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 He follows this passage with wild accusations that will not be published here.]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."

 

The Gender-Bending Vision of St. Perpetua

The Gender Bending Vision of St. Perpetua

Name:  St. Perpetua Date:  203 CE Region:  Madaura [modern Algeria] Citation:  The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas 10

Before she was killed, St. Perpetua had a vision in which she became a man and fought a gladiator. Many people interpret this transformation as her gaining skills and abilities that she was denied access to because of her gender.

The day before our execution, I saw this in a vision. The deacon Pomponius came to the door of the prison and started knocking on it violently. I went to the door and opened it. He was clothed in loose, bright clothing, and had special shoes on. He told me, “Perpetua, we are waiting for you, come on!,” and he held out his hand for me, and we began to walk through rough and uneven places. We nearly didn’t make it, but we finally arrived at the amphitheater and he brought me into the middle of the arena and told me, “Don’t panic. I am here with you, and I’ve got your back.” And he disappeared.

Then I saw a huge crowd of people, thunderstruck. Since I knew that I was condemned to die by beasts, I was wondering why there weren’t any animals around me. Instead, a certain Egyptian fighter—an absolutely huge warrior—came to fight me along with other gladiators. But young, honorable youths rose up alongside of me to cheer me on and help me fight. I took off my robe, and became a man. And my helpers began to anoint me with oil (something that happens in the arena). And I saw the Egyptian gladiator rolling in the dust. And there was a certain man who was huge (even taller than the tower of the amphitheater), who wore a loose purple robe with two stripes across the middle of his chest, wearing special shoes made of gold and silver. He carried a staff like a referee would, but it was a leafy branch that had golden apples. He shushed the crowd and said, “If this Egyptian fighter gladiator wins, he will kill her with a sword, but if this woman wins, she will get this staff as a trophy.” And he left.

And we approached each other and began to fight. He tried to grab my feet, but I started kicking him.  He tossed me into the air and I kept kicking him with my legs. But when I saw I had a chance, I wove my fingers together and I grabbed him by the head, and I struck him in the face and I kicked him in the head. And the crowd began to shout and my fans began to cheer. And I went up to the referee and I got the staff as a trophy of my victory. And he kissed me and told me, “Daughter, Peace be with you.” And I began to do my victory dance towards the Winner’s Gate. And then I woke up. And I understood that I wasn’t going to fight beasts, but I was going to fight the devil, but that I would be victorious. I had this vision the day before the Games; if someone wishes to write down what actually happens at the Games, let them do so.

 

The Gender Bending Vision of St. Perpetua

Pridie quam pugnaremus, video in horomate hoc: venisse Pomponium diaconum ad ostium carceris et pulsare vehementer.Et exivi ad eum et aperui ei; qui erat vestitus discincta candida, habens multiplices galliculas. Et dixit mihi: “Perpetua, te expectamus; veni.” Et tenuit mihi manum et coepimus ire per aspera loca et flexuosa.Vix tandem pervenimus anhelantes ad amphitheatrum et induxit me in media arena et dixit mihi: “Noli pavere. Hic sum tecum et conlaboro tecum.” Et abiit.

Et aspicio populum ingentem adtonitum; et quia sciebam me ad bestias damnatam esse, mirabar quod non mitterentur mihi bestiae. Et exivit quidam contra me Aegyptius foedus specie cum adiutoribus suis pugnaturus mecum. Veniunt et ad me adolescentes decori, adiutores et fautores mei. Et expoliata sum et facta sum masculus; et coeperunt me favisores mei oleo defricare, quomodo solent in agone. Et illum contra Aegyptium video in afa volutantem. Et exivit vir quidam mirae magnitudinis ut etiam excederet fastigium amphitheatri, discinctatus, purpuram inter duos clavos per medium pectus habens, et galliculas multiformes ex auro et argento factas, et ferens virgam quasi lanista, et ramum viridem in quo erant mala aurea. Et petiit silentium et dixit: “Hic Aegyptius, si hanc vicerit, occidet illam gladio; haec, si hunc vicerit, accipiet ramum istum.” Et recessit.

 Et accessimus ad invicem et coepimus mittere pugnos. Ille mihi pedes adprehendere volebat; ego autem illi calcibus faciem caedebam. Et sublata sum in aere et coepi eum sic caedere quasi terram non calcans. At ubi vidi moram fieri, iunxi manus ut digitos in digitos mitterem et apprehendi illi caput; et cecidit in faciem et calcavi illi caput. Et coepit populus clamare et fautores mei psallere. Et accessi ad lanistam et accepi ramum.Et osculatus est me et dixit mihi: “Filia, pax tecum.” Et coepi ire cum gloria ad portam Sanavivariam [1]. Et experrecta sum. Et intellexi me non ad bestias, sed contra diabolum esse pugnaturam; sed sciebam mihi esse victoriam. Hoc usque in pridie muneris egi; ipsius autem muneris actum, si quis voluerit, scribat.

---

[1] Sani et vivi, literally, “the healthy and living” gate.

Saint Perpetua [Vibia Perpetua; 203 CE, modern Algeria] was a Christian woman who was imprisoned and executed for her faith in 203 CE. In the Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, she tells of her arrest, imprisonment, and execution.

Faith Over Family: Perpetua 5

Faith Over Family

Name:  St. Perpetua Date:  203 CE Region:  Madaura [modern Algeria] Citation:  The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas 5

Perpetua was a Christian woman who was imprisoned and executed for her faith in 203 CE. Before her execution, her father tried to manipulate her into recanting her faith by mentioning her family ties. In this passage, Perpetua explains that her faith was more important than her earthly family.

After a few days, we heard a rumor that we would be heard [in trial]. My father came to visit me from the city, worn out with worry. He approached me, and said, “Daughter, pity my old age. Pity your father! If I am worthy to still be called your father, if I raised you to womanhood with my own hands, if I cherished you over all of your brothers, don’t let me get dragged down by other people’s trash talk. Think about your brothers! Think about your mother and your aunt! Think about your son, who will die without you! Stop being so brave, or you’ll ruin us all. If something happens to you, none of us will be able to speak freely about it...”

My dad said this out of concern for his family, kissing my hands and throwing himself at my feet. He wept, and called me “lady,” not “daughter.” And I was upset for my dad, for he was the only person who wasn’t happy for me out of my whole family. And I comforted him, saying, “What happens at the gallows is God’s will. Please know that I am not yours to control, but rather I’m in God’s hands.” And he left me, upset.

Faith Over Family

Post paucos dies rumor cucurrit ut audiremur. Supervenit autem et de civitate pater meus, consumptus taedio, et ascendit ad me, ut me deiceret, dicens: “Miserere, filia, canis meis; miserere patri, si dignus sum a te pater vocari; si his te manibus ad hunc florem aetatis provexi, si te praeposui omnibus fratribus tuis: ne me dederis in dedecus hominum. Aspice fratres tuos, aspice matrem tuam et materteram, aspice filium tuum qui post te vivere non poterit. Depone animos; ne universos nos extermines. Nemo enim nostrum libere loquetur, si tu aliquid fueris passa.”

Haec dicebat quasi pater pro sua pietate basians mihi manus et se ad pedes meos iactans et lacrimans me iam non “filiam” nominabat, sed “dominam.” Et ego dolebam casum patris mei quod solus de passione mea gavisurus non esset de toto genere meo. Et confortavi eum dicens: “Hoc fiet in illa catasta quod Deus voluerit. Scito enim nos non in nostra esse potestate futuros, sed in Dei.” Et recessit a me contristatus.

Saint Perpetua [Vibia Perpetua; 203 CE, modern Algeria] was a Christian woman who was imprisoned and executed for her faith in 203 CE. In the Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, she tells of her arrest, imprisonment, and execution. 

I Cannot Be Anything Other Than Me, St. Perpetua 2-3.2

I Cannot Be Anything Other Than Me: Perpetua’s Simple But Profound Declaration

Name:  St. Perpetua Date:  203 CE Region:  Madaura [modern Algeria] Citation:  The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas 2.1 – 3.2

Perpetua was a Christian woman who was imprisoned and executed for her faith in 203 CE. In this passage, she uses an analogy about a water pitcher to explain to her father that her faith was an integral part of her being.

Some youths were arrested before they could get baptized. They were Revocatus and Felicitas (his co-worker), Saturninus and Little Secundus. Among them was also Vibia Perpetua, a well-born lady, well educated, married and a mother. She had a mother, a father, and two brothers (one of whom was also an unbaptized Christian), and an infant son who had not yet been weaned. She was about twenty-two years old. This is a story of her martyrdom, written by her own hand, that she has left to us based on her own experience: 

When we were still among our prosecutors, my father tried to talk me out of it, out of his love for me. I told him, “Dad, do you see that vase lying over there? Is that a water jug or something else?”

He said, “I see it.”

And I told him, “Can you call it something other than its name?”

And he said, “Nope.”

And I said, “And I, too, cannot be called anything except what I am; a Christian.”

Latin Text: 

Apprehensi sunt adolescentes catechumeni, Revocatus et Felicitas, conserva eius, Saturninus et Secundulus. Inter hos et Vibia Perpetua, honeste nata, liberaliter instituta, matronaliter nupta, habens patrem et matrem et fratres duos, alterum aeque catechumenum, et filium infantem ad ubera. Erat autem ipsa circiter annorum viginti duo. Haec ordinem totum martyrii sui iam hinc ipsa narravit sicut conscriptum manu sua et suo sensu reliquit:

“Cum adhuc, inquit, cum prosecutoribus essemus et me pater verbis evertere cupiret et deicere pro sua affectione perseveraret: “Pater,” inquam, “vides verbi gratia vas hoc iacens, urceolum sive aliud?”

Et dixit: “Video.” 

Et ego dixi ei: “Numquid alio nomine vocari potest quam quod est?”

Et ait: “Non.”

“Sic et ego aliud me dicere non possum nisi quod sum, Christiana.”

Saint Perpetua [Vibia Perpetua; 203 CE, modern Algeria] was a Christian woman who was imprisoned and executed for her faith in 203 CE. In the Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, she tells of her arrest, imprisonment, and execution. 

Roman Masculinity and BABIES, squee! Fronto, Ad Amicos 1.12.1-2

Fronto Fawns Over His Grandbabies!

Name:  Fronto and Marcus Aurelius Date:  100 – 170 CE Region:  Cirta [modern Algeria], Rome [modern Italy] Citation: Fronto, Letters to Friends 1.12.1-2

From: Fronto

To: Aufidius Victorinus

Hello, Son-in-Law!

[First Part of Letter is Missing]...In due course the gods will honor my daughter / your wife and our entire family with more children and grandchildren, and, since you'll be their dad, they will grow up to be just like you. Not a day goes by that I don’t have little mini-baby-talk conversations or hear mini-tantrums with our either our Victorinus, Jr, or our Fronto, Jr.  Whereas you never seek a reward or bribes from your words or deeds, our little Fronto doesn’t babble any other word more frequently than “da.” [“Give!”]  And so I give the little guy whatever is at hand—either a little scrap of paper or a writing tablet, things I hope he’ll want one day. But there are some signs he’s just like me, his grandpa: he really, really, really likes grapes. It was his first solid food, and all day he would lick them, or savor them in his lips, or nom-nom on them with his little baby gums [1]. He also really, really likes little birds: he really delights watching baby birds, little baby chicks, baby doves, and baby sparrows. I heard from my nurses and teachers that I always did the same when I was a kid...

---

[1] Please do not give uncut grapes to small children. They are a choking hazard. Thank you.

 

Fronto Fawns Over His Grandbabies!

Fronto Aufidio Victorino genero salutem.

<...> meremur et mihi filiam et tibi uxorem, ut recte proveniat, favebunt et familiam nostram liberis ac nepotibus augebunt et eos, qui ex te geniti sunt eruntque, tui similes praestabunt.Cum isto quidem sive Victorino nostro sive Frontone cotidianae mihi lites et jurgia intercedunt. Cum tu nullam unquam mercedem ullius rei agendae dicendaeve a quoquam postularis, Fronto iste nullum verbum prius neque frequentius congarrit quam hoc ‘da’. Ego contra quod possum aut chartulas ei aut tabellas porrigo, quarum rerum petitorem eum esse cupio. Nonnulla tamen et aviti ingeni signa ostendit: Uvarum avidissimus est. Primum denique hunc cibum degluttivit nec cessavit per totos paene dies aut lingua lambere uvam, aut labris saviari ac gingivis lacessere ac ludificari. Avicularum etiam cupidissimus est: Pullis gallinarum, columbarum, passerum oblectatur, quo studio me a prima infantia devinctum fuisse saepe audivi ex his, qui mihi eductores aut magistri fuerunt...

Reminding Those You Care About to Care for Themselves: Four Letters Between Fronto and Marcus Aurelius

 

Name:  Fronto and Marcus Aurelius Date:  100 – 170 CE Region:  Cirta [modern Algeria], Rome [modern Italy] Citation: Fronto, Letters to Marcus Aurelius 5.1, 5.2, Index of Book 5, lines 7-8

Fronto to Marcus Aurelius:

To my lord:

If you love me at all, get some sleep the night before you come into the Senate, so you can give your speech with a healthy appearance and a strong voice.

Marcus Aurelius to Fronto:

To my teacher:

I will never love you enough! I’ll get some sleep.

 

Fronto to Marcus Aurelius:

To my lord: Get something to eat, lord...

 

Marcus Aurelius to Fronto:

To my teacher: I got something to eat...

Domino Meo.

Si quicquam nos amas, dormi per istas noctes, ut forti colore in senatum venias et vehementi latere legas.

Magistro meo:

Ego te numquam satis amabo: dormiam.

 

 

 [First lines of two lost letters]:

Domino meo: Sume cibum, Domine...

Magistro meo: Sumpsi cibum...

Fronto [Marcus Cornelius Fronto; 100 – 160 CE, modern Algeria and Italy] was a Roman statesman born in Cirta [modern Algeria] whose rhetorical and literary abilities earned him the nickname “the Second Cicero.” He was tutor and mentor to the future Roman emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. His correspondence with them provides unique insight into the personal lives of much of the Antonine dynasty.

M/M: I Love Those Who Love You, Fronto, Ad M. Caes. 4.1

 

Name:  Fronto Date:  100 – 170 CE Region:  Cirta [modern Algeria], Rome [modern Italy] Citation: Fronto, Letters to Marcus Aurelius 4.1.4

But I beg you, let us talk about better things. I love Julianus (the reason we started this conversation). I love everyone who loves you, I love the gods who protect you, I love life because of you, I love our letters together, especially in the ones where I gush my love for you.

 

Sed meliora, quaeso, fabulemur. Amo Julianum (inde enim hic sermo defluxit), amo omnes, qui te diligunt, amo deos, qui te tutantur, amo vitam propter te, amo litteras tecum: Inprimis eis mihi amorem tui ingurgito.

Fronto [Marcus Cornelius Fronto; 100 – 160 CE, modern Algeria and Italy] was a Roman statesman born in Cirta [modern Algeria] whose rhetorical and literary abilities earned him the nickname “the Second Cicero.” He was tutor and mentor to the future Roman emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. His correspondence with them provides unique insight into the personal lives of much of the Antonine dynasty.

M/M: Two Hearts Melting into One, Synesius 152

A Christian Author Using Plato’s Myth of Soulmates

Name:   Synesius of Cyrene Date:   373 – 414 CE Region:   Cyrene [modern Libya] Citation:     Letter 151

Plato’s imagery of soulmates had such a strong impact on Greco-Roman literature that seven hundred years later, a Christian bishop used it to describe his relationship with Pylaemenes.

 

When I put my arms around you,  Pylaemenes, I feel like my soul is embracing your soul. I can’t express in words how much my heart gushes on and on about you, and I can’t even understand the depths of my feelings for you. But one person can—Plato the Athenian, the relationship expert, in his book on Love [Symposium]. He cleverly researched and eloquently described what a person in love wants to happen when they find their soulmate. Therefore, let Plato’s words count as mine: he said that a soulmate would want Vulcan to melt them both down and fuse them together, creating one person out of two.

 

Οΐου με περιπτύσσεσθαι Πυλαιμένην, αὐτὴν τὴν ψυχήν, αὐτῇ τῇ ψυχῇ. Ἀπορῶ λόγων οἷς ἐκχέοιτο ὅσον ἐστὶ τῆς γνώμης μου τὸ βουλόμενον. μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ αὐτό μου τὸ πάθος, ὅ τί ποτέ ἐστι τὸ περὶ σέ μου τῆς ψυχῆς ἐξευρίσκω. Ἐγένετο δὲ τις ἀνὴρ δεινὸς τὰ ἐρωτικὰ, Πλάτων ὁ ̓Αρίστωνος Ἀθηναῖος, εὔπορος εὑρεῖν εὔκολος εἰπεῖν ἐραστοῦ φύσιν, καὶ δὴ καὶ ὅ τι αὐτῷ γενέσθαι περὶ τὰ παιδικὰ βούλεται. καὶ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ τοίνυν ἐξευρηκώς τε ἔστω καὶ εἰρηκώς. Βούλοιτ ἂν οὖν φησὶ, Ηφαίστου τέχνῃ συντακῆναί τε καὶ συμφυῆναι, καὶ ἔν ἄμφω γενέσθαι.

Pylaemenem me puta, ipsum animum animo ipso complecti. Desunt mihi verba quibus quanta est voluntatis animi mei vis effundatur, vel potius ne ipse quidem affectus cuiusmodi erga te in animo meo insit, invenio. Sed homo quidam exstitit amatoriarum rerum peritus, Plato Aristonis filius Atheniensis in amatoris natura, eoque quod circa delicias suas sibi accidere vellet, inveniendo solers, in explicando disertus ac facilis. Quare is pro me istud et inveniat et dicat. Vellet igitur, ait ille, Vulcani quadam arte colliquari et coalescere, unumque ex ambobus effici. Translated into Latin by Jacques-Paul Migne

Synesius of Cyrene [373 – 414 CE, modern Libya] was a Greek writer and statesman from Cyrene. He is known as one of Hypatia’s most famous students. His education took him to both Alexandria, Egypt and Athens, Greece; he spent many years in Constantinople advocating on behalf of his community. His letters are still extant, and provide us with unique insights into this time period.

Christianizing the Myth of Achilles & Patroclus: Synesius to His Friend Troilus, Ep. 123

Name:   Synesius of Cyrene Date:   373 – 414 CE Region:   Cyrene [modern Libya] Citation:     Letter 123

 Roman men often had deep, loving and affectionate friendships with their peers. There was no shame or stigma in expressing love and support to one another.

Dear Troilus,

Even if death erases the memory of our souls,

I will still be able to remember you there, dear friend!

This is a quote of Homer, but I don’t know if they were written more for Achilles and Patroclus than for us, dear friend! May God above, Whom wisdom cherishes, bear witness that the image of your sacred and most precious spirit is fixed deep within my heart, and even now, the words of your wisdom-instilled voice still resonate in my ears. When I returned home from Egypt, I read the letters you’d written me for the past two years and I wept profusely. Your letters didn’t cause me happiness, but rather grief, for as I read them, I recalled from spending time with you in real life, and now it seems I’m mourning the loss of a friend, even a parent, with your absence—even through you are still alive! I’ll proudly do my duty and undertake serious challenges for my country, if only I can find an opportunity to leave it. When will I enjoy seeing your face again, dearest Father? When will I wrap my arms around your sacred neck? When will I spend time with you again? If this ever should happen, I would be like what they say about Aeson from Thessaly, and become young again.

Troilo.

Quod si Erebo vita functorum oblivia tangant, 

illic vel chari potero meminisse sodalis.

Sunt illi quidem ab Homero versus scripti; sed eorum sensus nescio an ab Achille potius de Patroclo quam a me de te amicissimo, ac benefico capite, usurpari merito possit. quam eloquidem, ut testis est mihi Deus, quem philosophia colit, sacri tui ac suavisissimi animi infixam imaginem medio in corde circumfero, et auribus etiamnum illa sapientissimorum tuorum sermonum vox insonat. Cum autem ex Aegypto in patriam rediissem, ac duorum annorum simul epistolas legissem, magnam equidem in litteras vim lacrimarum profudi. Non tam enim, quod te per litteras quodammodo fruerer, mihi voluptatem afferebat, quam illud dolore afficiebat, cum ex scriptis tuis litteris praesentem ac vivam in animam consuetudinem revocarem; cuiusmodi scilicet et amico simul, et vere parente vivo essem orbatus. Libenter igitur graviora pro patria certamina subeam, mihi ut iterum profectionis occasio praebeatur. Num quando conspectu tuo perfruar, Pater vere germanissime? num quando sacrum tuum caput amplectar? num concilii propter te beati particeps ero?  Si enim ea mihi obtinere contigerit, efficiam profecto, ut iam fabula non sit, quod de Aesone Thessalo dicitur praedicant, cum ex sene repente esset iuvenis factus.

Translated by J. P. Migne (1864)

Synesius of Cyrene [373 – 414 CE, modern Libya] was a Greek writer and statesman from Cyrene. He is known as one of Hypatia’s most famous students. His education took him to both Alexandria, Egypt and Athens, Greece; he spent many years in Constantinople advocating on behalf of his community. His letters are still extant, and provide us with unique insights into this time period.

They were Roommates? Suetonius on the life of Hyginus, de Gram. 20.1-3

Name: Suetonius Date:  69 - 122 CE Region: Numidia [modern Algeria]    Citation:  de Gramm. 20.1-3

Roman men often had deep, loving and affectionate friendships with their peers. There was no shame or stigma in expressing love and support to one another.

Caius Julius Hyginus, one of Augustus’ freedmen, was from Hispania [modern Spain].  Some think that he was actually from Alexandria [modern Egypt], and brought to Rome as a boy by Caesar after the fall of Alexandria. He studied under the Greek scholar Cornelius Alexander (whom many called the Scholar because of his vast knowledge of history), then followed in his footsteps. He was in charge of the Palatine library, and despite this, still had the time to teach many people. He was very close friends with the poet Ovid and Clodius Licinius, the former consul and historian who, after Hyginus fell into poverty, supported him financially for as long as he lived. Hyginus’ freedman was Julius Modestus, a scholar who followed in his patron’s footsteps in both education and area of expertise.

  

C. Iulius Hyginus Augusti libertus, natione Hispanus,—nonnulli Alexandrinum putant et a Caesare puerum Romam adductum Alexandria capta—studiose et audiit et imitatus est Cornelium Alexandrum grammaticum Graecum quem propter antiquitatis notitiam Polyhistorem multi, quidam Historiam vocabant. Praefuit Palatinae bibliothecae nec eo secius plurimos docuit fuitque familiarissimus Ovidio poetae et Clodio Licino consulari historico qui eum admodum pauperem decessisse tradit et liberalitate sua quoad vixerit sustentatum. Huius libertus fuit Iulius Modestus in studiis atque doctrina vestigia patroni secutus.

  

 Suetonius was a Roman biographer from Numidia (modern Algeria). He is known for his work the de Vitis Caesarum, a collection of biographies on the first twelve Roman emperors.

 

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.

Trans Ally and Momma Bear, Callimachus, Greek Anthology 7.728

Trans Ally and Momma Bear

Name: Callimachus Date:    305 – 240 BCE Region:   Cyrene [modern Libya] Citation:    Greek Anthology 7.728

The following is an epitaph of a priestess who served many goddesses throughout her life, including Cybele. As a priestess of Cybele, she was a protector and mentor of the goddess’ galli worshippers.

I was once the sacred priestess of Demeter, then the Cabeiri,

O traveler, and then I served Cybele.

I was a momma bear for many young ladies. 

Then I became an old woman, and now I’m ashes; 

And the locks of golden hair that used to adorn my shoulders.

I had two sons, and I closed my eyes a final time in their arms. 

Go on your merry way.  

Ἱερέη Δήμητρος ἐγώ ποτε, καὶ πάλιν Καβείρων, ὦνερ, καὶ μετέπειτα Δινδυμήνης, ἡ γρηῢς γενόμην, ἡ νῦν κόνις, ἡνο ... πολλῶν προστασίη νέων γυναικῶν. καί μοι τέκν᾽ ἐγένοντο δύ᾽ ἄρσενα, κἠπέμυς᾽ ἐκείνων εὐγήρως ἐνὶ χερσίν. ἕρπε χαίρων.

Virgo sacerdos Cereris ego olim, et rursus Cabirorum, o homo, et deinde Dindymenae, anus fui, quae nunc sum cinis [a diis nacta] multarum patrocinium iuvenum mulierum. Et mihi pueri fuerunt duo mares, et oculos clausi illorum grandaeva in manibus. Repta gaudens. Translated into Latin by  Hugo Grotius

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.