When Themis, prophesying future days,had said these words, the Gods of Heaven complainedbecause they also could not grant the giftof youth to many others in this way.Aurora wept because her husband hadwhite hair; and Ceres then bewailed the ageof her Iasion, grey and stricken old;and Mulciber demanded with new lifehis Erichthonius might again appear;and Venus, thinking upon future days,said old Anchises' years must be restored.And every god preferred some favorite,until vexed with the clamor, Jupiterimplored, “If you can have regard for me,consider the strange blessings you desire:does any one of you believe he canprevail against the settled will of Fate?As Iolaus has returned by fate,to those years spent by him; so by the FatesCallirhoe's sons from infancy must growto manhood with no struggle on their part,or force of their ambition. And you shouldendure your fortune with contented minds:I, also, must give all control to Fate.“If I had power to change the course of FateI would not let advancing age break downmy own son Aeacus, nor bend his backwith weight of year; and Rhadamanthus shouldretain an everlasting flower of youth,together with my own son Minos, whois now despised because of his great age,so that his scepter has lost dignity.”Such words of Jupiter controlled the Gods,and none continued to complain, when theysaw Aeacus and Rhadamanthus old,and Minos also, weary of his age.And they remembered Minos in his prime,had warred against great nations, till his nameif mentioned was a certain cause of fear.But now, enfeebled by great age, he fearedMiletus, Deione's son, becauseof his exultant youth and strength derivedfrom his great father Phoebus. And althoughhe well perceived Miletus' eye was fixedupon his throne, he did not dare to drivehim from his kingdom.But although not forced,Miletus of his own accord did fly,by swift ship, over to the Asian shore,across the Aegean water, where he builtthe city of his name.Cyane, whowas known to be the daughter of the streamMaeander, which with many a twist and turnflows wandering there—Cyane said to beindeed most beautiful, when known by him,gave birth to two; a girl called Byblis, whowas lovely, and the brother Caunus—twins.Byblis is an example that the loveof every maiden must be within law.Seized with a passion for her brother, sheloved him, descendant of Apollo, notas sister loves a brother; not in sucha manner as the law of man permits.At first she thought it surely was not wrongto kiss him passionately, while her armswere thrown around her brother's neck, and sodeceived herself. And, as the habit grew,her sister-love degenerated, tillrichly attired, she came to see her brother,with all endeavors to attract his eye;and anxious to be seen most beautiful,she envied every woman who appearedof rival beauty. But she did not knowor understand the flame, hot in her heart,though she was agitated when she sawthe object of her swiftly growing love.Now she began to call him lord, and nowshe hated to say brother, and she said,“Do call me Byblis—never call me sister!”And yet while feeling love so, when awakeshe does not dwell upon impure desire;but when dissolved in the soft arms of sleep,she sees the very object of her love,and blushing, dreams she is embraced by him,till slumber has departed. For a timeshe lies there silent, as her mind recallsthe loved appearance of her lovely dream,until her wavering heart, in grief exclaims:—“What is this vision of the silent night?Ah wretched me! I cannot count it true.And, if he were not my own brother, hewhy is my fond heart tortured with this dream?He is so handsome even to envious eyes,it is not strange he has filled my fond heart;so surely would be worthy of my love.But it is my misfortune I am hisown sister. Let me therefore strive, awake,to stand with honor, but let sleep returnthe same dream often to me.—There can beno fear of any witness to a shadewhich phantoms my delight.—O Cupid, swiftof love-wing with your mother, and O mybeloved Venus! wonderful the joysof my experience in the transport. Allas if reality sustaining, lifted meup to elysian pleasure, while in truthI lay dissolving to my very marrow:the pleasure was so brief, and Night, headlongsped from me, envious of my coming joys.“If I could change my name, and join to you,how good a daughter I would prove to yourdear father, and how good a son would yoube to my father. If the Gods agreed,then everything would be possessed by usin common, but this must exclude ancestors.For I should pray, compared with mine yours mightbe quite superior. But, oh my love,some other woman by your love will bea mother; but because, unfortunate,my parents are the same as yours, you mustbe nothing but a brother. Sorrows, then,shall be to us in common from this hour.What have my night-born vision signified?What weight have dreams? Do dreams have any weight?The Gods forbid! The Gods have sisters! Truthdeclares even Saturn married Ops, his ownblood-kin, Oceanus his Tethys, Jove,Olympian his Juno. But the Godsare so superior in their laws, I shouldnot measure human custom by the rightsestablished in the actions of divinities.This passion must be banished from my heart,or, if it cannot be so, I must praythat I may perish, and be laid out deadupon my couch so my dear brother theremay kiss my lips. But then he must consent,and my delight would seem to him a crime.“Tis known the sons of Aeolus embracedtheir sisters —But why should I think of these?Why should I take example from such lives?Must I do as they did? Far from it! letsuch lawless flames be quenched, until I feelno evil love for him, although the pureaffection of a sister may be mine,and cherished. If it should have happened firstthat my dear brother had loved me—ah then,I might have yielded love to his desire.Why not now? I myself must woo him, sinceI could not have rejected him, if hehad first wooed me. But is it possiblefor me to speak of it, with proper wordsdescribing such a strange confession? Lovewill certainly compel and give me speech.But, if shame seal my lips, then secret flamein a sealed letter may be safely told.”
Haec ubi faticano venturi praescia dixitore Themis, vario superi sermone fremebant,et “cur non aliis eadem dare dona liceret”murmur erat: queritur veteres Pallantias annosconiugis esse sui, queritur canescere mitisIasiona Ceres, repetitum Mulciber aevumposcit Erichthonio. Venerem quoque cura futuritangit et Anchisae renovare paciscitur annos.Cui studeat, deus omnis habet, crescitque favoreturbida seditio, donec sua Iuppiter orasolvit et “o nostri siqua est reverentia,” dixit“quo ruitis? Tantumne aliquis sibi posse videtur,fata quoque ut superet? Fatis Iolaus in annos,quos egit, rediit, fatis iuvenescere debentCallirhoe geniti, non ambitione nec armis.Vos etiam, quoque hoc animo meliore feratis,me quoque fata regunt. Quae si mutare valerem,nec nostrum seri curvarent Aeacon anni,perpetuumque aevi florem Rhadamanthus haberetcum Minoe meo, qui propter amara senectaepondera despicitur nec quo prius ordine regnat.”Dicta Iovis movere deos, nec sustinet ullus,cum videat fessos Rhadamanthon et Aeacon anniset Minoa, queri. Qui, dum fuit integer aevi,terruerat magnas ipso quoque nomine gentes.Tunc erat invalidus Deionidenque iuventaerobore Miletum Phoeboque parente superbumpertimuit credensque suis insurgere regnis,haud tamen est patriis arcere penatibus ausus.Sponte fugis, Milete, tua, celerique carinaAegaeas metiris aquas et in Aside terramoenia constituis positoris habentia nomen.Hic tibi, dum sequitur patriae curvamina ripae,filia Maeandri totiens redeuntis eodemcognita Cyanee, praestantia corpora forma,Byblida cum Cauno, prolem est enixa gemellam.Byblis in exemplo est, ut ament concessa puellae:Byblis Apollinei correpta cupidine fratris:non soror ut fratrem, nec qua debebat, amabat.Illa quidem primo nullos intellegit ignesnec peccare putat, quod saepius oscula iungat,quod sua fraterno circumdet bracchia collo,mendacique diu pietatis fallitur umbra.Paulatim declinat amor, visuraque fratremculta venit nimiumque cupit formosa videriet siqua est illic formosior, invidet illi.Sed nondum manifesta sibi est nullumque sub illoigne facit votum: verumtamen aestuat intus.Iam dominum appellat, iam nomina sanguinis odit:Byblida iam mavult, quam se vocet ille sororem.Spes tamen obscenas animo demittere non estausa suo vigilans: placida resoluta quietesaepe videt, quod amat; visa est quoque iungere fratricorpus et erubuit, quamvis sopita iacebat.Somnus abit: silet illa diu repetitque quietisipsa suae speciem dubiaque ita mente profatur:“Me miseram! tacitae quid vult sibi noctis imago?Quam nolim rata sit! cur haec ego somnia vidi?Ille quidem est oculis quamvis formosus iniquiset placet, et possim, si non sit frater, amare,et me dignus erat. Verum nocet esse sororem.—Dummodo tale nihil vigilans committere temptem,saepe licet simili redeat sub imagine somnus!testis abest somno, nec abest imitata voluptas.Pro! Venus et tenera volucer cum matre Cupido,gaudia quanta tuli! quam me manifesta libidocontigit! ut iacui totis resoluta medullis!ut meminisse iuvat! quamvis brevis illa voluptasnoxque fuit praeceps et coeptis invida nostris.O ego, si liceat mutato nomine iungi,quam bene, Caune, tuo poteram nurus esse parenti!quam bene, Caune, meo poteras gener esse parenti!Omnia, di facerent, essent communia nobis,praeter avos: tu me vellem generosior esses!Nescioquam facies igitur, pulcherrime, matrem:at mihi, quae male sum quos tu sortita parentes,nil nisi frater eris. Quod obest, id habebimus unum.Quid mihi significant ergo mea visa?—quod autemsomnia pondus habent?—an habent et somnia pondus?Di melius!—di nempe suas habuere sorores:Sic Saturnus Opem iunctam sibi sanguine duxit,Oceanus Tethyn, Iunonem rector Olympi.Sunt superis sua iura! Quid ad caelestia ritusexigere humanos diversaque foedera tempto?Aut nostro vetitus de corde fugabitur ardor,aut hoc si nequeo, peream, precor, ante toroquemortua conponar, positaeque det oscula frater.—Et tamen arbitrium quaerit res ista duorum.Finge placere mihi: scelus esse videbitur illi!At non Aeolidae thalamos timuere sororum!Unde sed hos novi? Cur haec exempla paravi?Quo feror? Obscenae procul hinc discedite flammae,nec, nisi qua fas est germanae, frater ametur!—Si tamen ipse mei captus prior esset amore,forsitan illius possem indulgere furori.Ergo ego, quae fueram non reiectura petentem,ipsa petam! Poterisne loqui? poterisne fateri?Coget amor: potero! vel, si pudor ora tenebit,littera celatos arcana fatebitur ignis:hoc placet, haec dubiam vicit sententia mentem.”
And after all this wavering, her mindat last was satisfied; and as she leanedon her left elbow, partly raised from herhalf-dream position, she said, “Let him see:let me at once confess my frantic passionwithout repression! O my wretched heart!What hot flame burns me!” But while speaking so,she took an iron pen in her right hand,and trembling wrote the heart-words as she could,all on a clean wax tablet which she heldin her limp left hand. She begins and stops,and hesitates—she loves and hates her hotconfession—writes, erases, changes hereand there, condemns, approves, disheartened throwsher tablets down and takes them up again:her mind refuses everything she does,and moves against each action as begun:shame, fear and bold assurance mingled showedupon her face, as she began to write,“Your sister” but at once decided shecould not say sister, and commenced instead,with other words on her amended wax.“A health to you, which she who loves you failsto have, unless you grant the same to her.It shames me, oh I am ashamed to tellmy name to you, and so without my name,I would I might plead well until the hopesof my desires were realized, and thenyou might know safely, Byblis is my name.“You might have knowledge of my wounded heart,because my pale, drawn face and down-cast eyesso often tearful, and my sighs withoutapparent cause have shown it — and my warmembraces, and my frequent kisses, muchtoo tender for a sister. All of thishas happened, while with agitated heartand in hot passion, I have tried all ways,(I call upon the Gods to witness it!)that I might force myself to sanity.And I have struggled, wretched nights and days,to overcome the cruelties of love,too dreadful for a frail girl to endure,for they most surely are all Cupid's art.“I have been overborne and must confessmy passion, while with timid prayers I plead;for only you can save me. You alonemay now destroy the one who loves you best:so you must choose what will be the result.The one who prays is not your enemy;but one most closely joined to you, yet asksto knit the tie more firmly. Let old menbe governed by propriety, and talkof what is right and wrong, and hold to allthe nice distinctions of strict laws. But Love,has no fixed law for those whose age is ours,is heedless and compliant. And we havenot yet discovered what is right or wrong,and all we should do is to imitatethe known example of the Gods. We haveno father's harsh rule, and we have no carefor reputation, and no fear that keepsus from each other. But there may be causefor fear, and we may hide our stolen love,because a sister is at libertyto talk with her dear brother—quite apart:we may embrace and kiss each other, thoughin public. What is wanting? Pity herwhose utmost love compels her to confess;and let it not be written on her tomb,her death was for your sake and love denied.”Here when she dropped the tablet from her hand,it was so full of fond words, which were doomedto disappointment, that the last line tracedthe edge: and without thinking of delay,she stamped the shameful letter with her seal,and moistened it with tears (her tongue failed herfor moisture). Then, hot-blushing, she called oneof her attendants, and with timid voicesaid, coaxing, “My most trusted servant, takethese tablets to my—” after long delayshe said, “my brother.” While she gave the tabletsthey suddenly slipped from her hands and fell.Although disturbed by this bad omen, shestill sent the letter, which the servant foundan opportunity to carry off.He gave the secret love-confession. Thisher brother, grandson of Maeander, readbut partly, and with sudden passion threwthe tablets from him. He could barely holdhimself from clutching on the throat of herfear-trembling servant; as, enraged, he cried,“Accursed pander to forbidden lust,be gone!—before the knowledge of your deathis added to this unforeseen disgrace!”The servant fled in terror, and told allher brother's actions and his fierce replyto Byblis: and when she had heard her lovehad been repulsed, her startled face went pale,and her whole body trembled in the gripof ice-chills. Quickly as her mind regainedits usual strength, her maddening love returned,came back with equal force, and while she chokedwith her emotion, gasping she said this:“I suffer only from my folly! why did Iso rashly tell him of my wounded heart?And why did I so hastily committo tablets all I should have kept concealed?I should have edged my way by feeling first,obscurely hinting till I knew his mindand disposition towards me. And so thatmy first voyage might get favorable wind,I should have tested with a close-reefed sail,and, knowing what the wind was, safely fared.But now with sails full spread I have been tossedby unexpected winds. And so my shipis on the rocks; and, overwhelmed with allthe power of Ocean, I have not the strengthto turn back and recover what is lost.“Surely clear omens warned me not to tellmy love so soon, because the tablets felljust when I would have put them in the handof my picked servant — certainly a signmy hasty hopes were destined to fall down.Is it not clear I should have changed the day;and even my intention? Rather sayshould not the day have been postponed at once?The god himself gave me unerring signs,if I had not been so deranged with love.I should have spoken to him, face to face;and with my own lips have confessed it all;and then my passion had been seen by him,and, as my face was bathed in tears, I couldhave told him so much more than words engravedon tablets; and, while I was telling himI could have thrown my arms around his neck,and if rejected could have seemed almostat point of death; as I embraced his feet,while prostrate, even might have begged for life.I could have tried so many plans, and theytogether would have won his stubborn heart.“Perhaps my stupid servant, in mistake,did not approach him at a proper time,and even sought an hour his mind was fullof other things.“All this has harmed my case;there is no other reason; he was notborn of a tigress, and his heart is notof flint or solid iron, or of adamant;and no she-lion suckled him. He shallbe won to my affection; and I mustattempt again, again, nor ever ceaseso long as I have breath. If it were nottoo late already to undo what hasbeen done, 'twere wiser not begun at all.But since I have begun, it now is bestto end it with success. How can he helpremembering what I dared, although I shouldabandon my design! In such a case,because I gave up, I must be to himweak, fickle-minded; or perhaps he maybelieve I tried to tempt him with a snare.But come what may, he will not think of meas overcome by some god who inflamesand rules the heart. He surely will believeI was so actuated by my lust.“If I do nothing more, my innocenceis gone forever. I have written himand wooed him also, in a way so rashand unmistakable, that if I shoulddo nothing more than this, I should be heldcompletely guilty in my brother's sight—but I have hope, and nothing worse to fear.”
In latus erigitur cubitoque innixa sinistro“viderit: insanos” inquit “fateamur amores.Ei mihi! quo labor? quem mens mea concipit ignem?”et meditata manu componit verba trementi:dextra tenet ferrum, vacuam tenet altera ceram.Incipit et dubitat, scribit damnatque tabellaset notat et delet, mutat culpatque probatque,inque vicem sumptas ponit positasque resumit.Quid velit ignorat; quidquid factura videtur,displicet. In vultu est audacia mixta pudori.Scripta “soror” fuerat, visum est delere sororemverbaque correctis incidere talia ceris:“Quam, nisi tu dederis, non est habitura salutem,hanc tibi mittit amans: pudet, a! pudet edere nomen.Et si, quid cupiam, quaeris, sine nomine vellemposset agi mea causa meo, nec cognita Byblisante forem, quam spes votorum certa fuisset.Esse quidem laesi poterat tibi pectoris indexet color et macies et vultus et umida saepelumina nec causa suspiria mota patentiet crebri amplexus, et quae, si forte notasti,oscula sentiri non esse sororia possent:ipsa tamen, quamvis animo grave vulnus habebam,quamvis intus erat furor igneus, omnia feci(sunt mihi di testes), ut tandem sanior essem,pugnavique diu violenta Cupidinis armaeffugere infelix et plus, quam ferre puellamposse putes, ego dura tuli. Superata fatericogor opemque tuam timidis exposcere votis.Tu servare potes, tu perdere solus amantem:elige, utrum facias! Non hoc inimica precatur,sed quae, cum tibi sit iunctissima, iunctior esseexpetit et vinclo tecum propiore ligari.Iura senes norint et, quid liceatque nefasquefasque sit, inquirant legumque examina servent:conveniens Venus est annis temeraria nostris!Quid liceat, nescimus adhuc et cuncta licerecredimus et sequimur magnorum exempla deorum.Nec nos aut durus pater aut reverentia famaeaut timor impediet (tantum sit causa timendi!).Dulcia fraterno sub nomine furta tegemus:est mihi libertas tecum secreta loquendi,et damus amplexus et iungimus oscula coram,quantum est, quod desit? Miserere fatentis amoreset non fassurae, nisi cogeret ultimus ardor,neve merere meo subscribi causa sepulcro!”Talia nequiquam perarantem plena reliquitcera manum, summusque in margine versus adhaesit.Protinus inpressa signat sua crimina gemma,quam tinxit lacrimis (linguam defecerat umor),deque suis unum famulis pudibunda vocavitet pavidum blandita “fer has, fidissime, nostro”—dixit, et adiecit longo post tempore “fratri.”Cum daret, elapsae manibus cecidere tabellae.Omine turbata est: misit tamen. Apta ministertempora nactus adit traditque latentia verba.Attonitus subita iuvenis Maeandrius iraproicit acceptas lecta sibi parte tabellasvixque manus retinens trepidantis ab ore ministri“dum licet, o vetitae scelerate libidinis auctor,effuge!” ait: “qui, si nostrum tua fata pudoremnon traherent secum, poenas mihi morte dedisses.”Ille fugit pavidus dominaeque ferocia Caunidicta refert. Palles audita, Bybli, repulsa,et pavet obsessum glaciali frigore corpus.Mens tamen ut rediit, pariter rediere furores,linguaque vix tales icto dedit aere voces:“Et merito! quid enim temeraria vulneris huiusindicium feci? Quid, quae celanda fuerunt,tam cito commisi properatis verba tabellis?Ante erat ambiguis animi sententia dictispraetemptanda mihi. Ne non sequeretur euntem,parte aliqua veli, qualis foret aura, notaredebueram tutoque mari decurrere, quae nuncnon exploratis inplevi lintea ventis.Auferor in scopulos igitur subversaque totoobruor oceano, neque habent mea vela recursus.Quid quod et ominibus certis prohibebar amoriindulgere meo, tum cum mihi ferre iubentiexcidit et fecit spes nostras cera caducas?Nonne vel illa dies fuerat vel tota voluntas,sed potius mutanda dies? Deus ipse monebatsignaque certa dabat, si non male sana fuissem.Et tamen ipsa loqui, nec me committere ceraedebueram praesensque meos aperire furores(vidisset lacrimas, vultum vidisset amantis!),plura loqui poteram, quam quae cepere tabellae.Invito potui circumdare bracchia colloet, si reicerer, potui moritura videriamplectique pedes adfusaque poscere vitam.Omnia fecissem, quorum si singula duramflectere non poterant, potuissent omnia, mentem.Forsitan et missi sit quaedam culpa ministri:non adiit apte nec legit idonea, credo,tempora nec petiit horamque animumque vacantem.Haec nocuere mihi. Neque enim est de tigride natusnec rigidas silices solidumve in pectore ferrumaut adamanta gerit nec lac bibit ille leaenae.Vincetur! Repetendus erit, nec taedia coeptiulla mei capiam, dum spiritus iste manebit.Nam primum, si facta mihi revocare liceret,non coepisse fuit: coepta expugnare secundum est.Quippe nec ille potest, ut iam mea vota relinquam,non tamen ausorum semper memor esse meorum,et, quia desierim, leviter voluisse videboraut etiam temptasse illum insidiisque petisse;vel certe non hoc, qui plurimus urget et uritpectora nostra, deo, sed victa libidine credar.Denique iam nequeo nil commisisse nefandum.Et scripsi et petii: temerata est nostra voluntas;ut nihil adiciam, non possum innoxia dici.Quod superest, multum est in vota, in crimina parvum.”
Then back and forth she argues; and so greatis her uncertainty, she blames herselffor what she did, and is determined justas surely to succeed.She tries all arts,but is repeatedly repulsed by him,until unable to control her ways,her brother in despair, fled from the shameof her designs: and in another landhe founded a new city.Then, they say,the wretched daughter of Miletus lostcontrol of reason. She wrenched from her breasther garments, and quite frantic, beat her arms,and publicly proclaims unhallowed love.Grown desperate, she left her hated home,her native land, and followed the loved stepsof her departed brother. Just as thosecrazed by your thyrsus, son of Semele!The Bacchanals of Ismarus, aroused,howl at your orgies, so her shrieks were heardby the shocked women of Bubassus, wherethe frenzied Byblis howled across the fields,and so through Caria and through Lycia,over the mountain Cragus and beyondthe town, Lymira, and the flowing streamcalled Xanthus, and the ridge where dweltChimaera, serpent-tailed and monstrous beast,fire breathing from its lion head and neck.She hurried through the forest of that ridge—and there at last worn out with your pursuit,O Byblis, you fell prostrate, with your hairspread over the hard ground, and your wan faceburied in fallen leaves. Although the young,still tender-hearted nymphs of Leleges,advised her fondly how to cure her love,and offered comfort to her heedless heart,and even lifted her in their soft arms;without an answer Byblis fell from them,and clutched the green herbs with her fingers, whileher tears continued to fall on the grass.They say the weeping Naiads gave to hera vein of tears which always flows there fromher sorrows—nothing better could be done.Immediately, as drops of pitch drip forthfrom the gashed pine, or sticky bitumendistils out from the rich and heavy earth,or as the frozen water at the approachof a soft-breathing wind melts in the sun;so Byblis, sad descendant of the Sun,dissolving in her own tears, was there changedinto a fountain; which to this late day,in all those valleys has no name but hers,and issues underneath a dark oak-tree.
Dixit, et (incertae tanta est discordia mentis)cum pigeat temptasse, libet temptare: modumqueexit et infelix committit saepe repelli.Mox ubi finis abest, patriam fugit ille nefasqueinque peregrina ponit nova moenia terra.Tum vero maestam tota Miletida mentedefecisse ferunt, tum vero a pectore vestemdiripuit planxitque suos furibunda lacertos.Iamque palam est demens inconcessamque fateturspem veneris, siquidem patriam invisosque penatesdeserit et profugi sequitur vestigia fratris.Utque tuo motae, proles Semeleia, thyrsoIsmariae celebrant repetita triennia bacchae,Byblida non aliter latos ululasse per agrosBubasides videre nurus. Quibus illa relictisCaras et armiferos Lelegas Lyciamque pererrat.Iam Cragon et Limyren Xanthique reliquerat undas,quoque Chimaera iugo mediis in partibus ignem,pectus et ora leae, caudam serpentis habebat;deficiunt silvae, cum tu lassata sequendoconcidis et dura positis tellure capillis,Bybli, iaces frondesque tuo premis ore caducas.Saepe etiam nymphae teneris Lelegeides ulnistollere conantur; saepe, ut medeatur amori,praecipiunt surdaeque adhibent solacia menti:muta iacet viridesque suis tenet unguibus herbasByblis, et umectat lacrimarum gramina rivus.Naidas his venam, quae numquam arescere posset,subposuisse ferunt: quid enim dare maius habebant?Protinus, ut secto piceae de cortice guttae,utve tenax gravida manat tellure bitumen,utve sub adventu spirantis lene favonisole remollescit, quae frigore constitit, unda,sic lacrimis consumpta suis Phoebeia Byblisvertitur in fontem, qui nunc quoque vallibus illisnomen habet dominae nigraque sub ilice manat.
The tale of this unholy passion wouldperhaps, have filled Crete's hundred cities then,if Crete had not a wonder of its ownto talk of, in the change of Iphis. Once,there lived at Phaestus, not far from the townof Gnossus, a man Ligdus, not well known;in fact obscure, of humble parentage,whose income was no greater than his birth;but he was held trustworthy and his lifehad been quite blameless. When the time drew nearhis wife should give birth to a child, he warnedher and instructed her, with words we quote:—“There are two things which I would ask of Heaven:that you may be delivered with small pain,and that your child may surely be a boy.Girls are such trouble, fair strength is deniedto them.—Therefore (may Heaven refuse the thought)if chance should cause your child to be a girl,(gods pardon me for having said the word!)we must agree to have her put to death.”And all the time he spoke such dreaded words,their faces were completely bathed in tears;not only hers but also his while heforced on her that unnatural command.Ah, Telethusa ceaselessly imploredher husband to give way to fortune's cast;but Ligdus held his resolution fixed.And now the expected time of birth was near,when in the middle of the night she seemedto see the goddess Isis, standing byher bed, in company of serious spirit forms;Isis had crescent horns upon her forehead,and a bright garland made of golden grainencircled her fair brow. It was a crownof regal beauty: and beside her stoodthe dog Anubis, and Bubastis, therethe sacred, dappled Apis, and the Godof silence with pressed finger on his lips;the sacred rattles were there, and Osiris, knownthe constant object of his worshippers' desire,and there the Egyptian serpent whose quick stinggives long-enduring sleep. She seemed to seethem all, and even to hear the goddess sayto her, “O Telethusa, one of myremembered worshippers, forget your grief;your husband's orders need not be obeyed;and when Lucina has delivered you,save and bring up your child, if either boyor girl. I am the goddess who brings helpto all who call upon me; and you shallnever complain of me—that you adoreda thankless deity.” So she advisedby vision the sad mother, and left her.The Cretan woman joyfully arosefrom her sad bed, and supplicating, raisedecstatic hands up towards the listening stars,and prayed to them her vision might come true.Soon, when her pains gave birth, the mother knewher infant was a girl (the father hadno knowledge of it, as he was not there).Intending to deceive, the mother said,“Feed the dear boy.” All things had favored herdeceit—no one except the trusted nurse,knew of it. And the father paid his vows,and named the child after its grandfather, whosename was honored Iphis. Hearing it so called,the mother could not but rejoice, becauseher child was given a name of common gender,and she could use it with no more deceit.She took good care to dress it as a boy,and either as a boy or girl, its facemust always be accounted lovable.And so she grew,—ten years and three had gone,and then your father found a bride for youO Iphis—promised you should take to wifethe golden-haired Ianthe, praised by allthe women of Phaestus for the dowerof her unequalled beauty, and well known,the daughter of a Cretan named Telestes.Of equal age and equal loveliness,they had received from the same teachers, allinstruction in their childish rudiments.So unsuspected love had filled their heartswith equal longing—but how different!Ianthe waits in confidence and hopethe ceremonial as agreed upon,and is quite certain she will wed a man.But Iphis is in love without one hopeof passion's ecstasy, the thought of whichonly increased her flame; and she a girlis burnt with passion for another girl!She hardly can hold back her tears, and says:“O what will be the awful dreaded end,with such a monstrous love compelling me?If the Gods should wish to save me, certainlythey should have saved me; but, if their desirewas for my ruin, still they should have givensome natural suffering of humanity.The passion for a cow does not inflame a cow,no mare has ever sought another mare.The ram inflames the ewe, and every doefollows a chosen stag; so also birdsare mated, and in all the animal worldno female ever feels love passion foranother female—why is it in me?“Monstrosities are natural to Crete,the daughter of the Sun there loved a bull—it was a female's mad love for the male—but my desire is far more mad than hers,in strict regard of truth, for she had hopeof love's fulfillment. She secured the bullby changing herself to a heifer's form;and in that subtlety it was the maledeceived at last. Though all the subtletiesof all the world should be collected here;—if Daedalus himself should fly back hereupon his waxen wings, what could he do?What skillful art of his could change my sex,a girl into a boy—or could he changeIanthe? What a useless thought! Be boldtake courage Iphis, and be strong of soul.This hopeless passion stultifies your heart;so shake it off, and hold your memorydown to the clear fact of your birth: unlessyour will provides deception for yourself:do only what is lawful, and confinestrictly, your love within a woman's right.“Hope of fulfillment can beget true love,and hope keeps it alive. You are deprivedof this hope by the nature of your birth.No guardian keeps you from her dear embrace,no watchful jealous husband, and she hasno cruel father: she does not denyherself to you. With all that liberty,you can not have her for your happy wife,though Gods and men should labor for your wish.None of my prayers has ever been denied;the willing Deities have granted mewhatever should be, and my father helpsme to accomplish everything I plan:she and her father also, always help.But Nature is more powerful than all,and only Nature works for my distress.“The wedding-day already is at hand;the longed-for time is come; Ianthe soonwill be mine only—and yet, not my own:with water all around me I shall thirst!O why must Juno, goddess of sweet brides,and why should Hymen also, favor uswhen man with woman cannot join in wedlock,but both are brides?” And so she closed her lips.
Fama novi centum Cretaeas forsitan urbesimplesset monstri, si non miracula nuperIphide mutata Crete propiora tulisset.Proxima Cnosiaco nam quondam Phaestia regnoprogenuit tellus ignotum nomine Ligdum,ingenua de plebe virum. Nec census in illonobilitate sua maior, sed vita fidesqueinculpata fuit. Gravidae qui coniugis auresvocibus his monuit, cum iam prope partus adesset:“Quae voveam, duo sunt; minimo ut relevere dolore,utque marem parias; onerosior altera sors est,et vires fortuna negat. Quod abominor, ergoedita forte tuo fuerit si femina partu,(invitus mando: pietas, ignosce!) necetur.”Dixerat, et lacrimis vultus lavere profusis,tam qui mandabat, quam cui mandata dabantur.Sed tamen usque suum vanis Telethusa maritumsollicitat precibus, ne spem sibi ponat in arto.Certa sua est Ligdo sententia. Iamque ferendovix erat illa gravem maturo pondere ventrem,cum medio noctis spatio sub imagine somniInachis ante torum, pompa comitata sacrorum,aut stetit aut visa est. Inerant lunaria fronticornua cum spicis nitido flaventibus auroet regale decus. Cum qua latrator Anubissanctaque Bubastis variusque coloribus Apis,quique premit vocem digitoque silentia suadet,sistraque erant numquamque satis quaesitus Osirisplenaque somniferis serpens peregrina venenis.Tum velut excussam somno et manifesta videntemsic adfata dea est: “Pars o Telethusa mearum,pone graves curas mandataque falle mariti.Nec dubita, cum te partu Lucina levarit,tollere quidquid erit. Dea sum auxiliaris opemqueexorata fero, nec te coluisse quererisingratum numen.” Monuit thalamoque recessit.Laeta toro surgit purasque ad sidera supplexCressa manus tollens, rata sint sua visa, precatur.Ut dolor increvit, seque ipsum pondus in aurasexpulit et nata est ignaro femina patre,iussit ali mater puerum mentita: fidemqueres habuit, neque erat ficti nisi conscia nutrix.Vota pater solvit nomenque inponit avitum:Iphis avus fuerat. Gavisa est nomine mater,quod commune foret nec quemquam falleret illo.Inde incepta pia mendacia fraude latebant:cultus erat pueri, facies, quam sive puellae,sive dares puero, fuerat formosus uterque.Tertius interea decimo successerat annus,cum pater, Iphi, tibi flavam despondet Ianthen,inter Phaestiadas quae laudatissima formaedote fuit virgo, Dictaeo nata Teleste.Par aetas, par forma fuit, primasque magistrisaccepere artes, elementa aetatis, ab isdem.Hinc amor ambarum tetigit rude pectus et aequumvulnus utrique dedit. Sed erat fiducia dispar:coniugium pactaeque exspectat tempora taedaequamque virum putat esse, virum fore credit Ianthe;Iphis amat, qua posse frui desperat, et augethoc ipsum flammas, ardetque in virgine virgo;vixque tenens lacrimas “quis me manet exitus” inquit,“cognita quam nulli, quam prodigiosa novaequecura tenet Veneris? Si di mihi parcere vellent,naturale malum saltem et de more dedissent.Nec vaccam vaccae, nec equas amor urit equarum:urit oves aries, sequitur sua femina cervum.Sic et aves coeunt, interque animalia cunctafemina femineo conrepta cupidine nulla est.Vellem nulla forem! Ne non tamen omnia Cretemonstra ferat, taurum dilexit filia Solis,femina nempe marem: meus est furiosior illo,si verum profitemur, amor! Tamen illa secuta estspem Veneris, tamen illa dolis et imagine vaccaepassa bovem est, et erat, qui deciperetur adulter!Huc licet e toto sollertia confluat orbe,ipse licet revolet ceratis Daedalus alis,quid faciet? Num me puerum de virgine doctisartibus efficiet? num te mutabit, Ianthe?Quin animum firmas, teque ipsa reconligis, Iphi,consiliique inopes et stultos excutis ignes?Quid sis nata, vide, nisi te quoque decipis ipsa,et pete quod fas est, et ama quod femina debes!Spes est, quae capiat, spes est, quae pascit amorem:hanc tibi res adimit. Non te custodia caroarcet ab amplexu nec cauti cura mariti,non patris asperitas, non se negat ipsa roganti:nec tamen est potienda tibi, nec, ut omnia fiant,esse potes felix, ut dique hominesque laborent.Nunc quoque votorum nulla est pars vana meorum,dique mihi faciles, quidquid valuere, dederunt;quodque ego, vult genitor, vult ipsa socerque futurus.At non vult natura, potentior omnibus istis,quae mihi sola nocet. Venit ecce optabile tempus,luxque iugalis adest, et iam mea fiet Ianthe—nec mihi continget: mediis sitiemus in undis.Pronuba quid Iuno, quid ad haec, Hymenaee, venitissacra, quibus qui ducat abest, ubi nubimus ambae?”
The other maiden flamed with equal love,and often prayed for Hymen to appear.But Telethusa, fearing that event,the marriage which Ianthe keenly sought,procrastinated, causing first delayby some pretended illness; and then gavepretence of omens and of visions seen,sufficient for delay, until she hadexhausted every avenue of excuse,and only one more day remained beforethe fateful time, it was so near at hand.Despairing then of finding other causewhich might prevent the fated wedding-day,the mother took the circled fillets fromher own head, and her daughter's head, and prayed,as she embraced the altar—her long hairspread out upon the flowing breeze—and said:“O Isis, goddess of Paraetonium,the Mareotic fields, Pharos, and Nileof seven horns divided—oh give help!Goddess of nations! heal us of our fears!I saw you, goddess, and your symbols once,and I adored them all, the clashing soundsof sistra and the torches of your train,and I took careful note of your commands,for which my daughter lives to see the sun,and also I have so escaped from harm;—all this is of your counsel and your gift;oh, pity both of us—and give us aid!”Tears emphasized her prayer; the goddess seemedto move—in truth it was the altar moved;the firm doors of the temple even shook—and her horns, crescent, flashed with gleams of light,and her loud sistrum rattled noisily.Although not quite free of all fear, yet pleasedby that good omen, gladly the mother leftthe temple with her daughter Iphis, whobeside her walked, but with a lengthened stride.Her face seemed of a darker hue, her strengthseemed greater, and her features were more stern.Her hair once long, was unadorned and short.There is more vigor in her than she showedin her girl ways. For in the name of truth,Iphis, who was a girl, is now a man!Make offerings at the temple and rejoicewithout a fear!—They offer at the shrines,and add a votive tablet, on which thisinscription is engraved:these gifts are paidby Iphis as a man which as a maidhe vowed to give.The morrow's dawnrevealed the wide world; on the day agreed,Venus, Juno and Hymen, all have metour happy lovers at the marriage fires;and Iphis, a new man, gained his Ianthe.
Pressit ab his vocem. Nec lenius altera virgoaestuat, utque celer venias, Hymenaee, precatur.Quod petit haec, Telethusa timens modo tempora differt,nunc ficto languore moram trahit, omina saepevisaque causatur. Sed iam consumpserat omnemmateriam ficti, dilataque tempora taedaeinstiterant, unusque dies restabat. At illacrinalem capiti vittam nataeque sibiquedetrahit et passis aram complexa capillis“Isi, Paraetonium Mareoticaque arva Pharonquequae colis et septem digestum in cornua Nilum:fer, precor” inquit “opem nostroque medere timori!Te, dea, te quondam tuaque haec insignia vidicunctaque cognovi, sonitum comitantiaque aerasistrorum, memorique animo tua iussa notavi.Quod videt haec lucem, quod non ego punior, ecceconsilium munusque tuum est. Miserere duarumauxilioque iuva!” Lacrimae sunt verba secutae.Visa dea est movisse suas (et moverat) aras,et templi tremuere fores, imitataque lunamcornua fulserunt, crepuitque sonabile sistrum.Non secura quidem, fausto tamen omine laetamater abit templo: sequitur comes Iphis euntem,quam solita est, maiore gradu, nec candor in orepermanet, et vires augentur, et acrior ipse estvultus, et incomptis brevior mensura capillis,plusque vigoris adest, habuit quam femina. Nam quaefemina nuper eras, puer es. Date munera templisnec timida gaudete fide! Dant munera templis,addunt et titulum; titulus breve carmen habebat:DONA PUER SOLVIT QUAE FEMINA VOVERAT IPHISPostera lux radiis latum patefecerat orbem,cum Venus et Iuno sociosque Hymenaeus ad ignesconveniunt, potiturque sua puer Iphis Ianthe.