“Hera twisted by the beauty of Ganymede once spoke
As she suffered the heart-rending stab of jealousy in her heart:
“Troy ignited a male fire for Zeus—and so I will send
A fire at Troy, a pain bearing Paris.
No eagle will come to Troy again, but vultures
Will go to the feast when the Greeks get the spoils for their toils.”
Sometimes an Eagle Does show up in stories of Zeus and Ganymede.
Greek Anthology 12.211
“Go to bright heaven, go carrying the child,
Eagle, keep your twin wings spread wide.
Go holding gentle Ganymede and do not drop
Zeus’ wine-bearer of the sweetest cups.
But be careful not to bloody him with your clawed feet
So that Zeus, upset, won’t hurt you.”
“Hera twisted by the beauty of Ganymede once spoke
As she suffered the heart-rending stab of jealousy in her heart:
“Troy ignited a male fire for Zeus—and so I will send
A fire at Troy, a pain bearing Paris.
No eagle will come to Troy again, but vultures
Will go to the feast when the Greeks get the spoils for their toils.”
Sometimes an Eagle Does show up in stories of Zeus and Ganymede.
Greek Anthology 12.211
“Go to bright heaven, go carrying the child,
Eagle, keep your twin wings spread wide.
Go holding gentle Ganymede and do not drop
Zeus’ wine-bearer of the sweetest cups.
But be careful not to bloody him with your clawed feet
So that Zeus, upset, won’t hurt you.”
“Hera twisted by the beauty of Ganymede once spoke
As she suffered the heart-rending stab of jealousy in her heart:
“Troy ignited a male fire for Zeus—and so I will send
A fire at Troy, a pain bearing Paris.
No eagle will come to Troy again, but vultures
Will go to the feast when the Greeks get the spoils for their toils.”
Sometimes an Eagle Does show up in stories of Zeus and Ganymede.
Greek Anthology 12.211
“Go to bright heaven, go carrying the child,
Eagle, keep your twin wings spread wide.
Go holding gentle Ganymede and do not drop
Zeus’ wine-bearer of the sweetest cups.
But be careful not to bloody him with your clawed feet
So that Zeus, upset, won’t hurt you.”
“Indeed, wise Aspasia, Sophocles’ rhetoric teacher, says in those words that are attributed to her which Herodicus, Crates’ student, includes:
Socrates, you can’t fool me—your mind is paralyzed by desire
For the son of Deinomakhê and Kleinias*. But listen
If you want to seduce boys well and don’t doubt
The messenger, but believe and it will be much better for you.
When I heard this, happiness made my body shine with sweat
And a cry fell from my eyes—and I was not unhappy.
“Prepare by filling your hearth with a persuasive muse
Who will help you capture him, and pour her onto desirous ears.
She is the beginning of mutual friendship—you will master him
With her by providing his ears visions of your soul.
The fine Socrates then went hunting with his love-teacher, the Milesian at his side. But he is not hunted, as Plato claims, a beast trapped by Alcibiades. And, surely, he never stops weeping as it were just not his day. For, when Aspasia sees what kind of state he’s in, she says:
Why have you been crying, dear Socrates?
Does the broken desire residing in your chest
And streaking across your eyes move you for the unmoveable boy?
I promised I would domesticate him for you!
Plato makes it clear in his Protagoras that Socrates really loves Alcibiades, even though he is just a bit under thirty!”
