I see my blow has struck home, and I am glad. But then the conversation takes a more interesting turn.
"Cupid's arrows strike too sharply,so that men are deprived of their reason. Even the god himself was not immune, as with Psyche. Apollo's affairs suit my own nature more closely."
Perhaps it is simply because I have gone too long without sharing a couch with a man, but the slyness of his smile makes Isauricus altogether more striking. He is a dour faced man day to day, but that smile is interesting... And talking to him is rather like a game of ludus latrunculorum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludus_latrunculorum). I have missed intelligent conversation; so many of the Senate are dull and old, and now Tetricus is infatuated with that boy and given to throwing ever more lavish parties we spend much less time in interesting conversation. I miss it; the way we talked was much of the reason I came to care for him as I do.
There is much to unpack in what Isauricus says.
"Men do fall on the arrow of love from time to time," I say, "pricked by desire." He will not miss the innuendo of that. "But I did not mean to say that Cupid would be my god of choice. Apollo is a fine example in many ways, although he did not have much success at home." I wonder if Isauricus was thinking of how the boy Hyacinth caused the feud between Zephyrus and Apollo. Probably; he is sharp-witted enough. "It has struck me that for a god as wise as Apollo his love affairs rarely ended well. But the story I like best of APollo is perhaps the one where he comes out the least favourably - when Hermes stole his cattle. But once peace was restored, Apollo lay down with Hermes. Perhaps he was impressed by his wits, enmity turned to affection." Make of that what you will, Consul.
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"Cupid's arrows strike too sharply,so that men are deprived of their reason. Even the god himself was not immune, as with Psyche. Apollo's affairs suit my own nature more closely."
Perhaps it is simply because I have gone too long without sharing a couch with a man, but the slyness of his smile makes Isauricus altogether more striking. He is a dour faced man day to day, but that smile is interesting... And talking to him is rather like a game of ludus latrunculorum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludus_latrunculorum). I have missed intelligent conversation; so many of the Senate are dull and old, and now Tetricus is infatuated with that boy and given to throwing ever more lavish parties we spend much less time in interesting conversation. I miss it; the way we talked was much of the reason I came to care for him as I do.
There is much to unpack in what Isauricus says.
"Men do fall on the arrow of love from time to time," I say, "pricked by desire." He will not miss the innuendo of that. "But I did not mean to say that Cupid would be my god of choice. Apollo is a fine example in many ways, although he did not have much success at home." I wonder if Isauricus was thinking of how the boy Hyacinth caused the feud between Zephyrus and Apollo. Probably; he is sharp-witted enough. "It has struck me that for a god as wise as Apollo his love affairs rarely ended well. But the story I like best of APollo is perhaps the one where he comes out the least favourably - when Hermes stole his cattle. But once peace was restored, Apollo lay down with Hermes. Perhaps he was impressed by his wits, enmity turned to affection." Make of that what you will, Consul.