Adonis in Plautus’ Pseudolus

Author(s): Shawn O’Bryhim

Source: Classical Philology, Vol. 102, No. 3 (July 2007), pp. 304-307
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
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 NOTES AND DISCUSSIONS
ADONIS IN PLAUTUS’ PSEUDOLUS

Pseudolus opens with the play’s namesake trying to persuade his young master,
Calidorus, to tell him why he is so despondent. Calidorus explains that he has just
received an upsetting letter from his lover, the meretrix Phoenicium. In it, she informs
him that her pimp has sold her to a Macedonian soldier who has already paid fifteen
minae on his contract and will deliver the balance of five minae through his servant
that day. Calidorus is such a wreck at the thought of losing Phoenicium that he con-
siders hanging himself to escape from this unhappy situation. Suddenly waxing poetic,
he describes his feelings about his ill-fated love affair with a simile: “Like a summer
plant, I lived a short time: quickly I emerged, quickly I died” (quasi solstitialis herba
paulisper fui: repente exortus sum, repentino occidi, 38–39). 1 Although there are
numerous passages in ancient literature where the death of vegetation serves as a
simile for human mortality, they do not provide strong parallels for the Plautine simile
because they do not occur in an amatory context. 2 However, there is a strong link
between love, human mortality, and the withering of plants in the cult of Adonis. In
fact, frequent references to the Adonia in Greek New Comedy suggest that Calidorus’
lament, along with other allusions to the myth and cult of Adonis at the beginning
of Pseudolus, derive from Plautus’ Greek model.
The Adonia was an annual festival that commemorated the death of Adonis, whose
rites were closely associated with Phoenicia and Cyprus by the Greeks.3 The date of
this festival seems to have varied according to location: in some places it took place
in the spring, while in others it occurred in the summer. 4 Lucian (Syr. D. 6–8) speaks
of the rites of Adonis at Byblos, where women lamented his death on one day and
celebrated his resurrection the next. 5 Women also mourned for Adonis in Israel
(Ezekiel 8:14), where they planted gardens sown with seeds that germinated on the
day after they were planted (Isaiah 17:10–11), very much like the short-lived plant
in Calidorus’ lament. 6

1. Herba refers not only to grass specifically, but also to small plants; see OLD, s.v. herba. A solstitialis
herba could be a summertime plant in general or one that grows at the summer solstice. See Lorenz 1876, 79.
2. Cf. Psalm 90:5–6 and 103:15–16; Job 14:2; Hom. Il. 6:149–52; and Mimnermus frag. 2 West.
3. See, e.g., Apollod. Bibl. 3.14.3–6 and Phot. Bibl., s.v. Âd∫nia (eßsti de; FoinÇkwn kaµ KuprÇwn). Adonis
also has strong ties to the Mesopotamian figure Dumuzi or Tammuz. In the Levant, he is connected to Baal,
one of whose epithets was Adon. See Jeremiah 32:29; Baudissin 1911, 345–84; Burkert 1985, 176–77;
Ribichini 1985, 50–55; and West 1997, 57. For a history of Adonis and his cult, see Dümmler 1894.
4. For the time of the celebration of the Adonia, see most recently Lightfoot 2003, 316–18; Simms
1997, 45–53; and Dillon 2003, 1–16.
5. Lightfoot 2003, 305–19.
6. See Blenkinsopp 1964, 305–6, on Isaiah 17:10–11; and Jerome (25.82 Migne) on Ezekiel 8:14 (quem
nos Adonidem interpretati sumus, et Hebraeus et Syrus sermo THAMUZ vocat).

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 Notes and Discussions 305

The Greeks retained these elements when they adopted the rites of Adonis from
the Near East. 7 They were particularly prominent in the Athenian version of the fes-
tival, which was not officially sanctioned by the state, but was a private celebration
open to women of all classes, even metics and prostitutes. 8 Participants climbed to
the roofs of their houses with pots or potsherds in which they had planted seeds that
sprouted rapidly. When the plants germinated, the women laid small images of Adonis
in the pots, perhaps to recall Aphrodite’s placement of her dying lover in a bed of
lettuce. Since the plants were unable to develop an adequate root system in the shallow
soil, they died quickly. Thereupon, the celebrants danced, beat their breasts, chanted
laments, and carried the gardens with the images of Adonis in a funeral procession.9
References to elements of the Adonia appear frequently in Greek literature from
the sixth century b.c.e. onward. 10 Sappho (140A and 168 LP) recalls the mourning
cries of the celebrants, while Plato (Phdr. 276b) speaks of the summer planting of
the gardens of Adonis and their short lifespan. Plutarch (Alc. 18.5, Nic. 13.11) says
that the lamentations and the funeral procession of the Adonia marred the departure
of the Sicilian expedition. Theocritus (Id. 15) describes a royal performance of the
rites at Alexandria, and Bion of Smyrna refers to ritual elements in his Epitaphios
Adonidos. 11 Adonis and the Adonia were also mentioned frequently in Greek comedy.
According to Photius (s.v. Âd∫nioÍ), allusions to Adonis were found in the comedies
of Pherecrates, Plato, Cratinus, Aristophanes, and others. Aristophanes refers to the
Adonia in Peace (420) and again in Lysistrata (387–98), where a magistrate com-
plains about women dancing, drinking, and mourning for Adonis on the roofs of
their houses during the debate on the Sicilian expedition. Cratinus (PCG, frag. 404)
also mentions the festival, as does Pherecrates (PCG, frag. 181), who speaks of
the mourning associated with the ritual. References to Adonis and his cult were not
confined to Old Comedy. Plays entitled Adonis were attributed to several authors of
Middle Comedy, 12 while references to the Adonia appear in New Comedy. Philippides
(PCG, frags. 1–3) wrote an Adoniazousai, Menander (Samia 39–46) describes a noisy,
all-night celebration in which the women danced and carried gardens of Adonis to the
rooftop of a private residence, and a fragment of Diphilus (PCG, frag. 42) mentions
a celebration of the Adonia at a brothel. 13 Such frequent references to the Adonia in
Athenian comedy from the fifth century to the Hellenistic period demonstrate that the
Greeks were at least superficially familiar with the elements of these rites. There-
fore, a Greek audience watching the model of Plautus’ Pseudolus would have been

7. Fragments of Sappho (140A and 168 LP) that record the cries of mourning for Adonis indicate that
the rites had arrived at Lesbos by the middle of the seventh century.
8. Reed 1997, 15–26; Simms 1988, 121–41; and Winkler 1990, 188–209.
9. Theophr. Hist. pl. 6.7.3; Phot. Bibl., s.v. Âd∫nidoÍ kh`poi; Scholion to Ar. Lys. 389 Dübner (eJorth;n
ga;r ejpetevloun tåÅ Âd∫nidi a¥ guna∂keÍ kaµ khvpouÍ tina;Í e√Í ta; d∫mata a˚nevferon); and Simms 1988, 131–32.
Nicander (frag. 120 Schneider) says that Adonis hid in lettuce so that he could escape the boar. See also
Eubulus, PCG frag. 13, and Ath. 3.69c.
10. For iconographical evidence, see LIMC 1.1, s.v. Adonis; and Weill 1966, 664–98. However, Edwards
(1984, 59–72) identifies many of these images not as representations of the Adonia, but as depictions of
stages in a wedding.
11. Reed 1997, 15–26; see also Callim. frag. 193.34–38.
12. Araros (PCG, frags. 1–3); Nicophron (PCG, vol. 7, p. 63); Antiphanes (PCG, frags. 14–16); Philiscus
(PCG, vol. 7, p. 356); and Plato (PCG, frags. 1–8).
13. For the iconography, see Weill 1970, 591–93.

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306 Notes and Discussions

well equipped to recognize the reference to plants that grow and die quickly as an
allusion to the gardens of Adonis.
Subsequent plot elements and significant names suggest that the author of this
comedy has not just thrown in a random allusion to the gardens of Adonis, but is
developing the link between the myth of Adonis and Calidorus’ situation. Immediately
after the mention of the short-lived plants, Pseudolus persuades Calidorus to allow
him to read the letter from his lover. It reveals that her name is Phoenicium, that a
Macedonian soldier has purchased her, and that she will be separated from Calidorus
when the soldier’s agent delivers the final payment on the contract and takes her
abroad. These characters find close parallels in the myth of Adonis, in which the
youth’s affair with Aphrodite provoked the jealousy of Ares, who brought an end to
their relationship by sending a boar to kill him, thereby parting the lovers.14 Since
the Greeks associated the rites of Adonis with Phoenicia, the name Phoenicium links
the meretrix with Aphrodite, the goddess of sexuality. This reinforces the connection
between their respective lovers, Calidorus and Adonis, which the author has just made
through the allusion to the gardens of Adonis. The Macedonian soldier who has bought
Phoenicium can be identified with Ares, the rival of Adonis. Although the separation
of lovers by a rival is not an uncommon theme in Plautine comedy, the careful selection
of occupations (meretrix and soldier) combined with the use of significant names
(Phoenicium) and allusions (the gardens of Adonis) strongly suggests that the author
of the Greek comedy based its first scene on the myth of Adonis.
This theory is supported by another allusion to the Adonia that occurs just after
Pseudolus reads Phoenicium’s letter, which concludes with a detailed list of the sexual
activities that Calidorus will miss if she is taken away, especially nostrorum orgiorum,
“our mystic rites” (67b). Thereupon, Calidorus begs Pseudolus for help (78–83):
Ps. quid faciam tibi?
Ca. eheu! Ps. eheu? id quidem hercle ne parsis. dabo.
Ca. miser sum. argentum nusquam invenio mutuom.
Ps. eheu! Ca. neque intus nummus ullus est. Ps. eheu!
Ca. ille abducturus est mulierem cras. Ps. eheu!
Ca. istocine pacto me adiuvas?

Ps. What shall I do for you?

Ca. Alas! Ps. Alas? By Hercules, don’t be stingy with that, at any rate. I’ll provide it.
Ca. I’m miserable. I won’t find a loan anywhere.
Ps. Alas! Ca. And there’s no money in the house. Ps. Alas!
Ca. That man is going to take my woman away tomorrow. Ps. Alas!
Ca. Is that the way you’re helping me?

The alternation of lines of dialogue with eheu is reminiscent of the antiphonal lament
for Adonis found in Sappho (frag. 140a LP) and in Bion’s Epitaphios Adonidos (1–2,
6, 15, 32, 35–38, 62–63, and 86), particularly at lines 1–2: 15

14. Servius (ad Aen. 5.72) says that Adonis was killed by a boar. Nonnus (32.219–20) says that Ares
killed Adonis. Both Servius (ad Ecl. 10.18) and Nonnus (41.208–11) indicate that Ares took the form of a
boar to accomplish this. See also Lightfoot 2003, 319–20.
15. See also Alexiou 1974, 55–57 and 131–60; and Lightfoot 2003, 320–21.

One Line Short

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 Notes and Discussions 307

a√avzw to;n ◊Adwnin, “a˚p∫leto kalo;Í ◊AdwniÍ.”

“wß leto kalo;Í ◊AdwniÍ,” ejpaiavzousin ¢ErwteÍ.

I mourn for Adonis: “Fair Adonis is dead.”

“Fair Adonis is dead,” the Erotes join in the mourning.

Aristophanes refers to these laments in Lysistrata (391–96), where proposals in the

ekklesia regarding the Sicilian expedition were interrupted by cries from the rooftops
of “woe to Adonis” (a√a∂ ◊Adwnin) and “beat your breasts for Adonis.” The dialogue
between Calidorus and Pseudolus, then, may be a parody of this mourning ritual.
Just as the women at the Adonia lament the tragic end of Adonis’ physical life,
Pseudolus laments the tragic end of Calidorus’ short-lived affair.
These allusions to the myth and cult of Adonis suggest that Calidorus is equated
with this mythological character at the beginning of the play because of the simi-
larity of their situations. In light of the popularity of Adonis and the Adonia in Greek
comedy and the absence of references to the Adonia in early Latin literature, it is
likely that these allusions originated in Plautus’ Greek model.
Shawn O’Bryhim
Franklin and Marshall College

LITERATURE CITED

Alexiou, M. 1974. The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition. Cambridge.

Baudissin, W. 1911. Adonis und Esmun. Leipzig.
Blenkinsopp, J. 1964. The Anchor Bible: Isaiah 1–39. New York.
Burkert, W. 1985. Greek Religion. Cambridge, Mass.
Dillon, M. 2003. “Woe for Adonis”—but in Spring, Not Summer. Hermes 131:1–16.
Dübner, F. 1877. Scholia Graeca in Aristophanem. Paris.
Dümmler, F. 1894. Adonis. RE 1:384–95. Stuttgart.
Edwards, C. M. 1984. Aphrodite on a Ladder. Hesperia 53:59–72.
Lightfoot, J. L. 2003. Lucian: On the Syrian Goddess. Oxford.
Lorenz, A. 1876. Ausgewählte Komödien des T. Maccius Plautus. Vol. 4. Berlin.
Reed, J. D. 1997. Bion of Smyrna: The Fragments and the “Adonis.” Cambridge.
Ribichini, S. 1985. Poenus Advena: Gli dei fenici e l’interpretazione classica. Rome.
Simms, R. 1988. Mourning and Community at the Athenian Adonia. CJ 93:121–41.
. 1997. A Date with Adonis. Antichthon 31:45–53.
Weill, N. 1966. Adoniazousai, ou les femmes sur la toit. BCH 90:664–98.
. 1970. La fête d’Adonis dans la Samienne de Ménandre. BCH 94:591–93.
West, M. L. 1997. The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth.
Oxford.
Winkler, J. 1990. Constraints of Desire: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece.
New York.

EUSEBIUS AND MEMNON’S ETHIOPIANS

Eusebius of Caesarea is one of the only biblical commentators of late antiquity

to make allusion to and even directly quote classical authors in support of an

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