The poisoning of Camma and Synorix in the temple of Diana (Charles Poerson, 17th century).

Camma (Ancient Greek: Κάμμα)[1] was a Galatian princess and priestess of Artemis whom Plutarch writes about in both On the Bravery of Women and the Eroticus or Amatorius.[2] As Plutarch is our only source on Camma, her historicity cannot be independently verified.[3][4] In both works, Plutarch cites her as an exemplar of fidelity and courage in love.[3]

In Plutarch's accounts, Camma was wedded to the tetrarch Sinatus, and became known and admired for her virtue and beauty.[5][6] Sinatus' rival, another tetrarch named Sinorix, murdered Sinatus and proceeded to woo Camma herself. Rather than submit to Sinorix' advances, Camma took him to a temple of Artemis where she served poison to both herself and him in a libation of either milk and honey[5] or mead.[6] Camma died happily, according to Plutarch, in the knowledge that she had avenged the death of her husband.[5][6]

Plutarch's story of Camma inspired a number of works of later art and literature. Polyaenus briefly reprises Plutarch's tale in his 2nd-century CE Stratagems of War.[7] In the Renaissance, the story of Camma enjoyed considerable popularity, inspiring De re uxoria by Barbaro,[8] De institutione feminae christianae by Vives,[8] the Libro del cortegiano by Castiglione,[8] and Orlando furioso by Ariosto (where Camma is renamed Drusilla).[8] Thomas Corneille wrote a play named Camma (1661) about the story of the Galatian princess. The opera Nephté (1789) by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne uses the story of Camma but moves the setting to Ancient Egypt. Tennyson subsequently wrote the tragedy The Cup (1884), in which Camma is again a Galatian princess. The poem ‘Camma’ by Oscar Wilde has been seen as a hedonistic commentary on Plutarch's Camma.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Polyaenus, Stratagems, Book 8, 39
  2. ↑ Gilabert i Barberà (2000), p. 1.
  3. 1 2 Gilabert i Barberà (2000), p. 2.
  4. ↑ Henri d’Arbois de Jubainville is cited by Sandra Péré-Noguès (2013) as declaring that the Greeks had invented such stories, though she is not so dismissive.
  5. 1 2 3 Plutarch. De Mulierum Virtutibus 20, in the Moralia. English translation published online by Bill Thayer.
  6. 1 2 3 Gilabert i Barberà (2000), pp. 2–3: text and translation of the passage from the Amatorius.
  7. ↑ Polyaenus, Stratagems VIII.39.1
  8. 1 2 3 4 Bartera (2011), p. 140.
  9. ↑ Gilabert i Barberà (2000), p. 4.

Literature

  • Bartera, Salvador (2011). "Review of Carlo Caruso and Andrew Laird (eds.), Italy and the Classical Tradition: Language, Thought and Poetry 1300–1600 (London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 2009)". International Journal of the Classical Tradition. 18 (1): 138–144. doi:10.1007/s12138-011-0241-8. S2CID 161262553.
  • Gilabert i Barberà, Pau (2000). "Oscar Wilde. 'Camma', a Severe and Hedonic Aesthetic Correction of Plutarch's Ethics". Actas del VII Simposio Internacional Sobre Plutarco de la Sociedad Española de Plutarquistas. Majorca. hdl:2445/12170.
  • Péré-Noguès, Sandra (2013). "Chiomara, Camma, et autres princesses… Une histoire des femmes dans les sociétés " celtiques " est‑elle possible ? [Chiomara, Camma and other princesses… Is a history of women and gender in Celtic societies possible?]". L'Antiquité en Partage. 90: 159–176.
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