Anaxarete
InGreek mythology,Anaxarete(Ancient Greek:Ἀναξαρέτη means 'excellent princess') was a maiden ofCyprus,"a proud princess in the line ofTeucer's descendants ",[1]who refused the advances of a shepherd named Iphis.
Mythology[edit]
Iphis' advances were described inOvid'sMetamorphosesin the following paragraph:
- “Now he would confess his sorry love to her nurse, asking her not to be hard on him, by the hopes she had for her darling. At other times he flattered each of her many attendants, with enticing words, seeking their favourable disposition. Often he gave them messages to carry to her, in the form of fawning letters. Sometimes he hung garlands on her doorpost wet with his tears, and lay with his soft flank on the hard threshold, complaining at the pitiless bolts barring the way.”[2]
Anaxarete spurned him and mocked his feelings until he cried in despair and hanged himself on her doorstep. Anaxarete was still unmoved. When she mocked his funeral, calling it pitiful,Aphroditeturned her into a stone statue.[2]According to Ovid, the statue was preserved at Salamis in Cyprus, in the temple of Venus Prospiciens.[2]
A similar tale is told byAntoninus Liberalis,although he names the maidenArsinoë,and her loverArceophon.[3]
Notes[edit]
- ^Ovid,Metamorphoses14. p. 583, translated by David Raeburn
- ^abcOvid."Bk XIV:698-771 Anaxarete and Iphis".The Metamorphoses.(Translation by A. S. Kline).Archivedfrom the original on 28 September 2007.Retrieved2007-08-18.
- ^Antoninus Liberalis,39
References[edit]
- Publius Ovidius Naso,Metamorphosestranslated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Ovidius Naso,Metamorphoses.Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892.Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
External links[edit]
Media related toAnaxareteat Wikimedia Commons
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