DUST, WATER AND SWEAT: THE STATIAN PUER 213
roditus (Met. 4.278–388), in view of some lexical and thematic
choices,^42 but also for the characteristics of a portrait full of fascinat-
ing chromatic details of a captivating sensuality:^43
Nais ab his tacuit; pueri rubor ora notauit
(nescit enim, quid amor), sed et erubuisse decebat.
Hic color aprica pendentibus arbore pomis
aut ebori tincto est, aut sub candore rubenti,
cum frustra resonant aera auxiliaria, lunae
(Met. 4.329–33)
With this, the Naiad fell silent and a blush appeared on the boy’s cheek
(for he did not know what love was), but even to blush became him. He
was the colour of apples hanging from a sun-drenched tree, or of
stained ivory or of the moon grown red in the midst of her brightness
while the relieving bronze sounds out in vain. (tr. Hill 1985)In the Ovidian episode, water is the ideal backdrop for the puer’s
lusus and carefree happiness, as well as for his striking nuda forma;
the aquatic lusus, in a certain way, are also fatal for the Ovidian puer.
His splendour, his androgynous ambiguity and ephebic whiteness are
stressed in a play of mirrors and transparencies,^44 by the limpid^45 bril-
liance and the seductive caresses of the water on the soft and tender
body of Hermaphroditus, who plays with the tepid water of the foun-
tain:
huc it et hinc illuc et in adludentibus undis
summa pedum taloque tenus uestigia tinguit;
nec mora, temperie blandarum captus aquarum
mollia de tenero uelamina corpore ponit.
Tum uero placuit nudaeque cupidine formae
Salmacis exarsit. Flagrant quoque lumina nymphae,
non aliter, quam cum puro nitidissimus orbe
opposita speculi referitur imagine Phoebus
(Ov. Met. 4.342–9)42 The androgynous ambiguity of the adolescent’s face (Met. 4.290–1 cuius erat
facies, in qua materque paterque / cognosci possent), still showing a clear resem-
blance to the mother’s features, is, for instance, a theme used by Statius for his
ephebes, such as Achilles (Ach. 1.164–5), Parthenopaeus (Theb. 4.336–7, 9.582) and
Crenaeus ( 43 Theb. 9.381).
Cf. Fränkel 1945, 216–7: “This is the only passage in Ovid’s works, I believe,
which has a touch of sultry sensuality.”
44 La Penna 1983, 235–43, speaks of “softening” and “dematerialization”.
45 Ovid insists on the purity, the clarity and sheen of water (Met. 4.297–8 lucentis
... / lymphae; 300 perspicuus liquor), that shines like the nymph’s garments (lucenti
... amictu) or the body of the ephebe (4.354 in liquidis translucet aquis).