Off Limits: A Friend's Advice on Love, Plautus Curculio 35-38

Off Limits: The Ultimate Dating Guide to Ancient Rome

Name:  Plautus Date:  254 – 184 BCE Region:  [modern Italy] Citation:  Curculio 35 - 38

In the play Curculio, Palinurus offers Phaedromus advice on navigating dating in Rome. This offers insight into Roman customs on who was eligible for romance (i.e., single adults) and who was off limits (i.e., married people and children).

 Nobody’s going to stop you from walking down a public street, 

But don’t step on anybody else’s metaphorical lawn.

As long as you stay away from a bride, a widow, a young woman,

A young man, and freeborn children, you can love whomever you’d like.

 

 
Latin Text: 

Nemo ire quemquam publica prohibet via;

dum ne per fundum saeptum facias semitam,

dum te abstineas nupta, vidua, virgine,

iuventute et pueris liberis, ama quid lubet.

Plautus [Titus Maccius Plautus; 254 – 184 BCE, modern Italy] was one of the earliest Roman authors that remain extant. He was born in northern Italy in the 3^rd century, and spent the entirety of his life in and around the stage. Although many of his works are lost, we have nearly two dozen of his comedies still extant. The impact of Plautus is still seen today; his works were the basis for the famous musical A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum.

Let Each One Sing of Whomever They Love; Nemesianus Eclog. IV

Let Each One Sing of Whomever They Love

Name: Nemesianus Date: 3rd century CE Region: Carthage [modern Tunisia] Citation:  Eclogue 4.1-61

Two shepherds, Lycidas and Mopsus, both skilled in panpipes and song,
Were lounging in a poplar grove, singing in disharmony.
Both were singing of their own true love:
For Mopsus burned for the lady Meroe,
And Lycidas burned for luscious-locked lad Iollas. 

Their same level of passion for different genders

Made them wander the forests anxiously.
Meroe and Iollas mocked these poets for their passion,
Avoiding the elm groves in the valleys, fleeing the beech trees,
The caves they were accustomed to make out in,
The peaceful fountains, standing up their dates,
Leaving both poets forlorn and alone.
Finally tired of being treated this way
And consumed by their unrequited fiery passion,

The poets aired out their grievances,
Singing in turn their own sweet complaints:

MOPSUS: Hard-hearted Meroe, more elusive than the swift East Wind,
Why do you avoid my panpipes, why do you avoid my shepherd's songs?
Or whom are you avoiding?  What pride do you take in completely destroying me?

Why do you hide your thoughts with your poker face, putting hope upon your brow?

Hard-hearted one, stop leading me on!
I can learn to stop wanting you.
Let each one sing of whomever they love;
Songs can lighten the heartache.

LYCIDAS: O Iollas, O cruel boyfriend, won't you see me as more than a friend?
You will not be in demand forever.
Flowers lose their blossoms, thorns lose their roses;
Lillies do not keep their color for long;

Grapevines do not hold their leaves forever;
Poplar trees will lose their luscious shade;
The gift of beauty is brief, and is not found in old age.
Let each one sing of whomever they love;
Songs can lighten the heartache.

MOPSUS: The doe in heat chases after the buck;
The pretty cow in heat pursues the bull;
Even she-wolves feel the pull of desire.
Even lionesses, flocks of birds and creepy-crawly scaly things,
Even the trees sense love!

The mountains and forests resound with love.
You alone refuse love’s call.
You have betrayed your wretched lover.
Let each one sing of whomever they love;
Songs can lighten the heartache.

LYCIDAS: Time grows all things,
But time also takes them away.
Enjoyment exists for a short time.

It used to be springtime;
There used to be little calves sucking their mother’s milk.
Now they ram each other, fully grown, with their stubby horns
Over the mating call of a young white heifer. 
You, bullishly, with your flaring nostrils and proud neck
Have already counted twenty harvests. [1] 
Let each one sing of whomever they love;
Songs can lighten the heartache.

MOPSUS: Beautiful Meroe, please come back!
The heat of the day calls you into the shade. The flocks are moseying into the groves;

No bird sings its lovely songs;
The serpent leaves no traces on the ground with its movement.
I alone am singing! The whole forest echoes my tunes.
Not even the summertime crickets compete with my voice.
Let each one sing of whomever they love;

Songs can lighten the heartache.

LYCIDAS: You too, hard-hearted youth,

Don't ruin your perfect complexion

Under this torrid sun;

The cruel sun is used to burning such fair cheeks.
Come on, now, rest with me under the shade of these vines.
Over here there is a gentle fountain bubbling softly;
Over here purple grapes hang down from the elm branches they cling to.
Let each one sing of whomever they love;

Songs can lighten the heartache.

MOPSUS: The man who endures haughty Meroe's abuse

Can also endure Balkan snows,
Can endure the heat of the African sun,
Can drink sea water.
That man is not afraid of poisonous tree sap;
He can overpower the wild pastures of Gaul,
And can yoke savage African lions  together for his chariot.
Let each one sing of whomever they love;

Songs can lighten the heartache.

LYCIDAS: Whoever loves guys, let him be ready with a heart of steel.
Let him not be hasty, but let him learn to love with patience.
Let him heed the voice of wisdom in his youth.
Let him learn to endure the hatred of others.
Let him do these things so one day he will find his joy,
If only some god will listen to his worried lover's prayers.
Let each one sing of whomever they love;

Songs can lighten the heartache.

---

[1] i.e., he is twenty years old.

Latin Text: 

 Populea Lycidas nec non et Mopsus in umbra

pastores, calamis ac versu doctus uterque

nec triviale sonans, proprios cantabat amores.

Nam Mopso Meroe, Lycidae crinitus Iollas

ignis erat; parilisque furor de dispare sexu

cogebat trepidos totis discurrere silvis.

Hos puer ac Meroe multum lusere furentes,
dum modo condictas vitant in vallibus ulmos
nun fagos placitas fugiunt promissaque fallunt
antra nec est animus solitos alludere fontes.
Cum tandem fessi, quos dirus adederat ignis,
sic sua desertis nudarunt vulnera silvis
inque vicem dulces cantu luxere querellas.

Mopsus: Immitis Meroe rapidisque fugacior Euris,
cur nostros calamos, cur pastoralia vitas
carmina? Quemve fugis? Quae me tibi gloria victo?
Quid vultu mentem premis ac spem fronte serenas?

  Tandem, dura, nega: possum non velle negantem.

Cantet, amat quod quisque; levant et carmina curas.

Lycidas: Respice me tandem, puer, o crudelis Iolla.
Non hoc semper eris: perdunt et gramina flores,
perdit spina rosas nec semper lilia candent
nec longum tenet uva comas nec populus umbras:
donum forma breve est nec se quod commodet annis.
Cantet, amat quod quisque; levant et carmina curas.

Mopsus: Cerva marem sequitur, taurum formosa iuvenca
et Venerem sensere lupae, sensere leaenae
et genus aerium volucres et squamea turba
et montes silvaeque suos habet arbor amores:

tu tamen una fugis, miserum tu prodis amantem
Cantet, amat quod quisque; levant et carmina curas.

Lycidas: Omnia tempus alit, tempus rapit: usus in arto est.
Ver erat, et vitulos vidi sub matribus istos,
qui nunc pro nivea coiere in cornua vacca.
Et tibi iam tumidae nares et fortia colla
iam tibi bis denis numerantur messibus anni.
Cantet, amat quod quisque; levant et carmina curas.

Mopsus: Huc, Meroe formosa, veni: vocat aestus in umbram.

Iam pecudes subiere nemus iam nulla canoro
gutture cantat avis, torto non squamea tractu
signat humum serpens. Solus cano: Me sonat omnis
silva, nec aestivis cantu concedo cicadis.
Cantet, amat quod quisque; levant et carmina curas.

Lycidas: Tu quoque, saeve puer, niveum ne perde colorem
sole sub hoc: solet hic lucentes urere malas.
Hic age, pampinea mecum requiesce sub umbra:
hic tibi lene fluens fons murmurat, hic et ab ulmis purpureae fetis dependent vitibus uvae.
Cantet, amat quod quisque; levant et carmina curas.

 

Mopsus: Qui tulerit Meroes fastidia lenta superbae,
Sithonias feret ille nives Libyaeque calorem
Nerinas potabit aquas taxique nocentis
non metuet succos, Sardorum gramina vincet
et iuga Marmaricos coget sua ferre leones.
Cantet, amat quod quisque; levant et carmina curas.

Lycidas: Quisquis amat pueros, ferro praecordia duret,
nil properet discatque diu patienter amare
prudentesque animos teneris non spernat in annis,
perferat et fastus. Sic olim gaudia sumet,
si modo sollicitos aliquis deus audit amantes.
Cantet, amat quod quisque; levant et carmina curas.

 

Nemesianus [Marcus Aurelius Nemesianus; 3rd century CE, modern Tunisia] was a popular Carthaginian poet in the court of the Emperor Carus. Not much is known about the author, and only fragments of his poetry remains.

ISO Gay Friends; I'm Tired of the Competition. Propertius, Eleg. 2.4.16-22

Name:  Propertius Date:  50 – 15 BCE Region:   Assisium [modern Italy] Citation:    Elegies 2.4.16-22

Whatever kind of relationship I'm in now, it's completely baffled me.
Whoever is into girls is my enemy now;
whoever is into guys, is now my friend.
Safely a gay man meanders down the tranquil streams of love,
what harm can such meager waves harm you?
A boyfriend can often change his mind with a single word,
but a girlfriend can scarcely change her feelings even when paid in your blood.

Sic est incautum, quidquid habetur amor.
Hostis si quis erit nobis, amet ille puellas:
gaudeat in puero, si quis amicus erit.
Tranquillo tuta descendis flumine cumba:
quid tibi tam parvi litoris unda nocet?
Alter saepe uno mutat praecordia verbo,
altera vix ipso sanguine mollis erit.

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.”

Soulmates, Celestial Bodies, and The Origin of Love: Aristophanes' Speech in Plato's Symposium (Symp.189ff)

Name: Plato Date: 428 BCE – 348 BCE Region: Athens [modern Greece] Citation:  Symposium 189d – 191b

It’s really important to learn about the early nature of mankind and what happened to them. For it did not used to be what it is now, but rather it was far different.

In the beginning, there were three types of people, not just the two we have now (male and female); there was also a third type, a mix of both. Nowadays, only its name remains (androgynous), but back then it was as the name implies, a mixture of male and female.

Furthermore, these humans were round in shape, having round backs and sides. They had four hands, four legs, and two faces conjoined at the neck, and were completely symmetrical. They had one head, with both faces turned in opposite directions.

This is the reason there were three types of people: the masculine type was born from the Sun; the feminine type was born from the Earth; and the third type was born from the moon (for the moon shares properties of both. [1])

Like their heavenly parents, people were spherical in both form and motion. For this reason, they had both strong bodies and powerful wills. In fact, they attempted to contend with the gods, and ascend the heavens the same way that Homer describes the feats of Ephialtes and Otis.

Therefore, Zeus assembled the other gods together and deliberated on what to do. There was a great discussion on options, since he found that they could not simply kill off humanity, as he had done with the Giants. They realized that if the human race was destroyed, their worship would end. On the other hand, he reckoned that such insolence should not be allowed to go on unchecked.

Finally, Zeus explained his plan. He said, “I have found a way that humans can still exist, but yet become more modest. This will happen if they become weaker. I will divide each and every one of them into two. Then they will become weaker, and there will be twice as many to worship us. From now on, they will walk upright on two legs. But if they again seem to become arrogant, I will cut them in half again, and they will be forced to hop forward on one foot.”

Having said this, he divided them in two, like how we cut eggs with a thread. And then he ordered Apollo to heal them and turn their faces and necks towards the part that was cut, so that upon looking at the wound they would become more modest. Apollo immediately turned their faces forward, and pulled together the skin in the middle of the stomach that we now call the navel.

From then on, the nature of mankind has been divided in such a way that when each one yearned to find their other half, they ran around each other, embracing one another and trying to fuse together again.

 

[1] The moon emits no light of its own, like the earth, but also resembles the sun because is a heavenly body that shines.

ἡ γὰρ πάλαι ἡμῶν φύσις οὐχ αὑτὴ ἦν ἥπερ νῦν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀλλοία. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ τρία ἦν τὰ γένη τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οὐχ ὥσπερ νῦν δύο, ἄρρεν καὶ θῆλυ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τρίτον προσῆν κοινὸν ὂν ἀμφοτέρων τούτων, οὗ νῦν ὄνομα λοιπόν, αὐτὸ δὲ ἠφάνισται: ἀνδρόγυνον γὰρ ἓν τότε μὲν ἦν καὶ εἶδος καὶ ὄνομα ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων κοινὸν τοῦ τε ἄρρενος καὶ θήλεος…. ἔπειτα ὅλον ἦν ἑκάστου τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ εἶδος στρογγύλον, νῶτον καὶ πλευρὰς κύκλῳ ἔχον, χεῖρας δὲ τέτταρας εἶχε, καὶ σκέλη τὰ ἴσα ταῖς χερσίν, καὶ πρόσωπα δύ᾽ ἐπ᾽ αὐχένι κυκλοτερεῖ, ὅμοια πάντῃ: κεφαλὴν δ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀμφοτέροις τοῖς προσώποις ἐναντίοις κειμένοις μίαν, ... ἦν δὲ διὰ ταῦτα τρία τὰ γένη καὶ τοιαῦτα, ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἄρρεν ἦν τοῦ ἡλίου τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔκγονον, τὸ δὲ θῆλυ τῆς γῆς, τὸ δὲ ἀμφοτέρων μετέχον τῆς σελήνης, ὅτι καὶ ἡ σελήνη ἀμφοτέρων μετέχει: περιφερῆ δὲ δὴ ἦν καὶ αὐτὰ καὶ ἡ

Oportet in primis qualis hominum quondam natura fuerit, quaeve illius passiones, perdiscere. Neque enim qualis nunc est, olim erat, sed longe diversa. Principio tria hominum erant genera non solum quae nunc duo, mas & femina, verum etiam tertium quoddam aderat ex utrisque compositum. Cuius solum nobis restat nomen ipsum periit, Androgynum, quippe tunc erat, et specie et nomine, ex maris et feminae sexu commixtum... Praeterea tota cuiusque hominis species erat rotunda, dorsum & latera circum habens, manus quatuor, totidemque, crura, vultus item duos tereti cervice connexos, et omnino consimiles. Caput utrique vultibus contra versis, unum... Ob hanc vero causam tria genera et talia erant, quia masculum Sole genitum erat. Femina, Terra; promiscuum denique

πορεία αὐτῶν διὰ τὸ τοῖς γονεῦσιν ὅμοια εἶναι. ἦν οὖν τὴν ἰσχὺν δεινὰ καὶ τὴν ῥώμην, καὶ τὰ φρονήματα μεγάλα εἶχον, ἐπεχείρησαν δὲ τοῖς θεοῖς, καὶ ὃ λέγει Ὅμηρος περὶ Ἐφιάλτου τε καὶ Ὤτου, περὶ ἐκείνων λέγεται, τὸ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνάβασιν ἐπιχειρεῖν ποιεῖν, ὡς ἐπιθησομένων τοῖς θεοῖς. ὁ οὖν Ζεὺς καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι θεοὶ ἐβουλεύοντο ὅτι χρὴ αὐτοὺς ποιῆσαι, καὶ ἠπόρουν: οὔτε γὰρ ὅπως ἀποκτείναιεν εἶχον καὶ ὥσπερ τοὺς γίγαντας κεραυνώσαντες τὸ γένος ἀφανίσαιεν—αἱ τιμαὶ γὰρ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἱερὰ τὰ παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἠφανίζετο— οὔτε ὅπως ἐῷεν ἀσελγαίνειν. μόγις δὴ ὁ Ζεὺς ἐννοήσας λέγει ὅτι ‘δοκῶ μοι,’ ἔφη, ‘ἔχειν μηχανήν, ὡς ἂν εἶέν τε ἅνθρωποι καὶ παύσαιντο τῆς ἀκολασίας ἀσθενέστεροι γενόμενοι. νῦν μὲν γὰρ αὐτούς, ἔφη, διατεμῶ δίχα ἕκαστον, καὶ ἅμα μὲν ἀσθενέστεροι ἔσονται, ἅμα δὲ χρησιμώτεροι ἡμῖν διὰ τὸ πλείους τὸν ἀριθμὸν γεγονέναι: καὶ βαδιοῦνται ὀρθοὶ ἐπὶ δυοῖν σκελοῖν. ἐὰν δ᾽ ἔτι δοκῶσιν ἀσελγαίνειν καὶ μὴ 'θέλωσιν ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν, πάλιν αὖ, ἔφη, τεμῶ δίχα, ὥστ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἑνὸς πορεύσονται σκέλους

Luna. Utriusque enim luna est particeps. Spherica vero erant et figura, et motu, quia parentum similia. Unde et robusto corpore et elato animo erant. Quare cum diis pugnare temptabant, et in caelum ascendere quemadmodum de Ephialto & Oto scribit Homerus. Jupiter igitur unaque dii ceteri quid agendum esset consultaverunt. Qua in re non parva inerat ambiguitas. Nam neque quomodo eos interficerent, reperiebat, ne eorum sicuti Gigantum, fulminando genus delerent: extincto enim hominum genere, humanus deorum cultus veneratioque periret, neque in tanta insolentia perseverare illos permittendum censebat. Tandem sententiam Jupiter suam explicuit. “Inveni,” inquit, “qua ratione fieri possit, ut & sint homines, & modestiores sint. Idque erit, si imbecilliores fiant. Unumquenque nunc duas in partes dividam. Ex quo et debiliores erunt, et nobis etiam magis id conducit. Numero siquidem plures erunt qui nos colent. Recti duobus cruribus ibunt. Quod si rursus impie insurgere videantur, iterum in duo secabo, ut unico crure nixi,

ἀσκωλιάζοντες.’ ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἔτεμνε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους δίχα, ὥσπερ οἱ τὰ ὄα τέμνοντες καὶ μέλλοντες ταριχεύειν, ἢ ὥσπερ οἱ τὰ ᾠὰ ταῖς θριξίν: ὅντινα δὲ τέμοι, τὸν Ἀπόλλω ἐκέλευεν τό τε πρόσωπον μεταστρέφειν καὶ τὸ τοῦ αὐχένος ἥμισυ πρὸς τὴν τομήν, ἵνα θεώμενος τὴν αὑτοῦ τμῆσιν κοσμιώτερος εἴη ὁ ἄνθρωπος, καὶ τἆλλα ἰᾶσθαι ἐκέλευεν. ὁ δὲ τό τε πρόσωπον μετέστρεφε, καὶ συνέλκων πανταχόθεν τὸ δέρμα ἐπὶ τὴν γαστέρα νῦν καλουμένην, ὥσπερ τὰ σύσπαστα βαλλάντια, ἓν στόμα ποιῶν ἀπέδει κατὰ μέσην τὴν γαστέρα, ὃ δὴ τὸν ὀμφαλὸν καλοῦσι.  ἐπειδὴ οὖν ἡ φύσις δίχα ἐτμήθη, ποθοῦν ἕκαστον τὸ ἥμισυ τὸ αὑτοῦ συνῄει, καὶ περιβάλλοντες τὰς χεῖρας καὶ συμπλεκόμενοι ἀλλήλοις, ἐπιθυμοῦντες συμφῦναι, ἀπέθνῃσκον ὑπὸ λιμοῦ καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἀργίας διὰ τὸ μηδὲν ἐθέλειν χωρὶς ἀλλήλων ποιεῖν.

utpote claudi, saltare cogantur.” Haec fatus bifariam partitus est singulos, instar eorum qui ova dividunt, ut sale condiant, vel qui capillis ova secant. Mandavitque Apollini, ut partitione statim facta, cuiusque vultum cervicisque dimidium in eam partem qua sectus est, verteret, ut scissionem sua considerans modestior fieret, reliquis autem mederit iussit. Ille continuo vultum vertit, et contrahens undique cutem in eum qui nunc venter vocatur, tanquam contracta marsupia et os unum faciens, medio in ventre ligavit... Postquam natura hominum ita divisa fuit, cum quisque dimidium sui agnitum cuperet, inter se concurrebant, circumiactisque brachiis se invicem complectebantur, conflari unum affectantes. Translated into Latin by Marsilio Ficino

Plato [428 BCE – 348 BCE, modern Greece] was an Athenian philosopher who is considered one of the most influential minds of Greek thought. Using his predecessor Socrates as his mouthpiece, he composed a number of philosophical dialogues that explored various ethical, philosophical, and moral concepts. He was the founder of the Athenian Academy, and was the mentor of the famous philosopher Aristotle.