Bonner, SMA – PDF, 121.

On a dark-green jasper in the possession of Dr. A. G. Ruthven, Eros, at right, stands facing left, with his hands bound to a post behind him.⁶⁵ On the post, indistinct but recognizable with the aid of similar designs, is a griffin with a forepaw resting on a wheel, a now well-known symbol of Nemesis.⁶⁶ At left, Psyche, winged, advances towards Eros with a flaming torch in her hand. Over the design is the word λικαιως (l. δικαίως, “justly”). This word, taken with the symbolic allusion to Nemesis, makes the meaning of the design clear; as Eros has tormented the soul, so is he also to be tortured. Some iambics of Krinagoras, on a figure of Eros bound, are the poetical counterpart of this design:

Obviously such a stone would be as suitable for use in a magical incantation as that prescribed in the Sword of Dardanus; but without a magical word or character to indicate such use it can only be grouped with other symbolic designs. Such subjects as this may have been in favor with lovers who thought they had freed themselves from the assaults of passion and were now revenging themselves upon its inspirer. Such as it is, the design is known elsewhere, though not common in this form, showing Psyche as the punisher and Eros as the victim. A black jasper in the Musée Guimet seems to duplicate the subject closely, and one or two others, for which no illustration is available, evidently resemble it. There are several gems that show Eros bound, without Psyche.⁶⁸

Much more commonly the artists have depicted Psyche suffering from the cruelty of Eros — bound to a pillar, threatened with flogging or burning, or made to labor like a slave. Gems with such subjects may have been worn by self-conscious lovers who took a certain pleasure in reminding themselves — and others — of their torments, and occasionally they may have served by a kind of homoeopathic magic to work upon some beloved person. I know of none, however, that is clearly marked as magical. In the Newell collection there is an interesting haematite that may be mentioned here.⁶⁹ It represents a woman in front view, draped below the waist, her head turned to the left, her hands bound behind her back. A cord attached to her left wrist is passed

⁶⁵ D. 161.

⁶⁶ See Perdrizet, “Némésis,” BCH 36 (1912), 261.

⁶⁷ Anth. Plan., 4, 199.

⁶⁸ See Le Blant, 750 Inscriptions, p. 63, Nos. 166–168. On the subject of the loves and the mutual torments of Eros and Psyche see the classical studies by Jahn, Arch. Beiträge, pp. 121–197; Ber. sächs. Akad., 185 pp. 153–179; also L. Curtius, in Festschr. James Loeb, pp. 53–62; A. Merlin, Mélanges Maspero II, 1, 131–136; Roscher, III, 2, 3237 ff., especially 3244–3246.

⁶⁹ D. 157.

<<previous     next>>