Poems Page 17

  India: According to the late Roman historian Orosius, the Indians sent peace envoys to Augustus when he was on campaign in Tarragona, Spain, in 26 or 25 BC.

  Arabia: The Roman commander Aelius Gallus led a campaign to Arabia in 25 BC, but his forces were decimated by its harsh climate. The ‘country cowering at the world’s end’ may be Britain.

  II.11

  Most modern editors consider these enigmatic lines to be the close of a longer poem whose first part has been lost.

  II.13

  Arrows in Persia: Propertius may be thinking of the Parthians (see note to II.10).

  Helicon: See note to II.10. The mention of ‘slender’ Muses indicates love poetry rather than epic.

  Linus: A son of Apollo who was a legendary musician. According to some versions of the myth, he was the teacher of Orpheus. Propertius touches on Orpheus’ ability to charm animals and trees with his playing, but would like it to be Cynthia who is bewitched.

  Persephone: Queen of the underworld. Her Latin name was Proserpina, but Propertius uses the Greek form. His reference to ‘three slim volumes’ has been taken by some as supporting the theory that what we have as Book Two of his poems was originally Books Two and Three.

  Tomb of Achilles: The description of Achilles’ tomb as ‘bloody’ apparently refers to a myth that, after the fall of Troy, Polyxena, daughter of the Trojan king Priam, was sacrificed over it at the demand of Achilles’ ghost.

  The sister Fates: The ancients believed that the three Fates, sisters whose Greek names were Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, spun the thread of life.

  Nestor: A Greek king, noted for his longevity, who accompanied the expedition to Troy, where his son Antilochus was killed in battle.

  Adonis: As recounted in Shakespeare’s poem, the beauty of Adonis caused Venus to fall in love with him. But he was killed by a boar while hunting on a mountain in Cyprus.

  II.14

  Electra … Orestes: Daughter and son of Agamemnon, the Greek commander at Troy. In an episode used by Sophocles, Orestes came home in disguise, reporting his own death. Electra was initially deceived, then let in on the secret. Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete, helped Theseus slay the Minotaur by giving him a ball of thread which he unwound as he made his way into the labyrinth where the monster was kept. After killing it he used the thread to get out. (See also note to I.3).

  Victory over the Parthians: See note to II.10. This is not the only poem in which Propertius pokes fun at military ‘triumphs’ – parades in which victorious Roman generals showed off their spoils – and prefers his own amorous triumphs.

  It’s your decision …: Some scholars feel the last four lines are anticlimactic after the couplet Propertius proposes to write on Venus’ temple, and are perhaps out of place. But it is typical of him to introduce a note of uncertainty at the end. Critics note that the four mythological examples that open the poem all have ambivalent sequels. Agamemnon was killed by his wife Clytemnestra when he got home. Orestes then killed Clytemnestra, but for that murder was hounded by the Furies. Ariadne was abandoned by Theseus on the island of Naxos. Even Ulysses was forced to resume his wanderings.

  II.15

  Paris: See notes to II.2 and II.3.

  Endymion: A beautiful youth with whom the moon goddess Luna fell in love. He sleeps perpetually, either as a gift from Jupiter or because he was asleep when Luna first saw him.

  Actium: See Note to II.1.

  II.16a

  The governor: In I.8a, Cynthia is denounced for proposing to travel to the Balkans (known at the time as Illyricum) with an unidentified man – a plan she is said in I.8b to have later abandoned. Those in search of historical facts from Propertius’ poems have conjectured that the same man is referred to here. Propertius portrays himself as resentful about Cynthia’s profession (see also note to I.8a), but his advice to her here is to soak the homecoming governor for all he has so he will then leave Rome again to top up his funds on another foreign assignment.

  II.16b

  Tyre: The still existing city on the Lebanese coast, also familiar from the Bible, along with Sidon, mentioned at the end of this poem. They were the two main centres of the region known to the Romans as Phoenicia, and were famed for producing a reddish-purple dye used in up-market clothes. While our scanty knowledge of Propertius’ life means nothing can be ruled out, there is no evidence he actually went to the Middle East or elsewhere in Asia, whether to buy gifts for a girlfriend or for any other purpose.

  The Leader: Augustus himself, imitating Romulus’ thatched hut.

  A slave: While many slaves were treated badly, some made their fortunes and purchased their freedom. That did not protect them from the snobbery of well-born Romans. Propertius here laments that an ex-slave is now rich enough to buy Cynthia’s services.

  The leader who filled Actium Bay: This time the reference is to Mark Antony and the Battle of Actium. Cleopatra is reported to have pulled her Egyptian vessels out of the battle to head home, at which point Antony also turned tail and followed her.

  Eriphyla: In Greek mythology, she took a bribe of a necklace to induce her husband Amphiaraus to join the campaign of the ‘Seven Against Thebes’ (see note to I.7). He died in the conflict, and Eriphyla was killed by one of their sons in retribution.

  Creusa: A Corinthian princess for whom Jason, the Argonauts’ leader, abandoned Medea, who sent Creusa a present of a crown, which set her on fire.

  Jupiter: The gods often took a lenient view of infidelity, but Propertius says this is not always so. While mortals such as Ixion were punished for falling in love with Jupiter’s wife, Juno, there are no stories of him being betrayed by her, whereas his own philandering was notorious.

  Pleiades, Orion: ‘The setting of these constellations in October–November marked a stormy season.’ (Camps).

  II.17

  Tantalus … Sisyphus: Examples frequently cited by Propertius of punishments in the underworld for misdeeds on earth. On Tantalus, see note to II.1. Sisyphus had to roll a rock uphill, only for it always to topple down again when he was near the summit.

  II.18

  The thirty-eight lines found here in the manuscripts are among the most chaotic in the Propertian corpus. Scholars believe they come from two or even three original poems, none of them apparently complete. I have followed the Oxford Text in ending at ‘before long’, forming a substantial chunk of a poem that contrasts Cynthia’s behaviour with the devotion of the Dawn goddess to her ageing husband. Even so, it is not easy to see what connects the first four lines to the rest. I have not translated eighteen lines, printed by Heyworth as fragments, which in part condemn the use of make-up and hair-dye (in the manner of I.2) and which clearly belong to a different poem.

  Tithonus: The Dawn goddess (Aurora in Latin) fell in love with the mortal Tithonus, son of the Trojan hero Laomedon. He (or she) asked the gods for his immortality, which was granted, but forgot to ask for perpetual youth, so he grew older and older. Ancient poetry portrays Dawn as boarding her chariot in the east every morning to bring light to the world. A recently discovered fragment of Sappho describes her as embracing Tithonus in his youth.

  Memnon: The son of Dawn, he was killed by Achilles at Troy.

  II.19

  Deserting Rome: Propertius does not say why Cynthia is going to the country. We are doubtless dealing again with an imaginary scenario.

  Diana: The goddess of hunting.

  Clitunno: This small river (Clitumnus in Latin) rises from the rock in a series of springs a few miles north of Spoleto in Umbria. Its beauty, and its reputation for making cattle that bathed in it sparkling white, were hymned by poets from Vergil to Goethe, Byron and Carducci, but would have had a special resonance for Propertius, who was born nearby. The springs, forming a pool surrounded by poplars, are still a tourist attraction.

  II.20

  Briseis … Andromache: On Briseis, see note to II.8. Andromache, wife of the Trojan hero Hector (killed by Achilles), was among the widows of Troy
who, after the sack of the city, fell into the hands of the Greek army.

  Mourning dove: A compression and adaptation of the Latin. Propertius mentions the nightingale, whose song was portrayed by ancient writers as a lament, in reference to the myth of Procne (on whom see more extensive note to III.10).

  Niobe: She boasted of having more children than the goddess Latona, who had two – the gods Apollo and Diana. As a punishment, all Niobe’s twelve children were killed and she was turned into an ever-weeping rock on Mt Sipylus (now Mt Spil in western Turkey, where a rock resembling a human face can still be seen). ‘Like Niobe, all tears,’ says Shakespeare in Hamlet.

  Danae: Her father Acrisius, king of Argos in Greece, locked her up in an iron (or bronze) chamber after a prophecy that any son of hers would kill him. Zeus (Jupiter), who lusted after Danae, managed to visit her in the chamber in the form of a shower of gold. The result was the hero Perseus, who did eventually kill Acrisius by accident.

  Furies of tragedy: The Greek tragedians Aeschylus and Euripides wrote of Orestes being pursued by the Furies after he killed his mother, Clytemnestra, for murdering his father, Agamemnon.

  Aeacus: One of the judges of the underworld.

  Tityus … Sisyphus: Tityus, a giant, was condemned to have vultures everlastingly feed on his entrails for an attempted sexual assault on Latona. On Sisyphus, whose offence was to reveal divine secrets, see note to II.17.

  II.21

  Panthus: As in several other poems, a Greek pseudonym is used to denote a Roman acquaintance. Unless we again have an entirely imaginary scenario, there is background to this poem that we don’t know, although evidently Panthus is the ‘pretty-boy lover’ referred to a few lines further on. ‘Panthus has been writing verse slanders about Propertius … and this has helped him become a lover of Cynthia. One assumes that her name too has featured in his poetry.’ (Heyworth).

  Dodona: See note to I.9.

  His Colchian hostess: Medea. On her, Jason and Creusa, see note to II.16b.

  Calypso: See note to I.15. The Odyssey does not say Ulysses ‘gave her the slip’ but that she facilitated his departure, despite not wanting him to go.

  II.22a

  Demophoon: As with Panthus in II.21, the Greek name is intended to disguise some Roman friend of Propertius. He does not appear in any other work by the poet, although II.24b (qv) refers to the mythological Demophoon.

  The theatre: We know from Propertius and other writers that theatres, like street-corners, were pick-up places, or at least locations where prostitutes plied their trade. Some did this in the audience but in ancient Rome, as in some other cultures, certain actresses, singers and dancers were considered fair game by men.

  Phrygian tune: Propertius is referring to ecstatic cults that involved self-harm during dances. Phrygia, in what is now Turkey, was often cited as a hotbed of these religions.

  Thamyras: A mythical Thracian chansonnier who challenged the Muses to a song contest. If he won, he could have sex with them all in turn. If not, they could deprive him of whatever they liked. Predictably, the Muses won and took away Thamyras’ sight and singing abilities. Propertius says ironically that even if he too lost his sight (and by implication his poetic gift) he would still pursue attractive women.

  II.22b

  Jupiter: The king of the gods assumed the likeness of the warrior Amphitryon, while he was away on campaign, in order to bed his wife Alcmena. To enhance the night of passion, he doubled its length by delaying the rotation of the stars.

  Briseis: See note to II.8. On Andromache, see note to II.20.

  II.23–24a

  Propertius’ argument that it is less damaging to his reputation to consort with common prostitutes than to be messed around by a higher-class woman such as Cynthia or chase after married women is a theme that crops up elsewhere in Latin literature. The stern moralist Cato is said to have advised young men to sow their wild oats by visiting brothels.

  Sacred Way: Whether or not Propertius is making ironic play with the name, the Sacred Way (Via Sacra in Latin), one of ancient Rome’s main streets, is presented here as a place to find both street-walkers and gift shops.

  Orontes and Euphrates: In ancient times, as in modern, many of the prostitutes on the streets of the developed world seem to have been immigrant women from less advanced regions, in this case pre-Islamic Syria.

  ‘How can you say that …?’: The questioner is evidently an imaginary interlocutor, friend or reader.

  II.24b

  Many scholars believe that between ‘…Amor changes direction?’ and ‘Let this man compete…’ the manuscript tradition has lost some lines that would introduce the rival for the affections of Cynthia (if it is she) who is discussed in the second part of the poem.

  Hydra of Lerna … Hesperides: Killing the Hydra, a water-serpent at Lerna in the Greek Peloponnese, and taking apples from the garden of the Hesperides sisters, protected by a snake in the far west of the then known world, were two of the twelve labours of Hercules. The labours, which Hercules carried out as a penance, are specifically mentioned a few lines further on.

  Theseus’ love …: On Theseus and Ariadne, see note to I.3. Demophoon, son of Theseus, had an affair with Phyllis, a Thracian princess, on his way back from the Trojan War, but then left her (she eventually committed suicide). On Medea and Jason, see note on Creusa in II.16b. Medea had helped Jason carry out a task set him by her father Aeetes in her homeland of Colchis (see also note on III.11).

  II.25

  Calvus … Catullus: This is one of two passages (the other is in II.34) to name Catullus (c. 84 – c. 54 BC), whom Propertius must have seen as an important predecessor. Calvus (82 – c. 47 BC) was a friend of Catullus and mentioned in his poems. Both were members of a group of ‘new poets’ that the conservative Cicero made fun of. Only a few fragments survive of Calvus’ poetry and of his oratory, for which he was also noted.

  Tithonus or Nestor: On Tithonus, see note to II.18. On Nestor, see note to II.13. Both are cited here because of the advanced age to which they lived.

  Cruel Perillus’ bull: Perillus was an artisan who was said to have constructed for Phalaris, the sixth-century-BC tyrant of Agrigento in Sicily, a bronze bull in which his victims could be roasted, their cries making the bull appear to roar. Perillus himself became the first victim of the contraption.

  Caucasus vultures: A reference to Prometheus, on whom see note to II.1.

  You, my friend …: As often, Propertius changes addressee – in this case, from Cynthia to an unnamed friend. Some have speculated that the man concerned was another competitor for Cynthia’s affections, but the tone seems too equable for that. Before the poem ends, Propertius again switches audience, to men who want a variety of girlfriends. The argument made is the exact opposite of that a few poems earlier, in II.22b.

  II.26a

  This poem was imitated by André Chénier in ‘Chrysé’, one of his Idylles marines.

  Ionian Sea: Off the west coast of Greece.

  Helle: In Greek mythology, a Theban princess who, persecuted by her stepmother Ino, fled with her brother on the back of a magic gold-fleeced ram. She fell off and drowned in the strait that was named the Hellespont after her (now the Dardanelles in Turkey). Ino, attacked by her husband, leapt into the sea to escape him and was turned into a sea-goddess named Leucothoe.

  Castor, Pollux: See note to I.17.

  Glaucus: A sea-god who started life as a fisherman, but became immortal after eating a magic herb.

  Nesaee, Cymothoe: Sea-nymphs mentioned by Homer.

  Arion: A musician said to have thrown himself off a ship into the sea to escape sailors who were trying to rob him, and to have been rescued by a dolphin.

  II.26b

  Ulysses: ‘Alluding to the wrecking of the Greek armada on the return from Troy by Nauplius, who lit beacons to lure them on the rocks of Caphareus (a promontory of Euboea) in revenge for the death of his son Palamedes, whose conviction for treachery Ulysses had procured by means of man
ufactured evidence.’ (Camps). Others take it as referring to the contrary winds that held up the departure of the Greek fleet for Troy from the island of Euboea (Evia) off the east coast of Greece.

  Two rocks: The Symplegades, or clashing rocks – in mythology, two moving islands at the north end of the Bosphorus, which butted together when anything tried to pass between them. But the Argo made it after a dove had been sent to fly through first.

  Amymone: Daughter of Danaus, legendary founder of the city of Argos, she was sent out in search of water at Lerna in the Peloponnese. She was rescued from the advances of a satyr by Neptune, who, however, proceeded to enjoy her himself. To reward her, he then struck the ground with his trident, causing a spring to gush forth and enabling her to take water home.

  Orithyia: An Athenian princess carried off by Boreas, the god of the north wind. Two sons resulted, Calais and Zetes, mentioned in I.20.

  Scylla … Charybdis: The names have passed into proverb, but in mythology, Scylla was imagined as a female sea-monster living in a cave opposite Charybdis, a whirlpool across the Straits of Messina. Together they constituted a mortal hazard to shipping.

  Auriga: I have used the name by which this constellation is known to modern astronomers. Propertius speaks of Haedus (The Kid), one of the stars in the constellation. The rising of Orion and Auriga in the autumn was associated with stormy weather.