W/W: Beloved by the Nymphs: Dryope, Antoninus Liberalis Met. 32

Name:  Antoninus Liberalis Date:  2nd – 3rd century CE Region:  Unknown Citation:    Metamorphoses 32

Unlike similar stories involving Artemis /Diana (including Callisto, Aura, Atalanta, etc.), this rape myth does not include any victim blaming or shaming. The hamadryads do not punish or shame Dryope for being attacked, but instead wait until her child is grown before transforming her into a nymph, allowing her to raise her child and experience motherhood.

Dryops (the son of the river god Sperchius and the Danaid Polydora) became ruler in Oeta. He had one daughter named Dryope, who took care of her father’s flocks.

The hamadryad nymphs loved her greatly. They made her their companion wherever they went, and taught her how to sing hymns to the gods, as well as lead the sacred dances.  

When Apollo spotted her, he burned for desire to sleep with her. He transformed himself into a turtle. Dryope picked it up and kept it as a pet. When she had put him in her lap, Apollo transformed from a turtle into a snake. This terrified the nymphs, and they fled, leaving Dryope to her fate. Apollo attacked her.

Terrified of what her father would think, Dryope fled home, but told him nothing about the attack. Later on, she was married to Andraemon (the son of Oxylus), but she had already conceived a child with Apollo. Her son, Amphissus, grew up a well-rounded young man. He established the city Oeta (named after the mountain) and ruled there. He created a temple to Apollo in Dryopis there.

When Dyrope went to the temple, the hamadryad nymphs took her with them, moved by their kind feelings for her.  They hid her in the forest, leaving a poplar tree in her place. In this way Dryope was transformed into a nymph.

Out of respect for the nymphs’ treatment of his mother, Amphissus created a temple for them, and established an annual footrace dedicated to them; these races occur even today. Women are banned from this place, since two maidens told the villagers of Dryope’s whereabouts. This angered the nymphs, and they transformed these maidens into pine trees.

Dryops Sperchii fluvii Filius ex Polydora, una Danai filiarum, regnum obtinuit in Oeta: unicamque habuit filiam Dryopen, quae patris greges pascebat. Sed cum eam summo opere amarent Hamadryades nymphae, suorumque locorum sociam adscivisset, docuissentque carminibus deos celebrare, et choros ducere: Apollo ea visa, concubitus cum ea ardor ipsum incessit. Itaque primum se in testudinem convertis: quam cum, ut rem ludicram, Dryope Nymphaeque tractarent, Dryope eam etiam in sinum conderet, de testudine Apollo in anguem transiit: itaque eam Nymphae territae desuerunt, Apollo cum Dryopa rem habet. Ea autem metus plena in domum patris confugit, nihilque parentibus ea de re indicavit. Post cum eam Andraemon Oxyli filius duxisset, puerum ex Apolline conceptum parit, Amphissum. Hic cum virilem aetatem attigisset, omnibus praevaluit. urbemque ad Oetam condidit, monti isti cognominem, ibique regnavit. Posuit eta Apollini in Dryopide regione templum: in quod cum se contulisset Dryope, Hamadryades benevolentia impulsae ea rapuerunt, et in silva occultarunt, loco eius alno excitata, ac pone alnum fonte. At Dryope, naturae mutatione de mortali facta est nympha. Amphissus, pro meritis Nympharum in matrem, templum ipsis condidit, primusque cursus certamen confecit: quod incolae hoc quoque nostro tempore curant. Mulierem eo accedere nefas est, quod Dryopen a Nymphis sublatam duae virgines incolis indicarunt: quas indignatione motae Nymphae, in abietes mutarunt.

 Translated by Xylander 1832 (Greek text forthcoming) 

 

Antoninus Liberalis [2nd – 3rd century CE] Little is known about the life of the Greek author Antoninus Liberalis. His work, Metamorphoses, is similar to the works of Hyginus in that they provide brief summaries of Greek and Roman myths.

Dangerous Beauty: The Abduction of Hylas, Vat. Myth. 2.199

The Abduction of Hylas

Name:  Vatican Mythographers Date:   10th century CE Region:   Unknown Citation:   Vatican Mythographers  2.199

Abduction myths serve two purposes. For modern readers, they serve as a cautionary tale that all young persons are vulnerable to exploitation. For ancient readers, however, these beautiful youths’ abductions were euphemistic stories to help grieving parents cope with the loss of a child who died before reaching expected social milestones (e.g., entering adulthood or getting married).

When Hercules joined the Argonauts, he brought with him the incredibly beautiful Hylas as his squire. During the trip, he broke an oar while he was rowing, so the crew headed to the forests of Mysia for repairs. While Hylas was gathering  water, he fell into a river and is said to have been abducted by the water nymphs there. When Hercules went looking for him and the Argonauts tried to stop him, they left him behind in Mysia. Later on, when he realized that Hylas drowned, sacred rites were dedicated to him: his name “Hylas!” is proclaimed. 

The Abduction of Hylas

Hercules cum comes Argonautis accessisset, Hylam Thiodomantis filium admirandae pulchritudinis iuvenem secum duxit armigerum. Qui remum fregit in mari cum pro suis remigat viribus. Cuius reparandi gratia Mysiam petens silvam fertur ingressus. Hylas, vero cum aquatum cum urna perrexisset, in fluvium cecidit; unde a nymphis raptus esse dicitur. Quem dum Hercules quaerens ab Argonatuis impeditus esset,in Mysia est relictus. Postea cum cognitum esset in fonte eum perisse, statuta sunt ei sacra, in quibus mos fuerat ut nomen eius clamaretur in montibus.

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.

Ace Allies Living Together in Honor and Joy: Callimachus, In Delos 291-299

Living Together in Love and Joy

Name: Callimachus Date:    305 – 240 BCE Region:   Cyrene [modern Libya] Citation:    Hymn to Delos 291-299

Artemis, the first to [worship] you from golden Thule

Were the daughters of Boreas,

 Upis and Loxo, and happy-in-life Hecaerge,

Along with the best [unmarried] men.

They never returned home,

But they got their happily-ever-afters,

And are never forgotten in memory.

For whenever sweet-singing Hymenaeos [1]

Terrifies the hearts of maidens

Before their wedding day,

Young women offer a lock of their hair to these immortal maidens,

And young men offer their first sprouts of facial hair

To these immortal youths.

 

---

[1] Hymenaeos was the personification of weddings and marriage.

πρῶταί τοι τάδ᾽ ἔνεικαν ἀπὸ ξανθῶν Ἀριμασπῶν Οὖπίς τε Λοξώ τε καὶ εὐαίων Ἑκαέργη, θυγατέρες Βορέαο, καὶ ἄρσενες οἱ τότ᾽ ἄριστοι ἠιθέων: οὐδ᾽ οἵ γε παλιμπετὲς οἴκαδ᾽ ἵκοντο, εὔμοιροι δ᾽ ἐγένοντο, καὶ ἀκλέες οὔποτ᾽ ἐκεῖνοι. ἦ τοι Δηλιάδες μέν, ὅτ᾽ εὐήχης ὑμέναιος ἤθεα κουράων μορμύσσεται, ἥλικα χαίτην παρθενικαῖς, παῖδες δὲ θέρος τὸ πρῶτον ἰούλων ἄρσενες ἠιθέοισιν ἀπαρχόμενοι φορέουσιν.

Primae hos tibi tulerunt fulvis ab Arimaspis Upis & Loxo, felix aevi Hecaerge, filiae Boreae, & mares, qui tum optimi iuvenum: neque illo retro domum rediere. Beati autem facti, nec unquam illi inglorii futuri sunt. Nam Deliades quidem, cum sonorus Hymenaeus Thalamos puellarum terret, aequaevam comam virgines; pueri aute primam lanuginis messem iuvenibus primitias ferunt.   Translated into Latin by Johann August Ernesti

Callimachus [310 – 240 BCE, modern Libya] is often regarded as one of the best Alexandrian [Greek] poets. Born in raised in Cyrene, Libya, he spent a majority of his career at the famous Library of Alexandria, where he used the resources there to create refined, artful poetry. Although much of his poetry is lost, the extant fragments of his works are a testament to both his talent as an artist and his erudition as a scholar.

Ace Allies, Assemble--for Rome! Claudian, Stilich. 3.237-274

Diana Rallies Her Companions to Serve Rome

Name:  Claudian Date:   370 – 404 CE  Region:    Alexandria [modern Egypt] Citation: Stilicho 3.237 – 274

Diana, Daughter of Latona

Who lords over the forests and the stars with equal ease,

You care for Stilicho as well,

By ensuring our Roman games are filled with noble beasts.

On the top of Alpine cliffs with bow in hand,

You assemble and hold a chaste court

With your chaste companions.

All of them are armed with quivers

With bare arms and bare shoulders,

Armed with spears in hand and quivers on their backs

Beautiful yet unadorned.

Their dusty faces gleam with sweat,

Showing off neither their maidenhood nor their gender.

Their hair is loose, and two hempen cords belt their waists

And keep their legs free.

Blond Leontodame arrives first,

Nebrophone (raised on the Lycaean mountain) follows next.

And Thero, who keeps the Arcadian territories in check with her mighty weapons.

Passionate Britomartis hastens over from Cretan Ida

And Lycaste, who can outrun the wind.

Scythian-born twins Hecaerge (the one feared by all beasts)

And her sister Opis (the one to pray to when you’re hunting)

Arrive side-by-side, by making their home in Delos

Shunning the wild norths—made these twins powerful goddesses.

These seven leaders came, and following them was another army of nymphs, Diana’s beautiful Valkyries.

A hundred of them were from Taygetus,

A hundred of them were from the peak of Mt. Cynthus,

And a hundred nymphs born in the region of the chaste-flowing Ladon.

When they assembled together, Diana began her speech:

“O allies, you who follow me together

Who spurn the detested marriage bed,

Dwelling with me in the crisp mountain ranges,

Do you notice that the gods are all keeping an eye on Rome?

How many herds of horses that Neptune has bestowed upon the world?

That my brother Apollo’s lyre never stops singing of Rome’s praise?

I feel that we ought to be doing the same.

We do not need our spears for this task,

Our arrows can remain unbloodied,

Our bows can cease from their accustomed hunting.

Blood should be preserved for the Roman games only.

Beasts should be brought in alive with nets and cages

(Spare them from your fierce arrows!)

Save these creatures until their deaths can come

For an applauding audience.”

Diana Rallies Her Companions to Serve Rome

Tibi, quae pariter silvis dominaris et astris,

exiguam Stilicho movit, Latonia, curam :

tu quoque nobilibus spectacula nostra laboras

inlustrare feris summoque in vertice rupis

Alpinae socias arcu cessante pudicas

et pharetratarum comitum inviolabile cogis

concilium, veniunt umeros et brachia nudae

armataeque manus iaculis et terga sagittis,

incomptae pulchraeque tamen; sudoribus ora

pulverulenta rubent, sexum nec cruda fatetur

virginitas; sine lege comae; duo cingula vestem

crure tenus pendere vetant. Praecedit amicas

flava Leontodame, sequitur nutrita Lycaeo

Nebrophone telisque domat quae Maenala Thero.

Ignea Cretaea properat Britomartis ab Ida

et cursu Zephyris numquam cessura Lycaste.

Iungunt se geminae metuenda feris Hecaerge

et soror, optatum numen venantibus, Opis

progenitae Scythia : divas nemorumque potentes

fecit Hyperboreis Delos praelata pruinis.

Hae septem venere duces ; exercitus alter

Nympharum incedunt, acies formosa Dianae,

centum Taygeti, centum de vertice Cynthi

et totidem casto genuit quas flumine Ladon.

Has ubi collectas vidit, sic Delia coepit :

“O sociae, mecum thalami quae iura perosae

virgineo gelidos percurritis agmine montes,

cernitis ut Latio superi communibus ornent

hunc annum studiis? Quantos Neptunus equorum

donet ab orbe greges? Laudi quod nulla canendae

fratris plectra vacent? Nostram quoque sentiat idem

quam meritis debemus opem. Non spicula poscit

iste labor; maneant clausis nunc sicca pharetris,

omnis et a solitis noster venatibus arcus

temperet; in solam cruor hic servetur harenam.

Retibus et clatris dilata morte tenendae

ducendaeque ferae, cupidas arcete sagittas;

consulis in plausum casuris parcite monstris.”

 

 Claudian was born in Alexandria, Egypt during the 4^th century CE. He is one of the best poets of the time period, and he provides a unique perspective as a non-Christian writer in Christian Rome. Many of his works are still extant, including panegyric [official praise literature] for the Roman Emperor Honorius and his general Stilicho, a poem criticizing the eunuch consul Eutropius, and an epic retelling of the abduction of Persephone.

 

Arethusa, an ace nymph; Pausanias, Desc. Graec. 5.7.2

Name:  Pausanias Date:        110 – 180 CE Region:    Lydia [modern Turkey] Citation:      Description of Greece 5.7.2

It is said that Alphaeus was a hunter who loved Arethusa (who also was a hunter). Since Arethusa rejected the idea of marriage, she fled to the island next to Syracuse called Ortygia, and transformed into a spring. Alphaeus did the same thing: he transformed himself into a river out of love for her.

λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἄλλα τοιάδε ἐς τὸν Ἀλφειόν, ὡς ἀνὴρ εἴη θηρευτής, ἐρασθῆναι δὲ αὐτὸν Ἀρεθούσης, κυνηγετεῖν δὲ καὶ ταύτην. καὶ Ἀρέθουσαν μὲν οὐκ ἀρεσκομένην γήμασθαι περαιωθῆναί φασιν ἐς νῆσον τὴν κατὰ Συρακούσας, καλουμένην δὲ Ὀρτυγίαν, καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἐξ ἀνθρώπου γενέσθαι πηγήν: συμβῆναι δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἔρωτος καὶ Ἀλφειῷ τὴν ἀλλαγὴν ἐς τὸν ποταμόν.

 de quo vulgata est fabula, virum illum [Alphaeum] fuisse venatorem, Arethusam amasse, & ipsam venandi studiosam. Quae quum illius nuptias recusasset, in insulam, cui Ortygiae nomen fuit, prope Syracusas, dicitur transmisse, atque ibi in fontem conversam: ipsi etiam Alpheo accidisse, ut prae amore in amnem mutaretur.

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.