Marco Antonio Tritonio: Love Comes in All Forms

Reciprocal Love:

Halcyon & Ceyx

Hermaphroditus & Smilax

Orpheus & Euridice

Philemon & Baucis

Progne & Philomela

Pyramus & Thisbe

Sirens & Proserpina

The Sisters of Phaeton

The ancients stated perfectly that friends are merely one soul in many bodies, and that friendship is nothing more than a mutual harmony of souls—so much so that we grieve when a friend grieves, and we rejoice when a friend is happy. Check out the following examples which highlight reciprocal love and kindness:

1. Isn’t the greatest example of matrimonial love Halcyone’s love for Ceyx, for she spotted him drowned in the ocean from far away and leapt into the waves, becoming a halcyon bird? Isn’t the greatest example of love Ceyx’s love for Halcyone, even in death he could feel his transformed wife’s kisses, and was himself transformed into the same type of bird? Don’t we see this mutual love shared among spouses in this couple?  [cf. Ovid’s Metamorphoses book 2, story 10]

2. Hermaphroditus [the son of Venus and Mercury] and Smilax [the nymph of the Salmacian spring] loved each other so much that they are said to have merged into one body. [Cf. book 4, story 2]  

3. Orpheus is known for his love of Eurydice. He descended into the Underworld when he was still alive to restore his dead wife back to life. [book 10, story 1]

4. There was so much spousal love between Philemon and Baucis that they lived a long life together in poverty and never argued. [book 8, story 7]

5. Procne could not live without her sister Philomela. When she found out that her husband had attacked her, she took revenge on her husband and forced him to devour [the body of] their son Itys. [book 6, story 29]

6. The Babylonian couple Pyramus and Thisbe loved each other so much, that Pyramus killed himself when he believed that his Thisbe had died, and Thisbe killed herself with the same sword that he used. [book 4. Story 4]

7. The Sirens held such love for Proserpina that they demanded wings from the gods in order to more easily find Proserpina on land & sea [after she had been abducted]. Because of this, they were transformed into birds, but retained their women’s faces and voices. [book 5, story 16]

8. Phaeton’s sisters wept so many tears when he fell from the sky* that they were transformed into trees. [book 2, story 2]

-- --M. Antonii Tritonii Utinenis, Mythologia, 1560 p. 8-9

Amor Aliquorum Mutuus.

Halcyon & Ceyx

Hermaphroditus & Smilax

Orpheus & Euridice

Philemon & Baucis

Progne & Philomela

Pyramus & Thisbe

Sirenes, et Proserpina

Sorores, et Phaeton

 Praeclare veteres dixerunt amicos esse tanquam unam animam in pluribus corporibus, nihil enim aliud est amicitia, quam mutuus quidam animorum consensus, adeo ut cum dolentibus amicis doleamus, cum gaudentibus laetemur, quare optime fabulosa haec exempla sunt perpendenda, quae nobis mutuum aliquorum amorem & benevolentiam demonstrant.

1. Nonne maximus fuit Halcyonis in Ceycem maritum amor, si longius illum in aequore submersum prospiciens ac in medias undas prosiliens in Halcyonem avem conversa est? Nonne maxima ipsius Ceycis in coniugem benevolentia, si vel mortuus uxoris in avem commutatae sentiebat oscula, cuius etiam cadaver in eiusdem generis volucrem fuit transmutatum? in quibus adhuc servatam inter coniuges benevolentiam perspicimus [lib.ii.fab.x]

2. Hermaphroditus Veneris & Mercurii filius & Smilax Salmacis fontis nympha ita mutuo se dilexerunt amore, ut e duobus corporibus in unum commutati dicantur.[lib.iiii.fab.ii]

3. Amor etiam Euridices, et Orphei notus est, is enim vivus ad inferos descendit, ut mortuam coniugem ad pristinam vitam & incolumitatem reduceret. [lib.x.fab.i]

4. Inter Philomonem, & Baucidem coniuges tanta fuit benevolentia, ut pauperitatem suam patienter ferentes sine ulla rixa longam traduxerint aetatem. [lib.viii.fab.vii]

5. Progne, sine sorore Philomela vivere non poterat, cumque illam a marito Tereo stupratam cognovisset, ut pro sorore de marito vindictam sumeret, illi proprium filium Ityn devorandum apposuit. [lib.vi.fab.xxix.]

6. Pyramus & Thibse Babylones tanto se mutuo prosecuti sunt amore, ut cum Pyramus amicam credens mortuam seipsum interfecisset, Thisbe amantem mortuum nacta eodem se gladio traiecerit. [lib.iiii.fab.iiii]

7 Syrenes tanto amore Prosperinam sunt prosequutae, ut a Diis alas flagitarent, quo facilius Proserpinam terra, marique possent inquirere. Quare ita in aves fuere conversae, ut facies tamen virginea, voxque humana remanserit. [lib.v.fab.xvi.]

8 Sorores Phaetontis fratrem coelo delapsum tot lacimis deplorarunt, ut in arbores demum sint commutatae; tantus inter fratrem, et sorores amore extitit. [lib. ii. fab.ii]

  

 

Apollo, Unlucky in Love: Faustus Sabaeus

Name: Faustus Sabaeus Date: 16th century CE   Region:  Brixia [Brescia, modern Italy] Citation:   Illustrated Myths of Ovid

While darling Venus was weeping over her slain Adonis,

Pretty Apollo wandered over and told her,

“Oh sister, one loss pains you, but

I suffer twice as much.

Although I appear happy, I am still grieving them.

My darling loves will forever live on,

Daphne, who had too much pride

And Hyacinthus, who had too little luck."

Extinctum preciosa Venus plorabat Adonim;

quum super accessit pulcher Apollo & ait,

Una, soror, te cura angit; me bina remordet,

usque adeo, laetus sim licet, ut doleam.

cari inquam semper vivetis amores,

dura nimis Daphne; fauste Hyacinthe parum.

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

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.

 

Two Bodies, One Mind United In Love and Friendship: Lucian, Toxaris 62

 

Two Bodies, One Mind United in Love and Friendship

Name: Lucian Date: 125 – 180 CE Region: [modern Turkey] Citation:  Toxaris, or Friendship 62

Lucian uses imagery from the myth of soulmates in Plato's Symposium in his dialogue Toxaris.  In this dialogue, the Scythian Toxaris and the Greek Mnesippus discuss their own culture's perspectives and beliefs on friendship. The dialogue ends with the following speech, which unites the two in a bond of love and friendship.  

 

You know how you seem to think that friendship is great?

Well, I too think that there is nothing else better or more beautiful than friendship!

So why not unite ourselves together as friends?

We can both be winners!

From this day forward, we can love one another forever, and both of us can receive the greatest benefits from it. 

Instead of one tongue and one right hand, we can now have two!

We now can have four eyes and four feet and everything else is doubled, too!

You know how authors depicted Geryon, a person with six hands and three heads? Well, that’s how it goes when two (or even three!) friends come together, doing everything together synchronously, divinely united in friendship! 

ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ σὺ φιλίαν ἐπαινεῖν ἔδοξας, ἐγὼ δὲ οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἡγοῦμαι ἀνθρώποις εἶναι τούτου κτῆμα ἄμεινον ἢ κάλλιον, τί οὐχὶ καὶ ἡμεῖς συνθέμενοι πρὸς ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς φίλοι τε αὐτόθεν εἶναι καὶ εἰσαεὶ ἔσεσθαι ἀγαπῶμεν ἄμφω νικήσαντες, τὰ μέγιστα ἆθλα προσλαβόντες, ἀντὶ μιᾶς γλώττης καὶ μιᾶς δεξιᾶς δύο ἑκάτερος ἐπικτησάμενοι καὶ προσέτι γε καὶ ὀφθαλμοὺς τέτταρας καὶ πόδας τέτταρας καὶ ὅλως διπλᾶ πάντα ;

Aut si hoc crudele, quando tu amicitiam admirari visus es: ego nihilo secius puto, nullam esse mortalibus possessionem hac praestantiorem neque pulchriorem: quin ipsi quoque; in unum copulati, illud approbamus: ut ex hoc die in totam usque vitam simus amici, utrique, victores, utrique maximis potiti praemiis: videlicet pro unica lingua, unaque dextra, binas uterque habituri, atque insuper oculos quoque quaternos, pedesque quaternos,

τοιοῦτόν τι γάρ ἐστι συνελθόντες δύο ἢ τρεῖς φίλοι, ὁποῖον τὸν Γηρυόνην οἱ γραφεῖς ἐνδείκνυνται, ἄνθρωπον ἑξάχειρα καὶ τρικέφαλον ἐμοὶ γὰρ δοκεῖν, τρεῖς ἐκεῖνοι ἦσαν ἅμα πράττοντες πάντα, ὥσπερ ἐστὶ δίκαιον φίλους γε ὄντας.

in summa, duplicia omnia eiusmodi namque quiddam est: cum duo tresque copulantur amici, qualem Geryonem scriptores depingunt, senis manibus, ternisque capitibus hominem. Siquidem (ut mea fert opinio) tres illi fuerunt, qui communiter omnia gererent: ut dignum est his, qui amicitia coniuncti sunt.  Translated into Latin by Desiderius Erasmus

Lucian [Lucianus Samosatensis; 125 – 180 CE, modern Turkey] was a Roman satirist from Samosata [modern Turkey] who wrote in ancient Greek. His works are a mixture of sarcasm, wit, and biting social criticism. He is without a doubt one of the most popular authors of the later Roman empire.

Androgynous Beauty: Codex Vass. 4.430

O godlike face, worthy of Bacchus or Apollo

Which no man or woman can see without succumbing to your charms!

O fingers, the sort that you’d think

Would belong to a boy

Or a girl

Or—even a goddess!

Blessed is the woman who turns your head with her kisses,

Blessed is the woman who makes your lips red with kisses,

Whichever girl that can hold you, cheek-to-cheek

And wear out your tongue with kisses!

--Attributed falsely to Seneca,  Codex Vassiani 4.430

O sacros vultus Baccho vel Apolline dignos,

Quos vir, quos tuto femina nulla videt!

O digitos, quales pueri vel virginis esse

vel potius credas virginis esse dei!

Felix, si qua tuum conrodit femina collum,

Felix, quae labris livida labra facit,

Quaeque puella tuo cum pectore pectora ponit

et linguam tenero lassat in ore suam.

 

  The Codex Vassianus is a manuscript of Latin poetry that preserves poetry from 13^th century CE and earlier.   

Love On The Brain: Horace, Epodes 14

Name:  Horace Date:  65 – 8 BCE Region: Venosa / Rome [modern Italy] Citation:  Epodes 14

Horace, "burning" for his mistress, equates his love to the same-sex desire that Anacreon had for Bathyllos. 

Delightful Maecenas, you’re killing me

By pestering me, asking me why

Burnout has spread

Such an unproductive mood deep into my consciousness,

As if I my parched throat had consumed

Two hundred glasses of Lethean* sleep.

It’s a god—yup, a god keeps me

From finishing the poem I’d started

And promised to give you.

It’s just like they say Anacreon

Had the hots for Bathyllus—

Again and again, he mourned his love

On his lyre, with a simple meter.

You’re also burning in misery—

Even though the flame [of your love]

Isn’t as pretty as the one that burned down Troy;

You should still be happy for your fate—

For the freedwoman Phryne is killing me,

She’s not content with one man.

* According to Greco-Roman mythology, the Lethe was a river that flowed in the Underworld; souls of the dead would drink from it to forget their past lives

 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. 

I Think I Love My Wife: Roman Masculinity and Conjugal Love. Ausonius 40

I Think I Love My Wife

Name:  Ausonius Date:  310 – 395 CE Region:  Aquitania, Gaul [modern France] Citation:  Epigram 40

Wife, let us live as we have lived

And let us keep the nicknames

That we made up for each other on our honeymoon. 

May no day pass that changes us ever

When I am not yours and you are not mine.

Although I am older than Nestor [1],

And you rival the Sibyl Deiphobe [2] in years

Let’s not dwell on our old age.

It’s proper to know the benefits of old age, but not the number.

---

[1]Nestor was an elderly hero of the Trojan War.

[2] Deiphobe, the Sibyl of Cumae, had eternal life but not eternal youth [similar to Eos/Aurora's lover Tithonus].

I Think I Love My Wife

Uxor, vivamusque ut viximus et teneamus

nomina, quae primo sumpsimus in thalamo

nec ferat ulla dies, ut commutemur in aevo

quin tibi sim iuvenis tuque puella mihi.

Nestore sim quamvis provectior aemulaque annis

vincas Cumanam tu quoque Deiphoben,

nos ignoremus quid sit matura senectus.

scire aevi meritum, non numerare decet.  

Ausonius [Decimus Magnus Ausonius; 310 – 395 CE, modern France] was a Roman poet from Aquitania, Gaul who lived during the 4th century CE. He is best known for his epic poem Mosella, which describes the Moselle River, and his Epistles, a series of literary poems between himself and the Christian poet Paulinus.

The Funerary Inscription of Allia Potestas, CIL 6.37965

Here Lies Allia Potestas

Name: Unknown Date:  3rd century CE Region:  Perusia [modern Italy] Citation:  CIL 6.37965

To the Shade of Allia Potestas, freed slave of Allius:

Here lies the lady of Perusia.

No other woman is as precious as this one is.

Out of the multitude of women,

Maybe one or two could be better than her.

Such a busy lady held in such a tiny urn!

Persephone, cruel and harsh mistress of fate,

Why do you take away good people and leave the bad ones alone?

Everybody asks about her, and

I’m tired of telling them of her death;

Their tears are evidence of her good heart.

She was strong.

She was pious.

She was courageous.

She was faultless.

She was the most faithful housewife,

Efficient at home,

Efficient enough in public,

Well loved by everybody.

She was the only one who could meet any challenge.

She kept her mouth shut and stayed blameless.

She was the first one out of bed;

She was the last one to go to bed;

And only when everything was done.

She kept her hands busy with her wool-working,

Never putting it off with an excuse.

No one surpassed her in character and work ethic.

She never got cocky, never took time for herself to relax.

She was pretty—so pretty to look at—with golden hair,

The ivory-smoothness of her face remained ‘till the end,

The kind that they say doesn’t happen among mortal women…

What about her legs?

She looked like an actor playing Atalanta [1]

She didn’t worry about her beauty,

But Mother Nature was kind to her body.

Perhaps you could criticize her rough hands,

But she wasn’t satisfied unless she did the work herself.

She wasn’t an extrovert,

But thought her own company was enough.

No one really talked about her, because

She didn’t do anything to bring attention to herself.

As long as she lived,

She lived with her two lovers in such a way

That they were like the relationship of Pylades and Orestes [2]

They shared a single home

And a single heart.

But after her death,

They have grown apart,

And now they grow old apart.

What one woman has built, was destroyed in a brief moment.

Look at the example of Troy [3], to see what a woman can do!

Let this big example showcase a smaller one.

Your patron, who has ever kept you in his heart,

Gives this poem in never-ending tears

As a gift to the deceased woman,

Who will appreciate this gift.

Now that you’re gone,

Your patron will never find another woman pleasing;

He lives without you, and now suffers a living death.

He carries your name, carved in gold,

And looks to it often, as much as he can,

Preserving Ability[4] in gold.

As long as my influence lasts,

You will live on in my words.

I hold your image as a comfort for my grief,

Which I treasure, and adorn it with wreaths,

And whenever I visit your tomb, I will bring it with me.

But, overcome in such misery,

Can I properly grieve you with the proper ceremony?

If I can find another to entrust this ceremony,

Perhaps I can be happy in this one thing after losing you.

Oh no! You have won! My fate has become yours.

If someone is capable of harming this memorial, 

They are also capable of harming holy ground.

Believe that this tomb also contains a god.

[1] According to Greek myth, Atalanta was the fastest runner of her generation.

[2] Pylades and Orestes shared a deep and loving bond that some authors saw as friendship and others saw as a romantic relationship.

[3] This is a reference to the role of Helen of Troy in the Trojan War.

[4] A pun on her name, Potestas

---

Here Lies Allia Potestas

DM

Alliae A. L. Potestatis

Hic Perusina sita est, qua non pretiosior ulla

femina de multis vix una aut altera, visa.

Sedula seriola parva tam magna teneris.

Crudelis fati rector duraque Persiphone,

quid bona diripitis exuperantque mala?

Quaeritur a cunctis, iam respondere fatigor:

dant lacrimas animi signa benigna sui.

Prima toro delapsa fuit, eadem ultima lecto

se tulit ad quietem positis ex ordine rebus,

lana cui manibus numquam sine causa recessit,

opsequioque prior nulla moresque salubres. 

Haec sibi non placuit, numquam sibi libera visa.

Candida, luminibus pulchris, aurata capillis,

Fortis sancta, tenax, insons, fidissima custos,

munda domi, sat munda foras, notissima volgo,

sola erat ut posset factis occurrere cunctis.

Exiguo sermone inreprehensa manebat.

et nitor in facie permansit eburneus illae,

qualem mortalem nullam habuisse ferunt...[1]

Quid crura? Atalantes status illi comicus ipse.

Anxia non mansit, sed corpore pulchra benigno

levia membra tulit…Quod manibus duris fuerit, culpabere forsan;

nil illi placuit nisi quod per se sibi fecerat ipsa. 

Nosse fuit nullum studium, sibi se satis esse putabat.

Mansit et infamis, quia nil admiserat umquam.

Haec duo dum vixit iuvenes ita rexit amantes,

exemplo ut fierent similes Pyladisque et Orestae;

una domus capiebat eos unusque et spiritus illis. 

Post hanc nunc idem diversi sibi quisq. senescunt;

femina quod struxit talis, nunc puncta lacessunt.

Aspicite ad Troiam, quid femina fecerit olim!

Sit precor hoc iustum, exemplis in parvo grandibus uti.

Hos tibi dat versus lacrimans sine fine patronus 

muneris amissae,  cui nuncquam es pectore adempta,

quae putat amissis munera grata dari,

nulla cui post te femina visa proba est:

qui sine te vivit, cernit sua funera vivos.

Auro tuum nomen fert ille refertque lacerto 

qua retinere potest: auro conlata potestas.

Quantumcumque tamen praeconia nostra valebunt,

versiculis vives quandiucuque meis.

Effigiem pro te teneo solacia nostri,

qua colimus sancte sertaque ulta datur, 

cumque at te veniam, mecum comitata sequetur.

Sed tamen infelix cui tam sollemnia mandem?

Si tamen extiterit, cui tantum credere possim,

hoc unum felix amissa te mihi forsan ero.

Ei Mihi! Vicisti: sors mea facta tua est. 

Laedere qui hoc poterit, ausus quoque laedere divos.

Haec titulo insignis credite numen habet.

---

[1] The description of her chest will not be published here.