demetrius, De Elocutione III.166-167

Sappho sings about beauty while using beautiful words. She is sweet, and as she sings about love and springtime and halcyon birds, she weaves together just about everything beautiful in her songs that she has composed by her own hand.

But in other poems, when she criticizes a boorish groom or his best man at the wedding, she uses more base words than poetic ones. These sort of poems should be recited, not sung; they aren’t really adequate for either a chorus or a lyre, unless the chorus uses a conversational style.

Διὸ καὶ ἡ Σαπφὼ περὶ μὲν κάλλους ᾄδουσα καλλιεπής ἐστι καὶ ἡδεῖα, καὶ περὶ ἐρώτων δὲ καὶ ἔαρος καὶ περὶ ἁλκυόνος, καὶ ἅπαν καλὸν ὄνομα ἐνύφανται αὐτῆς τῇ ποιήσει, τὰ δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ εἰργάσατο.

Ἄλλως δὲ σκώπτει τὸν ἄγροικον νυμφίον, καὶ τὸν θυρωρὸν τὸν ἐν τοῖς γάμοις, εὐτελέστατα καὶ ἐν πεζοῖς ὀνόμασι μᾶλλον ἢ ἐν ποιητικοῖς, ὥστε αὐτῆς μᾶλλόν ἐστι τὰ ποιήματα ταῦτα διαλέγεσθαι ἢ ᾄδειν, οὐδ̓ ἂν ἁρμόσαι πρὸς τὸν χορὸν ἢ πρὸς τὴν λύραν, εἰ μή τις εἴη χορὸς διαλεκτικός.

Quare et Sappho de pulchritudine canens, utitur verbis pulchris, et tota suavis est, & de cupidinibus utique, & de aere, & de halcyone, & omnia [fere] verba pulchra ipsius poesi inexta sunt: nonnulla autem & ipsa facricata est.

Aliter autem irridet agrestem sponsum, & ianitorem qui versatur in nuptiis, valde humiliter & pedestribus potius verbis quam poeticis. Quapropter haec ipsius poemata recitationi magis quam cantui apta sunt: neque accommodari possunt ad chorum, vel ad lyram, nisi sit chorus qui rem aliquam simpliciter enarrat.

 

--Demetrius of Phaleron, Libro de Elocutione III.166-167; Translated into Latin by Robert Faulis (1743)

 Demetrius of Phaleron was an Athenian philosopher, statesman, and author who lived during the 3^rd century BCE. His magnum opus, On Style [de Elocutione], is a valuable resource for preserving poetic works of authors no longer extant.

 

M/M: Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder: Cicero, de Natura Deorum I1.79

Name:  Cicero Date:  106 – 43 BCE Region:  Rome [modern Italy] Citation:  On the Nature of the Gods, 1.79

For those of us who, following in the footsteps of ancient philosophers, are delighted by young men,* we often even think that their imperfections are cute. Alcaeus was delighted by the birthmark on his boyfriend’s finger. Although a birthmark is a blemish on the body, to Alcaeus, it seemed to be the boy’s best feature. Q. Catulus, the father of a friend and co-worker of mine, loved his fellow citizen Roscius, and composed the following poem about him:

“I stood, welcoming the rising sun

When suddenly Roscius came into view from the left.

Heaven forgive me! I confess

That he, a mortal, seemed prettier than a god.”

Roscius was “prettier than a god,” although he had (and even today, still has) a very bad squint. Why does that matter, if he seemed charming and beautiful in the eyes of his admirer?

* Adulescentulus is used for men in their mid-twenties to early thirties 

Deinde nobis, qui concedentibus philosophis antiquis adulescentulis delectamur, etiam vitia saepe iucunda sunt. Naevos in articulo pueri delectat Alcaeum; at est corporis macula naevos; illi tamen hoc lumen videbatur. Q. Catulus, huius collegae et familiaris nostri pater, dilexit municipem tuum Roscium, in quem etiam illud est eius:

"constiteram exorientem Auroram forte salutans,
    cum subito a laeva Roscius exoritur.
pace mihi liceat caelestes dicere vestra:
    mortalis visus pulchrior esse deo."

Huic deo pulchrior; at erat, sicuti hodie est, perversissimis oculis: Quid refert, si hoc ipsum salsum illi et venustum videbatur?

 

 Cicero [Marcus Tullius Cicero; 106 – 43 BCE, modern Italy] was an Italian-born Roman statesman and author who lived during the complexities of Rome’s transition from Republic to monarchy. Cicero spent most of his life in service of his country, serving as both a lawyer, senator, and even consul [Roman equivalent of president]. He is known for his suppression of the failed governmental coup in 63 BCE known as the Catilinarian conspiracy that occurred during his consulship. After the rise of Octavian [later known as the first Roman emperor Augustus], his views fell out of favor and he was eventually put to death during the proscriptions under the Second Triumvirate [Octavian, Marc Antony and Lepidus]. He was a prolific author in a wide range in genres, and his literary style was adopted by Petrarch as the default model for the Latin language.

Quintus Lutatius Catulus was a prominent figure in the wars against the Cimbri and the Teutones in the 2^nd century BCE. Although he was a prolific author, only fragments remain of his works. 

I'll Be Your Anything: The Genderfluid God Vertumnus, Propertius, E. 4.2

Vertumnus  Boasts of His Abilities

Name:  Propertius Date:  50 – 15 BCE Region:   Assisium [modern Italy] Citation:    Elegies 4.2

Why are you surprised by my many shapes in my one body? 

Just accept that I, Vertumnus, am a god.

I’m Tuscan born, and I’m native of Tuscany,

And I’m not ashamed to have abandoned the Volsinian side in battle.

This is my kind of crowd. I’m not too fond of ivory temples,

I’m okay with just watching over the Roman Forum.

This is where the Tiber River once made its way;

It is said that the sound of oars was heard splashing here.

And after Father Tiber granted this land to his offspring, 

I, Vertumnus was named after the “Bend in the Stream [1].”

Or, maybe I’m named that way because I receive first fruits after the “turning of the year [2]"

And you believe this is sacred rite to Vertumnus.

The grape in its cluster ripens for me; the wheat heads grow heavy.

In me, you see the sweet cherry, the autumn plums, and the mulberry deepen in color on a summer day.

You see the grafter dedicate a crown of fruit to me, after an unwilling pear tree begins to sprout apples.

Okay, stop talking about me; there’s another reason to my name.

Believe me, a god, as I tell you about myself:

Nature made me fit for every figure.

I can change into any shape you want.

Clothe me in Coan clothes and I’ll be a flirty girl;

If I put on a toga, who will deny that I’m a man?

 Give me a scythe and put a knot of hay upon my forehead, and you’d swear I was the reaper who cut the grain myself.

There was I time that I remember when I took up arms, and I was renowned for it, and I was a reaper bearing a load of baskets.

I’m serious as a lawyer, but if you put a garland on my head, you’d swear I was a partygoer.  Put a Phrygian cap on my head, and I will rave like a bacchant; I’ll play Apollo, if you give me a lyre. Give me hunting supplies, and I’ll be a hunter; but, with other supplies, I’ll only hunt birds.

And I’ve also been a charioteer, as well as a warrior who can leap from horse to horse. Give me a rod, and I’ll be a fisherman; or give me a long tunic, and I’ll be a fastidious merchant. I can pose like a shepherd with his crook; I can carry a basket of roses through the dusty streets.

What else should I add to heighten my fame, that puts the first fruits of the garden into my hands? Dark cucumbers and fat gourds and cabbages tied with a garland of rushes give away my identity; no flower blossoms in the fields that doesn’t also rest upon my forehead.

But since I alone can turn [3] into every shape, I was named for this in my country’s language.

You, Rome, have given tribute to my Tuscans (this is where the Tuscan Way got its name), when Lycomedius came with armed reinforcement, when he defeated cruel Tatius’ Sabine forces.  I myself saw the broken ranks, the falling weapons, the enemy forced into a shameful retreat.

Blessed Jupiter, see to it that the toga-wearing race of Rome stay in my sight forever.

Only six lines left: you are off to court, go on your way, I won’t keep you, don’t bother to read the rest.

I used to be a trunk of a maple tree,

But then I was carved by an ax.

Before Numa’s reign, I was a humble god in a humble city.

But Mamurrius, the artist sculpted me in bronze,

May the Oscan earth never harm your hands, Mammurius,

Since you created me for such a pleasant purpose!

There is only one sculpture of me, but more than one honors for such a sculpture.

 

 Vertumnus Boasts of His Abilities

Quid mirare meas tot in uno corpore formas,

accipe Vertumni signa fatente deo.

Tuscus ego Tuscis orior, nec paenitet inter

proelis Volsinios deseruisse focos.

Haec me turba iuuat, nec templo laetor eburno:

Romanum satis est posse videre Forum.

Hac quondam Tiberinus iter faciebat, et aiunt

remorum auditos per vada pulsa sonos:

at postquam ille suis tantum concessit alumnis,

VertAMNUS verso dicor ab amne deus.

Seu, quia vertentis fructum praecepimus anni,

VertANNI rursus creditur esse sacrum.

Prima mihi variat liventibus uva racemis,

et coma lactenti spicea fruge tumet;

hic dulcis cerasos, hic autumnalia pruna

cernis et aestiuo mora rubere die;

insitor hic soluit pomosa vota corona,

cum pirus invito stipite mala tulit.

Mendax fama, vaces: alius mihi nominis index:

de se narranti tu modo crede deo.

Opportuna mea est cunctis natura figuris:

in quamcumque voles verte, decorus ero.

Indue me Cois, fiam non dura puella:

meque virum sumpta quis neget esse toga?

Da falcem et torto frontem mihi comprime faeno:

iurabis nostra gramina secta manu.

Arma tuli quondam et, memini, laudabar in illis:

corbis et imposito pondere messor eram.

Sobrius ad lites: at cum est imposta corona,

clamabis capiti vina subisse meo.

Cinge caput mitra, speciem furabor Iacchi;

furabor Phoebi, si modo plectra dabis.

Cassibus impositis venor: sed harundine sumpta

fautor plumoso sum deus aucupio.

Est etiam aurigae species cum verbere et eius

traicit alterno qui leve corpus equo.

Suppetat hic, piscis calamo praedabor, et ibo

mundus demissis institor in tunicis.

Pastor me ad baculum possum curvare vel idem

sirpiculis medio pulvere ferre rosam.

Nam quid ego adiciam, de quo mihi maxima fama est,

hortorum in manibus dona probata meis?

Caeruleus cucumis tumidoque cucurbita ventre

me notat et iunco brassica vincta levi;

nec flos ullus hiat pratis, quin ille decenter

impositus fronti langueat ante meae.

At mihi, quod formas unus vertebar in omnis,

nomen ab eventu patria lingua dedit; 

et tu, Roma, meis tribuisti praemia Tuscis,

 (unde hodie Vicus nomina Tuscus habet),

tempore quo sociis venit Lycomedius armis

atque Sabina feri contudit arma Tati.

Vidi ego labentis acies et tela caduca,

atque hostis turpi terga dedisse fugae.

Sed facias, divum Sator, ut Romana per aevum

transeat ante meos turba togata pedes.

Sex superant versus: te, qui ad vadimonia curris,

non moror: haec spatiis ultima creta meis.

Stipes acernus eram, properanti falce dolatus,

ante Numam grata pauper in urbe deus.

At tibi, Mamurri, formae caelator aenae,

tellus artifices ne terat Osca manus,

qui me tam docilis potuisti fundere in usus.

Unum opus est, operi non datur unus honos.  

 

---

[1] A pun on the ‘vert-’ prefix in his name.

[2] Another pun on the ‘vert-’ prefix in his name.

[3] Another pun on the ‘vert-’ prefix in his name.

Propertius [Sextus Propertius; 50-15 BCE, modern Italy] was an Italian-born Roman lyric poet whose love poetry provides insight into the customs 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.”