206 LORENZO SANNA
Hylas,^31 with his sensual sweating body, represents the pinnacle of the
extreme aesthetic power of the ephebe’s charm:^32
... utque artus et concita pectora sudor
diluerat, gratos auidus procumbit ad amnes:
stagna uaga sic luce micant ubi Cynthia caelo
prospicit aut medii transit rota candida Phoebi –
tale iubar diffundit aquis ...
(V.Fl. 3.556–60)
And since sweat had bathed his limbs and labouring breast, he greedily
sinks beside the pleasant stream: even as the light that shifts and plays
upon a lake, when Cynthia looks forth from heaven or the bright wheel
of Phoebus in mid course passes by, so doth he shed a gleam upon the
waters. (tr. Mozley 1934)The puer, tired and sweaty (V.Fl. 3.552–3 fessa ... / manu; 556–7 ...
artus et concita pectora sudor / diluerat), after chasing a stag, seeks
some relief in the limpid waters of a spring (3.554 intactas undas) and
is dragged underwater by the avid arms of the nymph (3.562 auidas ...
manus). The ephebe’s fascinating charm is described in a scene of
strong erotic impact: Hylas’ sweaty body dazzles the natural environ-
ment, giving to the spring’s waters a splendour similar to the sun’s
fiery radiance. The splendour (3.558 luce micant; 560 iubar) and the
whiteness (3.559 candida) of the puer help to increase the erotic ten-
sion of the nymph’s assault.^33 Indeed, Hylas is described as fe rox ar-
dore (3.549) and auidus (3.557), and then directs his lust to a pure
fountain (3.554 intactas undas),^34 able to satisfy it (3.557 gratos ... ad
amnes); but the nymph, too, lusts after the puer’s body (3.562 auidas
31 About Hylas and the connections with Apollonius Rhodius, Theocritus and
Propertius, cf. Traglia 1983, 304–25; Palombi 1985, 72–92; Hershkowitz 1998b, 148–
59; La Penna 2000, 169–82.
32 Hylas often appears in the lists of mythical exempla given by the Flavian poets
for the splendour of an ephebe and his homoerotic relationship; thus, he is mentioned
by Statius as a model for the delicatus Glaucias (Silv. 2.1.113 Alcides pensaret
Hylan...), and his relationship with Hercules is included by Martial in a catalogue of
famous couples delicatus-dominus (11.43.5 Incuruabat Hylan posito Tirynthius arcu);
furthermore Hylas is to be found among the splendid ephebes surpassed by Earinus
(Silv. 3.4.42–5 ... Te caerula Nais / mallet et adprensa traxisset fortius urna. / Tu,
puer, ante omnis ...), and at least seven times in Martial’s epigrams, as an exemplary
reference to a puer’s beauty (5.48.5 talis raptus Hylas, 6.68.7–8, 9.25.7, 10.4.3).
33 Cf. also Malamud and McGuire 1993, 203–12.
34 The expression procumbit (V.Fl.. 3.557), which also occurs in Propertius’ ele-
gies (1.20.41 incumbens) and is used of Narcissus in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (3.414
procubuit), has a clear erotic value.