Note 52 — Chapter I
Reading edition
For the influence of the Greek Myths in this direction, cf. Propertius, Book iii. 32.
“Ipsa Venus, quamvis corrupta libidine Martis, Nec minus in cælo semper honesta fuit, Quamvis Ida palam pastorem dicat amasse Atque inter pecudes accubuisse deam. ... Dic mihi, quis potuit lectum servare pudicum, Quæ dea cum solo vivere sola deo?”
St. Augustine’s criticism of the famous passage in the Eunuchus of Terence (Act iii. sc. 5), where Chærea is encouraged in his clandestine amour by a picture of Jupiter and Danaë, is, of course, painfully justified by the facts as reported by the dramatist. (Confessiones, lib. i.)