C. Valerius Catullus, Carmen 64.86–102

The flashback continues, turning from Theseus's arrival at the palace to Ariadne herself: her sheltered upbringing, her first sight of the visiting hero, and the work of Cupid and Venus (here invoked by her cult sites at Golgi and Idalium) on a young woman caught between hope and dread for what Theseus has come to do.

 

Tier 1

Ariadna virgō pūra erat. māter eam in domō tenēbat. Ariadna nōndum amōrem cōgnōverat.

Ariadna Thēseum vīdit. statim eum amāre coepit. corpus eius tōtum ārdēbat.

Cupīdō est deus saevus. Cupīdō hominēs ad amōrem cōgit. Cupīdō gaudia et cūrās miscet. Venus quoque dea amōris est.

Cupīdō et Venus puellam vexāvērunt. animus Ariadnae nōn quiētus erat. Ariadna multum timēbat. Ariadna pallidior aurō erat.

Thēseus enim Minōtaurum saevum pugnāre cupīvit. fortasse moriētur. fortasse vincet et māgnam laudem habēbit.

Original draft written by Robert Amstutz

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