In fragment A of the Ninus Romance, a richly rewarding text for both the literary critic and the cultural historian, Ninus and his beloved cousin Semiramis each in turn seek parental consent for their marriage.
And through close analysis of Ninus' and Semiramis' divergent experiences of shame in their common pursuit of marriage, I will illuminate the underlying erotic ethics governing their behavior in this scene.
The behaviors exhibited by Ninus and Semiramis as they confront their aunts adhere to traditional gender roles.
The reference is designed to move Nero in the direction of matricide, suggesting first of all that Agrippina is guilty of intrigue and second that if she would act the role of Semiramis, he (Nero) must fulfill the terms of the comparison and "legitimately" kill his mother, as Ninus (Semiramis's son) is said to have done.
/ Des Ninus Faust durchstach der geilen Mutter Bruste.
In his gloss on Anicetus's reference to Semiramis, Lohenstein writes: "Von der grossen Konigin zu Babylon Semiramis ist bekandt: Dass sie ihr Sohn Ninus / welchem sie Bluttschande angemuthet / getodtet habe.
Thisbe was to meet Pyramus at the white mulberry tree near the tomb of
Ninus, but she was scared by a lion and fled, leaving her veil, which the lion smeared with blood.
The texts at issue are the Ninus romance, the Chaereas and Callirhoe of Chariton, the Ephesiaca of Xenophon, and the Metiochus and Parthenope romance.
The terminus ante quem given by the principal Ninus papyrus (P.
So the case for a significantly earlier date for the composition of Ninus must rest on what Sandy called 'the author's literary style'.
All that is known of the historical queen, Sammuramat, is that she was the mother of the Assyrian king Ninus and a woman of immense importance through more than one reign.
Various legends claimed that she was fed as a child by doves (which fact later identified her with Ishtar ), married King Ninus, and after his death built Babylon and other great cities and monuments.