Odes 1.30

A prayer to Venus

Historically, this little poem has puzzled some commentators, especially the strait-laced ones. Why is Glycera’s a suitable place to summon Venus to? And why is Mercury there at the end? As the god of speech and persuasion, perhaps? It’s probably simpler than that: Romans often used “Venus” just to mean “sex”, and Mercury was the patron god of commerce. If Glycera’s house has sex for sale, other details – like why Cupid is so eager and why the nymphs and graces should come with their girdles undone – fall into place. This Victorian translation by John Conington catches the mood nicely:

Come, Cnidian, Paphian Venus, come,
Thy well-beloved Cyprus spurn,
Haste, where for thee in Glycera’s home
Sweet odours burn.

Bring too thy Cupid, glowing warm,
Graces and Nymphs, unzoned and free,
And Youth, that lacking thee lacks charm,
And Mercury.

See the illustrated blog post here.

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O Venus regina Cnidi Paphique,
sperne dilectam Cypron et vocantis
ture te multo Glycerae decoram
transfer in aedem.

fervidus tecum puer et solutis
Gratiae zonis properentque Nymphae
et parum comis sine te Iuventas
Mercuriusque.

O Venus, Queen of Cnidos and Paphos, spurn your beloved Cyprus and come to the house of Glycera, who is summoning you with clouds of incense. Let Cupid, burningly eager, hurry there with you, and the Graces and nymphs with their girdles loosed, and Youth – not pleasant enough if you are not there – and Mercury.

More Poems by Horace