“My fingers on her breasts, our mouths joined; I graze with deep fury on her silver neck; yet though I labor over Aphrogeneia this virgin lets me go so far—and denies me her bed. Her upper body she allows to Aphrodite, but her under parts she commits to chaste Athena. I waste away between.” Willis BarnstoneAthenaAphroditePaulus Silentiarius Author:Paulus Silentiarius
“A man bitten by a mad hound, they say, sees an image of the beast in the water. Is Eros then wild with rabies? Did he gash me with his bitter tooth and ravage my spirit with his heat? For now I see your darling form mirrored in wine cup, river whirlpool and the sea.” Willis BarnstonePaulus Silentiarius Author:Paulus Silentiarius