Losing Half of My Soul: A Medieval Portrayal of David and Jonathan, Abelard Lamentations 6

 

Name: Peter Abelard Date:    1079 – 1142 CE Region:   [modern France] Citation:   Planctus 6: Planctus David Super Saul et Jonathan 45-48; 53-56; 61-64; 69-92  [Lamentation on the Death of King Saul and Jonathan]

Jonathan, more than a brother to me, Who shared my soul, What sins, what crimes have destroyed my flesh! ... Oh God, the earth is drenched In the slaughter of kings! Oh my Jonathan, why did an impious hand slay you? ... Now, my Jonathan, I’ll mourn you over everyone else I’ve lost, All of my joys Will forever be mixed with tears ... Oh God! What terrible advice did I follow That I didn’t join you in battle To protect you? Or I could have died happily Slain by your side, Since it would be an act of love— Nothing greater exists than this. And it is literal death To outlive you  And keep on living With only half a soul. I should have been there At the moment of crisis To prove myself Sharing in your victory Or supporting you in your downfall,  So I could rescue you from danger Or I could die with you, sacrificing the life you saved so many times and giving my life for yours,  so death can join us instead of separate us.

Plus fratre mihi Jonatha, in una mecum anima, quae peccata, quae scelera, nos ciderunt viscera! ... Vae, vae tibi madida tellus caede regia! quare te, mi Jonatha, manus stravit impia? ... Tu mihi nunc Jonatha, Flendus super omnia, inter cuncta gaudia perpes erit lacrima. ... Heu! Cur consilio acquievi pessimo, ut tibi praesidio non essem in praelio? Vel confossus pariter morier feliciter quum, quod amor faciat, maius hoc non habeat. et me post te vivere mori sit assidue, nec ad vitam anima satis est dimidia. vicem amicitiae vel unam me reddere, oportebat tempore summae tunc angustiae; triumphi participem vel ruinae comitem, ut te vel eriperem vel tecum occumberem vitam pro te finiens quam salvasti totiens ut et mors nos iungeret magis quam disiungeret.

Mars & Pallas, Joined in Battle *and* Origin Stories: Faustus Sabaeus

Name: Faustus Sabaeus Date: 16th century CE   Region:  Brixia [Brescia, modern Italy] Citation:   Epigrams, book 1 p.61-2

Mars & Pallas

Over here, you see a woman

Wearing an aegis, a helmet, and a spear,

And over there, there’s a splendid looking youth in full armor.

One is the daughter of Jupiter,

The other is a son of Juno.

Both are warriors, and wage war effectively.

Both are around the same age,

But have different origin stories:

Mars doesn’t have a dad,

And Minerva doesn’t have a mom.

 

 

 

De Marte et Pallade

Gorgone munitam & galea quam cernis & hasta

tectum armis iuvenem conspicuum, atque trucem

Illa Jovis nata est, Junonis filius iste, 

Bella gerunt ambo, & strenue & arma movent.

Pene pares aetate ambo, sed dispare ab ortu

patre quidem Mavors, matre Minerva caret.

 

Faustus Sabaeus [16th century, modern Italy] was a librarian of the Vatican library who composed numerous poems on mythology-based themes.

Overpowered by a Single Woman: The Spartans vs. The Courage of Telesilla

Name: Michele Marullo Tarchaniota Date: 1330 – 1408 CE Region:   Constantinople [modern Turkey] / Volterra [modern Italy] Citation:  Epith. Telesillae; Contantinopalitani Epigrammaton,  Book 4

 If you ask where she’s from,

Her homeland was Argos.

If you ask what her name was

Her noble name was Telesilla.

If you want to know her skillset or her courage

I’m embarrassed to tell you.

The Muse can tell you about her skills,

The Spartans can tell you about her courage.

For it’s embarrassing to say that Sparta

Was overcome by  single woman

Even though it’s Spartan custom

To always tell the truth.  

Si patriam, patria est Argos. Si nomina quaeris

Scire, Telesillae nobile nomen erat,

At si artes animosque, vetat pudor hiscere de me.

Musa sed has dicent hos lacedaemonii.

Nam quis pudeat Sparten cessisse puellae

Vera tamen fari mos Lacedaemoniis.

 

Michele Marullo Tarcaniota [1458 – 1500 CE, Constantinople, modern Turkey / Volterra, modern Italy] was a famous scholar and author known for his Greco-Roman mythology-themed poetry.

A Roundabout Curse: Camilla's Demise, Servius, In Aen.11.8.42

Name: Servius Date: 4th – 5th century CE Region: [modern Italy] Citation:   Commentary on the Aeneid, 11.8.42

“You paid the cruel punishment...” A person ‘pays,’ who uses money. Here it is used as a metaphor for the death penalty. This has a fairly long explanation: the Volsci come from the Hylinas River, and Amazons are said to live there. Camilla ‘paid the penalty’ because she fought against the Trojans, when her predecessor agreed to be their allies [i.e, Penthesilea].

 

crudele luisti supplicium iuris verbo usus est. 'luere' enim debere dicitur qui pecuniam solvit: quod hic usurpatum est in capitis poenam. quidam huius loci longam expositionem tradunt: Volscos a Volscatibus Hylinis originem ducere, †exclytas autem, inter quos Amazones sunt, regionem Illyricam incolere. luisse ergo supplicium Camillam dicunt, quae adversum Troianos arma tulerit, quibus maiores eius auxilium constat tulisse, id est Penthesileam.

 

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.

"Do not call me 'lord,' for I am a lady," Bassiana / Elegabalus in Zonoras' History

Not A Lord, But a Lady

Name: Joannes Zonoras Date: 1070 – 1140 CE  Region:  Constantinople [modern Turkey] Citation:  Excerpts from Roman History 12.14d - 15b

  [Bassiana / Elegabalus] was not content with this alone; they also raced chariots, danced, and even wanted to be a bride. They wanted to be bound legally to their husband, whom they titled Caesar. They enjoyed being called “lady” and “empress,” wore a veil, spun wool, and used makeup. They shaved their face to seem feminine. Their husband was a former slave named Hierocles...

When he said to them, “Hail, Lord Emperor,” they would curtsy like a woman, and replied with a wink, “Don’t call me, ‘lord,’ for I am a lady.”

καὶ οὐχ οὕτω μόνον ἠσέλγαινεν, ἡρματηλάτει τε καὶ ὠρχεῖτο ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνδρα σχεῖν ἤθελεν ἕνα ὥσπερ γαμέτην δή τινα νόμιμον, καὶ Καίσαρα αὐτὸν ἐβούλετο προχειρίσασθαι καὶ δέσποινα καὶ βασιλὶς ὠνομάζετο καὶ ἐφόρει κεκρύφαλον καὶ ἐριούργει καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑπεγράφετο. ἅπαξ τε τὸ γένειον ἀποκείρας μετέπειτα ἐψιλίζετο ἵνα δοκοίη γυνή. ὁ δὲ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς Καρικὸν ἦν ἀνδράποδον, ἐκαλεῖτο δ ̓ Ἱεροκλῆς.. [1] καί τις δ’  Ἀυρήλιος καλὸς μὲν καὶ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα τὰ δ ̓ αἰδοῖα φέρων ὑπερμεγέθη ἐμηνύθη αὐτῷ καὶ αὐτίκα ὑπὸ πομπῇ μεγαλοπρεπεῖ προσήχθη. ᾧ προσειπόντι “χαῖρε κύριε αὐτόκρατορ,” ἐκεῖνος θρύψει γυναικώδει τὸν αὐχένα παρεγκλίνας καὶ ἐπιμύσας βραχύ τι τὰ ὄμματα, “μή με λέγε κύριον,” ἔφη, “ἐγὼ γὰρ κυρία εἰμί.”

Neque bis flagitiis contentus, aurigabat, saltabat, nubere etiam volebat, ut unum legitimum maritum haberet, quem Caesarem designaret: ac dominae et imperatricis nomine gaudebat, calanticam gestans, et lanam tractans, et genas pingens. Barbam semel quoquo abrasam, postea psilothro curabat ut muliercula videretur, cuius mulierculae maritus erat Caricum mancipium, nomine Hierocles... Qui cum ei dixisset: “Salve, domine imperator,” ille muliebri mollitie collo inclinato, et oculis nonnihil conniventibus: “Ne me dominum,” inquit, “dixeris, domina enim sum.”  Translated into Latin by Berthold Georg Niebuhr

[1]  Zonoras continues with misogynistic language which will not be published here.

Joannas Zonoras [1074 – 1145 CE, Modern Turkey] was an 11th century Byzantine scholar known for his Excerpts from Roman History.

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.

M/M: United in Death: Carpos & Calamos

Carpus and Calamus

Name: Servius Date: 4th – 5th century CE Region: [modern Italy] Citation:   Commentary on the Eclogues, 5.48

The story of Calamus is as follows: ancient authors say that the wind Zephyr married one of the Hours, and together they had a very handsome son named Carpus. Calamus, the son of the river god Meander, fell in love with him, and they loved each other intensely. However, when Carpus fell into the Meander river and drowned, Calamus was horrified by his father’s deed and ran away. He begged Jupiter to end his grief and let him die as well, so that he could join his sweetheart in death. Moved to pity, Jupiter ordered Calamus to be transformed into a reed, which is accustomed to bloom around riverbanks. Then he transformed Carpus into the fruit of all things, so he could always be reborn.

Carpus and Calamus

Fabula de Calamo talis est: veteres Zephyro vento unam ex horis coniugem adsignant, ex qua et Zephyro Carpon filium pulcherrimi corporis editum dicunt. Quem cum Calamus, Maeandri fluvii filius, amaret, a Carpo mutua vice etiam ipse adamatus est. Sed Carpos cum in Maeandrum fluvium cadens esset extinctus, Calamus, patrem propter hoc scelus aversatus, aufugit rogavitque Jovem, ut finem suis luctibus daret sibique mortem praestaret, ut amato post obitum iungeretur. Quem miseratione Juppiter ductus in harundinales calamos verti iussit, qui semper circa oras fluminum nasci solent, Carpon vero in fructus rerum omnium vertit, ut semper renasceretur.

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.

M/M: A Medieval version of the Hyacinthus myth, Hildebert of Levardin 14

Apollo Mourns Hyacinthus

Name: Hildebert of Levardin Date:   1055 – 1133 CE Region: Levardin [modern France] Citation:   #4, Phoebus On the Death of Hyacinthus

Phoebus, being

A god,

A healer,

And a lover,

Trying in vain to stop Hyacinth from dying, said,

“Gods, please spare my boyfriend!

If we cannot both die,

I’d rather follow him in death

Than remain living as a god.

If you won’t allow this,

Let part of both of us remain together

And part of us die together,

And I will come to terms with losing my godhood.

Both of us will happily adjust to losing part of ourselves,

While part of us falls to the underworld together,

The other part of us flying together to the stars.”

Apollo Mourns Hyacinthus

Et deus et medicus et amans, rescindere frustra

tentans Aebalidae funera, Phoebus ait;

“Parcite, di, puero, si non moriatur uterque;

malo sequi puerum quam superesse deum.

Si prohibetis et hoc, sit pars utriusque superstes,

par cadit, ignoscam sic minor esse deo.

Quisque feret laetus propriae dispendia partis,

dum pars ad manes, pars eat ad superos.”  

Hildebert of Levardin [1055 – 1133 CE, modern France] was a famous Christian author and bishop. Although he spent a majority of his life serving in various Church roles in what is now France, his most famous poem is his love poem to the city of Rome, [“Par tibi, Roma, nihil, cum sis prope tota ruina,”] in which he begs for aid to preserve its historical and architectural marvels.

M/M: Dying like a flower: Hyacinthus & Euryalus, Servius In Aen. 9.433

Name: Servius Date: 4th – 5th century CE Region: [modern Italy] Citation:   Commentary on the Aeneid, 9.433

9.433: “Like when a purple flower is cut by a plow.” This is the rationale for the comparison:  it is appropriate to compare Hyacinthus to Euryalus, because he was also a very beautiful man and he also turned into a flower when he died.

 

433] PURPUREUS VELUTI CUM FLOS SUCCISUS ARATRO habetur ratio comparationis: videtur enim Euryalo Hyacinthum comparare, qui pulcherrimus fuit et post mortem conversus in florem est 

 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.

 

M/M: Phaeton and Cycnus, Servius In Aen.10.189

Name: Servius Date: 4th – 5th century CE Region: [modern Italy] Citation:   Commentary on the Aeneid, 10.189

“FOR, IT IS SAID, OUT OF LOVE FOR HIS LOVER PHAETON, CYCNUS…”

Commentary: Phaeton was the son of Clymene and the Sun. When Phaeton got upset because Epaphus, the Pharoah of Egypt, told him that he wasn’t the son of the Sun but a bastard, his mother Clymene took him to meet his father.  Phaeton asked the Sun to grant him a wish to prove he was really his son. When the Sun swore on the river Styx that we would grant Phaeton his wish, Phaeton said he wished to drive his chariot, and the Sun could not refuse.  

Phaeton took charge of his father’s chariot, and when he deviated from the Sun’s track, he began to burn up the world. Jupiter shot him down with lightning and Phaeton fell in the Po river.  

His sisters, Phaethusa and Lampetusa, wept over his death until the gods took pity on them and transformed into alder trees.  

Phaeton was also mourned by his lover, a Ligurian named Cycnus, (a man who was endowed with an amazing singing voice by Apollo). Because Cycnus mourned excessively over Phaeton’s death, he was transformed into the bird he shares a name with (a swan). Later on, Apollo turned him into a constellation. His son Cupavo is said to have the feathers of a swan in the crest of his helmet in tribute of his father. 

NAMQUE FERUNT LUCTU CYCNUM PHAETHONTIS AMATI Phaethon Clymenes et Solis filius fuit. qui cum doleret obiectum sibi ab Epapho, rege Aegypti, quod esset non de Sole, sed de adulterio procreatus, duce matre venit ad Solem et poposcit, ut si vere esset eius filius, petenda praestaret. quod cum Sol iurasset per Stygem paludem se esse facturum, petit ille ut eius currus agitaret. Sol post iusiurandum negare non potuit. acceptis itaque curribus Phaethon, cum orbitam solis exisset, et coepisset mundus ardere, a Iove fulminatus in Eridanum cecidit, qui et Padus vocatur. huius interitum flentes sorores, Phaethusa et Lampetusa, deorum miseratione in arbores commutatae sunt, ut hic dicit, in populos, ut in bucolicis, in alnos. fuit etiam quidam Ligus, Cycnus nomine, dulcedine cantus ab Apolline donatus, amator Phaethontis. qui cum eum fleret extinctum, longo luctu in avem sui nominis conversus est. qui postea ab Apolline inter sidera conlocatus est. cuius nunc filium Cupavonem dicit habere cycni pennas in galea ad formae paternae insigne monstrandum. 

--Servius, In Aen.10.189 

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.

Antinous Listens To Your Prayers: Prudentius, Contra Symmachum 1.271-277

Name: Prudentius Date:  4th century CE Region:  Tarraconensis [modern Spain] Citation:  Against Symmachus 1.271-277

 In this poem, the Christian author Prudentius refers to Antinous as a "deliciae," which is usually used to refer to slaves / human trafficking victims. His disdain for same sex relationships is evident, as he equates the relationship as negating Antinous' masculinity. 

What can I say about Antinous,

The man turned into a constellation,

The boyfriend of our divine Emperor [Hadrian]

The man denied a man’s role

       as he lies in the emperor’s arms

The Divine Hadrian’s Ganymede,

Who doesn’t pour drinks for the gods

but instead reclines on the couch with his Jupiter

drinking the sacred drink of ambrosia & nectar

and listens to prayers offered to his imperial husband?

quid loquar Antinoum caelesti in sede locatum,

illum delicias nunc divi principis, illum

purpureo in gremio spoliatum sorte virili,

Hadrianique dei Ganymedem, non cyathos dis

porgere sed medio recubantem cum Iove fulcro

nectaris ambrosii sacrum potare Lyaeum,

dumque suo in templis vota exaudire marito?

 

Prudentius [Aurelius Prudentius Clemens; 348 – 413 CE, modern Spain] was a Christian author from Roman Hispania who had great influence in the court of Emperor Theodosius I. Most of his works deal with using his Christian beliefs to counter Roman polytheism and mythology. 

A Rejection of Purity Culture: A Christian Author Lambasts Vestal Virgins, Prudentius Contra Symmachum 2.1064-1079

Rejecting Purity Culture: A Christian Author Lambasts Vestal Virgins

Name: Prudentius Date:  4th century CE Region:  Tarraconensis [modern Spain] Citation:  Against Symmachus 2.1064-1079

Now I’ll discuss the honor given to the chastity of the Vestal Virgins,

And how this “honor” reflects all of their [Roman polytheists’] “respect” for chastity.

First of all, little girls are taken in their tender years

Before they are old enough to understand and consent.

All hyped up with religious zeal and purity culture,

They reject the natural bonds of matrimony.

They become slaves to their chastity and are dragged to ungrateful altars.

These poor girls lose their sense of bodily pleasure

Not because it’s the right thing to do,

But because their free will was taken from them.

Their bodies might remain chaste,

But their minds are not kept pure.

They stay up at night restlessly and sigh in their unwed beds

The blind wounds and the wedding denied to them.

And since their secret hope doesn’t extinguish their fire completely

(For they can get married in their old age)

They run to the altar as gray-haired women.

Vesta demands purity for her maidens

For an allotted time,

but they immediately reject her as old maids.

Rejecting Purity Culture: A Christian Author Lambasts Vestal Virgins

Quae nunc Vestalis sit virginitatis honestas

discutiam, qua lege regat decus omne pudoris.

ac primum parvae teneris capiuntur in annis,

ante voluntatis propriae quam libera secta,

laude pudicitiae fervens et amore deorum,

iusta maritandi condemnet vincula sexus,

captivus pudor ingratis addicitur aris,

nec contempta perit miseris sed adempta voluptas

corporis intacti: non mens intacta tenetur,

nec requies datur ulla toris, quibus innuba caecum

vulnus et amissas suspirat femina taedas;

tum quia non totum spes salva interficit ignem,

nam resides quandoque faces adolere licebit

festaque decrepitis obtendere flammea canis;

tempore praescripto membra intemerata requirens

tandem virgineam fastidit Vesta senectam. 

Prudentius [Aurelius Prudentius Clemens; 348 – 413 CE, modern Spain] was a Christian author from Roman Hispania who had great influence in the court of Emperor Theodosius I. Most of his works deal with using his Christian beliefs to counter Roman polytheism and mythology.