The Plague of Lust, Vol. 2 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical AntiquityRosenbaum, Julius
History
The Plague of Lust, Vol. 2 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical Antiquity
Rosenbaum, Julius
Sexually transmitted diseases -- History
if we are not mistaken, in Plato. σάρων too _Hesychius_ explains by
γυναικεῖον (woman’s parts). He also has ἀρρενώπες (masculine-looking),
which some interpret by Androgyne (man-woman) or _fellator_. The
reading ἀγράπους occurring, we might also read γυρόπους (crook-footed);
_Suidas_ under word γραῦς (old woman) cites: ἡ γρῆϋς, ἡ χερνῆτις, ἡ
γυρὴ πόδας. (the old woman, the spinster, the _crooked of feet_).
[27] _Catullus_, Carm. 35. 64.,
An continentes quod sedetis insulsi
Centum, aut ducenti, non putatis ausurum
Me una ducentos _irrumare sessores_?
(Think you, because you sit there side by side, a hundred fools, or two
hundred, think you I shan’t dare to _irrumate_ two hundred _sitters_ at
once?).
[28] _Aelian_, Hist. Anim. bk. VI. ch. 24., ἡ δὲ ἡσύχως καὶ πεφεισμένως
τοῦ ἑαυτῆς στόματος ἀνατρέπει αὐτούς. (but the fox, quietly and so
as to forbear biting with its mouth, turns them over). ch. 64., ἥδε
χανεῖν τε καὶ ἐνδακεῖν οὐ δυναμένη, κᾆτα οὔρησεν αὐτοῦ ἐς τὸ στόμα.
(but she—the fox—being unable to open her mouth and fix her teeth in,
finally made water into its mouth).
[29] Virgil, Aen. VI. 494., says of Deiphobus, Helen’s paramour:
Atque hic Priamiden laniatum corpora toto
Deiphobum vidit, lacerum crudeliter ora,
Ora manusque ambas, populataque tempora raptis
Auribus, _et truncas inhonesto vulnere naris_.
(And now Deiphobus he sees, the glorious Priam’s son;
But all his body mangled sore, his face all evilly hacked,
His face and hands; yea, and his head laid waste, the ear lobes lacked,
And _nostrils cropped unto the root by wicked wound and grim_.
WILLIAM MORRIS’S translation).
_Martial_, bk. III. Epigr. 85.,
Quis tibi persuasit _nares abscindere moecho_?
Non hac peccatum est parte, marite, tibi
Stulte, quid egisti? nihil hic tua perdidit uxor,
Cum sit salva sui mentula Deiphobi.
(Who persuaded you to crop the adulterer’s nostrils? ’Twas not with
this part the offence was done you, sir husband! Foolish man, what
have you done? in this your wife has lost naught, so long as her
Deiphobus’ member is safe and sound). _Martial_, bk. II. Epigr. 83.,
Foedasti miserum, marite, moechum:
Et se, qui fuerant prius, requirunt
_Trunci naribus_ auribusque vultus.
Credis te satis esse vindicatum?
Erras! Iste potest et _irrumare_!
(You have mutilated, husband, the unhappy adulterer: and his face
cropped of nose and ears asks itself what it was like before. Think you
your revenge is complete? Nay! you are mistaken; the fellow can still
_irrumate_!)—a passage that might very well be made to prove our point.
[30] _Martial_, bk. XI. Epigr. 61.,
Lingua maritus, _moechus ore_ Maneius.
(Maneius is a husband with his tongue, a debaucher with his mouth). Bk.
III. Epigr. 84.,
Quid narrat tua _moecha_? non puellam
Dixi, Tongilion. Quid ergo? _Linguam!_
(What tale is it your harlot tells? Nay! I did not say _girl_,
Tongilion. What then? Why, _tongue!_).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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