Theognis

540 BC - 480 BC / Greece

Fragments - Lines 1341 - 1350

Alas, I am in love with a soft-skinned boy, who to all my friends
Reveals that this is true, though he does so against my will.
I shall endure without concealment the many outrages done in my despite,
For not ill-favored is the boy whose conquest I am shown to be.
The love of boys has given delight ever since Ganymede
Was loved by Kronos' son himself, king of the immortals,
Who seized and brought him up to Olympos and made him
Divine, possessing as he did the lovely bloom of boyhood.
So do not be amazed, Simonides, that I as well have been
Shown to be conquered by love for a handsome boy.
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