The Plague of Lust, Vol. 1 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical AntiquityRosenbaum, Julius
History
The Plague of Lust, Vol. 1 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical Antiquity
Rosenbaum, Julius
Sexually transmitted diseases -- History
[363] Oneirocritica., bk. V. ch. 65., Ἔδοξέ τις τὸ αἰδοῖον αὐτοῦ ἄχρις
ἄκρας τῆς κορώνης τετριχῶσθαι, καὶ λάσιον εἶναι πυκνῶν πάνυ τριχῶν
αἰφνίδιον φυεισῶν· ἀποπεφασμένος κίναιδος ἐγένετο πάσῃ μὲν ἀκολάστῳ
χρησάμενος ἡδονῇ, _θηλυδρίας ὢν καὶ ἀνδρόγυνος_, μόνῳ δὲ τῷ αἰδοίῳ κατὰ
νόμον ἀνδρῶν μὴ χρώμενος. Τοιγαροῦν οὕτως ἤδη ἀργὸν ἦν αὐτῷ τὸ μέρος
ἐκεῖνο, ὡς διὰ τὸ μὴ τρίβεσθαι πρὸς ἕτερον σῶμα καὶ τρίχας ἐκφύσαι.
(for translation see text above).
[364] _Ἀνδρόγυνον_ κωμῳδεῖν ἔδοξέ τις δρᾶμα· ἐνόσησεν αὐτῷ τὸ αἰδοῖον.
Γάλλους ὁρᾶν ἔδοξέ τις· ἐνόσησεν αὐτῷ τὸ αἰδοῖον. Τὸ μὲν πρῶτον διὰ
τὸ ὄνομα οὕτως ἀπέβη, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον διὰ τὸ συμβεβηκὸς τοῖς ὁρωμένοις.
Καί τοι καὶ τὸ κωμῳδεῖν οἰσθα ὃ σημαίνει, καὶ τὸ Γάλλους ὁρᾶν. Μέμνησο
δὲ, ὅτι, εἴτε κωμῳδεῖν, εἴτε τραγῳδεῖν ὑπολάβοι τις, καὶ μνημονεύει,
κατά τὴν ὑπόθεσιν τοῦ δράματος κρίνεται καὶ τὰ ἀποτελέσματα. (for
translation see text above). The signification of κωμῳδεῖν and
τραγῳδεῖν (to represent Comedy, Tragedy) is given by _Artemidorus_,
bk. I. ch. 56. As to the _Galli_ comp. bk. II. 69. In bk. II. ch. 12.
we read: Ὕαινα δὲ γυναῖκα σημαίνει _ἀνδρόγυνον_ ἢ φαρμακίδα, καὶ ἄνδρα
κίναιδον οὐκ εὐγνώμονα. (Hyaena signifies a woman that is _male-female_
or a sorceress, and a man that is a cinaedus without moderation). It
was a widespread belief amongst the Ancients that the hyaena was at
one time a male and at another a female (comp. _Aelian_, Hist. anim.,
I. 25. _Horapollo_, Hieroglyph., II. 65. _Ovid_, Metamorph., Bk. XV.
Fab. 38. _Tertullian_, De Pallio, ch. 3.). As early however as the time
of _Aristotle_ it had been declared a fable by him, Hist. anim., Bk.
VI. ch. 32., and _Clement of Alexandria_ says the same, Paedagog., II.
9. Yet the idea was still cherished at the beginning of the present
Century at the Cape of Good Hope, see _Corn. de Jong_, “Reise nach dem
Vorgebirge der Guten Hoffnung,” (Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope).
Hamburg 1803. Pt I. Letter 6. _Clement of Alexandria_, Paedagog., bk.
II. ch. 9., tells a still more remarkable tale of the hare, καὶ τὸν
μὲν λαγῶν κατ’ ἔτεος πλεονεκτεῖν φασὶ τὴν ἀφόδευσιν, εἰς ἀριθμοὺς οἱς
βεβίωκεν ἔτεσιν ἴσχοντα τρυπάς· ταύτῃ ἄρα τὴν κώλυσιν τῆς ἐδωδῆς τοῦ
λαγὼ, παιδεραστίας ἐμφαίνειν ἀποτροπὴν. (Moreover it is said that the
hare gets every year fresh means of voiding its excrement, having holes
corresponding to the number of years it has lived; and that for this
reason the prohibition against eating hare appears to be a dissuasion
from paederastia). This is confirmed by St. Barnabas, Epist., ch. 10.
and by _Pliny_, Hist. Nat., VIII. 55. To this fable also we must look
for an explanation of the proverbial saying δασύπους κρεῶν ἐπιθυμεῖ
(puss longs for flesh-meats), and Lepus tute es, et pulmentum quaeris?
(Are _you_ a hare, and look for condiments?) in _Terence_, Eunuch.,
III. 36. Possibly too the κύων τεῦτλα οὐ τρώγει (dog does not gnaw
pot-herbs) of Diogenes has a connection with the same notion,—Diogenes
Laertius, VI. 2. 6.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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