Cyllarus and Hylonome

 

Read by Llewelyn Morgan

 

Two loving centaurs find themselves in the middle of a violent battle at a wedding. Here is their backstory.
From Ovid’s Metamorphoses: 12.393-417.

Nec te pugnantem tua, Cyllare, forma redemit,
si modo naturae formam concedimus illi.
barba erat incipiens, barbae color aureus, aurea
ex umeris medios coma dependebat in armos.
gratus in ore vigor; cervix umerique manusque
pectoraque artificum laudatis proxima signis,
et quacumque vir est. nec equi mendosa sub illo
deteriorque viro facies; da colla caputque,
Castore dignus erit: sic tergum sessile, sic sunt
pectora celsa toris. totus pice nigrior atra,
candida cauda tamen; color est quoque cruribus albus.
multae illum petiere sua de gente, sed una
abstulit Hylonome, qua nulla decentior inter 
semiferos altis habitavit femina silvis.
haec et blanditiis et amando et amare fatendo
Cyllaron una tenet; cultu quoque, quantus in illis
esse potest membris, ut sit coma pectine levis,
ut modo rore maris, modo se violave rosave
implicet, interdum candentia lilia gestet,
bisque die lapsis Pagasaeae vertice silvae
fontibus ora lavet, bis flumine corpora tingat,
nec nisi quae deceant electarumque ferarum
aut umero aut lateri praetendat vellera laevo.  
par amor est illis; errant in montibus una,
antra simul subeunt.

Your looks did not save you in combat, Cyllarus (if we grant beauty to their kind). His beard just showing was golden in colour and golden too his hair that hung from the shoulders down to the middle of his flanks. His face was full of life and charm; his neck, shoulders, hands, chest and all his human parts closely resembled highly regarded works of sculpture. And the horse’s part below was not inferior to the human, without blemish in appearance. Show just the neck and the head and he’d be worthy of Castor. His back was perfect for a rider, and the muscles of his prominent chest rippled. He was entirely black as pitch, except for his tail which was white, and white too his legs. Many females of his kind were after him but only one made him hers, Hylonome. Of the half-creatures no prettier woman than she lived in the deep woods. By her charm and by loving him and professing her love she kept Cyllarus to herself. She also took care of her appearance, as far as one could with those limbs of hers, and combed her delicate hair, now entwining rosemary, now violet or rose, and sometimes wears white lilies. Twice a day she washes her face in the waterfalls below the wooded heights of Pagasa, twice dips her body in the stream, and over her left shoulder and flank she wore nothing but comely skins of carefully chosen wild animals. They had equal love for each other. Together they wandered on the mountains, together they entered caves.  

Translated and recorded by the Latin Qvarter 2022. All rights reserved.

Image from: Mosaico pavimentale romano al Museo del Bardo a Tunisi.