Both the start of the attack and the attack itself are unusual, and play with the gender of the characters. Salmacis throws off her clothes (omni veste procul iacta), in contrast with the calm manner in which the boy undressed (mollia de tenero velamina corpore ponit, 345).  Salmacis then jumps into the spring, without testing the water (mediis immittitur undis), also more impulsively than the boy, who first tested the water (342f.).’

de Vries p.26, after Anderson.

 

356 ‘vicimus et meus est’ exclamat nais (We have overcome him and he is mine, cried the water-nymph)

vicimus  Ovidian metaphor for the rapist.  Tereus will exult with this word as he ensnares Philomela in 6.513.  ‘Here, however, the image proves ironic; it serves only to introduce the theme of violent, erotic conflict, where any victory seems dubious.’

 

et omni veste procul iacta mediis inmittitur undis,/ pugnantemque tenet, luctantiaque oscula carpit,/ subiectatque manus, invitaque pectora tangit,/ et nunc hac iuveni, nunc circumfunditur illac

(and throwing off all her garments, she throws herself into the waters: she holds him fast though he fights against her, snatches kisses which he struggles to avoid, fondles him, touches his breast though he doesn't want this, clings to him on this side and on that.)

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360 circumfunditur: the verb reminds us that she is both nymph and water. ‘Ovid produces much delicate magic from the dual nature of Salmacis, part pool, part nymph, culminating in her watery embrace (360).’ Charles Martindale. ‘Alfeo si farà fiume per unirsi ad Aretusa (5.637-8)’

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‘The verb circumfunditur makes clear that Salmacis tries to embrace the boy in all possible ways, but it also reminds us that the watery form of Salmacis is already embracing Hermaphroditus, since he entered the water.’ (de Vries 27)

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Three similes (snake, ivy & octopus)

 

361ff. Three similes, two of which are Homeric/epic, with an elegaic/love one

in the middle.

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At length, as Hermaphroditus tries his best in his desire to escape from her, Salmacis wraps him round with her embrace, as a serpent, when the king of birds has caught her and is pulling her high up into the air: the snake, hanging from his claws, wraps her folds around his head and feet, and entangles his flapping wings with her tail; or as the ivy usually covers great trunks of trees, or as an octopus catches and holds its enemy beneath the sea, sending its tentacles all around...

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‘Outwardly appearing to be the victim and the weaker party... (the snake is the eagle’s  prey, the ivy far more fragile and tender than the oak),  the very real danger that Salmacis poses to Hermaphroditus and his virginity is finally revealed in the image of the octopus:  here is a rape achieved by enclosure rather than penetration.’

(Genevieve Lively)  

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‘The way in which Ovid’s uses this simile is significant in the light of his gender play. First, the eagle is usually associated with Jupiter. This king of gods is of course known for his sexual behaviour and assaults of girls.’  (de Vries 30; see also Bömer (1976), 125) 

J.N. Adams, The Latin Sexual Vocabulary, 1982: 29–31 on the association of snakes and male sexuality.

‘When Salmacis clasps Hermaphroditus to her, the enfolding gesture is described in a rapid succession of three similes: a serpent entangling an eagle, ivy winding around a tree, and an octopus seizing its prey (361–67). All three are similar indicants, but each suggests a different outcome. The goal of the serpent is to make the eagle drop it, both will go their separate ways unchanged by their encounter. The ivy and the tree will be together for a long time, the ivy receiving form from the tree and the tree acquiring an attractive appearance. The octopus wants to consume its victim. Three possibilities—both go free, both stay together, one destroys the other—which will prevail?  Since Salmacis and Hermaphroditus merge into one being, their union picks up the tree-ivy simile and realizes the moment of transformation in terms of grafting: 4.375-79.’  [STACKELBERG]

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In Latin poetry the image of ivy twining around a tree occurred for instance in Catullus 61.31ff.

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‘So, the ivy simile signifies a very strong entanglement. It may be used in a context of strong devoted love and of dangerous loves.  Anderson’s argument therefore, that the ivy is a symbol of ‘devoted female love’ and does not have negative connotations does not completely hold.  Watson’s (2003) argument that ivy-similes have the tendency ‘to highlight the destructive closeness of the plant’s embrace’ also seems too rigid.’

(de Vries 32, after examining evidence from Latin poetry)

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‘The transition from one image to another is dizzying. We begin in the sky, which is the domain of Hermes, the god with winged sandals; we then come crashing down to earth with an image drawn from nature of a parasitic plant; finally, we are submerged in the sea, from which Aphrodite is said to have been born and where the struggle between boy and nymph is currently taking place.’ (Ilkay)

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366f. The polypus/ octopus: see Od. 5.432-5.

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‘Octopuses were believed to be cunning and powerful creatures and their tenacity and flexibility were deemed impressive. The characteristics of the animal ‘became proverbial’.  de Vries 33 + Lewis, Llewellyn-Jones (2018), 675, 676. See also Ingemark (2008), 150.

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