Two Men Giving Birth: Phlegon of Tralles, De Mirab. 26-27

Two Men Giving Birth

Name: Phlegon of Tralles Date:    2nd century CE Region:   Tralles [modern Turkey]      Citation: On Marvels 26-27

In his Commentaries, Dorotheus the Physician reported that in Alexandria, Egypt, a man [1], gave birth. The fetus was preserved and put on display on account of the marvel.

While on campaign in Germany, one of the soldiers in the Roman army led by T. Curtilius Mancias, had a slave who gave birth. This happened when Conon was in charge of Athens, and when Quintus Volusius Saturninus and Publius Cornelius Scipio were consuls of Rome.      

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[1]Phlegon uses the term κίναιδος here to explain the man’s pregnancy. Although this term was often used pejoratively in the ancient world, Phlegon uses it neutrally here.

Δωρόθεος δέ φησιν ὁ ἰατρὸς ἐν Υπομνήμασιν ἐν Αλεξανδρείᾳ τῇ κατ’ Αἴγυπτον κίναιδον τεκεῖν. τὸ δὲ βρέφος ταριχευθὲν χάριν τοῦ παραδόξου φυλάττεσθαι.

Dorotheus medicus in Commentarios suos retulit, Alexandreae in Aegypto cinaedum peperisse: foetum conditum, miraculi causa, asservari.

ἐν Γερμανίᾳ ἐν τῷ στρατῷ τῶν Ρωμαίων ὅς ἦν ὑπὸ Τίτῳ Κουρτιλίῳ Μαγκίᾳ, τὸ ἀυτὸ τοῦτο ἐγένετο. Δοῦλος γὰρ στρατιώτου ἔτεκεν ἄρχοντος Ἀθήνησιν Κόνωνος. υπατευόντων έν Ρώμη Κλίντου Οὐλουσίου Σατορνίνου καὶ Ποπλίου Κορνηλίου Σκιπίωνος.

In Germania, in exercitu Romano, quem T. Curtilius Mancias duxit servus militis peperit: Athenis Conone praeside, Romae Q. Volusio Saturnino, et P. Cornelio Scipione consulibus.    Translated into Latin by Wilhelm Xylander

Phlegon of Tralles [2nd century CE, modern Turkey] According to the Suda [φ527], Phlegon of Tralles was a freedman of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. He wrote numerous works in Greek that are now lost, including the Olympiads and Roman festivals. His work, On Marvels, is a collection of extraordinary occurrences throughout history.

The Birth of Bacchus: Ovid, Fasti III.713-718

 The third day after the Ides is famous for Bacchus:

Bless me, Bacchus, while I sing of your holiday.

I’ll not mention [your mother] Semele, whom Jupiter visited with lightning

while you were an innocent little baby—premature.

So that you could be born at an appropriate time,

A father’s body was used to complete a mother’s function.

Tertia post Idus lux est celeberrima Baccho:

     Bacche, fave vati, dum tua festa cano.

nec referam Semelen, ad quam nisi fulmina secum               715

     Iuppiter adferret, ~parvus inermis eras~;

nec, puer ut posses maturo tempore nasci,

     expletum patrio corpore matris opus.

--Ovid, Fasti III.713-718

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.

Motherless Are We: Bacchus and Minerva, Greek Anthology 16.183

Motherless Are We: The Birth of Athena and Dionysus

Name:  Unknown Date:     Unknown Region:    Unknown Citation:    Greek Anthology 16.183

A Poem About a Statue of Dionysus Next to Athena

A: Tell me, Bacchus, what on earth do you have in common with Pallas Athena?

She’s all about weapons and warfare; you just really, really like dinner parties.

 B: O traveler, don’t be so critical about the matters of the gods,

But think about how the goddess and I are alike.

I am also successful in warfare; all of India

Knows I have conquered it, from sea to shining sea.

Both of us have enriched the human race;

Athena has endowed them with olive oil,

My gift is wine from freshly squeezed grapes.

And no mother has suffered labor pains on my behalf.

I came from our father’s [Zeus’] thigh; she came from his head.

 

α Εἰπὲ, τί σοὶ ξυνὸν καὶ Παλλάδι;  τῇ γὰρ ἄκοντες καὶ πόλεμοι, πέρι σοὶ δ’ εὔαδον εἰλαπίναι.

In signum Bacchi iuxta Minervam erectum A: Dic, quid tibi commune et Pallidi? Huic enim iacula et certamina; tibi vero valde placent convivia.

β Μὴ προπετῶς, ὦ ξεῖνε, θεῶν πέρι τoῖα μετάλλα. ἴσθι δ’ ὅσοις ἴκελος δαίμονι τῇδε πέλω καὶ γὰρ ἐμοὶ πολέμων φίλιον κλέος οἶδεν ἅπας μοι ἠῳου δμηθείς Ινδός ἀπ’ Ωκεανοῦ Καὶ μερόπων δὲ φυην ἐγερηραμεν ἡ μὲν ἐλαίῄ αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ γλυκεροῖς βότρυσιν ἡμερίδος Καὶ μὴν οὐδ’ ἐπ’ ἐμοὶ μήτηρ ὠδῖνας ὑπέτλη λῦσα δ’ ἐγὼ μηρὸν πάτριον, ἡ δὲ χάρη.

B. Ne temere, o hospes, de diis talia inquire: tene autem quot rebus similis deae huiusce sim. Etenim mihi quoque bellorum amica gloria; novit omnis Eoo domitus Indus ab Oceano. Et mortalium utique genus remuneravimus, haec quidem olea, sed ego dulcibus uvis vineae--excultae. Verum etiam neque ob me mater labores tulit; solvi autem ego femur patrium, haec vero caput. Translated into Latin by Hugo Grotius

The Motherless Birth of Pallas Athena: Apollodorus, Bibl.1.3.6

Name: [Pseudo]Apollodorus Date:   1st – 2nd century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:    Library 1.3.6

Thetis tried to escape Jupiter's seduction by changing forms, but was unsuccessful. When she became pregnant, Jupiter swallowed her whole, fearing a prophecy that claimed that after she birthed a daughter, she would bear a son who would rule the universe.
When the time had come for the child's delivery, Prometheus (or Vulcan, as others say), struck Jupiter's head with an ax, and Pallas Athena sprang forth from the wound fully armed.
 

μίγνυται δὲ Ζεὺς Μήτιδι, μεταβαλλούσῃ εἰς πολλὰς ἰδέας ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ συνελθεῖν, καὶ αὐτὴν γενομένην ἔγκυον καταπίνει φθάσας, ἐπείπερ ἔλεγε Γῆ γεννήσειν παῖδα μετὰ τὴν μέλλουσαν ἐξ αὐτῆς γεννᾶσθαι κόρην, ὃς οὐρανοῦ δυνάστης γενήσεται. τοῦτο φοβηθεὶς κατέπιεν αὐτήν: ὡς δ᾽ ὁ τῆς γεννήσεως ἐνέστη χρόνος, πλήξαντος αὐτοῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν πελέκει Προμηθέως ἢ καθάπερ ἄλλοι λέγουσιν Ἡφαίστου, ἐκ κορυφῆς, ἐπὶ ποταμοῦ Τρίτωνος, Ἀθηνᾶ σὺν ὅπλοις ἀνέθορεν.
Jupiter ad haec Thetidi, varias alternanti formas quo illius vitaret amplexus, immiscetur. Quam, cum gravidam esse persensisset, absorbere occupat, quoniam post natam ex ea puellam, filium se parituram dicebat, qui caeli dominatione potiturus esset. Id futurum veritus eam absorbuit. Ubi vero pariendi tempus advenit, Prometheus, sive, ut alii tradunt, Volcanus eius caput securi percussit, deque illius vertice secus Tritonem amnem armata Pallas exilivit.

Translated into Latin by Thomas Gale (1675)

Apollodorus [1st – 2nd century CE] is the name of the author of a famous collection of myths called the Bibliotheca / Library. Little is known about the author’s background or history.