“I will never rain down in gold. Someone else might
Become a bull or a sweet-voiced swan by the shore.
Let Zeus keep these games for himself. I will not fly,
But I will give these two obols to Korinna, my girl.”
The Fifth Book of the Greek Anthologyis a collection of erotic epigrams. Many of them use myth in amusing ways, for instance, the poem where the speaker claims to be Telephus and asks his addressee to be his Achilles. There are a series of poems that reflect on the practice of giving women gold using the story of Danae. These are a little funny, but if you observe some of the motifs in advertising around Valentine’s Day, they get a little less amusing….
Paulus Silentiarius, Greek Anthology, 5.219
“Golden Zeus cut through the seal of untouched maidenhood
after he entered Danae’s chamber of beaten bronze.
I think that what the story means is this: Gold, the all-conquerer,
Overcomes walls and chains.
Gold reproaches all reins and every lock,
Gold bends all blinking women its way.
It turned around Danae’s mind too: No lover needs
To beg the Paphian’s favor if he has money.”
Parmenion, Greek Anthology 5.33
“You poured onto Danae as gold, Olympian, so that the girl
Might be persuaded by a gift, and not tremble before Kronos’ son.”
“Once there was a golden race, a bronze age, and a silver one too.
But today, Cytherea takes every form.
She honors the golden man, has loved the bronze one
And never turns her face from silver men.
The Paphian stretches out like Nestor—and I don’t think that Zeus
Rained on Danae in gold: he came carrying a hundred gold coins!”
Thus fragment from Euripides’ lost Danae speaks to some of the less pleasant truths about modern politics (and attests to some rather ancient continuities).
“Truly, men love to take the words
Of wealthy men as wisdom, and yet when
Some poor man from a lesser house speaks well
They laugh. But I have often noticed
That poor men are wiser than the rich
And that those who make small offerings to the gods
Are more pious than those who slaughter bulls.”
“And she bore both Proitos and king Akrisios
And the father of gods and men established them in different places
Akrisos ruled in well-built Argos…
[three broken lines describing the marriage of Akrisios to Eurydike, daughter of Lakedaimon]
She gave birth to fine-ankled Danae in her home
Who in turn was the mother of Perseus, the mighty master of fear.
Proitos lived in the well-built city of Tiryns
and married the daughter of the great-hearted son of Arkas
the fine-haired Stheneboia…” Continue reading “Golden Rain or Incest? Early Fragments on Perseus”→
Euripides is sometimes held up to be among Athens’ greatest misogynists. Close readings of his full plays can contradict this (sometimes). A handful of fragments can confound
Euripides, fr. 320 (Danae)
“There is neither fortress nor fortune
Nor anything else as hard to guard as a woman.”
