Rhetorical Essay

Queer Representation in Ovid’s The Fighting of Perseus

While some relationships in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, for example, Apollo and Hyacinthus, are unmistakably homoromantic, others are left more ambiguous and up for interpretation. One such relationship occurs in the midst of Perseus’s fight against Phineus and his men, between two young men named Athis and Lycabus. Though he does not explicitly state the nature of their relationship, Ovid uses language and motifs from his other romantic stories to imply that the boys are more than just close friends.

Ovid first implies that there is something more than friendship when he introduces Lycabus just after Perseus killed Athis. Ovid describes his attitude towards Athis as “et comes et veri non dissimulator amoris” (5.61), which translates to “both a companion and one who did not hide his true love” (my translation). The phrase “veri…amoris” is especially significant in this line: instead of using language that is usually used to describe loyalty or friendship, Ovid chooses to use words usually associated with romantic love to describe their feelings. Additionally, by saying that Lycabus is one “who does not hide his love”, the poet implies that people usually hide the kind of love he feels for Athis. Because common affection between friends is not normally concealed, calling attention to the fact that Lycabus is not concealing his feelings suggests that they are more than just friendly. Furthermore, by saying that Lycabus is a “companion” to Athis, Ovid implies that the two are still in a very close relationship.

In addition to the language that Ovid uses to describe the two of them, Athis and Lycabus also follow a motif that Ovid uses with his characters: Lovers dying together, which further emphasizes that their relationship is romantic rather than platonic. Examples of this motif show up a few times in Metamorphoses, but it is most prominent in the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, whose deaths are a result of their inability to live apart and, as sad as it is, take comfort in knowing that they died together. Athis and Lycabus’s deaths are remarkably similar to this story. After Lycabus sees his companion get his face smashed in by Perseus, he is distraught. He takes a moment to “lament” or “mourn” his companion’s death, which is another piece of evidence that points towards their intimacy, before drawing Perseus’s attention to himself by saying, “mecum tibi sint certamina!” (5.64). This phrase, which roughly translates to “Let your contest be with me!” (my translation), shows that Lycabus is still trying to defend the boy he loves, even after his companion has been killed, and he is facing an opponent who will likely beat him. Lycabus is quickly killed by Perseus, and the last thing he does before he dies is to “circumspexit Athin seque adclinavit ad illum / et tulit ad manes iunctae solacia mortis” (5.72-73), which roughly translates to “Looked around for Athis and leaned himself towards him / And carried to the shades the comfort of their joined death” (my translation). Just like Pyramus and Thisbe, who each take comfort in dying together, or Ceyx and Alcyone, who get turned into birds so they can remain together after Ceyx dies, the way that Ovid writes about Athis and Lycabus points to them also being a pair of lovers who die, but take comfort in knowing that they died together.