Erotic Narrative Anonymous Lover's Impassioned Boast in Greek
The Lover's Impassioned Boast is a lost work of ancient Greek prose, known only by its title from a catalog entry where it is listed under the generic heading Apostasma, meaning "Extract" or "Fragment." Classified as an erotic narrative, this reference suggests it was either a brief, self-contained composition or a surviving excerpt from a longer, otherwise unpreserved text. The work itself does not survive in any direct manuscript tradition, existing only as an attestation within source lists. Its cataloged presence, however, signifies the recognized scope of ancient Greek literary production, illustrating how the tradition encompassed a diverse range of genres, including erotic fiction, beyond the canonical works that have come down to us more completely.
| [24] | στήσεται· κἂν σελήνῃ κελεύσω, καταβήσεται· κἂν κωλῦσαι θελ[ή]σω τὴν ἡμέραν, ἡ νύξ μοι μενεῖ· κἂν δεήθωμεν πάλιν ἡμέρας, τὸ φῶς οὐκ ἀπελεύσεται· κἂν πλεῦσαι θελήσω τὴν θάλατταν, οὐ δέομαι νεώς· κἂν δι’ ἀέρος ἐλθεῖν, κο̣υ̣φισθήσομαι. ἐρωτικὸν μόνον οὐχ εὑρίσκω φάρμακον—οὐ ποιῆσαι δυνάμενον, οὐ παῦσαι δυνάμενον. ἡ γὴ γὰρ φοβουμένη τὸν θεὸν οὐ φέρει. εἰ δέ τις ἔχει καὶ δίδωσιν, αἰτῶ, δέομαι, “δότε· πιεῖν θέλω, χρίσασθαι θέλω.” φαίνεσθαί σου τῇ θυγατρὶ καλὸν εἴδωλον λέγεις καὶ τοῦτό σο̣ι παράδοξον εἶναι δοκεῖ. πόσοι δὲ ἄλλοι παραλόγων ἠράσθη[σ]αν σωμάτων [ .... ] νικ̣α̣ς [ .. ] . ν̣δ̣ε̣ . ω̣[ ...... ]λ̣ι̣μ̣[ .. ] [Break in Text (point at which text breaks off for an unknown length)] |