Parthenius of Nicaea

Parthenius of Nicaea (Greek: Παρθένιος; died after AD 14) was a Greek grammarian and poet of the Hellenistic period. His only surviving work, the Erotica Pathemata (Ἐρωτικὰ Παθήματα, 'Of the Sorrows of Love') is a collection of thirty-six epitomes of love-stories, all of which have tragic or sentimental endings, taken from histories and historicised fictions as well as poetry. Quotes Μάλιστα σοὶ δοκῶν ἁρμόττειν, Κορνήλιε Γάλλε, τὴν ἄθροισιν τῶν ἐρωτικῶν παθημάτων, ἀναλεξάμενος ὡς ὅτι μάλιστα ἐν βραχυτάτοις ἀπέσταλκα. τὰ γὰρ παρά τισι τῶν ποιητῶν κείμενα τούτων, μὴ αὐτοτελῶς λελεγμένα, κατανοήσεις ἐκ τῶνδε τὰ πλεῖστα. αὐτῷ τέ σοι παρέσται εἰς ἔπη καὶ ἐλεγείας ἀνάγειν τὰ μάλιστα ἐξ αὐτῶν ἁρμόδια. ⟨μηδὲ⟩ διὰ τὸ μὴ παρεῖναι τὸ περιττὸν αὐτοῖς, ὃ δὴ σὺ μετέρχῃ, χεῖρον περὶ αὐτῶν ἐννοηθῇς· οἱονεὶ γὰρ ὑπομνηματίων τρόπον αὐτὰ συνελεξάμεθα, καὶ σοὶ νυνὶ τὴν χρῆσιν ὁμοίαν, ὡς ἔοικε, παρέξεται. Thinking, Cornelius Gallus, that the collection of sufferings in love was very appropriate to you, I have selected them and sent them to you in as brief a form as possible. For those among the present collection that occur in certain poets where they are not narrated in their own right, you will find out for the most part from what follows. You, too, will be able to render the most suitable of them into hexameters and elegiacs. Think none the worse of them because they lack that quality of refined elaboration which you pursue. For I have collected them after the fashion of a little notebook, and they will, I trust, serve you in the same way. Erotica Pathemata, prefatory letter to Cornelius Gallus (tr. J. L. Lightfoot, 1999) Ὀδυσσεὺς ⟨δὲ⟩ ἀλώμενος περὶ Σικελίαν καὶ τὴν Τυρρηνῶν καὶ τὴν Σικελῶν θάλασσαν ἀφίκετο πρὸς Αἴολον καὶ Μελιγουνίδα νῆσον· ὃς αὐτὸν κατὰ κλέος σοφίας τεθηπὼς ἐν πολλῇ φροντίδι εἶχεν. τά ⟨τε⟩ περὶ Τροίης ἅλωσιν καὶ ὃν τρόπον αὐτοῖς ἐσκεδάσθησαν αἱ νῆες κομιζομένοις ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰλίου διεπυνθάνετο, ξενίζων τε αὐτὸν πολὺν χρόνον διῆγεν. τῷ δ᾿ ἄρα καὶ αὐτῷ ἦν ἡ μονὴ ἡδομένῳ· Πολυμήλη γὰρ τῶν Αἰολίδων τις ἐρασθεῖσα αὐτοῦ κρύφα συνῆν. ὡς δὲ τοὺς ἀνέμους ἐγκεκλεισμένους παραλαβὼν ἀπέπλευσεν, ἡ κόρη φωρᾶταί τινα τῶν Τρωϊκῶν λαφύρων ἔχουσα καὶ τούτοις μετὰ πολλῶν δακρύων ἀλινδουμένη. ἔνθα ⟨δὴ⟩ ὁ Αἴολος τὸν μὲν Ὀδυσσέα καίπερ οὐ παρόντα ἐκάκισεν· τὴν δὲ Πολυμήλην ἐν νῷ ἔσχε τείσασθαι. ἔτυχε δὲ αὐτῆς ἠρασμένος ὁ ἀδελφὸς Διώρης, ὃς αὐτὴν παραιτεῖταί τε καὶ πείθει τὸν πατέρα αὐτῷ συνοικίσαι. While Ulysses was on his wanderings round about Sicily, in the Etruscan and Sicilian seas, he arrived at the island of Meligunis, where King Aeolus made much of him because of the great admiration he had for him by reason of his famous wisdom: he inquired of him about the capture of Troy and how the ships of the returning heroes were scattered, and he entertained him well and kept him with him for along time.Now, as it fell out, this stay was most agreeable to Ulysses, for he had fallen in love with Polymela, one of Aeolus’s daughters, and was engaged in a secret intrigue with her. But after Ulysses had gone off with the winds shut up in a bag, the girl was found jealously guarding some stuffs from among the Trojan spoils which he had given her, and rolling among them with bitter tears. Aeolus reviled Ulysses bitterly although he was away, and had the intention of exacting vengeance upon Polymela; however, her brother Diores was in love with her, and both begged her off her punishment and persuaded his father to give her to him as his wife. Erotica Pathemata, 2. "Polymela" (tr. Stephen Gaselee, 1916). From the Hermes of Philitas. See: Odyssey, bk. 10, l. 7 External links Category:Authors from Greece Category:Poets from Greece Category:BCE births Category:1st century deaths