Twice A Man: The Story of Hippolytus and Virbius, Serv. In Aen. 7.761

Name: Servius Date: 4th – 5th century CE Region: [modern Italy] Citation:   Commentary on the Aeneid, 7.761

And Virbius, the beautiful child of Hippolytus, came for war:

When Hippolyte died, Theseus put his son Hippolytus in the care of [his new wife] Phaedra. When Hippolytus rejected Phaedra’s sexual advances, she lied and told Theseus that he had tried to rape her. Theseus sought vengeance from his father Aegeus. When Hippolytus was driving his chariot, Aegeus* sent a seal to spook the horses, and the chariot crashed. Then Diana, moved by Hippolytus’ chastity, brought him back to life through the work of Aesculapius. 

[Aesculapius was the child of Apollo and Coronis, who was cut from his dying mother’s womb. It happened when Apollo heard from the crow he’d sent to spy on Coronis that she had cheated on him. Angered, he killed the heavily pregnant Coronis with his arrows, changed the crow’s color from white to black, and cut Aesculapius from Coronis’ womb. Aesculapius grew up and  became skilled in medicine. Later on, Jupiter killed him because he’d restored Hippolytus to life. And because of that, Apollo got angry and killed Jupiter’s ironworking cyclopes with his arrows. And because of that, Jupiter stripped Apollo of his divine powers and made him a shepherd of King Admetus’ flocks for nine years.]

Once Hippolytus was restored to life, Diana entrusted him to the nymph Aricia, and ordered him to now be called Virbius [‘twice a man’]. Now his son, called the same name, comes to battle: but this is really unbelievable. For Hippolytus was chaste, and always lived alone, but somehow has a son? Actually, as I said previously, Virbius is the name of a divinity linked with Diana, just like Cybele is linked with Attis, Minerva is linked with Erichthonis, and Venus is linked with Adonis.

7.[761] IBAT ET HIPPOLYTI PROLES PULCHERRIMA BELLO VIRBIUS: Theseus mortua Hippolyte Phaedram, Minois et Pasiphaae filiam, superduxit Hippolyto. qui cum illam de stupro interpellantem contempsisset, falso delatus ad patrem est, quod ei vim voluisset inferre. ille Aegeum patrem rogavit ut se ulcisceretur. qui agitanti currus Hippolyto inmisit focam, qua equi territi eum traxerunt. tunc Diana eius castitate commota revocavit eum in vitam per Aesculapium, filium Apollinis et Coronidis, qui natus erat exsecto matris ventre, ideo quod, cum Apollo audisset a corvo, eius custode, eam adulterium committere, iratus Coronidem maturo iam partu confixit sagittis—corvum vero nigrum fecit ex albo—et exsecto ventre Coronidis produxit ita Aesculapium, qui factus est medicinae peritus. hunc postea Iuppiter propter revocatum Hippolytum interemit: unde Apollo iratus Cyclopas fabricatores fulminum confixit sagittis: ob quam rem a Iove iussus est Admeti regis novem annis apud Amphrysum armenta pascere divinitate deposita. sed Diana Hippolytum, revocatum ab inferis, in Aricia nymphae commendavit Egeriae et eum Virbium, quasi bis virum, iussit vocari. cuius nunc filium cognominem dicit in bellum venire: adeo omnia ista fabulosa sunt. nam cum castus ubique inductus sit et qui semper solus habitaverit, habuisse tamen fingitur filium. re vera autem, ut et supra diximus, Virbius est numen coniunctum Dianae, ut matri deum Attis, Minervae Erichthonius, Veneri Adonis.

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.

The Greeks Honoring the Fallen Amazons: Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.41.7

 

Name:  Pausanias Date:        110 – 180 CE Region:    Lydia [modern Turkey] Citation:      Description of Greece  1.41.7

Amazons were a varied and complex component of Athenian art and literature. In this passage, Pausanias describes the tomb of the mythical Amazon warrior Hippolyte, who dies of a broken heart when she loses her sister, Antiope. 

Near the monument to Pandion is the monument to Hippolyta; let me tell you about what the Megarians say about it. When the Amazons attacked Athens to avenge the kidnapped Antiope, they were defeated by Theseus. Many of the Amazons died in battle, but Hippolyte, the sister of Antiope and the Amazons’ general, retreated to Megara with the few remaining survivors. Upset by the defeat in battle, and despairing that that she would never return home to Themiscyra again, she died of grief. When she died, the Megarians buried her and made her tomb in the shape of an Amazon shield.

 ὅτε Ἀμαζόνες ἐπ᾽ Ἀθηναίους στρατεύσασαι δι᾽ Ἀντιόπην ἐκρατήθησαν ὑπὸ Θησέως, τὰς μὲν πολλὰς συνέβη μαχομένας αὐτῶν ἀποθανεῖν, Ἱππολύτην δὲ ἀδελφὴν οὖσαν Ἀντιόπης καὶ τότε ἡγουμένην τῶν γυναικῶν ἀποφυγεῖν σὺν ὀλίγαις ἐς Μέγαρα, ἅτε δὲ κακῶς οὕτω πράξασαν τῷ στρατῷ τοῖς τε παροῦσιν ἀθύμως ἔχουσαν καὶ περὶ τῆς οἴκαδε ἐς τὴν Θεμίσκυραν σωτηρίας μᾶλλον ἔτι ἀποροῦσαν ὑπὸ λύπης τελευτῆσαι: καὶ θάψαι αὐτὴν ἀποθανοῦσαν, καί οἱ τοῦ μνήματος σχῆμά ἐστιν Ἀμαζονικῇ ἀσπίδι ἐμφερές

Prope est Hippolytae monumentum, de qua quae Megarenses dicunt, non praetermittam. Quum Amazones ob captam Antiopen bello Athenienses lacessissent, a Theseo superatae sunt. Quumque earum multae in proelio cecidissent, Hippolyten tradunt, Antiopes sororem, cui feminarum ille parebat exercitus, Megara cum paucis aufugisse: ibi quum re mala gesta animum despondisset, praesertim quod se Themiscyram in patriam suam redire posse desperasset, prae animi angore e vita excessisse: sepultam vero eo quo diximus loco, et eius sane monumentum Amazonici clypei formam prae se fert.

 

Translated into Latin by Romulus Amasaeus (1696)

Pausanias [110 -180 CE, modern Turkey] was a Greek writer from Lydia who lived during the era of the “Five Good Emperors.” His work, the Description of Greece, is an important source for geographical, historical, archaeological, and cultural information about ancient Greece.

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.

A Temple and A Constellation: The Worship of the Asexual Prince Hippolytus, Pausanias 2.32.1

Name:  Pausanias Date:        110 – 180 CE Region:    Lydia [modern Turkey] Citation:      Description of Greece 2.32.1

There is a remarkable sacred space dedicated to Theseus’ son Hippolytus, which contains a temple and ancient statue inside. They say that Diomedes built it, and was the first person to worship him. Among the Troezenians, there is a priest of Hippolytus who holds the position for life; he performs sacred rituals on an annual basis. Before they get married, brides will cut off a lock of hair, bring it to the temple, and dedicate it to Hippolytus. The Troezenians do not claim that Hippolytus died by being dragged by his own horses, nor do they show his grave (though they do know where it is). Instead, they consider him to be the constellation Auriga [Charioteer], and that he was honored this way by the gods.

Ἱππολύτῳ δὲ τῷ Θησέως τέμενός τε ἐπιφανέστατον ἀνεῖται καὶ ναὸς ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ἄγαλμά ἐστιν ἀρχαῖον. ταῦτα μὲν Διομήδην λέγουσι ποιῆσαι καὶ προσέτι θῦσαι τῷ Ἱππολύτῳ πρῶτον: Τροιζηνίοις δὲ ἱερεὺς μέν ἐστιν Ἱππολύτου τὸν χρόνον τοῦ βίου πάντα ἱερώμενος καὶ θυσίαι καθεστήκασιν ἐπέτειοι, δρῶσι δὲ καὶ ἄλλο τοιόνδε: ἑκάστη παρθένος πλόκαμον ἀποκείρεταί οἱ πρὸ γάμου, κειραμένη δὲ ἀνέθηκεν ἐς τὸν ναὸν φέρουσα. ἀποθανεῖν δὲ αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐθέλουσι συρέντα ὑπὸ τῶν ἵππων οὐδὲ τὸν τάφον ἀποφαίνουσιν εἰδότες: τὸν δὲ ἐν οὐρανῷ καλούμενον ἡνίοχον, τοῦτον εἶναι νομίζουσιν ἐκεῖνον Ἱππόλυτον τιμὴν παρὰ θεῶν ταύτην ἔχοντα.

 

Hippolyto etiam Thesei filio lucus eximia pulchritudine dedicatus est, cum templo & prisci operis simulacro: quae omnia Diomedem tradunt faciunda curasse, eundemque Hippolyto primum omnium rem divinam fecisse. Hippolyti apud Troezenios sacerdos eo honore, quamdiu vivit, fungitur. Sacra ipsa anniversaria sunt. Praeter ceteros sacrorum ritus, virgines ante nuptias succisum sibi capillum in Hippolyti templo consecrant. Neque vero iis assentiuntur Troezenii, qui distractum ab equis marinis Hippolytum memoriae prodiderunt, nec omnino quo loco sepultus fuerit monstrant: verum eum esse illi a Dis habitum honorem affirmant, ut in siderum numerum relatus, idem ipse sit qui Auriga coelestis dicitur.

 

 Translated into Latin by Romulus Amaseus (1696)

 

 Pausanias [110 -180 CE, modern Turkey] was a Greek writer from Lydia who lived during the era of the “Five Good Emperors.” His work, the Description of Greece, is an important source for geographical, historical, archaeological, and cultural information about ancient Greece.

Love Can Not Save You From Death: Horace, Carm 4.7

Name:  Horace Date:  65 – 8 BCE Region: Venosa / Rome [modern Italy] Citation:  Songs 4.7

In this poem, Horace uses two examples from mythology (Diana's asexual love for Hippolytus and Theseus' love for Pirithous) to convince the addressee, Torquatus, to contemplate his own mortality.

The snow has melted, the grass has returned to the fields

And leaves have returned to the trees

The earth has changed seasons again

And the ebbing rivers are bubbling along the riverbanks.

One of the Graces dares to lead the dance naked

And her twin sisters and fellow nymphs join her.

Stop hoping for never-ending things;

The [changing] year and the hour that snatches away each life-giving day shows you otherwise.

The cold softens the west-wind,

The summer wears down the spring,

Which in turn will soon pass away.

Bountiful autumn scatters its fruits

 And then sterile winter comes back.

The swift [cycles of the] moons restore each season’s damage:

 Yet when we drop down [to death]

To where father Aeneas dwells,

Where wealthy Tullus* and Ancus* dwell,

We are only dust and shadow.

Who knows whether the immortal gods will add a tomorrow

To the end of today?

Every hour that you spend with a cheerful outlook

Will not fall into the greedy hands of your heirs.

Torquatus, at some point you will die, and

Minos will make a glorious judgment about your soul**

Your lineage will not save you.

Your eloquence will not save you.

Your character will not save you.

Diana could not save the chaste Hippolytus

From the Underworld,

Nor could Theseus break free Pirithous from

His Stygian chains.

*Tullus Hostilius and Ancus Marcius were legendary kings of early Rome

** According to Greco-Roman mythology, Minos judges the souls of the dead.

 Diffugere nives, redeunt iam gramina campis

     arboribusque comae;

mutat terra vices et decrescentia ripas

     flumina praetereunt;

Gratia cum Nymphis geminisque sororibus audet               5

     ducere nuda choros.

Inmortalia ne speres, monet annus et almum

     quae rapit hora diem.

Frigora mitescunt Zephyris, ver proterit aestas,

     interitura simul               10

pomifer autumnus fruges effuderit, et mox

     bruma recurrit iners.

Damna tamen celeres reparant caelestia lunae:

     nos ubi decidimus

quo pater Aeneas, quo dives Tullus et Ancus,               15

     pulvis et umbra sumus.

Quis scit an adiciant hodiernae crastina summae

     tempora di superi?

Cuncta manus avidas fugient heredis, amico

     quae dederis animo.               20

Cum semel occideris et de te splendida Minos

     fecerit arbitria,

non, Torquate, genus, non te facundia, non te

     restituet pietas;

infernis neque enim tenebris Diana pudicum               25

     liberat Hippolytum,

nec Lethaea valet Theseus abrumpere caro

     vincula Pirithoo.

 

  

Horace [Quintus Horatius Flaccus; 65 – 8 BCE, modern Italy] is known for his famous line, “Carpe Diem.” He was an Italian-born poet who lived during the rise and reign of Rome’s first emperor, Augustus. Although his life began with civil unrest and uncertainty (his father was enslaved and later freed during the civil wars of the 1st century BCE), Horace became friends with the influential entrepreneur Maecenas and earned the position in Augustus’ literary circle.  His poetry provides valuable insight into social changes that occurred during the transition from republic to empire. 

Can I Forgive Him? The Afterlife of Hippolytus, Pausanias, Desc. Graec. 2.27.4

Can I Forgive Him? The Rebirth of Virbius

Name:  Pausanias Date:        110 – 180 CE Region:    Lydia [modern Turkey] Citation:      Description of Greece 2.27.4

[There are columns within the temple that are inscribed with the names of people healed]. Separate from these is an old column with an inscription stating that Hippolytus dedicated twenty horses to the god [Asclepius]. The Aricians say something similar to the story posted on this column. They say that after Hippolytus was killed by Theseus, Asclepius brought him back from the dead. As soon as Hippolytus was revived, he was unable to forgive his father, and rejected his apologies. Instead he went to Italy, where he ruled among the Aricians and dedicated a temple to Artemis.

χωρὶς δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων [στῆλων] ἐστὶν ἀρχαία στήλη: ἵππους δὲ Ἱππόλυτον ἀναθεῖναι τῷ θεῷ φησιν εἴκοσι. ταύτης τῆς στήλης τῷ ἐπιγράμματι ὁμολογοῦντα λέγουσιν Ἀρικιεῖς, ὡς τεθνεῶτα Ἱππόλυτον ἐκ τῶν Θησέως ἀρῶν ἀνέστησεν Ἀσκληπιός: ὁ δὲ ὡς αὖθις ἐβίω, οὐκ ἠξίου νέμειν τῷ πατρὶ συγγνώμην, ἀλλὰ ὑπεριδὼν τὰς δεήσεις ἐς Ἰταλίαν ἔρχεται παρὰ τοὺς Ἀρικιεῖς, καὶ ἐβασίλευσέ τε αὐτόθι καὶ ἀνῆκε τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι τέμενος.

Seorsum est ab aliis antiqua pila. In ea incisum, dicasse Aesculapio Hippolytum equos XX.  Huius pilae inscriptioni consentanea Aricini dicunt, discerptum ob Thesei imprecationes Hippolytum, in vitam ab Aesculapio revocatum: neque postea patri unquam ignoscere voluisse [1]; verum omni eius deprecatione spreta, in Italiam venisse, ibique dicato Aricinae Dianae templo regnasse. Translated into Latin by Romulus Amaseus

---

[1] According to myth, Theseus had his son Hippolytus condemned to death after believing the false rumor that he had attacked his stepmother Phaedra.

Pausanias [110 -180 CE, modern Turkey] was a Greek writer from Lydia who lived during the era of the “Five Good Emperors.” His work, the Description of Greece, is an important source for geographical, historical, archaeological, and cultural information about ancient Greece.

M/M: Love in these Trying Times, Ovid, Tristia I.ix.23-36

Caesar doesn’t mind a person staying true to their friend in troubled times, even if you’re a friend to his enemy. He won’t even get mad—his self-control is beyond compare—at someone in trying times who loves whatever it is he loved before.

Thoas himself is said to have approved of Pylades after he heard the story of Orestes’ companion.

From Hector’s mouth came praises of the loyalty of Patroclus for his great Achilles.  

When “pious” Theseus went with his friend Pirithous to the Underworld, they say that the god of the Tartarus himself grieved for him.

One can believe that when the tale of Nisus’ & Euryalus’ faith were told to you, Turnus, your cheeks were wet with tears.

 
There is piety among the wretched, and it is valued even among the enemy.

But oh my, how few men are moved by my words!

sed tamen in duris remanentem rebus amicum

     quamlibet inviso Caesar in hoste probat,

nec solet irasci—neque enim moderatior alter—

     cum quis in adversis, siquid amavit, amat.

de comite Argolici postquam cognovit Orestae,

     narratur Pyladen ipse probasse Thoas.

quae fuit Actoridae cum magno semper Achille,

     laudari solita est Hectoris ore fides.

quod pius ad Manes Theseus comes iret amico,

     Tartareum dicunt indoluisse deum.

Euryali Nisique fide tibi, Turne, relata

     credibile est lacrimis inmaduisse genas.

est etiam in miseris pietas, et in hoste probatur.

     ei mihi, quam paucos haec mea dicta movent! 

--Ovid, Tristia I.ix.23-36

 Ovid was one of the most famous love poets of Rome’s Golden Age. His most famous work, the Metamorphoses, provides a history of the world through a series of interwoven myths. Most of his poetry is erotic in nature; for this reason, he fell into trouble during the conservative social reforms under the reign of the emperor Augustus. In 8 CE he was banished to Bithynia, where he spent the remainder of his life pining for his native homeland.

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends: Ovid, Ex Ponto II.iii.41-49

 

Name:   Ovid Date:     43 BCE – 17 CE Region:    Sulmo [modern Italy] Citation: Letters from Pontus 2.3.41 – 48

Ovid wrote this poem while in exile, the lowest point of his life. In this passage, he reaches out to his friend Maximus for help while comparing their relationship with famous examples from mythology: 

 

Consider how Achilles honored his friend Patroclus when he died, 

And remember that this life of mine is a living death!

Theseus accompanied Pirithous to the Underworld;

How far off is my death from the Stygian waves?

Pylades supported Orestes through his mental crisis;

My troubles have given me no less a crisis.

Maximus, accept the same praise that these heroes received,

And keep doing what you are doing,

Helping me however you can while my life is in ruins.

Cerne quid Aeacides post mortem praestet amico:

instar et hanc vitam mortis habere puta.

Pirithoum Theseus Stygias comitavit ad undas:

a Stygia quantum mors mea distat aqua?

Adfuit insano iuvenis Phoceus Orestae: 

et mea non minimum culpa furoris habet.

Tu quoque magnorum laudes admitte virorum,

ut facis, et lapso quam potes adfer opem.

Ovid [Publius Ovidius Naso; 43 BCE – 17 CE, modern Italy] was one of the most famous love poets of Rome’s Golden Age. His most famous work, the Metamorphoses, provides a history of the world through a series of interwoven myths. Most of his poetry is erotic in nature; for this reason, he fell into trouble during the conservative social reforms under the reign of the emperor Augustus. In 8 CE he was banished to Bithynia [modern Turkey], where he spent the remainder of his life pining for his native homeland.

Punished, then Rewarded, for his Asexuality: Hippolytus' Tale in Vat. Myth. 2.151

Name:  Vatican Mythographers Date:   10th century CE Region:   Unknown Citation:   Vatican Mythographers 2.151

After [Hippolytus' Amazon mother] Hippolyta died, Theseus put [his son] Hippolytus in the care of [his new wife] Phaedra. When Hippolytus rejected Phaedra’s sexual advances, she falsely accused him of rape. Theseus beseeched his own father Egeus (at that time a sea god)* for vengeance, who sent a seal [sea monster?] into Hippolytus’ path as he was driving his chariot on the shore. This terrified Hippolytus' horses; and after he was ejected from his chariot, he was trampled to death.  

Once Hippolytus was killed, Phaedra could not longer endure her love [for him] and hanged herself.

Moved by Hippolytus’ chastity, Diana brought him back to life with the help of Asclepius, (a man born via C-section)…

Once he was brought back to life, Diana put him into the care of the nymph Egeria in Aricia. She ordered him to be renamed “Virbius” [“twice-a man,” i.e., “reborn”].

But the following is nonsense: although Hippolytus is always depicted as chaste and always lives alone, he nevertheless is generally thought to have a son.

There are some variations of this myth: in Virgil’s version, Hippolytus was allowed to come back from the dead, but Horace says the opposite: “Diana couldn’t free the chaste Hippolytus [from death].”

* Theseus canonically has one mother (Aethra) and two fathers: a human father Egeus and a godly father Neptune. This myth conflates both parents. 

Theseus, Egei et Etre filius, mortua Hippolite, Phaedram Minois et Pasiphae filiam superduxit Hippolito, qui cum de stupro illam interpellantem contempsisset, ab illa falso accusatus est apud patrem quod vim et voluisset inferre. Theseus autem Egeum patrem tunc marinum deum rogavit ut se ulcisceretur, qui agitanti currus Hippolito immisit focam in littore, qua equi territi eum curru proiectum discerpserunt. Sed Hippolito interempto Phaedra amoris impatientia laqueo vitam finivit. Diana autem castitate Hipppoliti commota revocavit eum in vitam per Aesculapium filium Apollonis et Coronidis filiae Phlegie natum exsecto matris ventre. ..Sed Diana Hippolitum revocatum ab inferis in Aricia nyphae commendavit Egerie et eum “Virbium” quasi “bis virum” iussit vocari. Sed haec fabulosa sunt, nam hic cum castus ubique introductus sit et solus semper habitaverat, habuisse tamen filium dicitur. ... Variantur autem a poetis fabulae, nam Virgilius perhibet Hippolitum ab inferis esse revocatum, Horatius econtra: neque enim Diana pudicum Liberat Hippolitum (Horace, Odes IV.7.25). 

Vatican Mythographers [10th century CE?] Little is known about the author or origin of the collection of myths known as the Vatican Mythographers, but the work’s first editor Angelo Mai found the collection on a manuscript dating back to the 10th century CE. This volume is a collection of three different mythographers who have assembled various Greco-Roman myths; although many of these myths are basic summaries in Latin, some of them are either analyzed as allegories or compared to Christian thought.