Challenging Gender Roles: the Roman Emperor Hadrian, Epit. de. Caes. 14.1-12

Name:  Unknown Date: 4th century CE Region:   Unknown Citation:  Epitome of the Caesars 14.1-12

The Emperor Hadrian, the son of Aelius Adrianus, a member of an Italian family and the cousin of the Emperor Trajan, was born in a town Adria (in the Picenum region, a town that gives the Adriatic Sea its name). He ruled for twenty-two years.
Hadrian was called "the Little Greek" because he was very passionate about Greek literature and culture. He was quite enamoured with Athenian culture; not only their language, but also their other disciplines as well: he excelled in singing, playing the lyre, the art of medicine, music, geometry, painting, and even sculpting in marble and bronze! His artistic style resembled Polycletus' and Euphranoras'. He was also very refined, to such an extent that it seems that the human race could scarcely find one more elegant. He had a photographic memory, and could remember the names of locations, transactions, and soldiers, even those that were absent. He was incredibly energetic, travelling throughout the provinces on foot, surpassing them in his speedy gait. He renovated each town he visited, and increased their social classes.  For example, on the military legions, he recruited carpenters, stone masons, architects of all kinds, to build and amplify the city walls. He was diverse, complicated, and deep; born with an almost innate balance of virtue and vice; he cleverly covered his own pride with a rare sense of self-awareness; he presented himself as having mercy, and downplayed his own desire for fame that burned in his breast. He was very witty in both banter and insults, he could reply "tit for tat" whether in spoken word or verse, to the extent that you would think he had prepared them ahead of time. His wife Sabina was driven to suicide by servile taunts. She often boasted that, since she was the best judge of his character, she had seen to it that being pregnant by him would bring disaster to the human race. After enduring a subcutaneous disease for a long time, he could no longer put on a brave face and, being overcome by pain, he took it out on many senators by killing them.
Having obtained peace from many kings through gifts and tributes, he often boasted that he had accomplished more for the empire with leisure than others had done with warfare. With the exception of a handful of changes made by Constantine, Hadrian's organization of infrastructure, both imperial and public [not including military infrastructure], remain untouched even to this day. He lived sixty-two years, then, consumed by a utterly pitiful end, being overcome by pain in all of his limbs to the point that he begged his friends for death, lest in his pain he order those around him to be killed. 

Aelius Adrianus, stirpis Italae, Aelio Adriano, Traiani principis consobrino, Adriae orto genitus, quod oppidum agri Piceni etiam mari Adriatico nomen dedit, imperavit annis viginti duobus. Hic Graecis litteris impensius eruditus a plerisque Graeculus appellatus est. Atheniensium studia moresque hausit potitus non sermone tantum, sed et ceteris disciplinis, canendi psallendi medendique scientia, musicus geometra pictor fictorque ex aere vel marmore proxime Polycletus et Euphranoras.Proinde omnino ad ista et facetus, ut elegantius umquam raro quicquam humanae res expertae videantur. Memor supra quam cuiquam credibile est, locos negotia milites, absentes quoque, nominibus recensare. Immnesi laboris, quippe qui provincias omnes passibus circumierit agmen comitantium praevertens, cum oppida universa restitueret, auget ordinibus. Namque ad specimen legionum militarium fabros perpendiculatores architectos genusque cunctum exsturendorum moenium seu decorandorum in cohortes centuriaverat. Varius multiplex multiformis; ad vitia atque virtutes quasi arbiter genitus, impetum mentis quodam artificio regens, ingenium invidum triste lascivum et ad ostentationem sui insolens calide tegebat; continentiam facilitatem clementiam simulans contraque dissimulans ardorem gloriae, quo flagrabat. Acer nimis ad lacessendum pariter et respondendum seriis ioco maledictis; referre carmen carmini, dictum dictui, prorsus ut meditatum crederes adversus omnia. Huius uxor Sabina, dum prope servilibus iniuriis afficitur, ad mortem voluntaria compulsa. Quae palam iactabat se, quod immane ingenium probavisse,t elaborasse, ne ex eo ad humani generis perniciem gravidaretur. Hic morbo subcutaneo, quem diu placide pertulerat, victus, dolore ardens impatiensque plures e senatu exstinxit. A regibus multis pace occultius muneribus impetrata, iactabat palam plus se otio adeptum quam armis ceteros. Officia sane publica et palatina nec non militae in eam formam statuit, quae paucis per Constantinum immutatis hodie perseverat. Vixit annos sexaginta duos; dehinc miserabili exitu consumptus est, cruciatu membrorum fere omnium confectus, in tantum, ut crebro sese interficiendum ministrorum fidissimis precans offeret, ac ne in semetipsum saeviret, custodia carissimorum servaretur.



Epitome of Caesars: Sometimes falsely attributed to Sextus Aurelius Victor, the Epitome de Caesaribus is a concise history of later Roman history from the 4th century CE that covers the reigns of the emperors Augustus through Theodosius.

M/M: Nisus & Euryalus, Vergil, Aen.9.176-183

 

 

Nisus and Euryalus: No Day Shall Erase You From the Memory of Time

Name:  Vergil Date:  70 – 19 BCE Region:  Mantua [modern northern Italy] Citation:  Aeneid 9.176-223, 384-413, 416-418,420-449

On duty that night at the fortress' gates was Nisus, the valiant son of Hyrtacus, whom the huntress Ida had trained in hunting and sent off to accompany Aeneas.
Standing beside him was his companion Euryalus, a teenager who surpassed all Trojans in beauty. He was born too young to earn his armor at Troy; his first touch of adulthood was blossoming on his chin.
They shared one love; they fought side-by-side. Both stood on duty at the gate.

Nisus said “Do the gods inspire you to seek glory, or does your own desire drive you? For I need to fight—or do some big gesture—I’m not content to just sit around here. You know how cocky our Rutulian enemy is. Their watch fires are scattered, sputtering out, and their watchmen are sleeping or drunk. They're not vigilant at all.

“Look at how confident I am in this plan, and what I've devised based on these facts. Everyone (the Trojan leaders and menfolk alike) is clamoring for Aeneas to return. They're looking for volunteers to come fetch him, even offering a reward. I think I can find a way to him through that heap of enemies, and find a path to our ally Pallas’ city walls.”

Euryalus, inspired by a love of praise, spoke to his companion, “Nisus, do you shirk from letting me join you on the most important time of all? Will I send you off alone into such danger? Listen, I no longer have a father. My dad Opheletes fell by the Greeks in Troy's fateful struggle. But he raised me better than that! And Aeneas, the man I followed to our ultimate destiny; he raised me better than this, too! I didn't come all this way, doing all these adventures with you otherwise. What life is there for me, if I only had life, and not honor?”

Nisus responded: “No, it isn't right. I would never think that of you. But Jupiter, I pray to god (or whatever god it is), look on me with kindness, to bring me back to you,

while you're there, waiting to cheer me on from the sidelines. You see how the situation is. If some enemy or act of god should take me away from you, I want you to live on. You're too young to die. Let it be you who brings my body back from the battlefield and lays it to rest in my tomb. Or, if Fortune does not permit even that, honor me with an empty grave. I do not want to break your mother's heart. Of all the Trojan women, she alone left the safety of Acestes’ walls to follow you here.”

Euryalus said, “Stop being such a worrywart! My mind is made up. Come on, let’s go.”

Together, they woke up the next shift of watchmen. They leave their posts in the hands of competent replacements, and together with his companion Nisus, they head for the king's headquarters.

 

While on a secret mission, Nisus and Euryalus are detected by Rutulian scouts. They flee, but are separated from each other:
          Euryalus, overcome by brambles and fear, is trapped!

 

But Nisus already fled. By dumb luck, he escaped the enemy through the territory that will later be named “Alba.” He looks around and cannot find his companion. He calls, “Unlucky Euryalus, where are you? Did I leave you behind? Where can I follow you?”

He goes in circles through the forest, looking for traces of his friend in the underbrush. Then he hears hoofbeats; he hears the riders approach. Soon after he hears a shout and sees Euryalus surrounded by a band of Rutulians but vainly trying to defend himself.

What should Nisus do? What resources does he have to rescue the youth from his attackers? Should he jump into the fight, rushing to his own doom, to endure an “honorable” death?

Aiming his weapon, Nisus catches sight of the moon and voices this prayer:  “Divine daughter of Leto, glory of the stars and protector of this grove, help me in my task! If my father Hyrtacus’ offerings to you ever meant something, if my thanksgiving offerings from my hunting trips ever meant anything to you, if my offerings of incense or other holy offerings ever touched you, please, allow me to take on these men and send this spear through the air towards them!”

He finished praying, and hurled his spear with all his might. It flies through the night and arrives in Sulmo’s chest...

The Rutulians looks around, alert. Nisus aims another spear and sends it into their midst. It shoots through the air and pierces Tagus’ temples; his brains spurt from the wound.

The Rutulian leader Volcens roars in anger. He cannot see who threw the spear, so he takes out his anger on Euryalus. “You shall pay the penalty for both of these men…in blood!” Volcens said, attacking the Trojan youth with his sword.

Then, terrified, Nisus shouted from the distance, betraying his hiding-place, trying to stop his greatest nightmare from happening, “It was me! It was me! I did it! Stab me instead, oh Rutulians! This was my fault, it wasn’t him! I swear by the heavens, and the stars are my witness! The only thing he did wrong was love his cursed companion too much!”

So Nisus spoke, but a sword pierces his friend’s chest, crushing Euryalus’ delicate ribcage.

Euryalus swoons in death, and gore spreads across the lad’s pretty limbs.  His head flops forward, just like when a purple flower dies, cut by a tractor’s plow, or when a poppy droops when it is weighed down by heavy raindrops.

But Nisus rushes into the midst of the enemy, seeking vengeance upon Volcens. Volcens alone is his goal.

Although surrounded, Nisus puts up a good fight. His sword gleams in the starlight as he slashes against his foe, and it plunges into his enemy’s shrieking face, killing the man who stabs him in return.

Then, dying, Nisus threw himself atop his slain friend and succumbed to dreamless sleep.

Fortunate pair! If my epic means anything, no day shall ever erase you from history, as long as Aeneas’ Capitol still stands, as long as father Rome reigns supreme.

 

Nisus and Euryalus: No Day Shall Erase You From the Memory of Time

Nisus erat portae custos, acerrimus armis,
Hyrtacides, comitem Aeneae quem miserat Ida
venatrix iaculo celerem levibusque sagittis,
et iuxta comes Euryalus, quo pulchrior alter
non fuit Aeneadum Troiana neque induit arma,
ora puer prima signans intonsa iuventa.
His amor unus erat pariterque in bella ruebant;
tum quoque communi portam statione tenebant.
Nisus ait: “Dine hunc ardorem mentibus addunt,
Euryale, an sua cuique deus fit dira cupido?
Aut pugnam aut aliquid iamdudum invadere magnum
mens agitat mihi, nec placida contenta quiete est.

Cernis quae Rutulos habeat fiducia rerum:
lumina rara micant, somno vinoque soluti
procubuere, silent late loca. Percipe porro
quid dubitem et quae nunc animo sententia surgat.
Aenean acciri omnes, populusque patresque,
exposcunt, mittique viros qui certa reportent.
Si tibi quae posco promittunt (nam mihi facti
fama sat est), tumulo videor reperire sub illo    
posse viam ad muros et moenia Pallantea.”
Obstipuit magno laudum percussus amore
Euryalus, simul his ardentem adfatur amicum:
“Mene igitur socium summis adiungere rebus,
Nise, fugis? Solum te in tanta pericula mittam?
Non ita me genitor, bellis adsuetus Opheltes,
Argolicum terrorem inter Troiaeque labores
sublatum erudiit, nec tecum talia gessi
magnanimum Aenean et fata extrema secutus:
est hic, est animus lucis contemptor et istum 
qui vita bene credat emi, quo tendis, honorem.”
Nisus ad haec: “Equidem de te nil tale verebar,
nec fas; non ita me referat tibi magnus ovantem
Juppiter aut quicumque oculis haec aspicit aequis.
Sed si quis (quae multa vides discrimine tali)
si quis in adversum rapiat casusve deusve,
te superesse velim, tua vita dignior aetas.

Sit qui me raptum pugna pretiove redemptum
mandet humo, solita aut si qua id Fortuna vetabit,
absenti ferat inferias decoretque sepulcro.
Neu matri miserae tanti sim causa doloris,
quae te sola, puer, multis e matribus ausa
persequitur, magni nec moenia curat Acestae.”
Ille autem: “Causas nequiquam nectis inanis
nec mea iam mutata loco sententia cedit.
Acceleremus” ait, vigiles simul excitat. Illi
succedunt servantque vices; statione relicta
ipse comes Niso graditur regemque requirunt.

...

Euryalum tenebrae ramorum onerosaque praeda
impediunt, fallitque timor regione viarum.
Nisus abit; iamque imprudens evaserat hostis
atque locos qui post Albae de nomine dicti
Albani (tum rex stabula alta Latinus habebat),
ut stetit et frustra absentem respexit amicum:

“Euryale infelix, qua te regione reliqui?
Quave sequar?” Rursus perplexum iter omne revolvens
fallacis silvae simul et vestigia retro
observata legit dumisque silentibus errat.
Audit equos, audit strepitus et signa sequentum;
nec longum in medio tempus, cum clamor ad auris
pervenit ac videt Euryalum, quem iam manus omnis
fraude loci et noctis, subito turbante tumultu,
oppressum rapit et conantem plurima frustra.
Quid faciat? Qua vi iuvenem, quibus audeat armis
eripere? An sese medios moriturus in enses
inferat et pulchram properet per vulnera mortem?
Ocius adducto torquet hastile lacerto
suspiciens altam Lunam et sic voce precatur:
“Tu, dea, tu praesens nostro succurre labori,
astrorum decus et nemorum Latonia custos.
Si qua tuis umquam pro me pater Hyrtacus aris
dona tulit, si qua ipse meis venatibus auxi
suspendive tholo aut sacra ad fastigia fixi,
hunc sine me turbare globum et rege tela per auras.”

Dixerat et toto conixus corpore ferrum
conicit. Hasta volans noctis diverberat umbras
et venit aversi in tergum Sulmonis ibique
frangitur, ac fisso transit praecordia ligno...[1]
Diversi circumspiciunt. Hoc acrior idem
ecce aliud summa telum librabat ab aure.
Dum trepidant, it hasta Tago per tempus utrumque...[2]
Saevit atrox Volcens nec teli conspicit usquam
auctorem nec quo se ardens immittere possit.
“Tu tamen interea calido mihi sanguine poenas
persolves amborum” inquit; simul ense recluso
ibat in Euryalum. Tum vero exterritus, amens,
conclamat Nisus nec se celare tenebris
amplius aut tantum potuit perferre dolorem:
“Me, me, adsum qui feci, in me convertite ferrum,
o Rutuli! Mea fraus omnis, nihil iste nec ausus
nec potuit; caelum hoc et conscia sidera testor;

tantum infelicem nimium dilexit amicum.”  
Talia dicta dabat, sed viribus ensis adactus
transadigit costas et candida pectora rumpit.
Volvitur Euryalus leto, pulchrosque per artus
it cruor inque umeros cervix conlapsa recumbit:
purpureus veluti cum flos succisus aratro 
languescit moriens, lassove papavera collo
demisere caput pluvia cum forte gravantur.
At Nisus ruit in medios solumque per omnis
Volcentem petit, in solo Volcente moratur.
Quem circum glomerati hostes hinc comminus atque hinc 
proturbant. Instat non setius ac rotat ensem
fulmineum, donec Rutuli clamantis in ore
condidit adverso et moriens animam abstulit hosti.
Tum super exanimum sese proiecit amicum
confossus, placidaque ibi demum morte quievit.
Fortunati ambo! Si quid mea carmina possunt,
nulla dies umquam memori vos eximet aevo,
dum domus Aeneae Capitoli immobile saxum
accolet imperiumque pater Romanus habebit.

Vergil, also known as Virgil, [Publius Vergilius Maro; 70 – 19 BCE, modern Italy] was born in Mantua, Cisalpine Gaul, and lived during the tumultuous transition of Roman government from republic to monarchy. His writing talent earned him a place of honor among Maecenas’ fellow authors under Augustan rule. He was friends with numerous famous authors of the time period, including Horace and Asinius Pollio. His former slave Alexander was the most influential romantic partner in his life, and the poet memorialized his love for him under the pseudonym “Alexis” in Eclogue 2. His masterpiece, the Aeneid, tells the story of Aeneas’ migration from Troy to Italy; it was used for centuries as the pinnacle of Roman literature.

---

[1] The graphic description of Sulmo’s wound will not be published here.

[2]The graphic description of Tagus’ wound will not be published here.

M/M: The Myth of Cyparissus, Ovid, Meta. 10.106-142

Name:     Ovid Date:       43 BCE – 17 CE Region:   Sulmo [modern Italy] Citation: Metamorphoses 10.106-142

A cone-shaped cypress tree stood among the rest. It's a tree now, but it once was a youth beloved by the god who mastered bow-strings and lyre-strings.
Once upon a time, there was a stag sacred to the nymphs who dwelled in Carthaea. It was huge, and had giant antlers upon its head. These antlers glimmered in gold, and a gem encrusted collar hung upon its neck. A silver bulla dangled from its forehead, attached with leather thongs. Jeweled earrings glittered from its twin ears. Lacking a natural fear of man, it would roam from house to house, looking for people to pet it.
But Cyparissus, the loveliest of Ceans, loved it above all else. Cyparissus, you walked it from pasture to pasture, you led it to water, you wove flower-crowns for its antlers, and you rode upon it, bareback, with a purple bit in its mouth.
But one day, in the heat of midday, the tired deer lay down in the leafy shade. Cyparissus foolishly shot it with his deadly aim, and when he saw it dying, he wanted to die, too.
What words of comfort were left unsaid, Phoebus, to lighten the lad's grief?
But the teenager mourned and begged for one last gift from the gods: that he be allowed to mourn for all time. And now, his blood mixed with his tears, his limbs began to lighten into shades of green, and when his hair became shaggy and bristly, pointed their graceful tips to the starry heavens.
In sorrow, the god vent his grief, saying, "I shall mourn you, and you shall mourn others, you will be present when others grieve, too."

Adfuit huic turbae metas imitata cupressus,
nunc arbor, puer ante deo dilectus ab illo,
qui citharam nervis et nervis temperat arcum.
namque sacer nymphis Carthaea tenentibus arva
ingens cervus erat, lateque patentibus altas               
ipse suo capiti praebebat cornibus umbras.
cornua fulgebant auro, demissaque in armos
pendebant tereti gemmata monilia collo.
bulla super frontem parvis argentea loris
vincta movebatur; parilesque ex aere nitebant               
auribus e geminis circum cava tempora bacae;
isque metu vacuus naturalique pavore
deposito celebrare domos mulcendaque colla
quamlibet ignotis manibus praebere solebat.
sed tamen ante alios, Ceae pulcherrime gentis,               
gratus erat, Cyparisse, tibi: tu pabula cervum
ad nova, tu liquidi ducebas fontis ad undam,
tu modo texebas varios per cornua flores,
nunc eques in tergo residens huc laetus et illuc
mollia purpureis frenabas ora capistris.               
     Aestus erat mediusque dies, solisque vapore
concava litorei fervebant bracchia Cancri:
fessus in herbosa posuit sua corpora terra
cervus et arborea frigus ducebat ab umbra.
hunc puer inprudens iaculo Cyparissus acuto               
fixit et, ut saevo morientem vulnere vidit,
velle mori statuit. quae non solacia Phoebus
dixit et, ut leviter pro materiaque doleret,
admonuit! gemit ille tamen munusque supremum
hoc petit a superis, ut tempore lugeat omni.               
iamque per inmensos egesto sanguine fletus
in viridem verti coeperunt membra colorem,
et, modo qui nivea pendebant fronte capilli,
horrida caesaries fieri sumptoque rigore
sidereum gracili spectare cacumine caelum.               
ingemuit tristisque deus 'lugebere nobis
lugebisque alios aderisque dolentibus' inquit.

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.

Challenging Gender Roles: Agnodice, Hyginus, Fabulae 119

Name: Hyginus   Date:  64 BCE – 17 CE Region:  Hispania [modern Spain] / Alexandria [modern Egypt]; Rome [modern Italy] Citation:  Fables 274.10

In ancient times, they did not have midwives. Since Athenians did not allow slaves or women to learn the art of medicine, women were dying in childbirth because of theirmodesty.

A certain young lady named Agnodice desired to learn medicine. Since she truly had it in her heart to learn, she shaved her head, dressed in men's clothing, and learned medicine under the tutelage of Hierophilus. Once she had learned what she needed to, she would visit women who were in labor.

Whenever a woman thought she was a man and did not want to be treated by her, she would lift up her tunic and show them that she was a woman. Then the patient would allow her to help.

When doctors saw that they were no longer needed in delivery, they began to attack Agnodice, calling her a pervert and a corruptor of women, and accused her patients of faking their illnesses to spend time with her.

They took Agnodice to trial, during which she lifted her dress and proved that she was a woman. And when the doctors began to double down, continuing to attack her, the top women of the town entered the court and declared, “You men are not our husbands, but our enemy, because you have condemned the one person who has discovered a way for us to be safe.” Then the Athenians modified the law, and allowed free-born women to learn the art of medicine.  

 

Antiqui obstetrices non habuerunt, unde mulieres verecundia ductae interierant (nam Athenienses caverant, ne quis servus aut femina artem medicinam disceret). Agnodice quaedam puella virgo concupivit medicinam discere.Quae cum concupisset, demptis capillis habitu virili se Hierophilo cuidam tradidit in disciplinam. Quae cum artem didicisset et feminam laborantem audisset ab inferiore parte, veniebat ad eam. Quae cum credere se noluisset existimans virum esse illa tunica sublata ostendebat se feminam esse: et ita eas curabat. Quod cum vidissent medici se ad feminas non admitti Agnodicem accusare coeperunt, quod dicerent eum glabrum esse et corruptorem earum et illas simulare imbecilitatem. Quod cum Areopagitae consedissent Agnodicem damnare coeperunt. Quibus Agnodice tunicam allevavit et se ostendit feminam esse. Et validius medici accusare coeperunt. Quare tum feminae principes ad iudicium convenerunt et dixerunt: “Vos coniuges estis, sed hostes, quia quae salutem  nobis invenit eam damnatis.” Tunc Athenienses legem emendaverunt ut ingenuae artem medicinam discerent.

 

Hyginus [Caius Julius Hyginus; 64 BCE – 17 CE, modern Spain or Egypt] was one of Augustus’ freedmen and a famous mythographer. He was originally from Hispania [modern Spain].  Some think that he was actually from Alexandria [modern Egypt], and brought to Rome as a boy by Caesar after the fall of Alexandria. He studied under the Greek scholar Cornelius Alexander, then followed in his footsteps. He was in charge of the Palatine library, and despite this, still had the time to teach many people. He was very close friends with the poet Ovid and Clodius Licinius, the former consul and historian who, after Hyginus fell into poverty, supported him financially for as long as he lived.

M/M: Achilles & Patroclus Reborn: Alexander & Hephaestion, Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri 1.12.1-2

Name: Arrian [Flavius Arrianus Nicomediansis] Date: 86 - 160 CE Region: Bithynia [modern Turkey] Citation: Anabasis of Alexander 1.12.1-2

As Alexander arrived at Troy, the Governor Menoetius honored him with a golden crown in front a crowd of Greeks and locals; then Chares the Athenian did the same, who came all the way from Sigeum to do so. They say that thereafter Hephaestion honored the tomb of Patroclus with a golden crown; there are also those who say that Alexander then crowned Achilles' tomb, too, and said that Achilles was blessed to have obtained Homer as the reporter of his deeds.
ἀνιόντα δ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐς Ἴλιον Μενοίτιός τε ὁ κυβερνήτης χρυσῷ στεφάνῳ ἐστεφάνωσε καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ Χάρης ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ἐκ Σιγείου ἐλθὼν καί τινες καὶ ἄλλοι, οἱ μὲν Ἕλληνες, οἱ δὲ ἐπιχώριοι:...οἱ δὲ, ὅτι καὶ τὸν Ἀχιλλέως ἄρα τάφον ἐστεφάνωσεν: Ἡφαιστίωνα δὲ λέγουσιν ὅτι τοῦ Πατρόκλου τὸν τάφον ἐστεφάνωσε: καὶ εὐδαιμόνισεν ἄρα, ὡς λόγος, Ἀλέξανδρος Ἀχιλλέα, ὅτι Ὁμήρου κήρυκος ἐς τὴν ἔπειτα μνήμην ἔτυχε. 

Porro Alexandro Ilium versus adscendenti Menoetius gubernator auream coronam imposuit: post hunc Chares Atheniensis, qui ex Sigeo venerat, atque alii nonnulli, partim Graeci, partim indigenae. Ab Hephaestione vero Patrocli tumulum coronatum esse narrant. Sunt qui Alexandrum etiam Achillis tumulum coronasse dicant: et felicem quidem, ut fama est, nominavit Achillem quod Homerum praeconem ad perpetuandam suam memoriam nactus esset. 
Translated from the Greek by Fr. Duebner

W/W: Aphrodite, Be My Wingman: Sappho, Fr. 1

Name: Sappho Date: d. 570 BCE Region: Lesbos [modern Greece] Citation: Fragment 1

Iridescent-throned goddess,
O immortal Venus, Daughter of Jupiter,
O crafty vixen, I pray to you,
do not overwhelm my heart with hatred or grief.
Blessed one, stay by my side!
For you have always heard my prayers as I languished in love,
you would listen to me and support me time and time again,
you would leave the golden palace of your heavenly father to come to me,
yoking your chariot with  swift doves,
their tiny wings  fluttering as they bore you between the sky and the ether.
They brought you to me quickly;
but you, o Blessed one, smirking with your immortal smile,
you asked me again and again what was wrong, what I felt, and why I was calling you.
And asking me what I yearned for most in my troubled heart,
and what love has caught me this time.
Asking, "O Sappho, who hurt you this time?
If someone plays hard to get, they'll soon start to pursue you;
if they don't accept your favors, soon they'll be the one to lavish you with gifts,
even if you don't like them that way.
Come to me, Aphrodite! Release me from my overwhelming anxiety;
let me obtain whatever my heart desires,
be my wingman.

Ποικιλόθρον᾽ ὰθάνατ᾽ ᾽Αφροδιτα,
παῖ Δίοσ, δολόπλοκε, λίσσομαί σε
μή μ᾽ ἄσαισι μήτ᾽ ὀνίαισι δάμνα,
πότνια, θῦμον.

ἀλλά τυίδ᾽ ἔλθ᾽, αἴποτα κἀτέρωτα
τᾶσ ἔμασ αύδωσ αἴοισα πήλγι
ἔκλυεσ πάτροσ δὲ δόμον λίποισα
χρύσιον ἦλθεσ

ἄρμ᾽ ὐποζεύξαια, κάλοι δέ σ᾽ ἆγον
ὤκεεσ στροῦθοι περὶ γᾶσ μελαίνασ
πύκνα δινεῦντεσ πτέῤ ἀπ᾽ ὠράνω
αἴθεροσ διὰ μέσσω.

αῖψα δ᾽ ἐχίκοντο, σὺ δ᾽, ὦ μάσαιρα
μειδιάσαισ᾽ ἀθάνατῳ προσώπῳ,
ἤρἐ ὄττι δηὖτε πέπονθα κὤττι
δἦγτε κάλημι

κὤττι μοι μάλιστα θέλω γένεσθαι
μαινόλᾳ θύμῳ, τίνα δηὖτε πείθω
μαῖσ ἄγην ἐσ σὰν φιλότατα τίσ τ, ὦ
Πσάπφ᾽, ἀδίκηει;

καὶ γάρ αἰ φεύγει, ταχέωσ διώξει,
αἰ δὲ δῶρα μὴ δέκετ ἀλλά δώσει,
αἰ δὲ μὴ φίλει ταχέωσ φιλήσει,
κωὐκ ἐθέλοισα.

ἔλθε μοι καὶ νῦν, χαλεπᾶν δὲ λῦσον
ἐκ μερίμναν ὄσσα δέ μοι τέλεσσαι
θῦμοσ ἰμμέρρει τέλεσον, σὐ δ᾽ αὔτα
σύμμαχοσ ἔσσο

Versicolori solio, immortalis Venus,
puella Iovis, nectens dolos, supplico tibi,
ne me fastidiis, neque maeroribus doma,
Veneranda, animo,
Verum huc ades, si quando alias in amore
meam vocem tu audieris, (quam crebram acceperas)
auscultabas, patrisque domum relinquens auream venisti;
currum subiungens, pulchri vero te egerunt
veloces passeres alis pullis,
crebras vibrantes pennas de caelo per aethera medium.
Protinus vero pervenere: tu vero, o Beata, subridens immorali tuo vultus, quod vero
rogabas, quodnam erat, quod passa sum, et erat, quod te vocarem.
Et quodnam meo maxime velim fieri
penitus furenti animo, quamve rursus suadam,
atque irretientem amorem: quis te, o Sappho, laedit?
Etenim si te fugit, cito sequetur:
et si dona non accipit, quin ipse dabit:
et si non amat, cito amabit,
et si tu nolueris.
Veni ad me & nunc, durisque solve me
ex curis: quaeque mihi te perficere
animus concupiscit, perfice: tuque ipsa
Audiutrix esto.
Translated into Latin by Jo. Christian Wolf

Sappho [d. 570 BCE, modern Greece] was universally applauded by the ancient world as the “Tenth Muse.” Because she was one of the earliest Greek lyric poets, there is very little definitive information on Sappho’s life.  It is generally agreed that Sappho was a wealthy noblewoman from the island of Lesbos who had three brothers and a daughter named Kleis. She used her prominent social position to support a cohort of other women artists, and composed many poems about them, expressing her love for them, praising their beauty, and celebrating their marriages. Whereas earlier Greek poetry was epic poetry with serious themes of gods, warfare, and the state, Sappho’s lyric poetry was emotional, intimate and personal. Her poetry centered around womanhood and womanly love, providing rare insight into the time period. The modern terms “sapphic” and “lesbian” reveal the longevity of her impact upon modern culture. Unfortunately, although her poetry was universally revered by the Greeks and Romans alike, Sappho’s works only exist as fragments, adding mysterious allure to her larger-than-life status but unfortunately hindering our understanding of her life and thoughts.

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.