Heroides - The Collection

The Collection

The paired letters of the Double Heroides are not outlined here: see the relevant section of that article for the double epistles (16–21). The single Heroides are written from the viewpoints of the following heroines (and heroes). The quotations highlighted are the opening couplets of each poem, by which each would have been identified in medieval manuscripts of the collection:

• I. Penelope writes to her famed husband, Odysseus, a hero of the Trojan War, towards the end of his long absence (the subject of Homer's Odyssey).

Epistula I:

Haec tua Penelope lento tibi mittit, Ulixe; nil mihi rescribas attinet: ipse veni!

This your Penelope sends to you, too-slow Ulysses; A letter in return does me no good; come yourself!

• II. Phyllis, the daughter of Lycurgus, writes to her lover Demophoon, the son of Theseus, king of Athens, after he fails in his promised return from his homeland.

Epistula II:

Hospita, Demophoon, tua te Rhodopeia Phyllis ultra promissum tempus abesse queror!

I, your hostess, Demophoon—I, your Phyllis of Rhodope— Complain: you're gone far longer than you promised!

• III. Briseis, the daughter of Briseus, writes to Achilles, the central hero of the Trojan War and focal character of Homer's Iliad, urging him to accept her as part of a package-deal from Agamemnon, leader of the Greek forces at Troy, and to return to battle against the Trojans.

Epistula III:

Quam legis, a rapta Briseide littera venit, vix bene barbarica Graeca notata manu.

What you're reading—this letter came from your ravished Briseis, The Greek painstakingly copied out by her uncivilised hand.

• IV. Phaedra, wife of Theseus, writes to her stepson, Hippolytus, confessing her semi-incestuous and illicit love for him.

Epistula IV:

Quam nisi tu dederis, caritura est ipsa, salutem mittit Amazonio Cressa puella viro.

What well-being she herself will lack unless you give it her The Cretan maiden sends to the man born of an Amazon.

• V. The nymph Oenone, by Hellenistic tradition Paris' first wife, writes to Paris, son of Priam King of Troy, after he abandoned her to go on his famed journey to Sparta, and then returned with the abducted Helen of Sparta as a wife.

Epistula V:

Nympha suo Paridi, quamvis suus esse recuset mittit ab Idaeis verba legenda iugis.

The Nymph sends words you ordered her to write, From Mount Ida, to her Paris, though you refuse her as yours.

• VI. Hypsipyle, queen of Lemnos, to Jason, after he abandoned her for Medea

Epistula VI:

Lemnias Hypsipyle Bacchi genus Aesone nato dicit: et in verbis pars quota mentis erat?

Hypsipyle of Lemnos, born of the people of Bacchus, Speaks to Jason: how much of your heart was truly in your words?

• VII. Dido to Aeneas, on his departure to Italy

Epistula VII:

Accipe, Dardanide, moriturae carmen Elissae; quae legis a nobis ultima verba legi.

Dardanian, receive this song of dying Elissa: What you read are the last words written by me.

• VIII. Hermione, daughter of Menelaus, to Orestes, son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, urging him to save her from marriage to Achilles’ son, Pyrrhus

Epistula VIII:

Alloquor Hermione nuper fratremque virumque nunc fratrem. nomen coniugis alter habet.

Hermione speaks to one lately her cousin and husband, Now her cousin. The wife has changed her name.

• IX. Deianira, daughter of Oeneus, king of Aetolia, to her husband Hercules, after he laid down his weapons to be with Iole, the daughter of Eurytus, king of Oechalia

Epistula IX:

Mittor ad Alciden a coniuge conscia mentis littera si coniunx Deianira tua est.

A letter, that shares her feelings, sent to Alcides By your wife, if Deianira is your wife.

• X. Ariadne to Theseus after he abandoned her on the island of Naxos on his way back to Athens. He does not marry Phaedra until later (see Epistle IV).

Epistula X:

Illa relicta feris etiam nunc, improbe Theseu vivit. Et haec aequa mente tulisse velis?

Even now, left to the wild beasts, she might live, cruel Theseus. Do you expect her to have endured this too, patiently?

• XI. Canace, daughter of Aeolus, to her brother and lover, Macareus, before killing herself following the death of their baby at the hands of their father

Epistula XI:

Aeolis Aeolidae quam non habet ipsa salutem mittit et armata verba notata manu.

An Aeolid, who has no health herself, sends it to an Aeolid, And, armed, these words are written by her hand.

• XII. Medea to Jason, after he abandoned her to marry Creusa (also known as Glauce)

Epistula XII:

Exul inops comtempta novo Medea marito dicit, an a regnis tempora nulla vacant?

Scorned Medea, the helpless exile, speaks to her recent husband, surely you can spare some time from your kingship?

• XIII. Laodamia, the daughter of Acastus, to her husband Protesilaus, urging him not to take too many risks in the Greeks’ attack on Troy

Epistula XIII:

Mittit et optat amans, quo mittitur, ire salutem Haemonis Haemonio Laodamia viro.

She, who sends this, wishes loving greetings to go to whom it’s sent: From Thessaly to Thessaly’s lord, Laodamia to her husband.

• XIV. Hypermnestra to her husband, Lynceus, calling for him to save her from death at the hands of her father, Danaus

Epistula XIV:

Mittit Hypermestra de tot modo fratribus uni; cetera nuptarum crimine turba iacet.

Hypermestra sends this letter to her one cousin of many, The rest lie dead because of their brides’ crime.

• XV. Sappho to her ex-lover Phaon, after he left her

Epistula XV:

Ecquid, ut adspecta est studiosae littera dextrae, Protinus est oculis cognita nostra tuis?

When these letters, from my eager hand, are examined Are any of them known to your eyes, straight away, as mine?