A READER IN COMPARATIVE INDO-EUROPEAN MYTHOLOGY

Cum mas et femina coniunguntur, adhibetur deus Iugatinus; sit hoc ferendum. Sed domum est
ducenda quae nubit; adhibetur et deus Domiducus; ut in domo sit, adhibetur deus Domitius;
ut maneat cum viro, additur dea Manturna. Quid ultra quaeritur? Parcatur humanae
verecundiae; peragat cetera concupiscentia carnis et sanguinis procurato secreto pudoris.
Quid impletur cubiculum turba numinum, quando et paranymphi inde discedunt? Et ad hoc
impletur, non ut eorum praesentia cogitata maior sit cura pudicitiae, sed ut feminae sexu
infirmae, novitate pavidae illis cooperantibus sine ulla difficultate virginitas auferatur. Adest
enim dea Virginensis et deus pater Subigus, et dea mater Prema et dea Pertunda, et Venus et
Priapus. Quid est hoc? Si omnino laborantem in illo opere virum ab diis adiuvari oportebat,
non sufficeret aliquis unus aut aliqua una? Numquid Venus sola parum esset, quae ob hoc
etiam dicitur nuncupata, quod sine vi femina virgo esse non desinat? Si est ulla frons in
hominibus, quae non est in numinibus, nonne, cum credunt coniugati tot deos utriusque sexus
esse praesentes et huic operi instantes, ita pudore afficiuntur, ut et ille minus moveatur et illa
plus reluctetur? Et certe si adest Virginensis dea, ut virgini zona solvatur; si adest deus
Subigus, ut viro subigatur; si adest dea Prema, ut subacta, ne se commoveat, comprimatur:
dea Pertunda ibi quid facit? Erubescat, eat foras; agat aliquid et maritus.
„When a man and a woman get together the god Jugatinus is invoked. This may be borne, but
the bride must be taken to one's house, and thus the god Domiducus is invoked, and the
goddess Manturna so that she would stay with the man. What else is needed? Let human
shame be spared; let the carnal desire finish the rest, in the secrecy demanded by decency.
Why fill the marriage bed with the mob made of deities, when the wedding companions are
getting away? And they gather there, not in order to cause more concern for decency, but so
that the woman, who is of the weaker sex and scared by the new situation, should be deprived
of her virginity through their assistance. There is also the goddesss Virginensis, the fatherly
god Subigus, the motherly Prema and the goddess Pertunda, as well as Venus and Priapus.
What is all that? If the husband, labouring in these matters needs any help at all, would it not
suffice only one of them, male or female? Would only Venus not be enough, who is called
that way, because a woman does not cease to be a virgin without force? If there is any shyness
in men (since there is none among gods), and since the newly weds believe that so many
deities of both sexes are present and engaged in the act, will they not be too overwhelmed by
shame, so that he will lose all lust, and she will be more resilient? And really, if the goddess
Virginensis is there to unleash the virgin's belt, if the god Subigus is also present to make her
submissive to the husband, if the goddess Prema is there to make her motionless, when she
submits, what is the goddess Pertunda doing there? May she blush with shame and get out!
Let the husband do something!“
3. Horace promises a sacrifice (Odes 3.13)
O fons Bandusiae splendidior vitro,
dulci digne mero non sine floribus,
cras donaberis haedo,
cui frons turgida cornibus