Quisquis amat, veniat, Veneri volo frangere costas
Fustibus et lumbos debilitare deae.
Si [potest]1 illa mihi tenerum pertundere pectus
[Quit ego non possim caput illa frangere fuste]2 ?

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Pierre Gusman, Pompeii: the City, Its Life & Art, London: William Heinemann, 1900, Page 202.

¹ Novák: "valet"
² Novák: "quidni ego possim illi frangere fuste caput"

Text Authorship:

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Jan Novák (1921 - 1984), "Venere deceptus", from Cantica latina, no. 17 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Deceived by Venus", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 4
Word count: 29