literary · Roman

Prayer to Diana and Isis

Diana, who are the sister of the God Phoebus, who nourishes so many people by the generation of beasts, and are now adored at the sacred places of Ephesus — You who is worshipped in divers manners, and does illuminate all the borders of the earth by Your feminine shape, You which nourishes all the fruits of the world by Your vigor and force; with whatsoever name or fashion it is lawful to call upon You, I pray You end my great travail and misery, and deliver me from the wretched fortune, which has for so long a time pursued me. Grant peace and rest if it please You to reply to my entreaties, for I have endured too much labor and peril.

Commentarius · Commentary

The same continuous period of Apuleius as in ceres-003 — Lucius' night-time plea to the Queen of Heaven. Here the branch addressing the sister of Phoebus is given.

Diana is named neither as huntress nor as moon goddess but as helper in childbirth: "who by soothing remedies at the delivery of the pregnant have reared so many peoples". Behind this stands a quite specific identification — the Artemis of Ephesus, whose sanctuary is mentioned in the same breath, was above all a nurse and patroness of birth, not a maiden with a bow.

Apuleius runs through the goddesses by their principal offices: Ceres feeds, Venus joins, Diana brings to birth, Proserpina leads away. Four names cover the whole circuit of a human life — and in the next chapter it will turn out that one goddess stands behind all four.

This card and ceres-003 share a tail: the period has been cut along its addresses, and the closing plea belongs to both.

Fons · Source

AuthorApuleius

WorkMetamorphoses

Section11.2

Period2nd c. AD

Classificatio · Taxonomy

CultureRoman

Formliterary

DeitiesDiana, Isis

FunctionsPetition · Invocation

SpherePersonal