Perspectives of Roman Culture in Prose Passages - AP Latin

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Primus amor Phoebi Daphne Peneia, quem non
fors ignara dedit, sed saeva Cupidinis ira,
Delius hunc nuper, victa serpente superbus,
viderat adducto flectentem cornua nervo
'quid' que 'tibi, lascive puer, cum fortibus armis?' 5
dixerat: 'ista decent umeros gestamina nostros,
qui dare certa ferae, dare vulnera possumus hosti,
qui modo pestifero tot iugera ventre prementem
stravimus innumeris tumidum Pythona sagittis.
tu face nescio quos esto contentus amores 10
inritare tua, nec laudes adsere nostras!'
filius huic Veneris 'figat tuus omnia, Phoebe,
te meus arcus' ait; 'quantoque animalia cedunt
cuncta deo, tanto minor est tua gloria nostra.'

Why is Daphne named "Peneia" in line 1?

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Answer

The reason Daphne is called "Peneia" is because her father's name is "Peneus." It was common in Ancient Rome to refer to a person by their lineage (e.g. Son of Anchises—Aeneas, and so on). Additionally, however, girls were rarely given original names of their own, but simply called a feminine version of their father's name. So, the daughter of a man named Cornelius would most likely be called Cornelia.

(Passage adapted from Metamorphoses by Ovid, 1.452-465)

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