Friday 23 July 2021

Two Ganymedes

 The Ganumēdēs of Greek myth, known to English readers as Ganymede, was a handsome young prince of Troy. Zeus in the form of an eagle carried him up to Olympus to be his cupbearer at feasts. By classical times the story was routinely read homoerotically, with Zeus as the besotted erastēs and Ganymede the ingénu erōmenos; Lucian later had a lot of fun with it in his Dialogues of the Gods. I wish I could point you towards his version in the great translation by the Fowler brothers but it's one of the ones they left out. Ganymede's alternate name in Latin retellings, Catamitus, gives us our word 'catamite'.

Two poets worry that Zeus may be coming for their own personal Ganymedes, and take precautions.

12.64
ALCAEUS

Master of Pisa, Zeus, I pray you crown
Peithēnor, who is Cypris’ second son,
Hard under Cronos’ mount. I also pray
You not become an eagle once again
And snatch him up and carry him away
To pour you cups of wine, and take the place
Of that fair Trojan lad. If on a time
I pleased by sending you some Muse-made toy,
Pray give assent to unity of mind
Between a poet and a godlike boy.

12.65
MELEAGER

If Zeus is still the fellow who once stole
And carried off the prime of Ganymede,
Well, I shall hide Myiscus in my heart
In case the god should steal a march on me
And throw his wings around the lovely boy.

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